Easy USB Hot Wire - Simple Circuit: (applying Ohm's Law)

[@km077]

yes! the whole: - applying Ohm's Law with desired voltage and current to get needed resistance - using a multimeter to determine the resistance of a certain lengh of the wire - having thin wire for higher temperature and less wire lengh without changing desired voltage nor current was all I needed, but couldn't get anywhere. thank you

[@thomaslamora1679]

We (our high school robotics team members) use hot wire to soften Lexan for shaping - use the hot wire to heat up an area of the lexan until it melts...when it cools it retains the new shape. We have made several iterations of the Lexan bender (affectionately dubbed "Firestick" 1.0, 2.0). After watching this, I am embarrassed to say that we are using a toaster oven heating element (120V AC)... I see a Firestick 3.0 using low voltage DC like you have here. This application of Ohm's law will be a great lesson, practical application and improve our safety in the shop. thanks so much. Keep up the great work.

[@KeithsTestGarage]

Great news! Thanks for the comment. If you have any content online about the FireStick, post a link!

[@thomaslamora1679]

@@KeithsTestGarage I'd love to...We do have a youtube channel, but I just have to get the students motivated to record, edit and post videos. Here is the link to the channel - kzbin.info/door/HkjzCkuDMZ3J3JhA0IUfKg Can't wait to see more stuff from you.

[@Robert-zx2df]

Hey. Would like more info on your lexan

[@embie5119]

I used some nichrome wire and a wall wart power supply to create a foam cutter. I lined the wire up with the blade of my table saw (inline) so I could use the fence of the saw to cut rigid foam pieces to size. Basically lower the blade and feed the foam through the vertical wire just as if it were a spinning blade. Worked wonderfully.

[@ARCSTREAMS]

this is what im trying to do with copper wire to make a vape lol

[@Beschaulichkeit]

Thank you for this! It helped solidify what I thought I knew about resistive wire heating. Very clear and complete.

[@christiantimothy1988]

Pro tip : watch series at Flixzone. Been using them for watching all kinds of movies these days.

[@zairejustin5905]

@Christian Timothy Yea, been using flixzone for since november myself :D

[@CCCfeinman55]

Yup, basic electronics. Foam cutters are very big on this kind of thing. Wings for model airplanes, large format cutting platforms that turn foam into statuary and fancy add-on to buildings (ever been to Vegas? All those fancy architectural embellishments are built over cut foam cores....). Then, of course cars. I met a guy that built a CNC foam cutter to cut out model car bodies for making molds for vaccines-forming the bodies that go over RC cars. His boss was so impressed, he commissioned him to build a full size car body core of a design he came up with for oval track cars (the boss has far more expensive hobbies!). Of course he had to build a BIG cutter, but it worked very well. Thanks for sharing.

[@KeithsTestGarage]

I’ll need to make one of these. You’re talking about cutting rigid foam insulation sort of stuff right?

[@THEATREGOD3]

I've done a quick and dirty version of this because I'm doing something on bigger scale I haven't included a rheostat just on off switch the maximum wires that you can't buy it anywhere locally anymore you have to order it if you know where a store is that actually sells the stuff off the shelf locally I'd be great for that information otherwise I pull apart hair dryers and other heating elements type devices and appliances a find around the house toasters hair dryers the stupid oscillating Peters that don't really put out much heat but have plenty of I have several different gauges anyway looking for a new version and this gave me some ideas thank you

[@PeakyBlinder]

Been trying to make a nail hot out in the field for my thermal scope, I now use a 9v battery with the wire wrapped round the nail the protrudes the steel plate so the warm nail is picked up by the thermal scope Thanks for this simple idea.

[@willb.383]

Is there a way to determine how hot the wire will get given a specific length of wire?

[@ObsequiousV4]

yo thanks! I bought some of this wire a while ago to experiment with but didn't realize how sharp the thermal energy cutoff is. It really doesn't seem like it heats up outside of the terminal contacts. Huge difference from what I was imagining. Cheers!

[@yukichan3971]

So...I'm looking to make a heating element for my driveway in the winter. I've seen all the expensive ones that are out there, but haven't found anyone trying to DIY that, trying to save as much money as possible. Do you think using this type of wire would work...and what type of power would I need for a 100 ft stretch of driveway to make this happen?

[@martinhudec773]

thank you heaps, you clarified the electrical world to me ;).. .

[@ajitmishra6387]

Smart way to find out the length of the wire appropriate for your power supply!!!

[@Kayjay-r9c]

How can I employ this to use in sand heater with convection fan (instead of a fuel source to heat the bucket of sand)?

