Such information for free!! I'm planning on using my mom's broken hair dryer to make a hot air soldering station but I don't know shit about heating elements until i stumbled upon this video. Thanks!!
glad it helped!! thats one of the limitations with the calculator, but the relationship between amperage and temperature is relatively linear as you go below 200*F. So depending on what gauge wire you're using, just figure out the degrees per amp, and extrapolate from there. The other thing I'd recommend is do in-field testing. You might be surprised at how much heat is lost to the environment, and 200*F might end up being a decent temperature. shoot me an email if you have more questions
Thank you SO much for this! I am a complete novice to this stuff, and am trying to make a small hand-held foam cutter (4" span, 24 gage NiChrome) I tried the suggestion from another video of using a wall wart and the one I used toasted itself after about a minute. (30v-500ma) I thought all I had to worry about was achieving the required wattage, without regard for max amps of the transformer. After watching your video I have a better understanding of the relationship between all the variables and their limitations. Again, thank you for your explanation! I will now be building a purpose built power supply using the information here. VERY Helpful!
***** You're most certainly welcome! Glad you found it useful :) You'd be surprised how many people contact me through email or youtube asking why their wall warts and/or door bell transformers burn out. Check out my website, I have lots of more diagrams, videos and tutorials on there if you need some cutter design inspiration. I personally use a step-down transformer from jacobs-online.biz and after a few years I haven't had a problem yet!
I'm a sparky by trade and i ran into this video while doing some research on nichrome wire which i will be using to make a forced hot air blower to test heat detectors. Anyways, enough about my crap. I gotta give props where they are due. I wish this video was around back in the late 80's, early 90's when i was starting my apprenticeship. Great video. Clear and easy to understand, as well as having someone with excellent speaking skills, i have to say this is one of the best instructional vids i have seen on this site. Very nicely done.
Thank you very much. Many years later I would like to make comment on the equation circle shown in video 1:27 min. In V section, I think equation V=square root(P x V) is not correct. We would like to find V, but in the formula V is written if it is known parameter. Accordind to my idea, formula should be V=square root(P x R) because, P= ( V x V ) / R V=square root( (( V x V )/R) x R) V=square root ( V x V ) can be obtained. Also I section I=square root(P/V) is not correct. I = square root ( P/R ) should be. Thank you very much again.
Interesting vid, I need a hot wire to warm up a nail for a thermal scope, As it is out in the field I need to use a battery to warm the wire that I will coil around the nail. If I were using a 9v battery what gauge wire would be best to get the max amount of time for the wire to stay warm before the battery drains, I'm not looking for huge temperatures like you need for cutting, I'm looking for around 100 degrees just to warm up the nail that will be pushed through a hole in a metal plate.
Hi, I would like to ask if I had 12V with 5A power supply what size Nichrome Wire do I need and what is Length the exact measurements can handle of a Nichrome Wire??
This video has helped me out a great deal! I am trying to find a way to heat an object using NiChrome, but the problem is, I only need it to be about 80-90 *F. . .any idea on how I can keep the temperature that low? I tried messing with the calculator displayed toward the end of the video, but I cant seem to get the temp below about 200 *F. . .
truthfully, I have never used spring coils, but electrical law is the same regardless. You can test your circuit's resistance, and then use the same calculations. I've used lots of different nichrome configurations over the years, and a coil should not be any different. Good luck!
Thank you so much! I will definitely be doing some more research and experimentation with all this. Any ideas where I can get some NiChrome wire for fairly cheap? I feel like I'm going to be buying quite a lot to experiment with different gauges. . .
How can I calculate a power supply for a strip (not a wire)? I have 2 strips of stainless steel (approx. 3 x 0.5mm, 300mm in length), crimped on both ends with a ring (Rn = 3.3 and 2.7 Ohms). It's used in plastic bag sealing device and I bought it as a spare part for a few dollars. I need to make a plastic bag sealing device for a project. As far as I know - it should be heatened to 220-240 deg. Celsius for that purpose. How can I calculate how many Amps I'll need to heat it to this temperature range?
