A simple and inexpensive do-it-yourself heating element. Heating element (12 volts): types, characteristics, purpose

In this tutorial, I will show you how to make a small electric heater that runs on 12 volts and consumes 80 watts of power. It gives a good warm breeze which is enough to warm your hands. The mini heater is very easy to make, made from a computer cooler in less than 30 minutes.

Heater parts and tools

Details you will need:

Computer fan 12 V, with dimensions 40x40x10 mm.
Wire for connection, not less than 1 square millimeter in cross section.
Approximately 1 meter of thin nichrome wire can be taken from a burnt hair dryer.
Approximately 15 cm thick copper or steel wire.
A piece of sheet metal, somewhere 40x160 mm. You can take it from a can.
4 screws with nuts for fastening to the fan.
Insulating tape.
Piece of wire mesh.

Tools you will need:

Soldering iron with solder.
Hacksaw.
Multimeter.
Lighter.
Screwdriver.

Heating element manufacturing

Before starting to make a heating element, it is necessary to select the size of the nichrome spiral to ensure even distribution of heat.
I cut segments of the spiral and measured the current of each. Initially, I chose the distance where to cut by measuring the resistance of 8.6 ohms approximately. As a result, each section will consume about 1.4 A of current. There will be five such segments and the current will eventually be a little less than 7 A. I do not take into account the fan.

After preparing the spirals, we proceed to the manufacture of holders for them. They are made from thick wire. We bend such squiggles as in the photo.

We try on nichrome spirals for them so that during installation they are at some distance from the fan. And touched nothing but the ends.

We fasten the holders to the fan with screws.

We dress all heating coils.

Solder the joints. Solder with active flux, as nichrome is practically not soldered.

Wire connection

We clean the fan wires and connect them to the heating element, clamping them with screws on the other side.

On the other hand, we pass the power wire and connect it to the heating element on the other side.

To test the operation of the heater with a fan, we will use a powerful power source. I took the battery. We connect and measure the consumed current. As expected, it is about 7 A. All elements are heated evenly, blown with air from the fan and hot air comes out.

Heater body

The body can be made of tin from cans. Take a sheet of metal and cut a 4x16 cm strip out of it, bend it into a 4x4 cm square. Then solder everything with solder and the case will be ready. Make sure the fan goes into the case.

The grid can be taken or soldered from pieces of wire. We take the dimensions according to the body. We insert the grid into the body and solder it in the same way.

A small guide for those who want to, it is necessary to make the heating of the formicarium.
Heating elements in the form of a plate are quite expensive; the cheapest one I could find cost 800 rubles. Asking for what? In fact, there is nothing supernatural or expensive, for this money you can buy a touch player with the ability to watch videos, and if you add another 500r, then go to the Internet.
Therefore, I'm going to tell you how to assemble the simplest even primitive heating element that everyone can assemble for a very modest investment, and Plyushkins and generally for nothing.
What will be required:

1) power sources: I used an old mobile phone charger voltage 5V current 0.7A

2) nichrome wire - actually what will create heat. Where can I get this wire? In an old Soviet and long-used iron, you can also disassemble a hair dryer, a toaster, a heater (the one with a propeller) if you don’t have such devices in mind or your hand doesn’t rise to a rarity, then the wire is freely sold in radio shops for the cost of 0.7mm - 15r meter, I bought 2 meters.

We collect heating:

1) Find out the size of the plate we need, for me it was a square of 11x11 cm.

2) Next, from plastic, plywood or any other improvised but non-conductive electricity material, we cut out the square, rectangle we need in size, or whatever you need and glue one of its sides with 2-sided tape

3) Then lay out a snake pattern from nichrome wire on the plate as shown in the photo, try to make sure that the contacts to which the power source will be connected are close to each other, and the wire bends do not close with each other.

4) After laying the wire, fix it on the plate, I used the usual transparent adhesive tape, as you fix the wire, connect the power source to check whether the plate heats up and how much. (in the photo: the upper scale is room temperature, the lower temperature of the sensor above the plate)

5) Installation in a formicarium. If you do not have a corresponding recess in the plaster plate, then you will have to cut it, it took me 2 hours, if you are just going to pour a new mold, then consider laying the plate in advance. Mount the plate with wire towards the chambers.