[@jiyounglee8080]

I was looking into making a hot wire to cut the glass jars/bottles in a safer way than using 220v plug since I have no knolwdedge of any basic of electric. By using my potable battery charger, it won't burn down my house at least. I have used glass bottle cutter and heating/cooling the bottles but it didn't give nice clean cut edges. i got to try this one. thank you for making this,

[@wooterXL]

Hello, I'm looking for a Kanthal wire that heads up just enough to melt ice cream (like at -15°C). My goal is to make scooping ice cream easier. Or is there simply no Kanthal wire that may be able?

[@Kactapuss]

Thinking of using this technique as a remote trigger for igniting a sparkler for a TV prop! Thanks for posting

[@h7opolo]

don't give this southerner any respect. he is a con artist, just like his daddy.

[@captjohnny]

Can this hot wire melt rosin core solder??

[@codeyadee5998]

how did you make the battery go towards your finger at the end

[@719angler]

I have a small project in which I need to reverse engineer a circuit based on these principles, but I don't need the wire to be glowing. Is there a way I can figure out the power needs and circuit design based on the initial temperature requirement?

[@justsomeguy6336]

Hey Keith do use a special USB with the portable battery pack? Because I tried to replicate this but the kanthal wire doesn’t glow. It does heat up but not glow. Everything else is exactly how you had it. Same wire, same gauge, same math. But it’s not working.

[@mohammedsufyanrizvi2595]

How do I choose my wire gauge?

[@ARCSTREAMS]

so how do you know how long the wire needs to be? do you use the meter to measure till its close to the calculated ohm? and if so what does this give us exactly? the most efficient heat?? what happens if the wire is coiled instead of straight but still the same length of wire? same effect?

[@dumashernandez5125]

Exactly my thoughts

[@ARCSTREAMS]

@@dumashernandez5125 be nice if we got answers but im not really interested anymore in this stuff

[@dumashernandez5125]

@@ARCSTREAMS the best answer I can give is if the wire is coiled it will still work

[@ARCSTREAMS]

@@dumashernandez5125 it might work even better and the voltage ,ohm etc will be different

[@michaelmorales3114]

I’m thinking sideline iron what’s something thick and flat I can use?

[@quimescarra4493]

question, if you were to put a section of the glowing red cable into water, would it electrify everything or just heat it?

[@KeithsTestGarage]

That's essentially a heating element like in an electric hot water heater. Just make sure that the path of least resistance is going through the whole wire. Pure water itself, however, is an electrical insulator. www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/conductivity-electrical-conductance-and-water?qt-science_center_objects=0#

[@emirustichelli7790]

Thanks for the video. Is very interesting and the much help

[@Apodesmeusi]

can you heat a room somehow with this thing??? is it possible to heat a room with low voltage and watts?

[@dozienjoku6223]

Out of sheer curiosity but does anyone know how hot those wires are getting up to in °C?

[@northerntranquility1614]

Great video, I tried this to make a small water heater element with nichrome wire works really well .I wanted to use it on solar off grid but water heated very quickly but became dirty brown color any ideas why . Any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks Dale

[@craftmaster300]

Probably the wire itself has little bits coming off that tuned that water brown

[@zoladkow]

usully, in electric kettles, those coils of heating wires are encased in some insulator and other material (metal) that's safe to put in water. also you might have hade some electrolysis going on there.

[@faquir885]

Hello, i start intersting of it, because i want build something for cutting a bottle ...., and sorry my english is not so well, if i understand the 28 GA is better then 36 ? because if we do R = U/I, it s work with 28 GA and not with 35 GA ? can you answer if my understanding it s well ? Thank you for showing us that and make us to understanding ? some peopel say the resistance is a coil !! for me is not true Coil it maybe for do not have a longe string !! no ? thank you

[@MortifiedU]

Needed a heating element for a diy chicken incubator.. this gives a few ideas 👍🏻

[@naralas4737]

Perhaps I am ignorant, but in what way is the amperage being controlled for? You have your voltage known, you check the resistance of the wire over a given length, and how much amperage is applied is simply a product of the formula, and if you don't have enough amperage it won't heat up and/or wont complete the curcuit? And if you have more than enough amperage it will simply not use the excess?

[@ruslantsverov7662]

On my desktop power supply it would pull the voltage down to compensate. I think a circuit will try to pull as much amperage as it possible, even to the point of self destruction such as a short circuit, unless there is a overcurrent protection device to protect it from doing so. I am an electrician not an ee so I am looking at it from that angle.

[@AhmedHussainEng]

is it possible to heat 2 mm diameter copper wire with DC volt to cut the foam ?

