So I see they have heating pads, Flexible Heat Film, and Thermostats (HERPSTAT 1, VE-200, & Jump Start MTPRTC).
I'm very familar with Kanthal A1 Resistance wire.
I'm very familar with the resistances of Kanthal A1 Resistance wire.
So the chart shows 26 AWG highlighted. From the official site, listed in the link above the thumbnail.
It shows a resistance of 3.21 Ω/Ft.
I need it in Ω/mm.
12" x 25.4mm = 304.8mm / Ft.
3.21Ω / 304.8mm = 0.01053149606299212598425196850394 Ω/mm
Got it.
Now my Container, that I'll be keeping the feeder insects in needs an internal tempature of 75°F - 85°F.
The higher the tempature, "85°" ideal, the better, and the more likely they'll bread.
They are feeder insects for my Adult Female Chinese Praying Mantis (Tenodera sinensis)
They can also be used for other reptiles, bearded dragons, etc. etc. etc.
Anyways, winter is coming. It gets cold up here, and I want to learn how to do this before then.
I've already built a prototype heating pad, using an EVGA 430 Watt PSU, connected to the 12V rail.
The limit of the 12V rail is 35A, and I have an inline 30A fuse installed on that rail, not to mention, the PSU has built in fuse protection, etc.
That doesn't say crap about the fact that my title says 120VAC. Now does it.
I'm going to use 120VAC in the end.
The heating pad will be low wattage, VERY LOW.
With the pad that I made already, calculating the resistance of the Kanthal A1 26 gauge wire before installing it, I calculated for 2 Watts.
This is what I got.
So clearly, I know how long the resistance wire needs to be, in order to hit a target wattage.
So I wanted to hit 2 Watts, using the 12V rail on the EVGA 430 Watt PSU.
My main goal was to read 85°F (29.44°C) on the board.
I did it.
I also know how to program simple programs in Visual Studio 2010, coding in VB.NET.
So to do all these MAIN calculations, I made a piece of software.
Makes things almost too easy.
So now that all that's out of the way, I want to use 120VAC as my power source.
I would also like to use an Optional Dimmer & Transformer.
The Dimmer can be found here.
The Transformer can be found here.
The Transformer data sheet can be found here.
What do I need help with?
A. I need more voltage, for the container I want to use, and the area I want to cover. 24" (L), 13" (W).
B. Because the 26 gauge resistance wire needs to be 630" Long. to cover that area.
C. But it's only going to be half heated. So 12" x 13" (W). The screws will be spaced 1/2"
Here's the math (C).
12" (L) / 0.5" Screw spacing = 24 Screws, per side.
Each screw holds 2 Wires. One on each side of the screw.
24 screws x 2 wires each = 48 Wires.
48 Wires x 13" (W) = 624 Inches.
Now the screws are 0.09" diameter.
Let's see how much wire is wasted per screw.
Circumference of the screw shaft.
3.141592 x 0.09" Screw Diameter = 0.28274328"
It doesn't wrap around the hole circumference of the screw, only half of it.
0.28274328 / 2 = 0.14137164" Wire wasted per screw.
0.14137164 x 48 Screws total = 6.78583872" of wire wasted total per screw.
624" + 6.785" = 630 Inches roughly.
Q1. Will the dimmer go from 0% - 100%?
If I need the dimmer to go to 1 Watt, will it?
I need help with the Transformer I've selected.
It has six 0.25" terminals on one side (Primary), and six 0.25" terminals on the other side (secondary).
It allows 115VAC / 230VAC Primary. It outputs 48VAC on the other side, with a secondary current limit of 5.4A, with a secondary
current limit of 130 VA, which is Volts x Amps. 115VAC x 5.4A = 621 Watts..?
So.. If it's only rated for 130VA (Watts), then.. idk. It's not really that important, but I'd like to learn about it if anyones willing to talk to me about the one I've selected. I would like to learn about it, for future projects, and also to learn a little about it. As easy as it might seem.
I'll use just the dimmer for this project. Seems easy enough.
So.. What do you think? Not safe I know.. I'll also use Felt for the top of the board, so the wires don't make direct contact with the
bottom of the Hefty 66-Quart Clear Tote.
