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COLD temps and drum heaters Post New Topic | Post Reply
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Jeffrey Pilapil
Posted: Feb 19, 2007 10:07 PM
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COLD temps and drum heaters
We have been struggling to keep chemical warm and to keep temps from dropping overnight. I was wondering about other folks opinion regarding band-type drum heaters and their use i.e.- can they be kept on overnight (provided that the level of fluid is above)? what would be potential hazards or problems (degrading interior coating,etc)? and how effective are they at boosting temps of 55gal of chem to minimize recirc through the machine in order to reach spray temp- which is taking FAR too long!!! Tips and advice appreciated.
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Gerry Wagoner
Posted: Feb 20, 2007 09:11 PM
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They are very useful in cold weather. Get one from BH Thermal (Briskheat) and get an adjustable thermostat. warm (pun) regards, olger |
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Thomas Kasper
Posted: Feb 21, 2007 08:39 AM
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Is there any problem with using drum heaters with the 245 blowing agent? Will resin start to boil where the heaters are positioned? The heaters shouldn't bother the iso..correct? Keep drums at around 60deg overnight then warm up when recirculating? |
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Jeffrey Pilapil
Posted: Feb 21, 2007 08:49 PM
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This is my concern too. Will it be damaging to the material to leave the heaters on overnight or longer? The heaters have rudimentry thermostats but the temp seems to fluctuate sharply as it kicks on and off. I have heard that they can damage the coating inside the barrells if they get too hot. One solution I have found is to simply block the cans up on a couple of 2x4s to keep them off the floor of the trailer and then to wrap them with some reflective bubble wrap (reflectex). Last night was down to 5 degrees and without the drum heaters the warm chemical only dropped to 65 in the morning. |
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Glenn Gamblin
Posted: Feb 21, 2007 08:51 PM
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Band heaters work great for OC, but I would stay away from then with closed cell, you are likely to boil the resin, I normally just use a small space heater in my trailer to keep them around above 40 and have had no problems. |
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Gerry Wagoner
Posted: Feb 21, 2007 09:38 PM
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245 stinks, olger (Just had to get that in there). |
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Posted: Feb 22, 2007 08:39 PM
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band heater,,,, if temp lower than 40...i use em...on both sides,,, with care,,, particularly on the resin side,,, it is more viscous,,thus thicker when cold...so it needs the bump the most...i run it full tilt while recircing,,,and getting things out to the house,,,once spraying i reduce the band heater so that it is warm to touch,,,i look for no hotter than 80° on the inlet temp to the proportioner,,winter it runs from 65° or so up...once i get to 80 or a 1/3rd of set i turn it off/transfer it to the next drum...to warm it up...once weather is 50°ish i put em away till next winter,,, i have both 500 and 1000W,,,i like the lower watt,,,i just want to warm the drums,,not cook em... if you heat your trailer to 50°when not in use,,,your fluid will be real close to that when you start,,,so it wont take much of a bump to get things warmed up... (did the shore power handle the proportioner, compressor,lites,stirrer,band heaters, space heaters, cell charger, radio,???) |
