Lumber sizer heater?

[RED BEAR]

Any one tried heat tape ( the kind for water lines) to heat a luger sizer? Bought a three foot heat tape and going to wrap it around rsbs lubematic and give it a try not sure it will work but for $6 going to give it a try. Just wondering if any one else has tried it.

[country gent]

Most of them don't recommend crossing the tape over it self hen installing it so you may have a lot of extra tape. Not sure how hot it actually gets

[Beagle333]

I haven't tried that. The best cheap heat I have found is a Thrift store lamp with a small heat bulb in it. Just any "bendy-neck" or adjustable desk lamp and a small bulb like you would put in the oven hood and it will warm the luber up pretty nicely in a few minutes. (gotta put it close...... 3-6 inches).

[Bmi48219]

All the heat tape I've seen is pretty low temperature. Like 40 to 50 F. Don't know what temp you need for lube sizer.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Or get a properly sized power resistor powered off AC power, and bond it to the sizer, with a thermostat you should be able to get it to a nice temperature and keep it there. PID isn't really needed I'd think.

[RED BEAR]

have ordered a 3 ft tape so overlapping should not be a problem. did not realize that was all they heated (40 to 50) may not work. i keep using o rings pretty quick rcbs sends them free but would like to fix it so they would not keep getting destroyed. still going to give it a try already ordered tape it was only $6 so no great loss if it does not. thanks for the feed back gave some food for thought.

[Mike W1]

FWIW I set my PID for 125° using LBT Blue. Most rooms are warmer than 50°!

[Mr_Sheesh]

I'd assume that was 50 degrees Celsius tho = 112 F

[parkerhale1200]

214466214467

An old solder iron, between 50 and 100 watts wil work(220v 100w that mine...usa has 110v?)
Costed me around 4 euro~3,5 dollar(price 2018! btw).
An alu block from the scrapheap-was free.
Works almost 20 years for me now.
I put it on for ca 5 min, and it wil be good for almost an hour

Best

The air cylinder was shere pure luck- free- fits and works.

[Paper Puncher]

Lots of inexpensive ways to heat up the sizer. Anything that generates heat and can conduct it to the sizer will work.
A hair dryer or heat gun can be used to heat up the sizer. Reapply heat as necessary.
An old incandescent light bulb laid against the sizer. Add a dimmer switch to fancy it up.
You can use an old clothes iron. Mount the sizer on a metal plate large enough so that you can place the iron on the plate and use it to heat up the plate and sizer.
You can use a heat cartridge (120 volt 100 to 300 watt). They are about 3/8" diam( really cheap on Ebay). I used a piece of 1/2 aluminum to mount the sizer to. Drilled a hole in the aluminum plate and stuck the heat cartridge in. To control temp you can just turn it on and off. Use a light dimmer (rheostat). A PID is overkill but hey it was fun to make.

[jbohio]

214707

[LenH]

I got an oil pan heater for about $13 from Amazon, that and a lamp dimmer switch from Home Depot and was set.

[Uncle Grinch]

I disassembled a coffe cup warmer, you know the little coaster style, and mounted it on my lubrisizer which has a piece of 3/8 aluminum plate under it. It has an off/on switch and works amazingly well.

[Tom W.]

I just bought a Lyman heater when I bought my lubrisizer a bunch of years ago. While I've had to replace O-rings and a few other parts on the LAM-2 the heater just rocks on. Probably the only good thing I've bought that had Lyman written on it.

[RED BEAR]

Lot of good ideas. Being a bit of a pack rat I have some of this stuff around and will give some of it a try. Thanks for the help.

[Walter Laich]

I use this in conjunction with my heater to keep the temp constant

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OE-Temperature-Controller-Thermostat-Aquarium-STC1000-Incubator-Cold-Chain-LP/272962816563?hash=item3f8dda0a33:g:8fEAAOSwDuJWvtC j

It's in C° but all you have to do is convert your needed temp to C° once and just leave it there. The temp will never know the difference

[luis7]

Hi.
That´s mine. 215195

[6bg6ga]

It really amazes me the extent some reloaders will go to simply to save $15. In the quest to save a fist full of dollars one also needs to consider the functionability and the cost of operation. Sometimes the cost of operation and inefficiency will very quickly pay for an inexpensive tubular heat cartridge.
My personal PID control that I made many years ago uses a 400 watt cartridge that has a very low run time. Generally it runs a max of about 6 minutes in my loading room that is roughly 55-60 degrees during the winter. Mine runs and heats a 1/2" thick aluminum plate that is roughly 11 X 11" the aluminum plate does a good job of heating consistantly and seems to maintain the heat very well. Maybe I didn't need 400 watts of heat but when the PID calls for heat it gets it in short order and is able to maintain a more constant heat thru the operation of the sizer in my opinion.

[sghart3578]

"It really amazes me the extent some reloaders will go to simply to save $15. In the quest to save a fist full of dollars one also needs to consider the functionability and the cost of operation. Sometimes the cost of operation and inefficiency will very quickly pay for an inexpensive tubular heat cartridge."


That really shouldn't surprise any one. I'm sure all of us have cobbled together stuff and spent a ton of time and money trying to save $10. It's part of being a dude and tinkering in the garage. Ha!

[6bg6ga]

Actually I thought some of the reloaders might be ahead of the **** I pulled. I used to try to make something up and generally it did neither save time or money and as a result I ended up finally just doing the project correctly with less time and money spent.

[mazo kid]

Back when I was still working (electrician) I worked some time in computer rooms servicing A/C units. When a compressor would burn out, I would scavenge the small tubular crankcase heater from it. Drilled a 3/8" hole in a piece of 1/2" aluminum plate and shaped it to the footprint of the lube-sizer, bolted the two pieces together on the bench. Works quite well on 120 volts.