sizer heater question - DIY guys

[johnh57]

I'm making up a heater for my Lyman 450. I have a 100 watt cartridge heater inbound. I found a chunk of 1" aluminum plate for the heater body (final dims about 4" x 5" x 1".) I have dimmer switches / wires etc. The one question I have is the cartridge heater itself. Should it be 'potted' so it's tight to the walls of the heater plate, or is not too tight/not too loose good enough? I think the cartridge is 9.5 mm - which is right at 3/8". I suspect if I drill it out with a 3/8 drill the hole will be a small amount oversize. I could probably pot the thing with some solder paste and turn it on end and on high for a while. It wouldn't be a lot of fun to remove it if should ever burn out.

[Frozone]

The heat will transfer to the aluminum without a tight fit.
Just make it a simple slip fit and things will be fine.
Remember twist bits don't make round holes. You will probably want to lap out the hole to fit.

[Cane_man]

i just laid a 300w cartridge heater on top of the AL plate (this is a mounting plate) right next to the press and it worked fine... literally just laid it on top of the plate without mounting it... i was using a PID set at 105F and in about 10 minutes i was lubing boolits... i was amazed how well it worked

[R.M.]

Considering the Lee 10 pounder uses a 500 watt heater to melt lead, I think a 1K heater is a bit over-kill. A pot will be needed for sure.

[lcclower]

I got a 100w heater (1/4" x 3" approximately) off Fleabay and hooked it up to a thermostat for an electric water heater from Lowe's... mounted on a scrap of 1/2" aluminum plate.

[johnh57]

RM - it is 100 watt heater - not 1000 watt. I was just wondering how much of a problem it might be if the cartridge is slip fit into the hole - vs soldered in place or something to make the heat transfer 'cleaner'. Even at 100 watts I suspect there will never be the need to go above about 25% on the dimmer switch. Since I'm not using a PID I suspect the biggest problem will be to not get impatient and crank it up to get things moving and end up with a sizer full of goo that has to cool down before you can use it!

I get a cartridge diameter of 0.3685 on the micrometer.

[bstone5]

Picture of Lyman 450 with heater and light dimmer with indicating light.

The light gets bright the more the light dimmer voltage is increased.

The junction box mounts to the aluminum plate, the dimmer, male plug and indicating light are all mounted to the junction box..

There is a box mounted male plug on the back of the junction box so a small extension cord is used to power the heater.

The plate was drilled and taped where the Lyman 450 is bolted to the plate.

The plate was drilled from the back same side as junction box so the rod heater is under the lube holding chamber.

The arrangement works good, the heat is turned up high to get started then the heat is at about 25% for normal operation.

[boltons75]

I did two, one was a slip fit held in place with a set screw. My heater I made for my star I had to press into the hole. They both work great.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

The one question I have is the cartridge heater itself. Should it be 'potted' so it's tight to the walls of the heater plate, or is not too tight/not too loose good enough? I think the cartridge is 9.5 mm - which is right at 3/8".
Loose is fine.

I build industrial control panels for a living, over the 20+ years I've done this, there have been several panels I built that power heating elements like you have discribed, they are always mounted in a machined hole, either loose fit or "press in" snug fit. Primary reason is so they can be replaced.
Jon

[johnh57]

Bstone - pretty much exactly what I'm building. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to hard mount the dimmer switch to the plate, or leave it loose so I can mount it under the desk or what. I'm leaning to leaving 18" of cord wire between the plate and the box so I can mount the box out of the way. Undecided as to the light.

Jon B - Thanks. That helps. Snug slip fit it is!

John

[USMC87]

I made one for my star and the cartridge was'nt that snug so I put a little jb weld on it and it was fine.

[johnh57]

Well, I have it to the point where you can push the cartridge in with a little resistance. Set on about 50% the plate was up to 167 degrees in about 20 minutes. I think I'll call it my Binford 2000 plate heater. May have to fashion a stop on the dimmer switch so it can't be turned up high enough to be a problem.

I put the dimmer on a 18" cord and then a wall cord from the box.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

i did the same thing works great 68088