Have some springs that have weakened and are exposed to occasional heat of about 400F I am guessing. Wondering if the heat is a significant factor and what temp would be enough to weaken them. From what I have read this is getting close to the low end for tempering heat treated steel.
Without actually knowing your springs composition I´d rather be more concerned on the mixture of temperature and humidity. It is possible that rusting may be more influential than temperature by itself.
400°F is not quite close to the tempering of steel. Not even close to the annealing or stress relief temperature which is normally in the range of 1000°F.
If you have the figures for compression of those springs perhaps you can do some tests on them.
Hi Jim - If the springs are steel 400F (200C) will not change the temper or strength of the springs. If its a tension spring look for over stretching them in service. Also what do you mean by "weakened"...Cheers peter
They are actually for a kitchen oven door and the problem is the springs no longer close the door completely. In searching on line I find the problem is quite common across brands although I expect some are better than others. Our trouble started after doing a cleaning cycle and from what I read these can reach 800 -1000 F in the oven chamber. The springs aren't directly exposed to that so I am only guessing about what temp they might see. It just occurred to me that the high temp might have contributed to the problem. We don't intend to run the high temp cycle again as it causes other issues and I have read some horror stories about other component damage/failures from it but nothing directly noting spring issues.
Given your new conditions it seems that you did anneal your springs softening them and thus reducing their strength. Hence the result of the doors not closing.
I hope someone else in the forum can help but as far as I know I don´t think they can be tempered to their previous condition.
Temperature to affect springs force?
Reply with Quote