Why does nicrhome wire behave inversly to copper conductors. Because it resitance decrease as its diameter increses which is complete opposite to copper conductors
I understand the formulas but I have a hard time understanding where each variable comes from, and when to use it. If I’m trying to find a power supply sufficient enough to heat a 1” flat piece of Nichrome ribbon to high temps. How would I use the formula after I have the resistance of the nichrome?
Hey Marc, the variable you're missing is the amperage it takes to heat 1" flat piece of ribbon wire. I don't have the amperage ratings, but you can try jacobs-online (dot) biz. He might have the coefficients. Once you have the amperage rating for flat ribbon wire, you can use the resistance to calculate the voltage. You can by pass the calculations if you get a variac transformer, they usually have very high wattage ratings, are cheap and will heat damn near anything. Be careful at voltages above 45 volts, as that will penetrate dry human skin. Good luck!
Thank You For the Great Video. I do have a Question . I have in my position a laptop charger, it is 120 V AC 60 HZ AND 46 W, THE OUTPUT IS , 15 V DC 1000 mA , MY Question is I will use 12" Long Nichrome wire , What is the most suitable l thickens or Gage wire ? I also do have 120 V 600 OHM Dimmer swithc with on and off on it. I thank you in Advance
no problem! Jump over to my website and there is a full materials section that has links to all the nichrome wire, power supplies, etc etc. jacobs-online is the best source!
couse im using 30 inch cutter with 12 v battry charger. (probably this carger gives more that 12 v to charge bataries. Like 13,2) and this charger have realy high amp capasity. at this program max temp on 12 volt(tryied 13.2 too) about 450 celcius. it makes 900 fahren. I think its u high ha? its cutting every kind of foam like butter and its just fast as u can imagine but it smokes man even after cutting prosses the particules on the wire are smoking. i think i have 2 much volt on it but i have no change to reduce it. and i realy want to use this power suply. so u have any idea how to reduce volt...or i gana go and but smaller diameter wire to increase resistance.
FYI -- That calculator is pretty much useless these days since it relies on Shockwave (which has been discontinued and is not supported on most modern browsers due to security risks).
I bought 0.3 mm nichrome wire and try to make a foam cutter with a 9 volt battery but it doesn 't get red hot. Can someone help me how much volts it needs to get red hot and how many centimeters of wire?
Hello! Head over to the website, there is a lot of beginner and advanced information available for you. If you have any questions, feel free to get ahold of me through the website. That will be easier than RUclips system
Design is exactly the same. The only difference on 120 versus 240 is going to be your selection and usage of power supply. You'll always want to look for the power supplies output wattage and max amperage rating to see if it can supply your circuit. Good luck!
yes, hot wires can cut polyurethane and polystyrene. The PU foams are "open cell" which means that the small air gaps will slow the cutting speed, but the PU easily melts with hot wires.
Hello Mark! Hop over to the main website, there is a lot of helpful information there to calculate your power requirements. Please contact us through the website email address, which is easier to provide advice than this website. Thanks!
So tell me why you explain temp =resistance x current then show a table that only relates the gauge of the wire.. why does electrical shit always give you a table to work off of where you have to do more work than necessary to figure out what your solution is? Nec does it all the damn time.. and shits different for different locations.. but why not give a table that directly relates the wires resistance values and current to temp?? Also who is really going to go through calculating a defined temp for the project application based off of an estimated theory of finding the resistance of the wire without physically measuring the ohms with a meter?? Is part of the reason i dropped my electronics engineering degree back in the day.. unnecessary bs to go through where human error is statistically 75 times more likely to occur if estimating values from calculations made through estimated values which compounds itself when progressing through multiple layered circuits rather than the overall 15% error if solutions are obtained through physical measured and documented values in the application.. and if the shits being built than you have your test points there so why the fuck am i going to sit down and spend all the time on paper before just to test myself and verify that i did good math when an actual value can be skewed via oxidation or something thereby assfucking all that time spent gettin a solution with a value that is physically incorrect? Many times ive seen a lead engineer bring the schematic to a build and when somethings different they say “ooh yes that sounds right because of the added x effecting y so z is different than the schematic” so fucking go home then, your math does nobody any good now and a +\-% error is only meant to be used for devices not for their schematics Unless random values are desired.. fuck sake... am i wrong in my logic ? If so then oop, my bad..
