bypassing on/off switch on heating pad

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slim chillingsworth

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i picked up a cheap heating pad at walgreen's for my fermentation chamber, but i didn't realize that it does not turn on automatically when it's plugged in. i'll have it hooked up to a plug-in thermostat, so this won't work.

can i just splice the wire before and after the on/off switch? is there a better way to accomplish what i need?
 
Why don't you just leave it in the "on" position? Why bother to splice? I have one of those heating pads that you have to depress the switch and hold it for the heat to stay on, in that case I would tape the handle down.
 
i guess i shouldn't have used the word "switch." it's a button you have to press that selects the setting (off, low, med, high) which defaults to "off."

here's a picture of the inside of the controller:

P2010187.jpg
 
Replace the switch with a jumper wire- Your way is probably OK, but I imagine there are other components on the other side of the board that you might not want to bypass...
 
I don't know much about electronics but I think this is a terrible idea. Burning your house is a lot more expensive than a fermentation chamber.

Maybe an electrician can convince me that using an appliance improperly is okay but for now I'm going to worry about you slim.
 
I'm glad you posted this...I have a somewhat similar problem..my mother gave me an old heating pad of her's to use on my fermenters, the trouble is it has a 30 minute shutoff built it...does anyone know how to bypass that feature?
 
Nurmey said:
I don't know much about electronics but I think this is a terrible idea. Burning your house is a lot more expensive than a fermentation chamber.

Maybe an electrician can convince me that using an appliance improperly is okay but for now I'm going to worry about you slim.
Click to expand...

i appreciate your concern. this is why i'm posting this rather than jumping right into it. i'm also waiting on a call back from a friend who is an electrician.

but when it comes down to it, i don't think a 40 watt heating pad is going to burst into flames. as long as all the wiring is wrapped up properly, i don't see much chance of a fire.
 
if you are only looking for 40 watts of heat, why not use a light blub, possibly in a painted black glass protector? 40watts is 40 watts. I know wine guys use light bulbs a lot.
 
It is unfortunate to us brewers, I am pretty sure all heating pads have this feature now. Prevents people from sleeping on them and getting burned.

Sorry, this did not help.:D
 
wonder if just using a johnson or the like should do the work. cut the switch out and put a new plug at the end. im thinking of buiulding a homemade temp controler though. since it will be used for keep it between 60 and 70 deg it should be ok to use a home thermo.
 
pen25 said:
wonder if just using a johnson or the like should do the work. cut the switch out and put a new plug at the end. im thinking of buiulding a homemade temp controler though. since it will be used for keep it between 60 and 70 deg it should be ok to use a home thermo.
Click to expand...

See I wasn't even thinking that fancy, I was considering simply putting it on a multi-setting light timer maybe having it run for an hour to 90 minutes, then shut off, and do that every 3 hours or so...But that sounds like a good idea.
 
Revvy said:
See I wasn't even thinking that fancy, I was considering simply putting it on a multi-setting light timer maybe having it run for an hour to 90 minutes, then shut off, and do that every 3 hours or so...But that sounds like a good idea.
Click to expand...

problem is those switchs normally have to be shut off then back on. i know my mattress pad heater has to be shut off then turned back on. it resets the timer. i have an appliance timer and it will shut power off then back on and it doesnt turn the pad back on.
 
I have the same problem and have thought about that. But the only solution I could come up with is to completely bypass the electronic circuits and wire directly to the pad. This assumes that at the highest setting the "duty cycle" of the current to the pad is 100% (always on) and that it would not pull more power than what it is rated for.

But I don't know exactly and there is the risk of burning down the house. For $30 you can pick up the Fermwrap heater. Sure it is more money and I know how tight that is nowdays but if that burns down your house you may be able to sue the manufacturer. I'm not sure if messing with the electronic of a heating pad may even void your homeowners insurance. That would be a worst case scenario if the house burns down.

I don't brew ales in the winter. That is my current solution to not being able to keep a beer above 55F in my basement.

Kai
 
I have Fermwrap and bought a ranco on Ebay - so far so good. Last brew I plugged it in, set it to 67 and there it stayed for a week.

However, I do have a automobile heated blanket that my mom gave me for some reason. I never opened it and was about to take it to Goodwill but stopped. There must be an easy way to change it from the cigarette plug in to a wall plug without too much trouble....
 
Kaiser said:
I have the same problem and have thought about that. But the only solution I could come up with is to completely bypass the electronic circuits and wire directly to the pad. This assumes that at the highest setting the "duty cycle" of the current to the pad is 100% (always on) and that it would not pull more power than what it is rated for.

But I don't know exactly and there is the risk of burning down the house. For $30 you can pick up the Fermwrap heater. Sure it is more money and I know how tight that is nowdays but if that burns down your house you may be able to sue the manufacturer. I'm not sure if messing with the electronic of a heating pad may even void your homeowners insurance. That would be a worst case scenario if the house burns down.

I don't brew ales in the winter. That is my current solution to not being able to keep a beer above 55F in my basement.

Kai
Click to expand...

best way thing to do is put an inline circuit breaker on it. or a fuse. use a vom with current selection and find out how much current is being pulled and see what kind of fuse you need. again you can source the parts from an old power strip.
 
Just go buy a new one. I have one with a slide switch. I slide it to the low/med/high position and plug it in to a Ranco.
 
kcinpdx said:
I have Fermwrap and bought a ranco on Ebay - so far so good. Last brew I plugged it in, set it to 67 and there it stayed for a week.

However, I do have a automobile heated blanket that my mom gave me for some reason. I never opened it and was about to take it to Goodwill but stopped. There must be an easy way to change it from the cigarette plug in to a wall plug without too much trouble....
Click to expand...


IIRC, I don't think that will work...wall plug is AC....cigarette plug is DC. right???
 
I'd go with something more passive.

Maybe drop your fermenter into another container and then drop an aquarium heater in the outer container.

An aquarium heater will be on the high side (78ish) but if the outer container is shallow enough, it won't fully heat a carboy that is mostly exposed to the cooler air.

Fermenter_Cooler2.jpg
 
BierMuncher said:
I'd go with something more passive.

Maybe drop your fermenter into another container and then drop an aquarium heater in the outer container.

An aquarium heater will be on the high side (78ish) but if the outer container is shallow enough, it won't fully heat a carboy that is mostly exposed to the cooler air.

View attachment 9565
Click to expand...

Now that is thinking out side the box. I like it. The aquarium heater will selfregulate the heat, and should work great. Very good idea, i might steal that idea.
 
FWIW, you can still buy the heating pads without the autoshutoff "feature". As mentioned, those others have the auto shutoff and you need to turn them off then back on for them to work again. I wasn't able to figure a simple solution, aside from wiring them directly, so I just convinced my wife I bought it for her and went back and bought another one. :mug:
 

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