We started out today shopping.. what else? I stocked up on aluminum flashing, rivet gun, some aluminum rivets, RTV, a metal mesh trash can, dimmer switch (wow those got expensive) and a few other odds n' ends.
I had some very successful tests today with the elements... I've got them completely detached from the original heater circuit board and have been able to use the dimmer switch to adjust the voltage from off to about 120VAC, just like the dimmer is supposed to do! Yeah, I'm excited about it... things normally don't work like they should with me.
The sad note is the AC fan doesn't react well at all to the dimmer. I think that gets into the whole "no torque at lower voltages" curse of AC motors... the fan won't engage until the dimmer switch is at about 95%.
I've decided the easiest way to attach the elements will most likely to be to mount them to the lower grate that came with the grill. There are a few little logistical hoo-rahs I'll need to deal with, but it just might work. I'll find out tomorrow night how badly the static elements will melt the RTV.
I gooped up beads of RTV on the lower grate. I then cut out a 12" diameter circle of flashing and the outline for the spot to mount the elements.
(The RTV on the grate)
(The cut-out for the elements)
Above is the design, showing the layout of the elements (in red). The blue circle is the fan shroud. I'm going to "persuade" the flashing to conform to an airshroud skirt of some sort to direct all the airflow up.
I went with 30* angle on the elements.. it creates more than an inch of overlap for the element coverage, which places a majority of the elements directly over the 4.5" fan.
Once I'm able to get all this assembled and figure out how hot I can make it in there, I'll start on drum design.
No comments:
Post a Comment