Funkerman23
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Analog hotplate: no more rythmic light dimming?
Hello!
I have a question: would a more "analog" hotplate ,like a corning pc 351, reduce lab room light dimming from the heater control? I have a Corning PC
320 and for the most part it works well. It heats, stirs and probably could do more than I expect, but when I plug it in and use it above heater
setting 4, I can see the lights dimming with the 'on' power cycle in the pulsed hotplate power supply. When I use my heating mantle with a variac :I
don't have that rhythmic dimming of the lights. If anyone has advice or ideas how to mitigate this I am all ears and appreciative. Thanks and good
yields to you!
" the Modern Chemist is inundated with literature"-Unknown
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Twospoons
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Use LED lighting. Or compact fluoros.
The control circuitry in either one will maintain constant light output. Unless you've joined the race to the bottom and bought the cheapest,
shittiest, nastiest lights you can find.
[Edited on 3-4-2018 by Twospoons]
[Edited on 3-4-2018 by Twospoons]
Helicopter: "helico" -> spiral, "pter" -> with wings
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Texium
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All depends on how many amps your device is pulling. I don't know what you mean by "more analog." I got used to the lights dimming whenever my old
Thermolyne or my rotovap water bath (both of which are most definitely "analog" in every sense of the word) would cycle on, but recently I replaced
all of my lab lighting with LEDs so that's no longer a problem anyway.
Edit: Twospoons beat me on the LED suggestion
[Edited on 4-3-2018 by Texium (zts16)]
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Reboot
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I'm surprised it has a visible impact on the lights; that's not an unreasonably powerful hotplate. I would be curious if the hotplate was drawing
more current than it should, or if there's something else (or multiple things) drawing more power than the room can support. (In the US anyway,
household rooms are often wired to handle 15 amps, which is plenty for most things.)
Adding a dimmer circuit to reduce voltage to the hotplate would likely work, but in the process you reduce the heat output so there's a give and take.
If the hotplate seems to be working normally and there's nothing apparently wrong with the overall demands on that power circuit, other light bulbs
(like LED) might be worth trying.
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Funkerman23
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What I had meant by " more analog" ( which I admit is a dumb way to phrase my intent) was a hotplate stirrer that was not designed with a pulsed
heater power supply, but rather a non pulsed supply like a rheostat or a smaller variac. perhaps I may be a bit of a fool, but I have always
suspected these pulsed power supplies add noise to the mains. How much that is true or matters, I will leave to more experienced minds.
" the Modern Chemist is inundated with literature"-Unknown
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XeonTheMGPony
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As other stated your feed line is over burdened (Reducing load via led lights simplest solution) or there is a lose connection in the panel.
or the lights happen to be on the same circuit as the plate, in which simply select a different plug for it!
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