[Amps] Dummy load. Can distilled water be used instead of oil ?

[KA4INM]

On 08/11/13 07:52, Jim Thomson wrote:

> I built a dummy load consisting of 4 x 200 ohm globars in parallel.  Each resistor is 12 inches long x 1 inch OD.
> Each resistor resides in its own 3 inch OD x 12 inch long AL pipe.  All  4 x AL pipes are heliarc welded  together.
> The entire mess will sit in a 7 gal new paint can.    A 5 gal can + top part of a 2nd can were brazed together.
> A 7-16 DIN was installed dead center in the top lid....along with a pressure relief tube, off to one side.
> Instead  of xfmr oil,  can distilled  water be used instead ??    It will only be used on 160-10m..and maybe 6m.

> If something goes terribly wrong, Id rather have water all over the basement floor  vs oil.   Distilled water is
> an insulator.   Heck, Bird + CD have water loads that use tap water.  AG6K depicts a hb water load...with a
> single 500W resistor inside some pvc tube and a garden hose fitting on one end....and  coax connector on the
> other end.

> I realize water boils at 212 F.   Has anybody tried distilled water in a 1 gal dummy load ?  Is it still 50 ohms ?

   I don't need any more station test loads, but if I did would 
investigate mounting the non-inductive resistors that can be had in 
TO-220 cases (two leads) as four 200 Ohms in parallel (for 50 Ohms) on 
the flat back of a heat sink then four sets in series parallel arraigned 
in a square so one large muffin fan could carry off the heat from all of 
them.  These resistors can be had in various power dissipations.
-- 
   Ron  KA4INM - Youvan's corollary:
                 Every action results in unwanted side effects.