First off, thank you for your time and I apologize for being so incredibly uninformed. I just don't understand this writing on this video (

). It appears he has ONLY the negative end of his suppply wire soldered to one end of the resistors in parallel. How is this possible and why is the other side of the resistor not connected to the positive wire to complete the circuit? I looks like he just wired the end together in a tail. Once again, THANK you for your time and any explanation would be appreciated.

 

hi Dylan,
Welcome to AAC.
I have watched the video a couple of times and he is not clear in explaining what he is trying to do.?
It appears he is trying to keep the feeder from freezing up with the heat from the resistor across the 5V supply.??
E

EDIT:
Photo shopping the image, the 4, 100R in parallel are connected to the Black and Red wires.
The Red wire colour is blending in with the Red colour of the feeder body, so its hard to see.

 

Hi Eric and Thanks for your response!! Yes, he's going cheap and heating the bottom of his feeder for winter which is exactly what I want to do ( $80 for 2 electric feeders or $10 DIY for multiple) I took a cropped image and I don't see the red wire and think that's the rim of the epoxy you're seeing. I only assumed the black wire was negative from this article (https://turbofuture.com/computers/Color-Coded-Wire-inside-the-USB) but that just doesn't make sense to me, but is it possible? Can he run the circuit with the wires at the other end of the resistors twisted off like as I see as a ground against the plastic? Perhaps your right, but I wanted to make sure before I replicate this for my hummers. Here's my Photoshopped and sharpened image.

 

hi D,
If I had a feeder I wanted to keep 'warm' the easy way would be to use a group of resistors, in parallel across the 5Volt supply at the feeder end.
The resistors would be in thermal contact with the feeder casing, so what he is doing is doing makes sense.
I would improve the covering insulation over the resistors, so that a lot of heat is not lost into the surrounding air.

The 4, 100R's [ 25R total, at 5V] only generate 1Watt of 'heat', only testing will show if thats enough for your local climate.??

E

 

He said it kept his thawed at super freezing levels, so for where I live, no problem. I still don't understand electronics enough to know if you can run a 5v current through the negative black wire (assuming that's negative from the article I shared earlier: https://turbofuture.com/computers/Color-Coded-Wire-inside-the-USB ) and if so, can you complete the circuit by tapering it off as I see in the video as a ground? I don't know if I'm explaining it well enough, so forgive me.

 

hi D,
On the USB cables I use Red is +5v and Black is 0V. [same as the note in the link]
To be sure for your cable you need to measure those wires with a voltmeter.
E

 

He said it kept his thawed at super freezing levels, so for where I live, no problem.

Why not just take the feeders in for the winter? To my limited knowledge humming birds are migratory, there will be none to feed in the winter/cold times.

 

I'm from oregon and they stay here through thick and thin. If it gets super cold to where their food source freezes for an extended period of time, they can die (super fast metabolism that requires fructose). They're really a fascinating bird and quite territorial. I aim to keep my local hummers alive without having to warm their water up numerous time throughout the day like last year. Here's the same guy using the feeder with the hummer present.

 

We don't get Humming birds in the UK, lots of Robin's, Blackbirds and common Sparrows.
I do feed and water them the all the year round, they don't migrate.
E
Dylan,
Lets know how the heater works out.

National bird.

 

lots of Robin's,

The N.A. Robin is much larger bird than the UK one, actually a member of the thrush family, same size as a UK Thrush.
Max.

 

I'm finding myself becoming more interested in electronics. It's intriguing to learn the basics. I understand DC circuits, but I suppose it's possible to have a open circuit (end of resistor in video not connected to negative wire) because it's powered by 60hz AC from the cell/usb plug... Not trying to kick a dead horse here, just curious if it's possible to leave the trailing end of the resistors in parallel, open and not connected to the negative wire.

 

So essentially the current would flow (just) past the resistors, generating the heat I desire without going full circle.

 

I'm finding myself becoming more interested in electronics. It's intriguing to learn the basics. I understand DC circuits, but I suppose it's possible to have a open circuit (end of resistor in video not connected to negative wire) because it's powered by 60hz AC from the cell/usb plug... Not trying to kick a dead horse here, just curious if it's possible to leave the trailing end of the resistors in parallel, open and not connected to the negative wire.

