18650 cell recommendation for heated clothing?

[Offroader]

Hey Offroader, I was thinking about making some heated clothing myself... Where did you buy your carbon tape from? I have been looking for a less expensive source than carbonheater.us however so far that is the only place I can find to buy the stuff! Cheers!

Yes that is exactly where I ordered it from. I have not seen any other place to sell it. I wonder why they are the only place that sells it.

For me the price is OK because you can do a lot with 5 meters of the stuff.

I know the owner of carbonheater.com really took a lot of time to show and explain a lot of examples of how to use it in the clothing, and also to simplify the process so I don't mind supporting him. I've also sent him a few email with questions. But if I had to do a big project and needed a lot of it then I wouldn't mind buying it cheaper also.

 

[markz]

The clothes I will make will be carbon fiber tape custom clothes. The carbon tape is basically like cloth but heats up nicely and evenly.

I lay out the heating carbon fiber tape to get exactly the heat I want in the body parts or area I want.

Cold is coming, and I have some old Marks Work Warehouse heated boots I got for free. I believe they were defective. I've always wondered how they did it, even with the coats.

Where does one find this carbon fiber tape and how do you construct the setup so it heats the tape and in turn heats the clothing. Is cotton good? I try to stay away from plastic now. Just bought a Carhartt coat and its real warm. Looks like one of the construction coats, with the fury inside.

Is it 12V you need put + on one side of the tape and - on the other, or is there circuitry involved?

FYI - carbonheater.com is up for sale. Maybe you meant carbonheater.us
Either way going to buy some tape and do some ski/work pants and my shoes.

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-carbon-tape-heated-vest/
From the video it looks pretty straight forward, 5V up to 12V, 0.5A up to 3A gives it a great temprature. There is no need to pay 100's of dollars extra for this technology when you can do it for the price of the Carbon Fibre tape.

It's powered by 6x18650 connected in parallel (2x3).
I use it with an adjustable controller.

Looks like $12 for the adjustable voltage, some thread, sewing maching and carbon fibre tape. The hard part, finding someone with a sewing machine.

 

[Offroader]

Only one place sells the carbon fiber heated tape and that is the http://www.carbonheater.us/

Yeah it is as simple as connecting positive to one end of the tape and negative to the other. There is a lot to learn about it but once you understand it you can create custom heated anything. If you have a battery welder (you can also solder them together) you can also make your own battery packs for cheap.

You can pass all sorts of voltage but 12 volt works best. For gloves and boots you may use 4 volt lipo because of the shorter heating tape you will need to run.

It helps if you can sew, I had to learn how to hand stitch but once you learn that you can sew the tape into any clothing.

The other thing I did to make riding a lot nicer is heated grips, I bought these grips aftermarket. I've been using half fingered gloves in 40's F or 7's C. I prefer half fingered gloves because it allows me more precise control over everything.

 

[markz]

Duuuuude!
Offroader
You are just slamming the idea's down, like a WWE king of cage match. Yes, some heated grips, even heated brake levers, heated seats.

Whats the going cost on this heated tape stuff?

Whats the different widths for 14mm $8.50/m and 44mm $15/m, more voltage for more tape right.
I am putting my order in now.

How much length would I need for gloves, I have huge hands, and shoes, I have size 13 us size. Coat is usually 2XL or 3XL?


Ah Bro!!!!!! You know what else........................ a heated sleeping bag. I am so on this, it would be a great project to do. Heck I'd even learn how to sew for the first time in my life. Then I can sew me up some pannier and traingle bags.

What would happen if I take the 44mm wide tape and cut its width to 30mm, would the frayed ends become a short in the circuit?




Great stuff man, thanks for posting this.

 

[Offroader]

I wouldn't buy any of the 44 wider tape as it is harder to work with. You can also not also cut it long ways. I'd buy like 5 meters of the 15mm to start out with.

There is a learning curve with this stuff but it is fun to work with and also increases your electricity knowledge.

For gloves and shoes you may consider 4 volt lipo instead of 12 volt, unless you can fit a 100cmx15mm strip in the glove for 12 volt.

I actually use an Ac-Dc converter to heat my sweatshirt up if I'm sitting at the computer instead of batteries. Can use either battery or ac-dc converter.

One tip is use these DC connectors to connect everything, very easy to connect and disconnect your battery and connections. It is also safer because it unplugs easy.

This place has the best quality and thickest wire, but you can buy cheap elsewhere.

http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=6881
http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=6880

 

[markz]

Those were my next questions after pondering this over night.
What type, guage or wire to use, and I assume just any ole thread.

The ac/dc converter would be awesome too, for a bed heated blanket rather then paying 100's of dollars for a store one.
Could even have a cigarette lighter plug when "camping", those things dont eat up too much Ah.

This guy won $200 from carbonheater.us for his idea,
http://www.instructables.com/id/12V-Electric-socks-for-float-tube-pontoon-boat/

 

[Offroader]

You'll soon learn that everything works by resistance. Oddly enough even the copper wire does also, although much less than those heating strips.

I just use thin 24 gauge wires, But if you use a 100cm strip and expect it to heat a certain amount, then you run very thin wires, or connect multiple strips with thin wires, and increase the resistance you will have less heat overall.

If you heat the wires or the strip it is the same thing. Both will give off heat. You can run ultra thin wires and like a 90cm strip to make up the difference in resistance.

If you run a 50cm strip it will be way hot at 12 volts. A 150cm strip will be way too cold, around 100cm is best for 12 volts.