Such information for free!! I'm planning on using my mom's broken hair dryer to make a hot air soldering station but I don't know shit about heating elements until i stumbled upon this video. Thanks!!
glad it helped!! thats one of the limitations with the calculator, but the relationship between amperage and temperature is relatively linear as you go below 200*F. So depending on what gauge wire you're using, just figure out the degrees per amp, and extrapolate from there. The other thing I'd recommend is do in-field testing. You might be surprised at how much heat is lost to the environment, and 200*F might end up being a decent temperature. shoot me an email if you have more questions
Thank you SO much for this! I am a complete novice to this stuff, and am trying to make a small hand-held foam cutter (4" span, 24 gage NiChrome) I tried the suggestion from another video of using a wall wart and the one I used toasted itself after about a minute. (30v-500ma) I thought all I had to worry about was achieving the required wattage, without regard for max amps of the transformer. After watching your video I have a better understanding of the relationship between all the variables and their limitations.
Again, thank you for your explanation!
I will now be building a purpose built power supply using the information here.
VERY Helpful!
***** You're most certainly welcome! Glad you found it useful :) You'd be surprised how many people contact me through email or youtube asking why their wall warts and/or door bell transformers burn out. Check out my website, I have lots of more diagrams, videos and tutorials on there if you need some cutter design inspiration. I personally use a step-down transformer from jacobs-online.biz and after a few years I haven't had a problem yet!
I'm so lost if anyone can help. I have 33' feet of 18 gage 0.42190 ohm's per foot my desired temp is 35'C
I'm a sparky by trade and i ran into this video while doing some research on nichrome wire which i will be using to make a forced hot air blower to test heat detectors. Anyways, enough about my crap. I gotta give props where they are due. I wish this video was around back in the late 80's, early 90's when i was starting my apprenticeship. Great video. Clear and easy to understand, as well as having someone with excellent speaking skills, i have to say this is one of the best instructional vids i have seen on this site. Very nicely done.
The SI units for this are ρ=(RA)(L¯¹)
Where
ρ = Resistivity
R = Resistance
A = Area (Cross-sectional)
L = Length
I would donate if I could - i can not. thanks for your knowledge. Very good.
Great video !!
thank you for the information
Thank you for such an informative and easy to understand video.
Great video. Full of Great info and easy to understand.
Thank you! Great video. :)
Thank you for the clear explanation
Best of the Best explanation
Nicely explained thankyou
for 100' C and below what should be the current rating ? (not mentioned in chart)
Thank you very much. Many years later I would like to make comment on the equation circle shown in video 1:27 min. In V section, I think equation V=square root(P x V) is not correct. We would like to find V, but in the formula V is written if it is known parameter. Accordind to my idea, formula should be V=square root(P x R) because, P= ( V x V ) / R
V=square root( (( V x V )/R) x R)
V=square root ( V x V ) can be obtained. Also I section I=square root(P/V) is not correct. I = square root ( P/R ) should be.
Thank you very much again.
thank you
I’m astonished nobody else is talking about that mistake!!
Interesting vid,
I need a hot wire to warm up a nail for a thermal scope,
As it is out in the field I need to use a battery to warm the wire that I will coil around the nail.
