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Daniel writes "Make your own dimmer outlet for continuous fine temperature control of your Crock-Pot, Lamp, or other device using widely available, off the hardware shelf components." - Link.
Crock-O-Stat
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 2, 2006 08:27 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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Excellent! Simple, elegant, affordable - as I like it! Great control for a glue pot for us book building folks. Thanks Dan ;-)
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Nice project! You however should use a 2 prong outlet ... or a 3 wire extension cord to add the Ground! Don't hate the ground. It is important.
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Need to reiterate the importance of grounding this project, observe the maximum load rating of the dimmer and also NEVER use a dimmer on appliances with inductive loads like drills, refrigerators, fans, or even flourescent lighting. You will probably ruin your appliance or it could even start a fire.
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I also suggest using something OTHER than a steel bolt to secure the power cord in the gang box. Like glue. People need to be careful when working with household electricity and I think the linked post borders on irresponsible instruction.
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Mmyeah. 2-pronged plugs were SO 1950's ;-)
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Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but this is not a good way to provide temerature control. The rate at which the coil heats is going to be slower at a lower setting, but not how hot it gets -- it's not a thermostat. The point at which the temerature stabilizes will vary greatly depending on the ambient temerature, dew point, the heat dissipation properties of what you're heating, et cetera.
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Thanks for the comments.
I will make some changes to the instructions to include a three wire plug and ground the outlet.
I will also change the plans to remove the bolt, and instead knot the cord to keep it from backing out of the handybox, but in my defense, the bolt does not in any way penetrate the insulation of the cord. It is mearly to prevent the cord from backing out of the hole on it's own. I never claimed that the dimmer in any way "controls" the temperature. It is just a dimmer. Decreasing the temperature of the Crok-pot is the goal, which does mean it will reach it's steady state temperature more slowly, and yes, it will vary based on a number of factors. My goal was to be able to adjust this temperature myself rather than just having a "high" and "low" setting. Finally, the warning about not using a dimmer on inductive appliances such as flourescent lighting, refrigerators etc, is indeed correct, and I will add a warning to the instructions. Fan speed controls are available for inductive fans, but still should not be used for refrigerators, or flourescent lighting. Fair enough?
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My Crock-O-Stat page has been changed to include the suggestions I have received. If you still wish to make positive or constructive criticisms I would like to hear them. If you are just interested in flamming my project, please remember that this is a community, and we are all just trying to help each other and learn from each other. Thanks.
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Sorry, no offense was intended. I read your page and understood what you were doing, but from the comments I wasn't sure other people did. I was also speaking from my own experience; I built something very much like this last year in an attempt to adjust the heat of a neat but overly-heavy-duty soldering gun I have. I ran into the potential problems I listed. I have no doubts that yours works well for your purpose, though. Please accept my apology.
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I would personally have some concerns about running a crock pot heating element through a lamp dimmer. Be sure the crock pot wattage does not exceed that of the dimmer. I would be careful. This is not intended to be a flame.
I had a crock pot in college, and I used a variable auto-transformer, or variac :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variac
to control the heat level. Worked great. I think you can get them for about $30.
On another topic, someone should delete the comment spam.
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I'd like to thank the author of the article for responding to our concerns and hope no offense was inflicted as that was not my intention.
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this is a good example of projects getting better by sharing - yay makers.
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Thanks for the warnings about not using this for a fan--something i most likely would have tried. i was thinking hot summer night box fan control. anyone care to comment on why i shouldn't use this setup for a fan?
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Thanks for the warnings about not using this for a fan--something i most likely would have tried. i was thinking hot summer night box fan control. anyone care to comment on why i shouldn't use this setup for a fan?
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