moddy
the mod
I've used 26ga Beadalon as a heat element before but not for a sole. Riding in 25 degree weather for an hour got me a light dose of frost nip, I've recovered from it two weeks later.
Having warmer feet has always been a desire of mine, just never spent the time to do it. I know there's a few of you who might benefit from something like this.
Let's look at what went into it, if you thought you'd like to try it.
My wife had some quilted material that had a thin layer of batting with the red fabric on the other side as well. Having worked with Beadalon before I knew that the 3 strands of 6ft in parallel would be close to the 12watts I was looking for. I stripped 1/4 inch from each end of the 3 strands and it measured 14ohms. With an ohms calculator 13.5 v and 14 ohms revealed .95A. Though I tested this with it on the floor, I would not put it in my boot without a regulator to keep from getting burned. That's right. This is wire for making necklaces. There is no electrical data for this wire, available for around 10.00 for 100ft, coated in pvc. It just so happens to have around 7 ohms per foot.
So, if you don't put so much juice through it, and get hot enough to cook the coating off of it, you'll be fine. Test it before you go on a ride, to know how warm it will get. Before I came into a Gerbing heated jacket, pants liner and troller I made a direct connect warming jacket that drew about 24w. I could simply plug it in while riding if it got cold enough, or unplug it when it warmed up.
Now that I have the ability to regulate the amps, when I have the heated pans line and have connected my heated soles to it, they won't be able to get too hot, or too cool. The purpose of targeting as close to an amp per sole is that's what commercial soles are rated, so I know the troller will be able to handle it.
If you look close enough, I sewed a peripheral edge with the same zig zag pattern as the one I sewed the 3 wires in place with. I thought it would help the whole things stay together with continued use. I cut the same pattern as the heat element out of fleece to go on as a topper.
I'll be making another one. The idea at first was to place the wire without it being under the pressure points of the heel and ball of the foot. With three strands together the pvc could wear off while being stepped on and short. So, the next time I intend to wire it will a single wire, so if the insulation were to wear off, it wouldn't be able to short to another one.
So, without a careful layout the next time, I can have the same heat with three strands in a parallel circuit, just not run in parallel together. Since using these 3 strands I have run out of wire. When ordering more, I did find the 26ga (.46mm) I was used to working with, however I chose a larger gauge that was available, close to 24ga (23.5, if I had a choice). The benefit to this with less ohms per foot is a longer single wire run can be made that will produce the same heat. The goal would be to make a suitable heat source without as much wire. More to come..
Having warmer feet has always been a desire of mine, just never spent the time to do it. I know there's a few of you who might benefit from something like this.
Let's look at what went into it, if you thought you'd like to try it.
My wife had some quilted material that had a thin layer of batting with the red fabric on the other side as well. Having worked with Beadalon before I knew that the 3 strands of 6ft in parallel would be close to the 12watts I was looking for. I stripped 1/4 inch from each end of the 3 strands and it measured 14ohms. With an ohms calculator 13.5 v and 14 ohms revealed .95A. Though I tested this with it on the floor, I would not put it in my boot without a regulator to keep from getting burned. That's right. This is wire for making necklaces. There is no electrical data for this wire, available for around 10.00 for 100ft, coated in pvc. It just so happens to have around 7 ohms per foot.
So, if you don't put so much juice through it, and get hot enough to cook the coating off of it, you'll be fine. Test it before you go on a ride, to know how warm it will get. Before I came into a Gerbing heated jacket, pants liner and troller I made a direct connect warming jacket that drew about 24w. I could simply plug it in while riding if it got cold enough, or unplug it when it warmed up.
Now that I have the ability to regulate the amps, when I have the heated pans line and have connected my heated soles to it, they won't be able to get too hot, or too cool. The purpose of targeting as close to an amp per sole is that's what commercial soles are rated, so I know the troller will be able to handle it.
If you look close enough, I sewed a peripheral edge with the same zig zag pattern as the one I sewed the 3 wires in place with. I thought it would help the whole things stay together with continued use. I cut the same pattern as the heat element out of fleece to go on as a topper.
I'll be making another one. The idea at first was to place the wire without it being under the pressure points of the heel and ball of the foot. With three strands together the pvc could wear off while being stepped on and short. So, the next time I intend to wire it will a single wire, so if the insulation were to wear off, it wouldn't be able to short to another one.
So, without a careful layout the next time, I can have the same heat with three strands in a parallel circuit, just not run in parallel together. Since using these 3 strands I have run out of wire. When ordering more, I did find the 26ga (.46mm) I was used to working with, however I chose a larger gauge that was available, close to 24ga (23.5, if I had a choice). The benefit to this with less ohms per foot is a longer single wire run can be made that will produce the same heat. The goal would be to make a suitable heat source without as much wire. More to come..
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