Bending pipe heated with 6x6 Omega blanket

[Dave Bagwill]

oops

[Dave Bagwill]

A few questions before I plug in:

1. Is there any reason I cannot hold the pipe in my parrot vise? It feels very secure.
2. The oven thermometer - does it have to be in contact with the aluminum sheet that wraps the heating blanket?
3. I'll be bending or snapping some cocobolo bindings. Can you suggest a good temperature; should I soak them overnight; anything else?


Thanks

[ken cierp]

does it have to be in contact with the aluminum sheet that wraps the heating blanket?

I think so -- seems that's the surface that is actually transferring the heat.

[Dave Bagwill]

Scratching my head over the wiring, please see questions on the pic attached.

Mainly - what do I do with the two leads from the blanket? Is that where the white wire at the top of the pic is heading?

I'm gonna try and plug it all in tomorrow, if I can get that wiring right.
Thanks

[John Parchem]

Scratching my head over the wiring, please see questions on the pic attached.

Mainly - what do I do with the two leads from the blanket? Is that where the white wire at the top of the pic is heading?

I'm gonna try and plug it all in tomorrow, if I can get that wiring right.
Thanks

From what I could see

Ac power should go into the timer and the output of the timer into the dimer or router speed controller and that output into the wall outlet. The blanket is the plugged in device in the picture. The light is just an indication that it is on and how much it is on.

The dimer should probably be a router or rotary Variable speed controller not a dimer.

[Dave Bagwill]

Ok. It was that single white wire going into the timer that threw me. If that is the ac power it should have two wires, I would have thought. Maybe just the camera angle.
Thanks John.

Ken - anything to add to this before I electrocu......I mean, before I successfully pull this off??

[ken cierp]

John P - an incandescent light dimmer handles over 600 watts, plenty for a heat blanket and certainly enough for the small pipe unit. We have many units using this system.

Dave pictures of your wiring would be best

power cord White/common wire to the white side of the outlet --- Power cord black wire into the timer - black out of the timer into the dimmer - black out of the dimmer to the black side of the outlet. Tie all the greens together ---- done.

The function of the timer and the dimmer is to alter/interrupt the current and path of the "hot" black wire.

The blanket is the orange wire plugged into the outlet along with the pilot.