DIY heat mat.

[saximus]

Just by resistance from what I could work out. The resistance wire is specially made to have a set resistance per unit of length. So the longer it is, the higher the resistance and so the higher the power that gets converted to heat

 

[JungleGuy]

yeah that makes sense, thanks for your help.

 

[Snowman]

Yeah.... That's what worries me.... "the risk is MINIMAL"
That infers that there is still a risk, however slight !
I just don't think it's worth the risk of removing the insulation so I can use smaller coreflute. I'll wait till I can find the 10mm size. I can't see the point of risking a snake ( or worse my house ) for the $ saving of going smaller coreflute and tampering with the heat cord, and I dare say you'd have no insurance if it was proved that the doctored cord was the cause.

I've seen a lot of DIY wiring in my time and most of it is done badly. People dont understand the importance of twisting wires and doubling them over for better surface area or they nick a few strands when stripping the cable etc etc. The thing is a bad join will work for years.. Until the spot gets hot enough and you get a fire. Just because it's working doesn't mean it's safe by any means...
Doing unlicensed electrical work is like keeping snakes off license. Any tool can do it, but there is a right way and a wrong way

 

[DeadCricket]

I've seen a lot of DIY wiring in my time and most of it is done badly. People dont understand the importance of twisting wires and doubling them over for better surface area or they nick a few strands when stripping the cable etc etc. The thing is a bad join will work for years.. Until the spot gets hot enough and you get a fire. Just because it's working doesn't mean it's safe by any means...
Doing unlicensed electrical work is like keeping snakes off license. Any tool can do it, but there is a right way and a wrong way

All work should be competed slowly, properly and with attention to detail.

As I said earlier. If you aren't comfortable doing it, don't.

 

[J-A-X]

*note to all the young ones reading this part of the thread*

Just because you are 'comfortable' doing something, it doesnt mean you should do it ! !

"playing around'' with something that could potential harm you or the ones you love is never a good idea.

Sorry Sax, snowman and dead cricket,(and some others) I've just re-read this thread and it occured to me that we get a lot of Juniors on APS that might take some of our light hearted comments the wrong way.

 

[DeadCricket]

Thats a good point.

I have lots of experience with electronics and understand how they work. My experience and knowledge is what makes me comfortable working with these things. Electricity is a dangerous thing that shouldn't be played with.

 

[Snowman]

Agreed. 14 years as an electrician and 4 as an electrical designer and I still double check my work.
Can never be too careful.

 

[J-A-X]

Thanks guys, i dont want to see a headline 'youngster died doing something he read on the internet'

Training is the key. that way you know what the potential dangers are and can do your best to avoid them.

To get back onto topic a bit more.... I'm still trying to hunt down some decent size core flute. my brain has been running riot since this thread started, thinking of the potential for these freeform heat mats, im not having any luck sourcing it though...

 

[JungleGuy]

Yeah, the only way I found to source the larger sizes (10mm) has been to order 3600mm x 2400mm sheets which seems a bit over kill for my current needs. Are sign makers the only sources to get it from or is it used in other industries also? Anything i was wonder is how strong is it, as in capacity to hold weight, because I'm thinking about designing and building a rack with core flute as the shelving.
Cheers Tim

 

[Snowman]

Yeah, the only way I found to source the larger sizes (10mm) has been to order 3600mm x 2400mm sheets which seems a bit over kill for my current needs. Are sign makers the only sources to get it from or is it used in other industries also? Anything i was wonder is how strong is it, as in capacity to hold weight, because I'm thinking about designing and building a rack with core flute as the shelving.
Cheers Tim

Yeah that's the size I got. But for under $90 you will only ever have to buy one sheet for a long long time.

 

[JungleGuy]

Do you think it would be possible to make a rack using core flute as the shelves? I think I will probably reinforce the coreflute by mounting aluminium channel around the sides of each shelf, but i'm still worried that the weight of the tubs will cause too much flex...

 

[saximus]

It depends how you attach it. It's really strong longitudinally but slightly less the other way. You could always stick two pieces together for each shelf and have the corrugations running perpendicular to each other

 

[Snowman]

Do you think it would be possible to make a rack using core flute as the shelves? I think I will probably reinforce the coreflute by mounting aluminium channel around the sides of each shelf, but i'm still worried that the weight of the tubs will cause too much flex...

Absolutely. The 10mm stuff is very strong.

 

[JungleGuy]

Yeah, I was planning to run it longitudinally to make the the heat cord run the entire width. I might order a sheet of 10mm and give it a shot in the holidays and make heat panels with my left overs. I'll keep you all updated with how I go.
Cheers Tim

 

[DeadCricket]

This stuff is also used as packing for pallets of all sorts of stuff. If you look into the transport industry you may find some

 

[Ricardo64]

I don't want to steal any ones thunder I came up with something using a heat cord and three ceramic tiles.

You want the three tiles to be about 300 x 300 mm.
Cut one tile into lengths about 1/2 to an inch thick (you need to cut enough strips to cover the entire base of another tile.
Glue the strips that you cut to the base of the other tile with a 8 mm gap between the for the heat cord.
Weave the heat cord between the gaps then place th last tile on top and you has a ceramic heat mat.

 

[Snowman]

Tiles and heat cord is nothing new.

 

[browny]

so how has everyone's plans gone for this? or has every idea fallen into the too hard basket?

 

[saximus]

I've got two of them running and they work fantastically. Only trouble is it seems like 10mm is almost impossible to find so anyone who isn't comfortable trimming the plastic off the end of the heat cord probably gave up

 

[Snowman]

yeah I'm using them and so is a mate of mine... So easy and cheap!
Maybe I should start ebaying 10mm coreflute in 400x400 squares.....

I don't want to steal any ones thunder I came up with something using a heat cord and three ceramic tiles.

You want the three tiles to be about 300 x 300 mm.
Cut one tile into lengths about 1/2 to an inch thick (you need to cut enough strips to cover the entire base of another tile.
Glue the strips that you cut to the base of the other tile with a 8 mm gap between the for the heat cord.
Weave the heat cord between the gaps then place th last tile on top and you has a ceramic heat mat.

That's nothing new. The tile sandwich is the original heat cord pad.