Dew heater contoller

[meddyliol]

Has anyone used one of these for a dew heater controller?  

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Led-Dimmer-12-24-V-Adjustable-Controller-8A-UK-SELLER-/281036033109?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Night_Lights_Fairy_Lights&hash=item416f0d8c55

At that price it has to be worth a go?  I want one for my  Skywatcher Startravel 102 Synscan AZ Goto. I realise that it is only single channel.

Cheers

Brian

[scorpio1948]

Hi,

I bought a simple 'Hitecastro' mini dew controller. One 12 Volt input, 2 outlets. It has a 'fixed' car cigarette lighter plug, so you will need to buy an adapter.

Anyway, it works fine. Sorry, I forgot the price I paid for it.

Cheers

Pete.

[bruno]

I have bought two just recently, yes they work perfectly well I made my own dew heater & i run it of a laptop charger @12volts( laptop chargers run at 19volts)

here is the link : http://nightskyinfocus.com/diyprojects/diy-dew-heater/.

also here is the link for the controller:  http://www.blackwaterskies.co.uk/2013/05/a-cheap-multi-channel-dew-heater.html

[SkySurfer]

Has anyone used one of these for a dew heater controller?  

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Led-Dimmer-12-24-V-Adjustable-Controller-8A-UK-SELLER-/281036033109?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Night_Lights_Fairy_Lights&hash=item416f0d8c55

At that price it has to be worth a go?  I want one for my  Skywatcher Startravel 102 Synscan AZ Goto. I realise that it is only single channel.

Cheers

Brian

They work perfectly for that job, lots of us have used them for dew controller , here is a link to a guy on here who used them and went a step further and built a complete control power box, I am going to have a go at one of these, I emailed him and he uses those exact controllers, and you could probably get them cheaper that that from abroad.

He has two channels on each controller, so that's 8amps max from each one so you can run 2 x 4 amp dew straps from each controller.

Have a look and see what you think

www.ollyspages.co.uk

:)

SS

[SkySurfer]

They work perfectly for that job, lots of us have used them for dew controller , here is a link to a guy on here who used them and went a step further and built a complete control power box, I am going to have a go at one of these, I emailed him and he uses those exact controllers, and you could probably get them cheaper that that from abroad.

He has two channels on each controller, so that's 8amps max from each one so you can run 2 x 4 amp dew straps from each controller.

Have a look and see what you think

www.ollyspages.co.uk

:)

SS

Sorry link not working

Try this, scroll down the page a bit to find the power control box

http://www.ollyspages.co.uk

:)

SS

[meddyliol]

Thanks very much for all of your infos. That has made my mind up, I will get one of those off ebay and some Nichrome wire (about two metres?). I have a Skywatcher Powertank so am OK for power. I have seen one suggestion for putting the wire between some duct tape. But if anyone has a better idea It would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Brian

[SkySurfer]

Thanks very much for all of your infos. That has made my mind up, I will get one of those off ebay and some Nichrome wire (about two metres?). I have a Skywatcher Powertank so am OK for power. I have seen one suggestion for putting the wire between some duct tape. But if anyone has a better idea It would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Brian

I put the wire inside some shrink tube, then between sticky backed male and femal 1" Velcro , that way when you wrap around scope it will stick to itself at any length, lay the male down and stick the wire to it with shrink tubing on and put the femal Velcro on top, it works a treat.

In case you don't know shrink tube is a rubber type covering for wire, you slide on and than with a hot air gun blow hot air up and down it and it will shrink to half its size and give the look of an already sheathed wire, I have made many and they work superbly. Stops the wire getting over hot inside the Velcro.

Go,with this Velcro,idea and you won't regret, trust me

SS

[Fish]

I fitted 4 in one box, the circuit boards come out easy.

http://stargazerslounge.com/gallery/image/24084-base/

[meddyliol]

Ordered all of the bits. Not sure what thickness wire to go from the heater to the control box and from there to the power tank.

[meddyliol]

I put the wire inside some shrink tube, then between sticky backed male and femal 1" Velcro , that way when you wrap around scope it will stick to itself at any length, lay the male down and stick the wire to it with shrink tubing on and put the femal Velcro on top, it works a treat.

In case you don't know shrink tube is a rubber type covering for wire, you slide on and than with a hot air gun blow hot air up and down it and it will shrink to half its size and give the look of an already sheathed wire, I have made many and they work superbly. Stops the wire getting over hot inside the Velcro.

Go,with this Velcro,idea and you won't regret, trust me

SS

I do know what heat shrink tubing is  . Did you use a size that just fits the wire and then shrink it? I assume that's what you did anyway.

[SkySurfer]

I do know what heat shrink tubing is  . Did you use a size that just fits the wire and then shrink it? I assume that's what you did anyway.

I used the 1mm shrink tube, just fits then shrink, although I did buy a pack of all different sizes as I find it useful in all electrical projects.

:)

SS

[meddyliol]

Thanks, I couldn't find 1mm so ordered some 1.5mm, that should be OK. Thanks for your help it's greatly appreciated.    

[SkySurfer]

Thanks, I couldn't find 1mm so ordered some 1.5mm, that should be OK. Thanks for your help it's greatly appreciated.    

My mistake, it was probably 1.5mm

SS

[scorpio1948]

On the subject of heaters, anyone know a good method of keeping my Telrad from misting up ???

I have seen some dew prevention items for them, but they look like simple covers that have to be removed / replaced all the time.

For Meddyliol, sorry for butting in on your thread, hope you don't mind.

Cheers

Pete.

[meddyliol]

No problem scorpio  

[meddyliol]

Does anyone have any idea what wattage I should give for a 4" Refractor dew heater. I am waiting for the bits but need to plan. I was thinking about 15W and this could then be adjusted by the cheapo ebay controller. Assuming that the controller is variable between 0V and the input voltage (12V). Or is this not a good idea? I will be using 33 SWG Nichrome wire at 22 ohms per metre.

Cheers

Brian