At 07:00 PM 9/30/2011, you wrote:
>Nichrome is normally encountered as either tape in toaster elements or
>  as a relatively thin wire for AC mains use. This is usable at low
>voltage with suitable numbers of strands in parallel. However, much
>thicker wire is available from electrical suppliers allowing the
>construction of robust high power load resistors at lower voltages.
>Wire can be wound in a spiral and supported occasionally to make an
>open wire resistor.

If you happen to have some type K or E thermocouple wire kicking around,
the Chromel '+' wire is pretty close to Nichrome (90Ni10Cr vs. 80Ni20Cr).
The Constantan wire in J type is also useful as it has a low tempco.
All are non-magnetic.

Best regards,

Spehro Pefhany --"it's the network..."            "The Journey is the rewar=
d"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.co=
m
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.co=
m



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