I'm very familar with Kanthal A1 Resistance wire.
I'm very familar with the resistances of Kanthal A1 Resistance wire.
So the chart shows 26 AWG highlighted. From the official site, listed in the link above the thumbnail.
It shows a resistance of 3.21 Ω/Ft.
I need it in Ω/mm.
12" x 25.4mm = 304.8mm / Ft.
3.21Ω / 304.8mm = 0.01053149606299212598425196850394 Ω/mm
Got it.
Now my Container, that I'll be keeping the feeder insects in needs an internal tempature of 75°F - 85°F.
The higher the tempature, "85°" ideal, the better, and the more likely they'll bread.
They are feeder insects for my Adult Female Chinese Praying Mantis (Tenodera sinensis)
They can also be used for other reptiles, bearded dragons, etc. etc. etc.
Anyways, winter is coming. It gets cold up here, and I want to learn how to do this before then.
I've already built a prototype heating pad, using an EVGA 430 Watt PSU, connected to the 12V rail.
The limit of the 12V rail is 35A, and I have an inline 30A fuse installed on that rail, not to mention, the PSU has built in fuse protection, etc.
That doesn't say crap about the fact that my title says 120VAC. Now does it.
I'm going to use 120VAC in the end.
The heating pad will be low wattage, VERY LOW.
With the pad that I made already, calculating the resistance of the Kanthal A1 26 gauge wire before installing it, I calculated for 2 Watts.
This is what I got.
So clearly, I know how long the resistance wire needs to be, in order to hit a target wattage.
So I wanted to hit 2 Watts, using the 12V rail on the EVGA 430 Watt PSU.
My main goal was to read 85°F (29.44°C) on the board.
I did it.
I also know how to program simple programs in Visual Studio 2010, coding in VB.NET.
So to do all these MAIN calculations, I made a piece of software.
Makes things almost too easy.
So now that all that's out of the way, I want to use 120VAC as my power source.
I would also like to use an Optional Dimmer & Transformer.
The Dimmer can be found here.
The Transformer can be found here.
The Transformer data sheet can be found here.
What do I need help with?
A. I need more voltage, for the container I want to use, and the area I want to cover. 24" (L), 13" (W).
B. Because the 26 gauge resistance wire needs to be 630" Long. to cover that area.
C. But it's only going to be half heated. So 12" x 13" (W). The screws will be spaced 1/2"
Here's the math (C).
12" (L) / 0.5" Screw spacing = 24 Screws, per side.
Each screw holds 2 Wires. One on each side of the screw.
24 screws x 2 wires each = 48 Wires.
48 Wires x 13" (W) = 624 Inches.
Now the screws are 0.09" diameter.
Let's see how much wire is wasted per screw.
Circumference of the screw shaft.
3.141592 x 0.09" Screw Diameter = 0.28274328"
It doesn't wrap around the hole circumference of the screw, only half of it.
0.28274328 / 2 = 0.14137164" Wire wasted per screw.
0.14137164 x 48 Screws total = 6.78583872" of wire wasted total per screw.
624" + 6.785" = 630 Inches roughly.
Q1. Will the dimmer go from 0% - 100%?
If I need the dimmer to go to 1 Watt, will it?
I need help with the Transformer I've selected.
It has six 0.25" terminals on one side (Primary), and six 0.25" terminals on the other side (secondary).
It allows 115VAC / 230VAC Primary. It outputs 48VAC on the other side, with a secondary current limit of 5.4A, with a secondary
current limit of 130 VA, which is Volts x Amps. 115VAC x 5.4A = 621 Watts..?
So.. If it's only rated for 130VA (Watts), then.. idk. It's not really that important, but I'd like to learn about it if anyones willing to talk to me about the one I've selected. I would like to learn about it, for future projects, and also to learn a little about it. As easy as it might seem.
I'll use just the dimmer for this project. Seems easy enough.
So.. What do you think? Not safe I know.. I'll also use Felt for the top of the board, so the wires don't make direct contact with the
bottom of the Hefty 66-Quart Clear Tote.