Variable resistor wanted

Oct 31, 2006 5 Replies

Or a rheostat or a potentiometer. I am a UK woodworker looking to make a branding iron with 600 watts of heating element which i would like to control (as in a knob on a box). But i cannot find such an item for industrial use. Any suggestions please.



Have a look at:

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Or ebay item 220043588131, or equivalent.

This looks like an application for a variable autotransformer such as a Variac or Powerstat.

Bill

-- Fermez le Bush

Or a simple lamp triac lamp dimmer as long as the capacity is safely over 600 watts.

Alternatively use an SCR pair (back to back) -cheaper, smaller and lighter than a variac as waveform is not important in a heating device. Go to alt.electronics for ideas.

Triacs are fine for this kind of application. But do not expect to pick up weak stations on your SW receiver. The switching produces rf interference and poor power factor. That is no big deal at 600W.

Bill

-- Fermez le Bush

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