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This is where we trade little (or big) things needed for projects.
32 responses total.
Anybody got a spare 220VAC stove plug? I've got a big theatre light to play with, but it needs more than 15 amps.
Do you mean the thing that goes on the end of a stove wire? If so, yes, plenty of them, check the socket to see if it is three straight or two straight and one L-shaped. We have both and can get you lots more on the ends of 3-4' long cords (off of old stoves). Or phone us for where to find one.
I'm looking for the heavy power kind: \ /
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This is what 95%+ of all electric stoves in America use. An old one from
an old stove would be fine.
I'm hoping to just get one free, instead of buying a new one. I could afford
to buy a new plug, but the idea behind this item is to enlarge everybody's
"junk box", which is where you typically go for an odd bit to complete
something (and all the odd parts left over or from a beyond-reasonable-repair
item go into the junk box).
Phone us to pick up a plug, or for info on a source of used parts. 995-9463 or 662-1520. Used parts for most appliances are available free. Do you happen to have a ceramic spacer which holds the heating coil in an old fan-forced round space heater? Ours broke during an attempted repair, and otherwise will get replaced with a sawn-off ceramic fuse. (Is there any problem with just shortening the coil?).
If you shorten the coil its resistance will lower, and it will draw more current and get hotter, probably causing other damage.
In this case, the break is right at the end connection, so it should not affect things perceptibly. Jim has tried fixing things this way when the break was in the middle and they really burn out fast. There is supposed to be some sort of connector to rejoin two broken ends, where to buy it?
A crimp connector might work. I haven't tried it, but the ends of heating elements usually end in crimp connectors.
That's what I used, but it did not last very long, about a week, because of the dissimilar metals it heated up. Are there nichrome connectors?
Probably...or a stainless steel. I tried to find some in an electronics catalog, but they only have plated copper ones, which can't stand high temperatures.
When I use crimp connectors in high current applications, I not only crimp but also solder. For the crimp to perform reasonably well, you *need* a ~$700 crimping tool! Even then, soldering is better. (Look at the crimps in any well used electric stove or dryer if you don't believe me.)
I tried cutting off the end of a fuse to make a replacement for the ceramic standoff, but those fuses are not made of anything that I've run into before, they are not any ordinary ceramic. A carbide does'nt do anything. I used a composite cutoff wheel, that doesn't do anything. I presume it would take a diamond wheel, and I have a 10" diamond wheel but I don't particularly want ot use that on it. What I need is an insulator from something else, about the size of a lifesaver. Anybody have one? (The whole fuse, type "S" is too big). I will try a combination of solder and crimping next time I get around to fixing that other heater that kept burning out.
Argh.. now I need a 3-pin stage plug. Thought I had one, but I could only find a couple of 2-pin items. I'm looking for a female plug.
Is this 'female plug' going on the end of a cord, in which case it could be called a cord cap (gives you something to plug into). What is the diameter of the pin circle. What is a 'stage plug'? Grainger catalog is helpful. An Insulgrip connector goes on the end of a cord. A receptacle (female) goes in the wall. They come in different sizes. Plug = male cord end. Jim has a couple cord ends, odd ones, around somewhere. Diameter of pin circle? (Assuming three straight pins as above). Wall or cord end? If it is a cord end, to be used on-stage, there are twist-lock types that don't come apart accidentally. You can get a subscription to Grainger by buying once there.
)yeah, I know Grainger) It's not any common plug... so far as I know, only used in theatre lighting. It's a very old, rather crude looking design.
stage pin plugs are not availablt in grqainger because they are used only in
theatrical application and the industry is kind of isolated (though becoming
less so).
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above is what the end of a stage pin plug looks like. the pins are
cylindrical, and from left they are neutral, ground and hot (for standard
size). they also come in a size about twice as large which is a 50/60 amp
size and the pin configuration for those is different.
end view :
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Have you tried Madison Electric or Wyandotte Electric?
When someone suggested Grainger to me as a source of something obscure, I went there. The guy there told me I had to be buying for a business. (Then he proceeded to put me down as representing a certain large organization in the area, on the grounds (I think) that they'd never notice.)
