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15-01-13, 02:40 AM | #1 |
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Homemade heated vest controller?
I just got a hand-me-down heated vest. It has no controller. I looked at the site and they are available, but I don't want to spring for the $70.- for it. I could bodge up a really Neanderthal resistance based controller, but they end up dissipating power in the added resistors. So I was thinking that I could do something micro-controller based that would control the heat by varying the duty cycle. I should be able to use some power transistors as a switch and they would not dissipate much power, or I could go with a relay based solution. I was also thinking that I could incorporate a thermal sensor and create a feedback loop. Issues: my EE skills are poor at best, software is what I do. Anyone have any pointers or suggestions?
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15-01-13, 06:48 AM | #2 |
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Re: Heated vest controller
Research pwm controllers.
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15-01-13, 10:29 AM | #3 |
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Re: Homemade heated vest controller?
I'd use an atmega328
Link the ADC to a variable resistor or some sort of lo-hi-off 3 way switch, then one or two mosfets to control it through pwm You might also want to look at arduino, it's a slightly higher level programming language. I've been using C for some diving stuff and to be honest it's giving me indigestion. By the time you've finishd you might wish you'd spent the $70... will be fun though!
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Now rebuilding a 63' fishing trawler as a dive boat Last edited by yorkie_chris; 15-01-13 at 10:30 AM. |
15-01-13, 10:31 AM | #4 |
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Re: Homemade heated vest controller?
Or just have a switch. If cold torn to -On. If warm enough turn to - Off. Replace with a thermostat inside the jacket if you find you are turning it on/off too often. Or are the elements so powerful you'd end up basted?
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15-01-13, 03:32 PM | #5 | |
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Re: Homemade heated vest controller?
Quote:
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15-01-13, 03:35 PM | #6 | |
Noisy Git
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Re: Homemade heated vest controller?
Quote:
I should add the caveat to my earlier post "I know nothing!"
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16-01-13, 06:34 PM | #7 | |
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Re: Homemade heated vest controller?
Quote:
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16-01-13, 06:37 PM | #8 |
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Re: Homemade heated vest controller?
The resistance on the elements is 3ohm so max dissipation wil be about 50W, so should not cook. Besides I like to take projects like these as opportunities for learning, e.g. about power MOSFETS, software controlled feedback loops, sensor interfaces, etc.
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18-01-13, 03:43 PM | #9 |
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Re: Homemade heated vest controller?
Plenty of stand alone off the shelf 12V pwm controllers available for pennies, like this for example . They are often described as motor speed controllers. At that sort of money I wouldn't bother messing about making anything, just put it in a box.
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