[pianotech] hot box dimensions

[David Love]

Yeah, I got the pictures but wasn't sure what was going on.  Thanks for the
description.

David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Ron Nossaman
Sent: Sunday, December 13, 2009 9:01 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] hot box dimensions

David Love wrote:
> What does it actually mean, "oil filled radiator" and how do they 
> work?  Do they need an outside energy source (plug in)?  I'm not clear 
> from your description, is the radiator actually in the box or is the 
> warm air from the radiator pumped into the box somehow.  I suppose I 
> should look at one in person.  The search descriptions don't do much.  
> I guess out here we don't really use these types of things like you guys
in snow country.

I just googled "oil filled radiator" and immediately got eight pictures, any
of which would do. It's an electrical resistance convection heater. Instead
of the element being out in the open (dangerous) and visible, it's in a
sealed tube inside the unit - like a dampp-chaser heater bar. The heater
tube is surrounded by oil, which distributes the heat very uniformly to the
fins. The idea is getting a uniform dispersion of heat available, to the
widest practical surface area, to heat air passing between the fins, without
the fire hazard associated with previous systems. These things don't get
hotter than the heater bars we put in pianos, and no one seems too concerned
about them starting fires.

I have a radiator built into my box, as in drawing. The air is blown down
through the radiator, and comes up through holes in the false floor the
panels sit on. The door is in the right end, full height. Plugged in, the
fan runs continuously, and line voltage to the radiator is controlled by a
thermostat just inside the door.

Ron N