If I were using a 9v battery what gauge wire would be best to get the max amount of time for the wire to stay warm before the battery drains,
I'm not looking for huge temperatures like you need for cutting, I'm looking for around 100 degrees just to warm up the nail that will be pushed through a hole in a metal plate.
Hi, I would like to ask if I had 12V with 5A power supply what size Nichrome Wire do I need and what is Length the exact measurements can handle of a Nichrome Wire??
Amazing!!!
Please help me. Provide me the link of calculator..I could not find
What makes nichrome wire adds heat
Thank you.
You are wonder friend, thank you so much
@Generalsplatton hahah i think Phil's Law is effective in any applied situation, it is VERY versatile..!
Thank you. Great video.
Unfortunately there seems to be no way to use the calculators.
Hi, this example refers to D.C. Source. What about the application on AC source? For example, roaster
This video has helped me out a great deal! I am trying to find a way to heat an object using NiChrome, but the problem is, I only need it to be about 80-90 *F. . .any idea on how I can keep the temperature that low? I tried messing with the calculator displayed toward the end of the video, but I cant seem to get the temp below about 200 *F. . .
Good day, please excuse my nonsensible question but can I use the same formula for nichrome spring coils? :D Thank you
truthfully, I have never used spring coils, but electrical law is the same regardless. You can test your circuit's resistance, and then use the same calculations. I've used lots of different nichrome configurations over the years, and a coil should not be any different. Good luck!
Thank you so much! I will definitely be doing some more research and experimentation with all this. Any ideas where I can get some NiChrome wire for fairly cheap? I feel like I'm going to be buying quite a lot to experiment with different gauges. . .
very useful to students community
Happy to help you and your students!
Excelent!!!
clearly understand thank you sir
I wonder if I could use Nichrome wire to make a heated seed propagator?
How can I calculate a power supply for a strip (not a wire)? I have 2 strips of stainless steel (approx. 3 x 0.5mm, 300mm in length), crimped on both ends with a ring (Rn = 3.3 and 2.7 Ohms). It's used in plastic bag sealing device and I bought it as a spare part for a few dollars. I need to make a plastic bag sealing device for a project. As far as I know - it should be heatened to 220-240 deg. Celsius for that purpose. How can I calculate how many Amps I'll need to heat it to this temperature range?
😀👍
Why does nicrhome wire behave inversly to copper conductors. Because it resitance decrease as its diameter increses which is complete opposite to copper conductors
Apna muja ak halp Kar saktha ha kay
Phil's Law states; P+C=T Phone plus Cash equals Toy. When did you learn Greek?
Will it work with 12v DC battery?
I understand the formulas but I have a hard time understanding where each variable comes from, and when to use it. If I’m trying to find a power supply sufficient enough to heat a 1” flat piece of Nichrome ribbon to high temps. How would I use the formula after I have the resistance of the nichrome?
Hey Marc, the variable you're missing is the amperage it takes to heat 1" flat piece of ribbon wire. I don't have the amperage ratings, but you can try jacobs-online (dot) biz. He might have the coefficients. Once you have the amperage rating for flat ribbon wire, you can use the resistance to calculate the voltage. You can by pass the calculations if you get a variac transformer, they usually have very high wattage ratings, are cheap and will heat damn near anything. Be careful at voltages above 45 volts, as that will penetrate dry human skin. Good luck!
LetsCutFoam thank you I’ll check it out. What would be a good variable transformer to use? I searched them online and there are so many kinds
Thank You For the Great Video. I do have a Question . I have in my position a laptop charger, it is 120 V AC 60 HZ AND 46 W,
THE OUTPUT IS , 15 V DC 1000 mA , MY Question is I will use 12" Long Nichrome wire , What is the most suitable l thickens or Gage wire ? I also do have 120 V 600 OHM Dimmer swithc with on and off on it. I thank you in Advance
Hello Antwan, please check out our website for additional information, recommendations and suppliers of everything you'll need.
no problem! Jump over to my website and there is a full materials section that has links to all the nichrome wire, power supplies, etc etc. jacobs-online is the best source!
