Any heating apparatus suggestion ?

Hi !

In your opinion, what would be the best heating apparatus to generate 200°F temperature during 15 days long, not too expensive, reliable and able to be programmed ?

Quote :

..what would be the best heating apparatus to generate 200°F temperature during 15 days long, not too expensive, reliable and able to be programmed ?

For heating (130/200°F), as well as keeping the dew cool (65°F) during the dew collection period *and having automated digital control* you may consider..

200°F - use a lab incubator/oven with digital controls. these items usually price up in the thousands to tens of thousands but I've found one as little as 400 dollars doing a simple search on "google shopping" for the keyword *lab oven digital*

65/130°F - use a mini fridge that has digital controls and heating capabilities - very easy to find on google. Simply take out any shelves, set your flask inside and close the door. Being that it is digital you can specify an exact temperature (ex. 65°F) and remove only to add more dew until the flask is sufficiently filled. Once the flask is filled you can change the digital temp. from 65 degrees to 130 and immediately begin the heating cycles. mini fridge with heating abilities cost about 100 dollars

..im not 100% sure that these equipments above will not alter the outcome. but i thought i'd share since no one has replied this thread yet.

of course if anyone thinks heating in an enclosed environment is a bad idea.....please let me know.

Great info, thanks.

You can purchase a good chemical hotplate here

http://www.labdepotinc.com/c-96-hot-plate.php

(NOTE: the following is mere suggestion and personal ingenuity. I have not actually tried this. But I don't see how it couldn't work)
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I would also recommend constructing an actual sand bath over this hotplate. It will allow you to control the temperature more easily. You'll need the hotplate, a saucepan, fine sand (which can be purchased at any hardware store, but I would recommend terrarium sand because it can take the heat better), and a cooking thermometer to monitor temperature. Place the sand in the sauce pan and put it on the hotplate. Place the thermometer in the sand to keep track of actual temperature. Keep in mind that the actual temperature in the flask will be slightly less than what you read on the thermometer.
~

So there you have it.

Hi,

I've gotten good results from " GE Single Burner " # 169163 , From WalMart.
The price is right under $20 {US}.
The Single Burner keeps the Temp Variance at about 1 Degree F , once you find it.
I just placed the larger glass container { about $12 US} on an old microwave turntable glass
{to keep the pressure of the combined weight from breaking the glass jar bottom} and put the
water {from warm tap water that was at 120 F { 50 C }} in it and the dew bottle.
Then with the warm water on the glass I just turned the Control Knob untill I heard the click come on { that means the internal thermostat kicked on at that temp} and bearly moved the Control Knob
back {just a hair}. With the therometer { about $7 US } inside the large glass container, I just checked it about thirty minutes later and moved the Control Knob either up or down depending on the Temp I want. Give it about 30 minutes between turning the Control Knob to allow the heat to reach the water in the interior of the large glass container. Then check the Temp before readjusting .

All of these items were bought at the same store [ WalMart }.
Total cost $20 + $12 + $7 = $39 plus tax
I already had the old microwave turntable glass.

Also all the items work for the 200 F degree sand bath also! I just bought another set for the sand bath.

Note; The "GE DUAL BURNERS" for some reason DID NOT KEEP THE TEMP CONSTANT !!
LARGE VARIANCE IN TEMP!! Thats only the 2 burner combination.

THE SINGLE BURNER WORKS GREAT!

I tried the electric blanket also but all that I could buy had automatic cut offs after 30 min. ;And They Did Cut Off!

Hope This Helps You


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Hey Storm, that's an excellent peice of advice. I'm only confused about one thing. you said you placed the microwave plate on bottom to keep the combined weight from breaking something, but I don't see what would be in danger of breaking.

Thanks,

The large glass container has a concave bottom ; also the outer rim of the bottom is larger than the surface of the single burner. The combined weight would possibly fracture the large glass container , thus resulting in a loss of all your work. The microwave turntable glass is much larger and strong enough to hold all of the contents without breaking.

You could also us a large piece of metal that is a little larger than the large glass container.
I used an old large table saw blade as the base on one of my other balneo marys{water baths}.

One of my other burners has a 2000 ml pyrex glass beaker on it. The beaker has a small enough bottom diameter to fit on the burner without the need for the other supports.

A reminder , please do not place a Cold glass on a burner that is already Hot , as that would usually result in a fractured glass. Bring the temp up after you have placed the glass on.

Best To You

Great advices! That's very nice to all of you

Thanks a lot

FYI I ordered from Labdepot and please note it takes a VERY long time to get a digital hot plate. I placed an order over a month ago and have not received it. I emailed them three times to get a status and they gave me the response that they are merely the middle man and the manufacturer drop ships the orders. This pissed me off and I have yet to get my order. Just wanted to mention it because anyone making the alkahest has timing in mind for obtaining their chosen heat source. Some of the other suggestions are great...

Traci

Quote :

In your opinion, what would be the best heating apparatus to generate 200°F temperature during 15 days long, not too expensive, reliable and able to be programmed ?

I' m using a small electric oven that was hanging around the house and pluged it into a cheap lighting dimmer. By controlling the dimmer, you can get whatever temp you need. By the same way you can convert a simple heating plate to a controlled one. Note that the wattage of your oven or heat pad should not exceed the wattage for which the lighting dimmer is rated (typically 1000W).