6) Install a heater between the back wall of the formicarium and the plate so as not to lose heat for heating the unnecessary side of the formicarium. What heater to use? the one that will be at hand))

Conclusion:

Well, the heating of the formicarium is ready, I got 2 right chambers.

before turning on the power source, the table lamp was specially turned off, the lower scale of the thermometer shows the temperature inside the formicaria.

After 1.5 hours of work, the temperature clearly exceeded the desired one, condensation began to form on the glass (my gypsum board has not yet dried)
Well, you have to make a rheostat, I’ll tell you about how to assemble the simplest rheostat next time! good luck to all

At home, you can make almost all types of heaters. The exception is the inverter, because its design is very complex. Most of today's devices create heat with virtually 100% efficiency. All of them have, the main part of which is nichrome wire.

The simplest home-made heater for a garage and a house made of this wire has the following structure:

Horizontal ceramic pipe with a diameter of 12 cm.
Four pillars.
Wire wrapped around a pipe.
A wire with a plug is connected to the wire.

Such a heater is not safe, because in addition to the fact that the wire can heat up to 1,000 ° C, it also remains open. Contact with it threatens not only with a burn, but also with electric shock. Also, such a device can burn part of the house.

Many craftsmen note that devices with nichrome wire should not be done at all. It is possible to design a heater that is both safer and more efficient. Such is .

It, unlike most heating devices, does not heat the air around it, but gives off heat to surrounding objects. It heats only what is needed.

Autonomous heating device

This heater is rated for 12 volts. Thanks to this, it can be connected to the battery. It can be used in those rooms where there is no heating, and where repairs are being carried out, as well as in the garage or any room in the house. Its power to heat the entire room is not enough. It does not produce infrared rays. It only heats up the air.

To make it, you need to take:

Metal can. It could be a coffee can. Its height and diameter should be 20 and 10 cm, respectively. These values can deviate up or down. Do not use a jar made of plastic, cardboard or any other material. costs. This is because they do not conduct heat well.
. It can be a U-shaped part of a children's metal designer.
Bayonet cartridge.
A car lamp from a brake light. It is rated for 12 volts. Its power is 25 watts.
2 A fuse.
Sleeve made of insulating material.
Cable. The cross-sectional area of one wire must exceed 1 mm².

The sequence of manufacturing an autonomous heater

A 12 volt device is made as follows:

20-30 holes are drilled in the side wall of the can. Their diameter should be 3 mm.
Make a hole in the bottom of the jar. It is drilled in the center of the bottom. The diameter should be equal to the diameter of the bolt that will fix the bracket.
Fix the bracket on the bottom of the jar.
A cartridge is fixed on the upper part of the bracket. This element must be located so that the lamp does not touch the walls of the container.
A hole is drilled in the side wall of the can at the level of the top of the bracket so that the cable sleeve fits in it.
A sleeve is inserted into this hole and an electric wire is pushed through it, through which a current of 12 volts will flow. The cable is connected to the cartridge.
Screw in the lamp and close the jar with a lid.
A fuse is included in the cable break.

The 12 volt heater is ready. Now it remains to connect to the battery and wait 10 minutes. During this time, a homemade heater for the garage will warm up. When using a device with an operating voltage of 12 volts, you need to monitor the battery voltage. It should not fall below 10 volts. Otherwise, the current source cannot be restored.

The made heating device will work until the lamp fails. You can restore its functionality by replacing the lamp. In its place, you can even put a halogen lamp.

oil device

A homemade oil heater is a fairly functional and safe device. It has a high efficiency and is therefore suitable for those premises in which various household appliances are being repaired.

Its design consists of a sealed housing, inside which there is oil and heating elements.

Before you do it yourself you need to prepare the following materials:

Sealed container. In its capacity, you can use an aluminum or metal battery, a car radiator.
Technical or transformer oil.
Heating element 4 pcs.
Electric motor with a power of 2-2.5 kW. Instead, you can use a pump with the same power.
Switch.
Set of drills.
Corners or a profile pipe with dimensions of 40x40 mm.
Two tubes. Must withstand temperatures of 100-150 °C.