(Nice ASCII, Eric!) I'll end up going to Tobins Lake, just because I've always wanted to see that place. :) As for the plug, I'm going to just drill a hole in my existing 2-pin female to accomodate the ground pin. Since it is just a lamp with a 100 watt bulb now, it will be OK. Just need to make sure my ungrounded-zip-cord adapter doesn't end up in a real theatre. ;)
Grainger tends to be list-price, but convenient. Once you get set up with a business account, you can just call and have stuff delivered. They then mail an invoice to the company. Stage plugs will likely *only* be available from theatrical supply places. This is an old, non-safety design, now used strictly because of inertia. The original is very Karloff; a block of bakelite and 2 big copper pins. There are now grounded, locking versions, but there is still the basic look of a standard set in the early days of electricity (Theatre was a *very* early user of electric light, BTW). Some places build recently (Huron High School comes to mind) use safer twist-lock connectors, at the cost of compatibilty (they have a hard time renting more instruments for big shows, since they either have to change connectors on the rented lights or else keep a bunch of adapter cables on hand).
Grainger put us down as 'Deigert and Associates'. Just tell them you are self-employed but left your business card at home.
oh, forgot to mention: the pins on a stage pin plug are split, allowing for adjustment of their size to improve contact and tightness of fitting. Thanks, Scott. :)
I tighten some of the regular domestic 120 2-blade plugs by passing a knife blade through the blade of the plug. This is especially important on anything that draws a lot of current for any length of time such as heaters. If its not a tight contact in the wall, then it acts as a resistance and produces heat at the connection. Also clean off any corrosion/tarnish. Domestic 220 plugs are normally left in place (stoves, dryers) so don't have problems like detachable theater plugs would.
Generally, if I need a company name and am not representing my employer or any consulting clients, I just say that my business is called Stephen Gibbard. I don't claim to be a corporation, and as long as I'm using my name no DBA is needed.
One place that sells dessicant for making your own double-glazed windows refused to even send me info if I was not a company, but would send to any company, no matter how window-unrelated. It took a lot of persistence to get them to even talk to me. Another place sold us a 50-gal drum of teh major ingredient of laundry detergent but had to ship it to a business address (we borrowed one with a shipping dock) and make it out to a business (we told them Ann Arbor Buying Club, which did not exist before or after). They were apparently afraid someone would hurt themselves with the detergent. I still don't know how to order the dessicant, but may try through a friend who does computer consulting and may still be incorporated.
A friend of mine wanted a Grainger catalog and when they asked his campany he said he owns Yellow Cab. He still gets them addressed to xxx owner Yellow Cab.
We need about 500' of scrap 1x2 or anything wider, can be painted, full of nails, would prefer at least a foot long, to be covered by drywall. The only requirement is that it be wood, not rotten, and in Ann Arbor. (It will space the drywall away from the vapor barrier to protect the latter). We will gladly pick up. Some time in the next couple of weeks is best. E-mail me.
Still looking for one by, and now we can use old drywall compounds or plaster, for gluing together two layers of scrap drywall as an attic floor (nailed over two bys spaced at 6" apart). Can be moldy or dried out.
Anybody got a ~~40 volt >= 1A AC transformer burning a hole in their pocket? I've been running a ceiling fan from a 24VAC xformer (much quieter than the built-in speed control), but it needs to be faster. And I can't really spare my Variac for fan duty.
I'll look in my junk box and let you know.
Actaully, don't bother right away. I decided I needed to do some testing before specifying parts, so I hooked up my variac and and going to experiment with different fan locations (metal house, fan hung from magnets). Basically I'm trying to compensate for a badly-placed thermostat. I suppose eventually I ought to move the thing, but that's not going to be an easy job given where I want to put it.
If you have another one lying around, you could use two 24 VAC transformers, with the primaries in parallel and the secondaries in series aiding, to get 48 volts. Alternatively, you could wire your 24 VAC transformer in a "buck" configuration to get 96 volts, and see if you like the results.
I think 96 would be a bit on the airplane propellor side... but yeah, I found a nice speed at 50 volts and thought of the 2x 24 trick. I was figuring on having a couple transformers and a switch to do various combinations anyway. Damned cheap fan; a real one would have taps on the coil or something. Mine had just a crappy lamp dimmer type circuit which made vibration noises from the cheap motor. Can't argue with the price, though (free).
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- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss