Date:         Tue, 8 Aug 2006 07:39:01 -0700
Reply-To:     mike elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         mike elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: wow,
              the heater element heats up fast!Re: refrigerator
              non-refrigerating blues
In-Reply-To:  <44D82F57.1070506@earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

On 8/7/06, Mark Drillock <drillock@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> Sounds about right to me. I'd guess the ohms measurement of the 12 volt
> element in the 1-2 ohms range, not zero but close by most standards.


I'll second that: when hot the element should present about 1.9 ohms of dc
resistance in order to meet the published spec of consuming 85 Watts.
However, most resistive heating elements measure lower when they are cold,
e.g., when connected to a ohmmeter; as they heat up, their resistance to the
flow of current increases. So your low reading is good.

85 Watts can get pretty darn hot when it is confined to a small space --
fire up a 75W light bulb, wait 15 minutes, then touch it.

-- Mike RJS