Read also: Characteristics and manufacture of oil heater

You will have to work with a drill and a welding machine.

Algorithm for manufacturing an oil heater

Frame welding. Before that, draw a diagram of the frame. To do this, you should start from the dimensions of the selected container and the height at which the case should be placed. The frame can be made in the form of two rectangles. The width of the rectangle must be greater than the depth of the selected container, and the length must be greater than the height of the container. The main part will be inserted into rectangles. These parts of the frame should be at the ends of the tank. Each rectangle should have two legs. It is desirable to connect them with one corner, which will go along the body.

At the beginning of the manufacture of the frame, the corners or the profile pipe are cut into segments of the required length. Next, the rectangles are welded and the legs are welded to them. The longitudinal corner can be fixed with bolts. Thanks to this, the frame can be dismantled and hidden in a convenient place until the start of the next winter season.

Cutting 7 holes in the selected container. 4 of them must be such that a heating element can fit in one hole. They can be located at the corners of the radiator. 2 holes are needed for the pump. They are made at the bottom of the radiator. Another hole is needed to fill the oil. It must be done at the highest point of the radiator. To cut holes, you can use a grinder or welding. The best option is autogen.
Making a mount for fixing the pump. To do this, metal plates are welded to the container with holes for bolts cut into them. These plates should be located close to the pump holes.
Fixing the pump and connecting it to the radiator. To connect it, you need to use two tubes. They can be welded to the radiator and connected through the valves to the pump. It is possible to weld fittings to the holes intended for the pump and attach tubes to them.
TENOV fastenings. They are fastened with bolted connections. The easiest way to fix those heating elements, the base of which is threaded and is a kind of large bolt. In this case, a fitting with an internal thread is welded to the holes in the radiator. A nut might work too. TEN is screwed into it.
A fitting with an external thread is placed on the oil filling hole and welded. It will have a lid on it. It can be made from a pipe. To do this, an internal thread is cut at one end. It should be the same as the thread on the fitting. The pipe must have a larger diameter than the fitting. A metal square-stub is welded to the second end.
Check the tightness of all openings. To do this, create a large pressure in the middle of the oil heater.
Connect heating elements. To do this, use the parallel connection method.
Connect the voltage regulator and a cable with a plug.
Install the case on the frame and ground.
Oil is poured.

INFRARED HEATING FILM FOR SUPPLY VOLTAGE 12 Volt.

12 Volt thermal film can be used for more than just heating car seats or warming up the fuel tank on a diesel engine car. Such a heating film can also be used for safe local heating where 220 volt thermal film is not recommended. For example, with the help of such a heating film, it is very easy to organize floor heating in the bathroom without fear of electric shock in case of damage to the supply cable or the heating film itself. Of course, you will feel much calmer if your four-legged pet's mat is heated with safe voltage.

It is possible to cut the module along the length, but it is necessary to isolate the cutting line, the module cannot be cut along the width.

We offer two types of 12V heating film:

Heating film Hot-Film (South Korea)

Module size 30 x 50 cm designed for a supply voltage of 12 Volts (thermofilm for a voltage of 24 V can be supplied on an additional order). Heating temperature 50 o C.

The heating film is supplied in rolls of 100 linear meters. m

Where and how can a heating film for a voltage of 12 volts be used?

1. Heated car seats.

Depending on the size of the car seat, you can use a heating film with the appropriate module size: 17 x 12 cm or 30 x 50 cm. In addition, the module itself can be cut to length to obtain the required size. In this case, it is additionally necessary to completely insulate the entire side of the heating film along which the module was cut. If whole modules are used, then it is necessary to insulate only the exit point of the copper strip on the cut line (4 such areas for insulation).

For example, a film with a module size of 30 x 50 cm can be cut into two parts (the length of each segment of the module can be selected for a specific chair), you will get two pieces of film - for heating the seat and back of the chair. It is necessary to connect the film segments to the on-board network in parallel.

The power consumption of one module (30 x 50 cm) of the heating film is 30 watts, which is much less than that of other analogues.

More details can be found here.

