I have been using my redsail RS3040 for some time now, and the resistor has failed, (In fact it was arcing to the case, nothing to due to bad quality, just a component failiure). I would like to know is there anywhere in Europe (or the UK if possible) to order a new resistor.

The part number is a RX20-50 51K

I've looked the part up on google but all the suppliers are chinese with no way to contact them in english.

Have you tried Farnell, they sell bourns etc, which may have an equivalent, if you know the resistance, I would estimate the wattage to be in the 40w range.
The other source is surplus electrical or electronic centres.
To get going in an emergency until you get a replacement, you could obtain some Ni-Chrome heating wire or pull some out of an old stove element and wind it on the ceramic of the old one.
Or is that 51K which is quite high resistance?
Al.

Thanks for the advice, unfortunatly it is 51k as the resistance.

I'll try one of the high voltage carbon types from Farnell to see if they do the trick, the problem is the high wattage (you are correct about the wattage about 40w, but think it sometimes draws a bit more than the 50w hence the breakdown. The problem is the voltage across the resistor with using any adhoc measure).

Thanks again, hopefully the farnell equivilent will be of a higher quality.

Will a wire wound resistor work in a pinch? 50K ohm 50 watt?

I was browsing my MCM catalog and found the following:

http://www.mcminone.com/product.asp?product_id=50WM350&catalog_name=MCMProducts

You can see a pic of it on page 29 of section 16

Here:
http://www.mcminone.com/content/ProductData/Catalog52/section16.pdf

Or the thumbnail below:

Farnell in One.
950-8457
See the spec sheet from web site. It needs a heatsink
I think the other bolt one (NTE) on reply from OzarkCNC probably needs one too, as it looks like the same style.