This oven here had no thermostat. It had a timer but I blocked it easily as you may see at the second knob . The dimmer was fairly easy to connect, I just cut the power cord and connected it in between.

Since yesterday, I am trying to find a lab hot plate on Ebay.com. Most of them are from the USA. Sometimes brand new ! The advantage of such equipment consist in using it for both Balneo Mary and sand bath. Considering the long day & night heating period needed these "scientific" hot plates should be more safe too and prevent any fire risk.

I really feel like looking beyond the mirror ! ... What about you?

Peace and love,

Philippe

From walgreens drug store you can get a hotplate for only 10 bucks. One member of my IAO group just filled a box with sand and put the bottle inside, then focused two light bulbs on the box very close to it. This got it right up to 200F.

Thanks for this info,

Now How would you guys deal with Electric shortage?

It´s a long process and you might get shortage on the way due to many causes.

And depending where you are you might get some hours or days off.

( Hurricanes , tornadoes, flooding etc )

I was wondering that for the 130F a small no break would solve the problem for a few minutes

but as for the 200F, that´sa lot of Watts.... So you´ll need a large NO break

a 2000 KVA maybe. that will hold the device for some 4 -6 hours , but in case

of a Katrina.. forget it. The process will be lost I guess.

well you can do what the oldtimers did, use horseshit. Like any compost pile it gets up to 160-180 F. You'd have to stay on top of it, have a couple of piles going. Aren't you glad you live now?

philalethes wrote:

well you can do what the oldtimers did, use horseshit. Like any compost pile it gets up to 160-180 F. You'd have to stay on top of it, have a couple of piles going. Aren't you glad you live now?

AHHHH YES, There is nothing like the smell of horseshit in morning.
I like that, "stay on top of it"

Philalethes, my friend your alright.

As are you Magnum. May we all find that for which we have been so long looking.

Dallas, ey? Did you know my old pal Nintzel?

thanks for the suggestion!

Quote :

well you can do what the oldtimers did, use horseshit. Like any compost pile it gets up to 160-180 F. You'd have to stay on top of it, have a couple of piles going. Aren't you glad you live now?

ROTFLMFAO

I am so glad to see that people still have a good sense of humor. Hmm. Eternal life...from horseshit. Who knew?

I am going to try to use a crock pot with sand, it'll take a week or so to get the 200f temperature just right. Then I'll tape the knob down to keep from accidentally moving it and just plug and unplug it as needed. As for the 130f I'll use a heating pad as per NDC's suggestion.

Good suggestion.

I found these here:

http://www.crock-pot.com/Category.aspx?cid=113

Maybe the right one should be that with temperature control.

Yeah I have one of those CrockPots in a box staring at me.
But it just has "Slow Cook, High Medium and Low" no automoatic regulation so unless it runs just right on "high".

Would one of these do the trick? Any reson why not?

http://www.johnlewis.com/230364384/Product.aspx

Keeping the outgoings down, this may help?

Buy a dimmer switch (round would be best), a plastic single outlet connection box , also a cover plate if it doesn't come with one, and a cheap electrical extension cord. Cut the cord about 1 foot from the FEMALE end, and strip both ends. Connect the male end to the power in on the dimmer switch, and female on power out. Screw dimmer switch and plate onto box. Put crock pot on high and when you find the temp is right tape the knob down on the dimmer switch and use a perm. marker to put tick marks on the knob and plate so that you can line it up in case something happens . I haven't tried it like this but this was my plan anyway.

Variac is adjustable power "dimmer." Standard in labs.

Here is a low end one for $50. Watch Ebay for "variac." This is a 5 Amp model, which will handle 550 watts (amps x 110v = 550 watts). My crockpot is only 150 watts so this small size is fine. For heating mantles you need bigger variac. Just check the wattage.

http://webtronics.stores.yahoo.net/ensavat.html

LOL. Back in the day when we went to PRS with Frater A, everyone was looking for used hotplates, crockpots, etc. Now that I threw all that sheiss away, gotta find more. Good thing I kept the industrial size Variacs!

Dear philalethes and Goatz,

In my search for the heating apparatus I´m trying to find something that I can control the temperature and something that Doesn´t consume so much energy especially in the 200F
cicle. I found that The unexpensive Heating plates like the GE that someone alreay mentioned
earlier costs little , but they can consume up to 1000 or 1500 Watts, This thing turned on for 15 days can get your electric bill very high.

I think one should take care with the crock pots also, thay are very energy consuming, some of them have 3 temperature positions, but like you said the only way to get accurate is trough a variac. But the Variac must handle the high wattage, otherwise it will overheat and you´ll transform copper into burned amperes smell .

On the other hand I found some lab devices that can be quite handy, maybe not so cheap
like the hot plates but there are some capable of balneo mary from 32 to 220 F expending only from 180 to 300 Watts. Also those have digital temperature control. But they might be a little more costly.

Conclusion being that the hot plates might be cheaper to get, but can get your bill up, and plus you ´ll also need a big variac and a big No break .

The other equipment might be costly, but you ´ll pay a smaller electrical bill and a small computer No break will help with the electrical shorttage on the way.

Look at this lab bath here its a 190Watts device and goes up to 350Degrees Celcius.:

http://www.hipperquimica.com.br/index2.php?menu=3&view=465

Guys, Take a look here also,, good info:

http://www.ilpi.com/inorganic/glassware/heatsources.html