none of the comments so far address what seems to be a critical error
in your calculation. Heat losses. You are going to loose heat to
ambient, and it will get worse as the temp increases. Also don't let
the element get above the water level. Getting your steam box to
drain back into your pot would also be a good idea.


wrote:

I picked up a 4500 watt 208 water heater element today cheap. I need
to make a steem generator for wood bending and was thinking of using
this element in a tank.
My calcs say it would draw 21.6 amps at 208 volts, for an effective
resistance of 9.63 ohms.
At 115 volts it should draw 12 amps and produce 1380 watts? and at 230
volts it should draw 23.8 amps and produce 5500 watts?
It takes about 3700 watts to boil 1KG of water in 10 minutes so it
should take 26 minutes to boil off 1kg of water at 1380 watts, and 1
kg of water is one liter and will produce 1700 liters if steam at
atmospheric pressure and 100C.

This should be adequate I think - steam bending 3/8" thick X 14" elm
in a 2 foot by 5 foot plastic "barrel".

Did I calculate this correctly guys?

jk