2. Heating of the fuel tank and fuel filter of a car with a diesel engine.

Anyone who is involved in the operation of diesel vehicles knows what problems one has to face in winter, and during the transition period (autumn / winter) there are quite a few problems, because. usually at our gas stations they sell winter diesel fuel only with the onset of frost. But what if, with the onset of frost, summer diesel fuel remains in the tank?
There is a solution - with the help of a heating film, you can organize the heating of the fuel tank and fuel filter.
More details can be found here.

3. A 12 Volt heating film can also be used for space heating where a 220 Volt voltage is not recommended or appropriate.

For example, there is a desire to make a warm floor in the bathroom, but there is no desire to make repairs. In this case, you can use a heating film with a 30 x 50 cm module by simply placing it under the mat. The voltage of 12 volts is safe.

heating film

12 Volt thermal film can be used not only for heating in a car. Such a heating film can also be used for safe local heating where 220 Volt thermal film is not recommended.

If you have access to a household power supply, heating a room is not a problem: the stores are full of products for every taste and budget.

But what about someone who has only 12 instead of full-weight 220 volts?

It turns out that such a modest voltage can also serve as a source of life-giving heat, only the device for extracting it will have to be made independently. How to make a 12 volt heater with your own hands?

Of course, in a serviceable car, a 12-volt electric heater is, to put it mildly, useless. But everything can happen: it happens that the stove refuses to work at the most “opportune” moment, and the motorist sitting inside an uninsulated metal box is left face to face with severe frost. Also, a home-made 12 V heater may be needed if the rear window heating system breaks down.

To make it, you need a real trifle:

computer power supply;
cooler (small fan): it can be removed from the same power supply;
soldering iron with everything you need for soldering;
the wire;
a fragment of a tile;
M5 bolts with nuts of the same diameter (8 pieces);
nichrome wire.

If everything is ready, you can start creating a homemade heater.

Case manufacturing

First of all, the computer power supply must be disassembled into components. We carry out the disassembly in full: we remove the electronic board fixed with self-tapping screws, the cooler, as well as connectors and switches (during the operation of the heater, they can become a source of unpleasant odor).

Did you know that a candle flame can be used to heat a room? Consider, and also talk about the nuances of its use.

Can infrared heaters be harmful to health? You will find the answer to this question.

We asked ourselves which is better: a convector or an oil heater? Here are the comparative characteristics of these devices for various parameters.

Manufacturing of heating elements

To make a heating element, you do not need to "reinvent the wheel": in this capacity, we will use a nichrome spiral - the same as that installed in any heating element. Nichrome (an alloy of nickel and chromium) is a conductor, but at the same time it has significant electrical resistance, therefore, when an electric current is passed through it, it gets very hot.

Spirals are made by winding nichrome wire on any cylindrical rod.

It is important to choose the resistance of the heating elements and the scheme of their connection (in parallel or in series) so that the heater does not overload the on-board electrical network.

Otherwise, the operation of the device will be accompanied by all kinds of undesirable phenomena, for example, insufficient recharging of the battery.

car heater

As an example, consider a car brand Daewoo Sens. The electric generator installed in it is designed for a current of 70 A. Under such conditions, it is permissible to use an electric heater that consumes a current of 10 - 15 A - such a load for the on-board electrical network will be almost imperceptible.

Ready-made nichrome spirals must be screwed to the tile trim using M5 bolts and the same nuts. To do this, the tile will have to be drilled.

The tiles with heaters must be fixed in the case from the power supply in such a way that the cooler installed in its place blows it, expelling warm air into the car interior. As a result, we get a 12-volt fan heater.

To prevent the material from crumbling, tape or plaster must be glued to it at the drilling site, while the drill should rotate at a minimum speed.

Heater Assembly

At the assembly stage, the cooler and cover are mounted.

After that, all wires are connected to the heater.

Their cross section must correspond to the calculated current strength.

In a copper wire for every 10 A there should be 1 sq. mm section, in aluminum - 1.25 sq. mm.

Do not confuse the diameter of the core with its cross-sectional area - for small diameter wires, these values \u200b\u200bare very similar.

Also, a fuse must be inserted into the circuit of the device, which, again, is selected depending on the calculated current strength.

