Cloth Heater from Amazon for 8 dollars keeps dome clear of dew #3843
Replies: 5 comments 7 replies
-
|
Let us know how they work. Sounds like an interesting idea. How big is each pad? |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
If you cut 4 pads off (using only a single pad), you would be close to 0.4A total which the Raspi should be able to directly supply. You would be at nearly 2W of power which should be just about the perfectly sized dew heater. 9W is really too much power for an allsky camera dew heater. |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
I made changes to my AllSky Camera. http://oceanave.ddns.net/ |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
I'm starting to run into issues with condensation inside of my dome, and I have dew every morning on the outside. I don't know if I'd be able to run a usb dew heater on mine since I'm running POE |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
I made changes and improvements to my AllSky Camera. Before this improvement I had 2 Car Cigarette Lighter USB Power converters in the enclosure. One supplying power to the RPi, the other supplying power to the DEW Heat Pads. I purchased (Amazon) a single Car Cigarette Lighter USB Power converter with high power Type C and USB sockets. This simplified power connections in the enclosure. |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.

Uh oh!
There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.
Uh oh!
There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.
-
Search Amazon for "USB Electric Cloth Heater". Shipped to me for $8, I put these heat pads on the floor of my AllSky Dome around the camera so they are exposed to the sky through the dome keeping it clear of dew. Altered the heating pads bypassing the manual switch so they are always on. They are supplied power through a seperate 12 to 5 volt car cigarette-lighter regulator to run the pads separate from RPi power. The 5 pads draw 1.8 amps at 5 volts. I tested the current when covering the pads stacked together and also inside small enclosure to determine if they would overheat. They self-regulate and do not overheat; no thermostat required. The next time I pull my Camera off its mast for maintenance, I will probably cut one out so there are 4 pads instead of 5. It does not freeze here in Lompoc so this solution may not be enough for frigid climates. However, stacking a second set of heat pads, 10 total, may be enough to keep a dome clear in freezing climates. Stacking 10 pads may require a thermostat to prevent overheating.
Thermal image of a single heat pad. Notice it is not too hot, only 128F.

Thermal image of all 5 heat pads in a yogurt container to check if they overheat, they did not. Notice outside temperature with all 5 together is only 136F, safely not too hot.

Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
All reactions