Pipe heating cables

[Red]

They sell heating cables of various lengths to attach to a metal pipe
to prevent freezing. If a heat cable is 6ft long and rated at 40
watts, how hot does the cable feel to the hand if the cable was not
attached to a pipe? IOW, could they be used to keep other things warm
than just a pipe?

[David L. Martel]

Red,

The heat tape that I'm familiar with comes with a thermostat. It cycles
between 38 and 45 degrees F.
If you need it hotter than that perhaps you can bypass the thermostat and
use a timer or buy an adjustable thermostat, I guess. This stuff is not
meant to get really hot. They do make hotter pipe tapes.

Dave M.
"Red" <Red...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7f65dd52-b5e6-49ba...@pu9g2000pbc.googlegroups.com...

[mike]

Sure!

If you expect an answer you need to actually ask a question that
has an answer.

This is not difficult to determine for yourself.
Take a 40W light incandescent bulb.
Grab it tight and hold on. Turn it on.
You'll have your answer in less time than it takes
to call the burn unit for advice.

[Ralph Mowery]

"Red" <Red...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7f65dd52-b5e6-49ba...@pu9g2000pbc.googlegroups.com...

There are many kinds of heating tape. Some with thermostats , some that are
self regulating for temperature, and some that are rated for so many watts
per foot.

What does warm mean ? It could be just above freezing all the way to just
off the cook stove warm.

[Red]

Dumb answer. A heating cable with 6w/ft with protected covering is
not the same as touching a light bulb.

[Red]

On Jan 30, 4:28 pm, "Ralph Mowery" <rmowery28...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> "Red" <RedA...@hotmail.com> wrote in message

That's why I asked about the pipe style heating cable. Picture wise
it looks like 10/2 romex electrical wire rather than tape. There is
tape that is wound around a pipe and there is cable that is attached
parallel to the pipe. But I'm wondering how much heat reaches the
cable surface before it's transferred to the pipe.

[mike]

ALL of it. Where else can it go but out to the surface?
The box has all kinds of warnings about how NOT to use it.

[mike]

OK,
Wrap it around your arm. Make sure the sensor is cold enough to be on.
Wait. Report back with your good arm.

If you don't say what you're trying to do, nobody can
tell you not to do it.

[harry]

Yes.
There are lots of different technologies though.
Some have a simple resistance wire.
Some have two wires and the heater is between them and continuous.
They can be cut to the required length.

Some need a thermostat and some don't.

You need to get read up on the manufacturers info.

[harry]

All of it.
Insulation is applied on top of the tape.
How hot it gets depends on ambient temperature and the properties and
flow of whats in the pipe.
Also the nature of the pipe itself.

[nestork]

Red:

If you're wanting to keep other things warm, just buy a battery blanket
(for keeping a car's battery warm in winter). To control the amount of
heat, make up a simple cord with the dimmer switch for an incandescent
light spliced into that cord. Plug the cord with the dimmer switch in
it into an outlet, and plug the battery blanket into the cord with the
dimmer switch. That way you can control the amount of heat with the
dimmer switch.

I've made my own beer for well over 25 years. Where I live, it can get
chilly enough indoors (in the winter) that it can be hard to get proper
fermentation. I have a variety of "mullion heaters" for refrigerators
that I use to warm up the primary fermenter to get the beer fermenting.
Some mullion heaters are only 15 watts, and I can just plug them in to
an electrical outlet and they produce enough heat for what I need.
Other mullion heaters are 45 watts, and they'll get too hot, and stop
the fermentation. So, for the 45 watt mullion heaters, I simply mount a
dimmer switch for an incandescent light in an electrical box, and splice
that electrical box into a cord between male and female cord ends. That
way, I can simply plug a night light into the female cord end to see if
the dimmer switch is passing electricity or not (cuz you push the dimmer
switch dial it to turn it off). If it is, then I just adjust the dial
to a midway setting, and plug the mullion heater into the female cord
end instead of the night light.

Since mullion heaters were used to warm various parts of fridges to keep
frost from forming in those areas, and nowadays they use the condensor
coil tubing to provide the heat, mullion heaters are no longer widely
available in appliance parts stores. By, you can use a battery blanket
for a car instead, and it should work equally well.

Hope this helps.




--
nestork

[Red]

Thanks, good answer. That's probably the route I'll take.

[jamesgang]

> Thanks, good answer.  That's probably the route I'll take.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

If you told people what you were trying to keep warm you'd get better
advice.

[Red]

On Jan 31, 2:13 pm, jamesgang <jamesgan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> If you told people what you were trying to keep warm you'd get better
> advice.

The project was not in the "home repair" category but the object in
question was. <grin>

[nestork]

Alternatively, you can always buy an electric blanket. It's basically
an electric heater built into a blanket. I'm sure Sears would sell
them.




--
nestork

[cjg...@gmail.com]

Mike your a good example of what an abortion could have saved the rest of the world

[jlod...@gmail.com]

under a moble home can the heat pipe cable feel slightly warm near the plug if the tape is on and its cold outside say 30 degrees

[jlod...@gmail.com]

[jlod...@gmail.com]

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

[jlod...@gmail.com]

[Pl...@plonk.plonk]

On Tue, 22 Nov 2016 05:59:35 -0800 (PST), jlod...@gmail.com wrote:

>
>>
>
>under a moble home can the heat pipe cable feel slightly warm near the plug if the t
>ape is on and its cold outside say 30 degrees

P L O N K

[Ronald E Tyler]

replying to Red, Ronald E Tyler wrote:
say can check my heat cable by feeling if its warm near the plug under my
moble home

--
for full context, visit http://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/pipe-heating-cables-734758-.htm

[Ronald E Tyler]

replying to mike, Ronald E Tyler wrote:
just trying to see if my heat cable under my mobile home is still working ?

[Ronald E Tyler]

replying to mike, Ronald E Tyler wrote:

*I'm trying to see if my heat pipe cable under my Mobile home is still turning
on and working *

[do...@windsong.ws]

Actually that's a stupid answer. The light bulb concentrates the heat in a small area while the tape disperses it over it's length.