Installation

Despite the modest voltage, a homemade heater consumes an impressive current and heats up quite strongly. To avoid accidents, it must be securely fastened so that the device does not accidentally fall while the car is moving.

Option number 2: homemade thermal film

Good thermoelements are obtained from nichrome, but what if this material was not at hand? It turns out that ordinary soot can replace it.

It is also a high-resistance conductor, but at the same time it has an important feature: a significant part of the thermal energy is released by the heated material in the form of infrared radiation.

This means that heaters with a carbon element heat not only the air, but also the user directly, who is in the area of IR radiation. This property made it possible to create thin film heaters based on carbon emitters.

The device will consist of the following components:

two rectangular pieces of glass approximately 30x70 mm in size;
aluminium foil;
2-wire cable with plug.

You will also need some tools, materials and products:

soldering iron;
multimeter;
candle;
sealant or glue;
cotton swab.

The heater is made in several stages:

Glass must be washed, treated with a degreaser and dried.
We light a candle and begin to move one of the glass rectangles over it, as a result of which it will be covered with soot. The more soot there is, the lower its electrical resistance will be.

The operation must be interrupted periodically so that the glass can cool down.

Now you need to cut out two parts from aluminum foil in the form of oblong rectangles, the length of which will correspond to the width of the soot strip.

They will act as terminals for connecting wires.

At this stage it is necessary to measure the resistance of the carbon coating. We put aluminum contacts on it on both sides and press them with a second glass.

Now you can use the multimeter by attaching its probes to the protruding fragments of aluminum foil. We are satisfied with a resistance of 120 ohms, then the power of the device will be 1.2 watts. If the device shows a different value, you need to remove (to increase resistance) or add (to decrease) a little soot.

As soon as it is possible to achieve the desired resistance, use a cotton swab to clean the edges of the glass from soot to a width of about 5 mm.
Lubricate the cleaned edges of the smoked glass with glue, then lay the foil contacts again (they now need to be shortened by 10 mm) and glue the second glass blank on top. The job is done, now the heater can be connected to a 12-volt source.

Instead of soot, you can use a mixture of graphite and epoxy glue. Then, instead of glass, laminated paper plastic can be used as a base.

Option number 3: "warmer" for hands

In order to save yourself from the cold with this heater, it is enough to have a charged car battery.

Prepare the following items:

a large metal coffee can (about 100 mm in diameter and about 200 mm high);
cartridge from a car brake light with a bulb for it with a power of 25 W (has a bayonet-type lock);
2 A fuse;
wires;
detail in the shape of the letter "P" from the children's designer;
two M2.5 screws with nuts (can be borrowed from the same constructor).

The tools you will need are more than modest:

drill with a set of drills;
soldering iron and solder for it.

Let's start crafting:

We turn a coffee jar into a sieve - we drill a lot of holes with a diameter of 3 mm in its walls. A similar hole must be drilled in the very center of the bottom of the container.
We fasten the lamp holder on one side to the U-shaped bracket from the children's designer, after which the other side of this bracket should be screwed to the bottom of the can (for this we drilled a hole in its center).
We drill another hole in the wall of the can opposite the cartridge, the diameter of which should be approximately 7 mm. A sleeve made of any non-conductive material should be fixed in it. We pass a 2-core wire into the sleeve with a core cross section of at least 1 sq. mm, which must be connected to the cartridge (the bracket will have to be temporarily unscrewed for this).
Having returned the bracket to its place, we screw a 25-watt light bulb into the cartridge and close the jar with a lid.
It remains to connect the heater to the battery through a 2-amp fuse.

The warm-up time for this heater is approximately 10 minutes. Warm hands on it with caution, as the temperature of the metal can becomes quite high.

Of course, a home-made electric heater, even if it is so low-power, cannot be used in a room filled with combustible gases and fumes. It should also be kept away from flammable materials.

Keep an eye on the battery level. If the voltage at its terminals drops to 10 V, the heater must be immediately turned off. Failure to do so will permanently damage the battery.

To date, the variety of heaters is so great that it is difficult for the buyer to decide on the choice of device. In this article, we will consider the principle of operation and selection criteria.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of ceiling infrared heaters, you will learn in the material.