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Re: [TowerTalk] Heat tape for relays

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Heat tape for relays
From: "Jim Lux" <jim@luxfamily.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2025 15:44:22 -0400
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
        


 
I doubt you need much power here, what about a resistor with a suitable value 
for whatever voltage so that it dissipates, say, 1/4W.  If you're feeding 
12VAC, 560 ohms is pretty close to a quarter watt.  1k is 144 mW.

A more interesting question is why are you seeing the stickiness.  It's not 
like relays have a lubricant that gets stiffer with cold.  And usually, coil 
resistance goes DOWN with lower temp, so the current goes up and so does the 
flux. Maybe the return spring gets stiffer (if it gets cold enough, it could 
conceivably get brittle?)

On Sat, 8 Mar 2025 13:32:18 -0700, Patrick Barkey <n9rvee@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a lot of relays in this station, and many are outdoors (in
enclosures). Over the last few years it has become apparent that the
occasional super cold nights are making some of them flakey. They stick --
if I go out with a hairdryer I can free them up.

These are enclosed relays.

I am wondering if anyone has ever tried using heat tape for this kind of
application? I could just flip it on when I needed it. Most heat tape I
see is for water pipes and is 6 feet long or so. I could try to use this,
but what I really need is something smaller and possibly flatter.

Any ideas? Thanks.

- Pat
N9RV
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