Gallery, Projects and General > How do I??

Electric heater for hot air engine?

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shipto:
what about a 3d printer hotend heater?

vtsteam:
Dave, I didn't realize there were low voltage versions of those. Thanks! I had one of the wall plug versions of those in college. If I remember correctly they warned that they would burn out if not immersed. Nice form for the purpose, though. A coil of about the right size.

I will also need to insulate around the heater, so kind of the opposite of the need for cooling on those immersion heaters. Thanks, though, I appreciate all suggestions!  :beer:

vtsteam:

--- Quote from: shipto on March 11, 2025, 01:46:43 PM ---what about a 3d printer hotend heater?

--- End quote ---

Dwayne, I don't know. I don't have one. I do kind of remember a hot air engine that was heated by I think some kind of soldering heater coil. It was in an old Model Engineer article -- back in the day when Dennis Chaddock was judging the Hot Air Engine Competition. I don't know if I'm remembering that correctly. I think the heater was used to prove out longevity of that modeler's engine. He ran it continuously, until deciding his electric bills were suffering!

 :beer:

shipto:
not sure what wattage they go up to but I was thinking you could run a couple in a aluminium housing that clamps to the end of the stainless with some insulation so you dont waste the heat.

vtsteam:
Well Dwayne, if I had some I'd know better. I think I'm going to move forward on the homemade coil and plaster bedded idea.

I did try the reptile heater, and that was a dismal failure. I tried letting it heat the displacer for 20 minutes and finally gave up.

 

That thing put out so little heat, I could actually hold my hand two inches in front of it, and it just felt warm. This despite all the manufacturer's dire warnings about minimum distances, and letting the bulb cool for an hour before handling it. It didn't even warm up the back of the firebox -- 1/8" steel plate a couple inches away, after 20 minutes.

Oh well. Maybe I can use it to keep greensand from freezing overnight in this early spring, in case I want to do some casting........ which I kinda do. .....been awhile....

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