printer bed heaters

my friend sent me this link, for silicone rubber heaters, they seems like a great way to make a heated bed for printing, they have the range that we need and come in allot of sizes. silicone rubber heaters but i think i may go this route, seeing just how much trouble this may save me.

The guys at bothacker.com use this. I stumbled upon a few interesting posts yesterday:
http://bothacker.com/2010/02/22/build-surface-heater-take-2/
http://bothacker.com/2010/02/26/control-box-and-heater-test/

I ordered a cheap coffee cup warmer from dealextreme. I estimate it won't be able to achieve more than 70+ degrees Celsius when running on 220v. But we'll see when it arrives if it has any effect at all.

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-Nudel
Blog with RepRap Comic

dissidence & Nudel,

I myself have been looking at building a heated bed for my mendel as well. I think Bothacker had a good idea with using temperature Controller instead of rerouting it into the computer. How are you thinking to build your bed? Two pieces of aluminum with the element sandwiched between it? I would like to help out with the project if I can.


Thanks!
Mark F

(my email is Robotguy AT a BELLSOUTH dot NET)

me i am thinking i will go the route of those silicone rubber heaters, they are by far the least trouble some way to do it i think. i will try to make my own controller for it, so that i can have it controlled by my arduino so that i do not have to think about it too much, but yes i can see why some one would like to use a proper controller for it.

Dissidence,

Ya I'm still on the fence about using my arduino or a PID controller. What W/in^2 mat are you going to use? They all cost the same, 8"X8" is only 48 USD. Also how are you going to mount your heated build area. Ideas are welcome, I work in Solidworks and Autocad if you want to collaborate on an idea.

Thanks!
2robotguy
Mark Fuller
robotguy@bellsouth.net

i think i will order a 5 or 10 watt one for me i still need to get my design closer to the point where i need one. i think i am going to use the 6in x 6in one myself