Open circuit = zero current.
Max.

 

I'm from oregon and they stay here through thick and thin

That explains it. Around here they migrate to Middle or South America. Oregon being near the Pacific it probably doesn't get as cold as it does here.

 

Hello,

Resistors need current all the time if they are to produce heat all the time and that means keeping the ice from freezing all the time, providing there is never any natural local warmup such as from the sun or something.

The best bet is to run them at one half of the rated power. That is so that if there is another warming source or it just isnt that cold out some time the resistors wont get too hot. Resistors run at full rated power get super hot and could easily reach 200 deg C and that's burn zone easy where you or the bird gets burned badly. Half power resistors just got hot, but wont cause a burn with a short time touch. The resistors have a better chance of long life also that way.

The resistor Ohmic value and power rating is chosen based on the available power supply voltage:
P=V^2/R

and for half power:
Phalf=V^2/R

so if you need 10 watts of heating with a 12v power supply:
10=12^2/R
10=144/R
R=144/10
R=14.4 Ohms or about 15 Ohms
so maybe you could use a 15 Ohm resistor rated for 20 watts (20 watts is twice the 10 watts you need to generate).

 

I'm from oregon and they stay here through thick and thin

I didn't know that and had to Google it.

https://www.beautyofbirds.com/hummingbirdsoregon.html

Don't recall ever seeing a hummingbird in the winter in the twenty some years we've been here, but we don't spend as much time outside then. Will be outside more this winter because I put several common goldfish in a pond and they're going to "hibernate", so I need to keep the pond from completely icing over.

 

Will be outside more this winter because I put several common goldfish in a pond and they're going to "hibernate", so I need to keep the pond from completely icing over.

Again things may be different in the North west. My mom and stepdad had small little pond that they put pet shop goldfish in. The pond was very small like 6' around and 2' deep. After the first summer those goldfish grew got to be 5 or 6 inches long. They didn't take them out that winter, thinking they would just get new ones in the spring. Next spring when the pond thawed, the gold fish were still alive, and it was cold enough that winter that there were people out on the local lakes ice fishing, a first for many years, so ice was probably real deep/thick in the pond.

 

A slight sidetrack of the OP's thread...

The pond was very small like 6' around and 2' deep.

My pond is about 6'x8'x2'. It can hold about 200 gallons, but I only put in 150 to allow for the rainy season.

After the first summer those goldfish grew got to be 5 or 6 inches long.

My fish were free from Craigslist; the largest was about 5". The boy who owned them told me I'd better take good care of them, so I'd rather that the ones I put out not die because one already died after moving. They were living in a 17 gallon tub (9 total). I put the 3 large ones, over 8" long, outside as soon as I got around to finishing the pond. It was too cool and they stopped eating and went into hibernation.

The small fish will spend the winter in the tub. My Wife isn't happy about that, but I don't want to kill them.

They didn't take them out that winter, thinking they would just get new ones in the spring.

I'd like to avoid die off. I've invested too much time in them to treat them like they're disposable.

"Experts" say the pond should be 3' to avoid freezing deaths, but I don't think we've had such hard freezes. My backup plan is to use a pond heater to maintain at least a small opening and a bubbler to keep the water oxygenated.

 

If I wanted to keep sugar water from freezing I would just consider an inexpensive heating pad like this one or like this one or similar. I would control using a simple button thermostat similar to this one. The NTE−DTO60 open 60 ±5°F Close 40 ±6°F Open on Rise would be a good choice. My understanding is that Hummingbirds migrate south during the winter? By the time we are seeing freezing temperatures in my area the little humming birds are long gone enjoying warmer temperatures. Anyway I would just wrap a pad around the feeder and control it. The above is under $10 USD and low voltage (12 VDC).

Ron

 

My understanding is that Hummingbirds migrate south during the winter? Ron

There used to be a theory that to get from Canada to Mexico they hitched a ride on the backs of migrating Geese.
Max.