Too much time on my hands!!!

[Bill*]

That's what I'm told! I realized our coffee pot wasn't very hot anymore because the heater plate was covered in rust that kept the pot from full contact. We got a new one and I tore the old one apart. Hmmmmm..... nice heater element, switch, and cable. Touched it with my multimeter thermocouple and it says 555 deg. F. This thing could pre-heat molds ;). I scrounged around the shop, wasted a few hours, and came up with this.
I probably could have bought a hot plate for a lot less than this cost me in shoptime, but what the heck....it's raining out so I killed the morning "puttering around"
Ohhhh....it cost 9.95 + Tx for a TINY tube of Radio Shack thermal compound to ensure good conductivity to the alum. sheet the mold is sitting on. ( probably the price of a cheap hotplate in itself:) )

[deltaenterprizes]

Great idea!

[RP]

very nice but its made better than the hotplate I bet

[HotGuns]

Now THAT is cool...

or HOT rather...


I like it! Excellent job!

[Willbird]

Are those elements up to running at 555 for any length of time ?? The thing is made to boil water and to keep the coffee at a temp something under 212 degrees.

Bill

[Bill*]

Willbird; I didn't change anything in the wiring, just "repackaged" the heater coil, switch, and plug. It'll still be doing what it did in the coffee pot. I think maybe it makes that much heat because it had to keep a 12 cup carafe full of coffee hot through a (rusty) round steel plate instead of a little alum. disc to hold a mold? If it burns up I'll post that too :cry: <-----not too proud to admit failure....Bill :mrgreen:

[Buckshot]

................The fact remains that YOU made it from something anyone else would have added to the pile of refuse outside of town. You got to use your mind and your hands. Nothing wrong with ANY of that.

................Buckshot

[454PB]

I made a lubrisizer heater out of a coffe maker heating element. As you say, it was trash anyway, and it works great!