A Simple Electric Heater.—In Fig. [96] the illustration shows a cup or holder (A) for the wire, made of hard rubber. This may be of such diameter as to fit upon and form the cover for a glass (B). The rubber should be ½ inch thick. Two holes are bored through the rubber cup, and through them are screwed two round-headed screws (C, D), each screw being 1½ inches long, so they will project an inch below the cap. Each screw should have a small hole in its lower end to receive a pin (E) which will prevent the resistance wire from slipping off.
The resistance wire (F) is coiled for a suitable length, dependent upon the current used, one end being fastened by wrapping it around the screw (C). The other end of the wire is then brought upwardly through the interior of the coil and secured in like manner to the other screw (D).
Caution must be used to prevent the different coils or turns from touching each other. When completed, the coil may be immersed in water, the current turned on, and left so until the water is sufficiently heated.
How to Arrange for Quantity of Current[p. 139] Used.—It is difficult to determine just the proper length the coil should be, or the sizes of the wire, unless you know what kind of current you have. You may, however, rig up your own apparatus for the purpose of making it fit your heater, by preparing a base of wood (A) 8 inches long, 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick. On this mount four electric lamp sockets (B). Then connect the inlet wire (C) by means of short pieces of wire (D) with all the sockets on one side. The outlet wire (E) should then be connected up with the other sides of the sockets by the short wires (F). If, now, we have one 16-candlepower lamp in one of the sockets, there is a half ampere going through the wires (C, F). If there are two lamps[p. 140] on the board you will have 1 ampere, and so on. By this means you may readily determine how much current you are using and it will also afford you a means of finding out whether you have too much or too little wire in your coil to do the work.
