Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Heater Tape

modgod - 10-2-2012 at 18:01

I've been planning to construct a DIY heating mantle from NiCr coil and fiberglass insulation.

I just came across premade tape and rope heaters. They come in a whole slew of wattages and sizes/strengths, and above all they are inexpensive and run off mains power.

Would it be possible to use this instead of a mantle? The rope could even be further modified and sewn in to a mantle shape with a little extra fiberglass fabric to hold it together.

any feedback welcome, I done a search, but couldn't find anything about premade heating rope, my concern is they wont heat evenly and will be prone to hotspots.

modgod - 10-2-2012 at 18:07

Just looked a bit further and there are "dual element" heating tapes that are supposed to provide more even heating across the tape/rope, although they are roughly 3 times the price.

How does a temperature controller differ from a voltage controller?

the tapes come in 120v and 240v but are compatible with a temperature controller. Am I right in assuming that they can be run straight on 20/240 for full power, or with a voltage/temp controller to vary the temp?

thanks

Heating Tape

cal - 10-2-2012 at 23:18

All heating tape has to have a temp/power controller to reach the desired temp. Most electrical supply houses have them.

modgod - 11-2-2012 at 00:50


Quote:

All heating tape has to have a temp/power controller to reach the desired temp. Most electrical supply houses have them.



thanks for the reply, I realised that aswell, although a bit late :)


Another quick question, rather than start a new thread I'll ask here. I found quite a few american companies selling cheap glassware on Amazon, even some offering free shipping to UK.

The price difference between sellers on some identical items is crazy, a 200mm Liebig Condensor from one seller is going for around $20 another seller for $80. What justifies the huge difference in price, does the quality of glassware vary that wideley.

Has anyone else ordered of amazon?

Hexavalent - 16-2-2012 at 11:20

There have been numerous discussions on these kinds of things, if you'd bothered to read them then you'd know.

Either use the search engine or use google and go '(topic) sciencemadness'

[Edited on 16-2-2012 by Hexavalent]