Keeping water at a constant 37 degrees

[Chemical Shaman]

Ok peeps,

I have a project I need some help with. Basically I have a plastic container with about 20-30 litres of water in it. I need a simple, easy and cheap way to keep the water in the container at 37 degrees.

Somebody recommended I use an aquarium heater but im really not sure what temperature these things go up to and if it would be appropraite for that volume of water etc.

Can anybody make some suggestions here?

Chemical Shaman

[ramon]

A water bed heater might do the job and it would come with a thermostat.

I am sure I have been on waterbed hotter then body temp so should heat up to 37 at least

[waterdragon]

a 'leccy blanket might do in a pinch, but ramons advice is good.

[ 29. April 2004, 20:17: Message edited by: waterdragon ]

[Chemical Shaman]

Ok i've had a bit of a look around and found some places I can get a water bed heater from but I can't seem to get any decent pics of one. Would I be correct in assuming it's sort of like a sheet that I would have to put underneath the plastic container?

One idea I sort of had was to get a heating element (like the ones in the old kettles) and get one of those switches that turn off at a certain temperature and have that switch be in control of the power going to the element. So when the heat get's to 37 degrees the element switches off and once it falls below about 37 degrees the element comes back on (real rough explanation). Can anybody provide some thoughts on this idea?

-Chemical Shaman

[ 29. April 2004, 23:22: Message edited by: Chemical Shaman ]

[gomaos]

Makes one wonder what you're brewing up there.

Grievous physical destruction or something?

[nabraxas]

i think it would be real tricky to keep a constant temp, by switching on & off w/a thermostat.

it'd be easier if you could fit some sort ov resistor to vary the heat coming off the element.

w/some experimentation you should be able to find a power level that keeps the water at a constant 37 degrees.

i know nothing about it really, but .

[SirLSD]

constant 37 degrees? simple. shove it up your arse?

[Chemical Shaman]

Well that's why I need the water to be 37 degrees. Flushing 30 litres of cold water in and out of your ass isn't very comfortable, and it isn't in there long enough to be able to reach 37 degrees before I expell it. Maybe I could shove the entire 30 litres into your ass and wait for it to get to 37 degrees and then run a tube from your ass to my ass taking about a litre at a time.

-Chemical Shaman

[maddogmorgan]

This might sound totaly fucking stupid however split system airconditioners work off an inverter, instead of flicking on and off the amount of power used by the compressor is varied thus more or less cooling or heat is produced, if you could figure out a system similar to this ( fucked if i know how) you would be able to maintain a temperture around 37 + or - whateva

[Guest electro]

aquarium heaters have thermostats on them,,,

buy a high enough wattage one to handle heating 30 litres of water.. turn the thing to 37, dunk it into the water, switch it on and walk away

[ramon]

Maybe I could shove the entire 30 litres into your ass and wait for it to get to 37 degrees and then run a tube from your ass to my ass taking about a litre at a time.

 

If you dont need 37 degrees exactly but want to get body temp and one liter at a time is acceptable then you could always get a camel pack and wear it next to your skin

[mescalito]

Got some plans here in PDF format for that weirded out sensory deprivation water bed you're building...well the thrmostat stuff anyway.

You've just gotta give it to one of those dick smith dudes and get them to build it since you're obviously a twice exceptional mafucker.

PM me for the files CS and have a nice day

[John_Barleycorn]

Homebrew shops sell plastic-lined heating belts designed specifically for 25L barrels of brew. No thermostat or anything fancy, they just put out a smallish, constant amount of heat and rely on the water's thermal inertia to maintain a stable temperature. They are usually set to about 25C, so you might need two to do the job. Alternatively, you can also get heating mats, much like people use for seed germination.

If you do go down the "dangle an element" route, you would need a simmerstat, ie, an electric stove controller. These work by turning the power on and off at different intervals according to the setting. The elongated elements used in hot water services would probably be a more suitable shape than something out of a kettle, although they are both similar wattages.

A variable resistor (ie, a rheostat) is superficially a nice idea, but fairly impractical, and hard to come by. For starters, anything that works at 10A will be a monster, and will dissipate an awful lot of heat itself.

I'm not certain that all aquaria heaters, eleccy blankets, etc, do in fact contain themostats. That involves a feedback loop from a heat sensor to the heater, which is starting to get complicated. Some of them could very well be based on a simmerstat.

[mescalito]

If you're only dealing with 30L of water,then you could plumb another 10L container in-line with the apparatus,containing a submersible heater with thermostat and a circulation pump controlled by a thermostat in the main tank.

This way,when the main tank starts to cool down,the thermostat turns on the circulation pump to the already pre-warmed 10L tank.

Easy :D

Oh and you gonna use epsom salts

[theobromos]

Getting the water moving will make it heat more evenly and faster.

[Rev]

Ok i think we can assume you wont be reusing it after it goes up your arse yeah?

so mix hot water and cold water out of the tap until you get to 37 to 40 and then get started... should all be done by the time it gets cold. o/wise just chuck in the aquarium heater to keep the temp up till youre done.

[mescalito]

I think he might want to float in it

[occidentalis]

30L isn't much for an aquarium heater to handle. Buy a 50-100W one ($30-$40).

[Chemical Shaman]

Ok thanks for all the suggestions peeps, i think the aquaium heater definately looks like the go here.

Oh and just to clarify, NO i am not building any sort of sensory deprivation water bed doobylacker (not yet anyway) THE WATER IS FOR MY ASS.

 

reville:

Ok i think we can assume you wont be reusing it after it goes up your arse yeah?

so mix hot water and cold water out of the tap until you get to 37 to 40 and then get started... should all be done by the time it gets cold. o/wise just chuck in the aquarium heater to keep the temp up till youre done.

That's basically what i've been doing. Combining cold filtered water and boiled filtered water to get the whole lot roughly to body temp, then starting the Colonic irrigation. Only trouble is I like to stretch the Colonic over about an hour so by the time im near the end the water can be pretty cold. Im thinking about asking my house mate to maybe come in halfway through with a jug of boiling water or two for a top-up (yes we have that sort of relationship) in the mean time.

Here is a picture of my basic setup

Ignore the mess, it's not my bathroom it's my housemates. My bathroom is immaculate. She's a messy bitch.

-Chemical Shaman

[mescalito]

You're a loathesome offensive brute....

yet I can't look away

[reshroomED]

Congratulations!

I've been an Instrument Tech (design/build/maintain measurement and control systems in refineries etc) for nearly 20yrs and of all the weird shit I've designed for people, this is by far the weirdest.

Use 5-10l bucket with fishtank heater (if they reach this temp - if not thermostat and element) to control temp. Tube 30l res through coiled tube (preferrably metal, and inert ie stainless) submersed in temp controlled bucket.

Ever ran a beer keg? Same idea.

Secondary res volume will need to be varied to gain max efficiency and perhaps a heater applied to primary res as well if that doesn't suffice.

Allow time for both res's to attain temp (keeping ambient temp up will greatly help but beware of oxygen deprivation).

Minimise tubing length between res's and to your arse and insulate wherever possble (tubes not arse).

All electrics should be run from a cicuit with Earth Leakage Protection. If you're using any thermostat arrangement pm me re safety concerns as these are a real issue, and could easily qualify you for a Darwin award. And make excellent photos to go with it.

Best of luck with your enterprise.

ed

[ 14. May 2004, 07:03: Message edited by: reshroomED ]