[@seanstraw8688]

Thermal register tape is a decent way to check for heat when the wire isn't glowing without subjecting your fingers to a burn. I have a circuit with a µC and a potentiometer that sets the duty cycle for PWM to the gate of a FET switching the output of a 19V laptop supply. I've used this for running a straight filament for cutting rigid foam insulation (slightly oscillating the wire as you go to move the cooled part away and introduce hot wire, and back as you feed the foam though), as well as trimming flight feathers from chickens (versus scissors). Same driver PCB design drives a coil (longer total wire, but packed into a smaller space) of Kanthal filament mounted in the bottom of a clay pot with wood pellets in it for a homebrew food smoker (which also runs a small airflow to keep the pellets smoldering). I have also used a hot wire for cutting into wire insulation, but it generally produces too much smoke to be pleasant to use (but cuts nicely without nicking the conductor). The same approach can be used for driving heater wire (non Kanthal/Nichrome insulated, for generating heat for seed germination for instance, not igniting things). Short pieces of Kanthal or Nichrome can be used to ignite rocket motors. That's basically the premise of the Estes igniters of some of our collective youth.

[@KeithsTestGarage]

Wow this is an insanely insightful comment. Thank you! Looking into thermal register tape now and nearly every other thing you mention relates to a project on my mind. I have a bunch of 19v laptop supplies around, wondering what to do with them. Ones a 10A! No clue what laptop that powered. Cutting foam. Cutting insulation without nicking wire, brilliant. I’ve always felt odd about the small nick left using wire strippers that cut into the insulation. My main ones pull the insulation instead of cut, but they aren’t very precise. Heaters. Rocket motors. My kid is 8 now so I’ve recently been looking into getting some of those... But I don’t have chickens. Thanks for the comment and insight!

[@MrRusty-fm4gb]

I have a woodland scenics foam cutter, would it be easy to duplicate that? I want to make a table cutter(slide foam across the table and through the Hotwire like slicing cheese)…. Not sure if I’ll buy some kenthal wire off eBay and try your method or duplicate the components of the woodland scenics sling shot cutter…

[@TotoGuy-Original]

what if your running direct from a 12v battery what circuitry do you need so you dont burn it out ?

[@dainielmaldo7624]

Helped me a lot thanks! The last time I did this the wire exploded lol

[@curtisburgett5858]

Does the wire have to be straight, or can it be a coil shape like the old cigarette lighters. I have a bad ass idea for that.

[@HansFormerlyTraffer]

I can see someone on a survival show with a length of kanthal wire for emergency fire starting with a little battery. Have you measured the heat of the wire? I could use something like that for cutting lead rods... "lead" as in the metal.

[@MikeBramm]

I learned a long time ago that you can easily start a campfire with a 9V battery and a pad of steel wool. Just place the steel wool under the kindling, then touch the 9V battery to the steel wool. The steel wool will start to burn and will then ignite the kindling. Works really quickly. DON'T LEAVE THE 9V BATTERY TO BURN.

[@KeithsTestGarage]

Not sure how to measure the heat of a wire. It would be interesting to know though.

[@KeithsTestGarage]

Good tips. I have an excess batch of steel wool from an estate sale and will put it by the camping gear.

[@ARCSTREAMS]

@@MikeBramm i was gonna say that lol

[@signprivate788]

I want to heat up a wire to incorporate it in to a plastic sheet. i'm not sure the gauge of the wire am i able to use a welder for my power souse. it will be a wire mesh as in a fence diamond mesh type wire.. please advise... also the safest way please , hahaha don't what to destroy the welder or the area i am doing this in i shall try provide pictures if need be..

[@KeithsTestGarage]

Your question is out of my league! :D

[@MadixLP]

Yo, regarding projects with the hot wire - I recently build a hot wire cutter with an old Nokia charger (5v 0,5amps) which is far enough to cut Styrofoam

[@KeithsTestGarage]

MadixLP Sweet. I’ll have to give that a try. Cutting foam is miserable with a knife! Thanks for the comment.

[@MikeBramm]

I've purchased wire cutters from the craft store for this purpose but if you want to cut more than about 6" at a time, it's easier to build your own cutter as wide as you need. Just keep the wire under tension so that it stays tight when it heats up or your cut will be terrible. I use a variable power supply for this purpose so I can adjust the current as needed. You want the wire to be hot enough to cut fairly quickly, but not so hot that the cut is a lot wider than the wire. Too much heat (or moving the foam too slowly) can really melt the foam, so a bit of trial and error is needed. Once you've got it dialed in, it works great.

[@KeithsTestGarage]

MikeBramm Are you cutting rigid foam insulation by chance? If so how is smoke management?

