Rust Protection

Never been happy myself with light bulbs for this purpose because of the fire and shock hazard. Inflammable covers can get too hot and glass bulbs are easily broken.

Ignoring safety, filament lamps work for this application because they're a grossly inefficient way of making light - about 98% of their output is heat. As ordinary filament bulbs are big and getting hard to find, 25W oven lamps might be suitable: two in series would give about 12W heat.

In a practical build, I'd wire the bulbs with heat-proof insulation, use ceramic holders, protect the glass with an suitable enclosure, and fit some sort of thermal cut-out. I'd also use resistors rather than lamps.

I don't know of a source of ready made equipment heaters. Has anyone tried any of the modern alternatives, such as the thermostatically controlled heating pads used to warm reptile tanks, incubating eggs, and seedlings?

Dave

I don't know where to purchase them but some of the switchgear we used to make was fitted with very neat low wattage 240v panel heaters in the control compartment to prevent condensation ( was used outside). About 159mm long looking like a finned resistor with a heat shield, I think they were about 40W connected via a thermostat and would be ideal, all the connections and very hot bits being safely enclosed. Never took much notice I'm afraid , was more on the HV side of things, they just used to appear from the stores, but must be available.

Dave

Should have taken some as part of my redundancy package, could do with them now!

It is possible to get low wattage tubular heaters which could be fitted under a metal lathe cabinet top or similar, seem to remember some about 250mm long and 40w ish.

Edited By Dave Wootton on 27/01/2022 12:28:46

I don't know what they are called but you can get background heaters consisting of a roughly metre long, completely enclosed metal tube, (i.e., no vents), containing a mains electric heating element.

They can be clipped to a wall and provide low level heat for greenhouses etc. to prevent frost. I imagine you could fix one under a lathe and after a day or so, the whole lathe would warm up to a few degrees above ambient.

The EU messed up all the electrical lighting and now one finds that LED lamps are the norm, But, if you go to an electrical retailer and ask for INDUSTRIAL bulbs you will get what you want. I think they may be ruggedised in some way?

Of course as lighting as changed the way of mounting the lamps has chamged so further expense fitting new mounting points for teh new lighting types.

As my kitchen lighting flourescent tubes started getting expensive with four in the holder I looked for the LED alternative. These I found in LE ligting's cataogue, I bought two round lights for bathroom use and fitted them and they are fine. Dont buy daylight type, buy the warm light ones.

Had a google Farnell do a panel heater a bit like the one I mentioned above for £22 ish but TLC electrical do a 250mm long low watt tubular heater for £16 odd, which seems quite reasonable, The ones like we used at work all seem a bit pricey

HTH

Dave

Yep, lanolin is excellent for protecting bare steel.

I use this to protect my machine ways, Inox MX-3.

A friend who owns a very expensive ocean racing yacht advised me many years ago to try this, so after a machining session I give the ways a spritz from a spray can and so far, not a trace of rust in 15 years.

It's also handy for machining aluminium if one runs out of kero

There is a bit of confusion of what constitutes 'moist air'. School Chemistry tells is there are the same number of molecules in a given volume of a mixture of gases (Avagadro's Hypothesis). Water molecules are actually very light (just one Oxygen Atom plus two very light Hydrogen Atoms) that compares with O2 and N2 molecules which both have two heavy Atoms in them. So air that's above its dew point will actually be lighter than air with no H2O. However, when there are water droplets (when air is around its dew point), they will sink.

So it's not straightforward WHY any of the strategies that people use may work, although I believe what folks tell me about their methods.

Since this thread started there have been changes in 1. The opinion about the use of Energy and 2. The cost of it. That alters the situation. There's no way that heating a shed or even running a dehumidifier is an attractive idea now.

Are there any new views about the way to keep exposed tools rust-free? You can buy very expensive paper to wrap things in and that seems to work because most things you buy are not rusty. What's the magic liquid they put on the paper to make it work?.

Edited By andrew lyner on 25/11/2022 17:02:25

Now that heating is off it is advisable to cover all tools and especially machines with an old cotton sheet, possibly a blanket if available to catch the dew that will now be dropping down in the shed on some days. NOT a plastic sheet which will sweat underneath exactly the opposite of what you want. Yes I know Myford sell a plastic lathe cover but that is intended for heated industrial users and schools, not your damp shed.

I've got 2 of these 80W tube heaters **LINK** in my double garage sized workshop. The thermostats are just cracked open and keep the workshop above 10C. Rust isn't a problem (except on free cutting steel which rusts if you look at it).

Rod

. . . . . . but no magic stuff to spray on tools and cloths??

or if you told me, you'd have to kill me?

That is what i use just going to buy a second as a single was fine in my old smaller workshop

I used to use Duck Oil, but keeping humidity down is much better. Connect heater or de-humidifier via a humidistat. SOD did an article in ME a few years ago.

sigh. I have mentioned the magical ingredient multiple times "clear waxoyl diluted a little with white spirits until it leaves a slightly tacky feel when dried".

Great idea. I think I still have some already so I'll give it a go. Cheers for the idea.

But I can't find any of those multiple times earlier in this thread. Waxoyl was all the rage when I did my own car maintenance. I remember the cans used to rust from the outside.

The heater panels that you can get for pets work well, the ones that I bought for my elderly Siamese cat are rated at 20 watts and are robust enough to prevent an animal from destroying it, the supply cables are well protected as well. They are flexible so if required could be wrapped around an item, it’s surprising how warm they get as only rated at 20 watts. Dave W

That inbox stuff sounds good but at 30 quid for 100 gmsI think ill give it a miss!

By my calculations, 20 watts continuously would cost about £1 per week. I think that I will try a 20 watt heater this winter and see if it can protect my bigger lathe.

PS How do I attach a photo to a post?

John

John, small camera icon second from right on top row on post a reply pad.