Wayneh, I agree with your concern. I have no intention of rewinding anything. I'm hoping to be able to put 2 or 3 new or used off-the-shelf assemblies into a series that will heat the nichrome wire safely and reliably. Regarding your comments: Thanks for providing that analysis of the problem. I haven't, in fact, been taking resistance into consideration, and I need to know more about the interaction of voltage and amperage before I can go any further with this. I need to go over your formulas and di324's to nail down what I need and what I can afford. This has been a big help.