[@MadixLP]

@@KeithsTestGarage Yes, I'm using it to cut rigid foam insulation. Usually I don't need to cut very much (I'm using it for model making) so I only use a small fan to blow the fumes away

[@KeithsTestGarage]

Thanks! (Apparently I don’t get notifications for replies)

[@littleraptor9898]

so using a Pb battery is ideal?

[@KeithsTestGarage]

Oh man. Battery type selection varies widely depending on use case. But I rarely, if ever, recommend peanut butter batteries...

[@littleraptor9898]

@@KeithsTestGarage i need it for a small, very small soldering iron. i use Pb batteries widely, but iam afraid that it will damage the baterry because the wire is shorting across the battery. type of battery aside, is it even safe to short it across a Pb battery?

[@KeithsTestGarage]

Disclaimer: I’m no electrician. But, shorting across a battery is simply a circuit with resistance. (Or more technically, a shorter then intended circuit) A wrench provides very little resistance and therefore lots of sparks and melty parts. Kanthal wire like I used is the same circuit with more resistance. Your soldering iron is also a resistive circuit. Even a simple LED is a resistive circuit. Basically all these examples are the same act of connecting the + to the -, just with various amounts of resistance in the middle. There are still several questions to address about battery and circuit characteristics. Like how many amps does the circuit draw? Is the battery related to safely supply that? What type of lead battery is it? If an automotive or marine starting battery, it’s not ideal since those shouldn’t be drained. If deep cycle, common SLA AGM/gel batteries, those should be great just check the ampacity ratings and charge ratings to stay within those limits. If it’s unsealed, you’ve got hydrogen fumes to consider. Whichever solution you choose be sure to have a fuse rated just above what your iron will draw. I quite like using the Makita (or whatever brand) lithium power tool batteries for various power hacks because they can supply a lot of current and have built-in protection circuits. But I also have several flooded deep cycle and AGM batteries that I use when the situation calls for them. In short (pun not intended but I’ll claim it), verify ratings, put in a fuse, and you’ll be fine... but there may be a more ideal solution. Try posting your specifics on r/AskElectronics. I’ve found that to be a great place for guidance on this type of stuff.

[@littleraptor9898]

@@KeithsTestGarage ok, thank you very muvh m8

[@o0o-jd-o0o95]

Bruce Leroy had the glowing

[@stevequate1797]

Thanks explains a lot I use 174lb steel fishing leader wire yea it takes a minute to get hot enough but I hv plenty of time lol

[@Dinco422]

"A lot of things to do with a hot wire.... you can get hurt..." Hell yeah brother... I was making a soldering iron using chromium wire... was testing how far I have to cut it for my 12v 1,2 amps supply and .... you know I tested it with my finger and have a nasty wire thin burn on my finger... don't be like me kids

[@slowallin3144]

Don’t feel bad about not knowing which way electrons flow, when Ben Franklin named the charges in 1756 he got it backwards and it wasn’t for 150 years until someone figured out the actual flow of electrons. Turns out it doesn’t matter at all.

[@bubbatt77]

So cool

[@aaronduranceau6114]

Heated wire to set off match stick mini rockets out of mandalorian gauntlets

[@baporwave]

The only reason I know about ohm’s is because I used to build my own vape coils, and it’s all about having a wire that won’t burn your cotton.

[@darkshadowsx5949]

a friend and i made a mini kiln with nichrome wire and melted some aluminum. he pulled the crucible can with the molten aluminum out of the mini kiln and it exploded sending molten aluminum everywhere within 5ft radius. . luckily no one got molten aluminum on them, and we put the little fires out before the house burned down. and now we dont do stupid experiments in the house.... dont do stupid experiments in the house. something might randomly explode. just do it outside. especially with something incredibly hot.

[@HS-hz4fx]

based on your terminology if the the power supply , supply more current we need shorter wire rather then the longer one , I feel like something is wrong here !!!!

[@KeithsTestGarage]

Please elaborate. What would the short wire solve? Typically we’d want to reduce resistance for power transmission, therefore shortening the wire. But in this case I was trying to increase resistance. I think. It’s been a while but I’m happy to learn from the comments section.

[@nutshell5494]

Or just using pwm controller

[@nevales]

Anyone can understand. So simplefied.

[@elisa7joy9]

Just observations from a science illiterate here....You went from something I understood to completely losing me.... What happened to the car battery?? Why did we stop using that as a power source? I'm in a location without access to power other than batteries... I was hoping to learn how to get my hot wire hotter... Also we went from basic electrons and movement of electricity to equations without defining anything in the equation to something I could follow along with😔