heating element

[rodsvet]

I have a junk Cuisinart coffee maker that I salvaged the heating element from. The element is horseshoe shaped and is working. I jumped two wires to the element and plugged it into the wall plug. Within 2 minutes the horseshoe went over 500 degrees and my infared thermometer maxed out. I think it would have kept going and burned out. Has anyone here used these for a lube sizer heater with a dimmer switch or other limiting device? Or should I toss it as being too powerful? Thanks, Rod

[bangerjim]

Too much heat I would guess. And a Rube Goldberg like that is not what you want. You need some kind of temperature feedback to control the temp or you will end up with soup in your lubramatic!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Did you measure the current ?
you could calculate the wattage, then buy a controller.

I bet there was some type of controller in your coffee maker, eh ?

[odinohi]

I used a wood burning pencil. Worked great

[rodsvet]

I've built several using 100 watt cartridges. This element I knew was good and I hate to toss anything that might be useful. The coffee maker must have had some thing that regulated the heat, but it was a printed circuit board and no way to adjust it up or down. A dimmer switch will probably regulate it but I was just curious as to whether anyone here had used this type of heat source. Thanks for your thoughts. Rod

[bangerjim]

Coffee makers, depending on how the work, have a set point temp control set about 195F for flo-thru's or a little over boiling for percolators. Not what you are really looking for. That 100watt soldering iron stuck in a hole in your base probably would work. It heats all the time but the wattage density is low enough the heat will be dissipated by the base. Still, absolutely ZERO temp control. And a "light dimmer" will give no feedback control either. You have to guess at the setting on the dial and it will never cycle off and on to maintain the temp. I made something similar for a pyrography pen for a friend. Using a 500 watt dimmer, he could dial in a temp and sort of maintain what he needed. Kinda SWAG but it worked good nuff for him.

[6bg6ga]

Use it in conjunction with a PID for accurate control and it will work fine. I have a 400 watt element in mine and it holds within 1.5 degrees.

[KAYDADOG]

I posted this information about a month ago. For the price and correct wattage needed you can.t go wrong.
Like others stated to much wattage and the lube will run out. Hi wattage not required.
I used a 100/watt one from McMaster Carr #3618K416 current price $21.26.
1/4" dia. x 4" long. Drilled and mounted in 3/4" aluminum mounting plate.
Setup with PID controller. Cycles On/Off every several minutes but On time is probably less than a minute.
Setup back in 2010 no issues to date, works great.

[6bg6ga]

I've built several using 100 watt cartridges. This element I knew was good and I hate to toss anything that might be useful. The coffee maker must have had some thing that regulated the heat, but it was a printed circuit board and no way to adjust it up or down. A dimmer switch will probably regulate it but I was just curious as to whether anyone here had used this type of heat source. Thanks for your thoughts. RodRod, I've seen them with the element mounted inside a cavity ...top and bottom plate. They heat really fast and are probably in the 800-1200 watt range. The nice thing about a large element is your sizer is heated up really fast and is ready to use. The problem with the small wattage elements is you can turn them on and then go eat your breakfast and come back to your loading area before their heated up. I used 1/2" aluminum plate that was 14X14 on my last one. It is heated and is steady in a few minutes. The sizer that I know of with a coffee pot element in it is running a 3/8" plate on the top and bottom with enough space in between to sandwich the heating element. It works fine and is cheaper than purchasing a cartridge element.

[rodsvet]

Joe, thanks for the input. I will play with this for a while. I don't need a heater, but just like to fool around. How's that casting machine working?? Remember to leave it to me in your will!! Rod

[Mal Paso]

The Lyman factory lube heater is 20 Watts and it is more than enough. Twenty :grin:

[rodsvet]

Yeah, even 100 watts is more than enough. But I just like to play around with stuff. Imagine getting up to temp in 2 minutes instead of 20 or 30. Rod

[6bg6ga]

Yeah, even 100 watts is more than enough. But I just like to play around with stuff. Imagine getting up to temp in 2 minutes instead of 20 or 30. RodThis is my reasoning for going big. I get to temp really fast. Sure, I realize you can do it with a 20 watt heating element or a 100 watt but then again I don't have all day to wait so I can size and lubricate my bullets. Usually I have a small window of time that I can use and I need to make the most of the time I have. In the winter my loading room isn't heated and its usually around 55 degrees and those little elements would need to run for a long time before getting warm enough for me to do any work and when the PID cycles the temp goes far enough off the mark that I would have to wait for it to get to temp again before sizing again. So, what may work for some is totally unusable for others. Don't knock it until you try it. For me spending an additional $7 or $8 is worth the difference in time saved. Actually Rod has something good in his hands.... a free heating element and all it requires is a little more aluminum in which to make the base so that the entire element is inside a aluminum box and the additional cost of aluminum is going to run about $14 at junk yard prices and trade off is a piece of equipment that when warmed up is even in temp and this is an improvement in the cartridge type element that I have on one of my sizers.

[10x]

Use it in conjunction with a PID for accurate control and it will work fine. I have a 400 watt element in mine and it holds within 1.5 degrees.

This ^^^^

You can set up a Rex C100 PID controller (parts from china) for about $20.00 or less
Alliexpress can be your friend...