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Rheostat

B

biblefreak

New member
I read with great interest the thread on the $7 rheostat made from parts obtained at Wal-Mart. I was tempted to give it a shot as I am a hands on electronics kind of guy (Kinda my profesional field!) Anyway, never one to be happy with what I find, I always look for "What else can do this but easier?" when I can. What I cam up with, for $8.93 from Wal-Mart is a lamp dimmer. Made to plug into an existing outlet to control the brightness of a single plug in lamp, it is the perfect solution for a single tank UTH. It is made by a big name company Leviton, is UL listed, is aestheticaly pleasing, small and has a six foot cord. Yes, it is $2 more, but take into consideration time, needed tools and materials, I think it is very worthwhile.

It can be found at Wal-Mart in the same isle that the single gang hardwired dimmers can be found.

Justin
 
Just bought one of these dimmers yesterday. So far it's working well but I'll need to watch it for a while to decide whether I trust it completely. Good call. :)
 
I have been using one for several weeks now. I need to adjust it every now and then, but it works quite well.

It always stays closer to the lower end of the setting and maintains about 82 degrees.

Certainly worth the extra 2 dollars
 
Anyone ever try to hook a thermostat (like the kind that you have on your wall to control your furnace) up to a UTH? I would that with a digital one, you could control your temps a little better.

More work? Yes. More $$$? Yes. But for a tech dork like myself, it might be worth trying just to see if it works :laugh:
 
TrpnBils said:
Anyone ever try to hook a thermostat (like the kind that you have on your wall to control your furnace) up to a UTH? I would that with a digital one, you could control your temps a little better.

More work? Yes. More $$$? Yes. But for a tech dork like myself, it might be worth trying just to see if it works :laugh:
Click to expand...


It wouldn,t be a bad idea, and wouldn't be hard to create. The only thing you would have to take into consideration is the thermometer is built into the thermostat and only measures the ambient temp. of the air around it. You would have to find a unit that has some sort of remote probe, then wire the UTH through the thermostat so it would shut off or on when the temp. at the substrate was high or low respectively.

Here is another idea- I am a commercial alarm tech by trade. We use some temp sensors for IT rooms and critical temp area's that have a form c relay built in. The unit uses 12VDC and has remote probes and with the addition of another form c relay rated for 120VAC it could be done. But that would probably cost near $75 or so, it may be worth it to buy one! I will research it a little more and let you know what I find.
 
Just some hunting and poking, but it looks like it would cost a little over $100 after parts, shipping, some type of enclosure, power supply etc. It would be fun to make, but not sure it would be worth it!

Justin
 
do what i do, pick up all your supplies at garage sales/flea markets/2nd hand stores. you can find great deals there. i once got a 60 gallon tank for 5 dollars. all it had were calcium stains because it previously housed fish.
 
biblefreak said:
I read with great interest the thread on the $7 rheostat made from parts obtained at Wal-Mart. I was tempted to give it a shot as I am a hands on electronics kind of guy (Kinda my profesional field!) Anyway, never one to be happy with what I find, I always look for "What else can do this but easier?" when I can. What I cam up with, for $8.93 from Wal-Mart is a lamp dimmer. Made to plug into an existing outlet to control the brightness of a single plug in lamp, it is the perfect solution for a single tank UTH. It is made by a big name company Leviton, is UL listed, is aestheticaly pleasing, small and has a six foot cord. Yes, it is $2 more, but take into consideration time, needed tools and materials, I think it is very worthwhile.

It can be found at Wal-Mart in the same isle that the single gang hardwired dimmers can be found.

Justin
Click to expand...

Handy little things arnt they..
 
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