Infra red wrist strap

Incandescent bulbs give off a ton of IR—something like 90% or more of their energy output. That’s why lamps get so hot.

If that’s the case, attaching some small incandescents to a tube should be fairly easy. I’ll have to dig through my catalogs for some appropriate sized bulbs and sockets.

Some incandescent bulbs give off UV, which can give you a sunburn. I’d try to find some smaller Far IR bulbs, and figure out how to space them around the surface of your cylinder.

Incandescents typically run at fairly high voltages (e.g., 110 VAC), so you also need to be careful not to electrocute yourself. Low voltage bulbs are preferred if you can find them in the right form factor.

For a quick and dirty prototype, you could try wrapping a string of Christmas tree lights around your tube. I think they run at 110 VAC (in the US), so you’ll have to be careful not to get them wet.

They would make a hell of a sight. Honey, look what Santa brought me!

I wonder if the plastic lens covering the bulbs is some kind of uv filter.

Maybe I can find some red and green lights to attach to the tube. Hook them up to a blinker and put some Xmas music on… :)

Here’s a site that has far IR wraps: HorsemanShop.com is for sale | www.learndomains.com

I don’t see a power source for these products. It appears that they may really just be FIR reflectors-sort of like heat mirrors, which reflect back the body’s emitted IR.

Those wraps work from body heat. Maybe using one of those wraps to convert a regular heat pad might work. If you’re taking the cylinder route then I’d start with a thickwall cylinder which will take up most of the length of the LED head, reduce cracking potential and improve the seal possibilities. A good pillar drill with a dremel grinder tip or very unagressive drill bit would probably be a useful setup too.

I still think the wrist strap would provide the easiest and cheapest solution though.

Shiver,

Are you referring to the Thermotex Wrist/Elbow pad, or something else?

Not thermotex, the cheap USB one that was linked at the start of the thread. I’d get a couple of those and wire them up in parallel on a 4.5-6v mains adapter, or get one of those battery boxes and fill it with 3x AA 1.5v rechargable nicads (or better) if it needs to be portable.

Sorry, I forgot which thread were on. I recommend starting with one, plugged into the USB port. If that works well wrapped around the tube, buy a second or third and power them with a local power source.

BTW, I still like the Christmas tree light idea. Maybe LapDist could offer it as a Christmas special.

Why mess with bulbs if you could just wrap a wrist strap or themrotex (if you can afford it) around the tube?

Infrared Pumping

I hope someone tries this. Maybe I will be first:)

Because, as mentioned earlier, the IR transparancy of acrylics doesn’t look too promising. It’s certainly an issue with my vacuum tubes.

Yeah, that really seems to be the bugaboo. If you’re going to end up just heating the tube, there are easier ways to do that. I’m thinking about wrapping some insulated nichrome wire around a tube and see how that works out. A Thermotex pad would be great but it’s just too expensive. I’ll keep searching for a tube that more IR friendly.

Shiver,

According to Xaxxat’s chart, the absorption of FIR in acrylic isn’t so bad (except for over a few frequency bands). Are you sure the FIR’s not getting through? It may not feel like much because you’re not getting the direct conduction. But we only need 104 degF. You might be there, without it feeling very hot inside the tube.