| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| rookk |
Posted - Sep 07 2009 : 5:54:18 PM
Hi, I need to reduce the wattage of a 320w heating element in a 110 - 120V AC water heater. Is there an inexpensive product out there that can help with this or schematics on making such a device?
Thanks in advance for any help. -kdr |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Aaron Cake |
Posted - Oct 03 2009 : 11:11:40 AM
You should be able to leave it unattended for as long as you like. A heating element is much like a light bulb in that it is a resistive load. A light dimmer is designed to control resistive loads by chopping bits off of the AC wave.
The ideal way would be to likely change the current to DC and PWM the element. |
| rookk |
Posted - Sep 30 2009 : 8:29:57 PM
So by saying it will work, sort of, does that mean I can leave it unattended for 3 or 4 hours without burning down my house?
What would be the ideal way to do this?
Thanks for your help. -kdr |
| Aaron Cake |
Posted - Sep 19 2009 : 10:54:13 AM
A 500W light dimmer is about as simple as you can get. Not ideal, but it will work. Sort of. |