This program can be used to open the calculator: fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/flashplayer/updaters/32/flashplayer_32_sa_debug.exe
thanks for video. So what is the ideal tempeture for cutting foam on this wire ?
couse im using 30 inch cutter with 12 v battry charger. (probably this carger gives more that 12 v to charge bataries. Like 13,2) and this charger have realy high amp capasity. at this program max temp on 12 volt(tryied 13.2 too) about 450 celcius. it makes 900 fahren. I think its u high ha? its cutting every kind of foam like butter and its just fast as u can imagine but it smokes man even after cutting prosses the particules on the wire are smoking. i think i have 2 much volt on it but i have no change to reduce it. and i realy want to use this power suply. so u have any idea how to reduce volt...or i gana go and but smaller diameter wire to increase resistance.
How many amps do we need to calculate in order to generate the idea temp to cut foam?
Amperage depends on the gauge of wire, but you need around 400*F to cut foam
FYI -- That calculator is pretty much useless these days since it relies on Shockwave (which has been discontinued and is not supported on most modern browsers due to security risks).
I bought 0.3 mm nichrome wire and try to make a foam cutter with a 9 volt battery but it doesn 't get red hot.
Can someone help me how much volts it needs to get red hot and how many centimeters of wire?
Hello! Head over to the website, there is a lot of beginner and advanced information available for you. If you have any questions, feel free to get ahold of me through the website. That will be easier than RUclips system
Sir, please explain the same with home electricity.. AC 230 to 240 volts and how to design the same..
Design is exactly the same. The only difference on 120 versus 240 is going to be your selection and usage of power supply. You'll always want to look for the power supplies output wattage and max amperage rating to see if it can supply your circuit. Good luck!
i hope i will understand this amazing video someday sorry im such dumb haha...
Pro tip : watch series at KaldroStream. Me and my gf have been using it for watching loads of movies these days.
@Otis Kamden Yea, have been watching on kaldrostream for since november myself :D
@Otis Kamden yea, I've been watching on KaldroStream for since november myself :)
Can it help cut PU foam.
yes, hot wires can cut polyurethane and polystyrene. The PU foams are "open cell" which means that the small air gaps will slow the cutting speed, but the PU easily melts with hot wires.
I'm so lost if anyone can help. I have 33' feet of 18 gage 0.42190 ohm's per foot my desired temp is 35'C
Hello Mark! Hop over to the main website, there is a lot of helpful information there to calculate your power requirements. Please contact us through the website email address, which is easier to provide advice than this website. Thanks!
So tell me why you explain temp =resistance x current then show a table that only relates the gauge of the wire.. why does electrical shit always give you a table to work off of where you have to do more work than necessary to figure out what your solution is? Nec does it all the damn time.. and shits different for different locations.. but why not give a table that directly relates the wires resistance values and current to temp?? Also who is really going to go through calculating a defined temp for the project application based off of an estimated theory of finding the resistance of the wire without physically measuring the ohms with a meter?? Is part of the reason i dropped my electronics engineering degree back in the day.. unnecessary bs to go through where human error is statistically 75 times more likely to occur if estimating values from calculations made through estimated values which compounds itself when progressing through multiple layered circuits rather than the overall 15% error if solutions are obtained through physical measured and documented values in the application.. and if the shits being built than you have your test points there so why the fuck am i going to sit down and spend all the time on paper before just to test myself and verify that i did good math when an actual value can be skewed via oxidation or something thereby assfucking all that time spent gettin a solution with a value that is physically incorrect? Many times ive seen a lead engineer bring the schematic to a build and when somethings different they say “ooh yes that sounds right because of the added x effecting y so z is different than the schematic” so fucking go home then, your math does nobody any good now and a +\-% error is only meant to be used for devices not for their schematics Unless random values are desired.. fuck sake... am i wrong in my logic ? If so then oop, my bad..