DIY Heat Pic Heavy

I became creative today

23' 50 watt heat cable
2 pieces of 12x18 tin cut in half (to make 4 pieces)
Dimmer Switch to control temp

Enjoy!

Hello,

Those look great, & I bet they work really well, too.
What do the temps get to?

Tracie

The cables get into the upper 90's but I keep them around 87-89F!!!!!!!!

The sheetmetal works wonders and it gives great heat distribution!

Very interesting Chris!
Hmmmm.........now you've got me thinking. :wink:

What type of carpet or bed sheet may that be? Is it like flame proof by any chance. Looks like something I might wanna do.

Just a shipping blanket, I use to use it when I would change oil in my car. There is not any sparks and it doesnt get hot enough to catch on fire.

Sweet i knew it looked familiar my friends dad keep those kind of blankets on his cars to keep stuff from being directly on them. Anyways where could I buy on of these shipping blankets.

LittleRob":c3e5e said:

Anyways where could I buy on of these shipping blankets.

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U-Haul Or whatever moving company is in your area. :wink:

Okay Chris I told you that you'd got me thinking about this. So anyway I showed your invention to my hubby who is a HVAC-R technician. First he said to tell you that you have a great idea.
But if you don't mind he asked me to give you a suggestion.

First of all it would be best if you could use a rheostat rather than the dimmer switch.
(Now remember this is me trying to remember what he told me to tell you :wink: )
The flow of electricity is going to be putting a constant load on the dimmer switch. The reason why a rheostat would work better is that it actually creates a break in the flow of electricity once it has reach the set temp.
(This is for safety measures)

Anyhow.....You can use the dimmer switch but this is what he told me to suggest to you.........

You want to put a fuseable link in the line between the switch and first heat pad. It should be a 3amp fuse placed preferably on the hot side which in this case is probably a black wire. Also you want to put this fuseable link in a box like you have the switch. This will serve as a safety.

Again very good idea! :wink:

Wow, that's a good idea there. I might have to try that setup. I do think the suggestions Barbara's husband offered are very good for safety reasons. Thanks for the pics, now I have another project to never get around to doing. :O

:wave: Hey Chris one more minor suggestion...........
If you were to attach small legs like little pegs to the corners of the sheet metal to rise it slightly off of the blankets..... it would help the heat flow thru out the sheet metal instead of the blanket below. You will be amazed at what just a little bit of air flow can do. :wink:
Just a thought!

I still think this idea rocks! :headbang:

I did think about the fuse idea, I didnt get this idea by myself I read it somewhere else and others have tried it also, no one has any problems with there setups as far as safety so I opted out on the fuse. It would be very easy to do tho, just a few cuts of the wire and some tape.

I moved them into a little cubby hole upstairs so there isnt much air flow in there. I removed the bins and checked the metal, its distributing heat evenly with no air flow under it. The blanket was just to protect the flooring from them sliding and scratching the floor.

Thanks!!!!

Nice work!

Why not just use the Zoo Med rheostat made for that application? I think the extra $6.99 would be worth the peace of mind!

pepatt":d685f said:

Nice work!

Why not just use the Zoo Med rheostat made for that application? I think the extra $6.99 would be worth the peace of mind!

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What peace of mind? I trust my wiring over mass produced items.

I think i might have noticed something. . .did u use galvanized sheet metal? the zine coating when heated can give off toxic fumes. . . im not sure to what extent it needs to be heated to, but just giving you a heads up. . .

also when you measured your temps, where they ambient temps inside of the tote or on the tote floor? i ask cus my temps seem low, on the floor there right around 90, but an inch or so off the floor it drops into the low 80's