DIY Heated Vest

[petehowell]

I know this was probably not worth the time to make, but I had some fun, learned some stuff, and the dang thing really works!!! It is cold in St Paul!!!

And yes, I don't plan to wear this when I go thru a TSA checkpoint.......

I used an old Land's End vest, 30 ft of 24ga nichrome wire, a few feet or regular wire, some micro heatshrink, a few butt connectors, a PWM controller and some glue to make a toasty warm airplane Pete warmer for about $40!

You can buy most of the stuff on Amazon and then have fun with the basic EE equations to size the elements. The controller uses pulses to efficiently regulate the power from the 12-14V power source.

2V = barely warm,
6v = toasty,
12V = broil!

I used 5 elements in parallel and the result is just about right. The pockets are heated and there is an upper and 2 lower back elements. I'll clean up the controller and the hookup wires and it should be good to go!

Alex P is making heated boot liners with some of the wire he stole from me (don't really need all 350 ft on the roll......) Those might be next on the list!

[AlexPeterson]

This is what Pete's kitchen counter looks like when his wife is overseas...

[dpansier]

This is what Pete's kitchen counter looks like when his wife is overseas...


I've got a clamp on vise that attaches to the counter and works great..... use only when my wife is away.

[rockwoodrv9]

Pete,
I have to tell you - that looks like quite a project! I can see those lines burned into my skin if I tried this! I can't wait to hear how it works.

As for going through TSA, Im not sure how that would go, but I can tell you it is not a good idea to reload a bunch of .223 and then go through TSA wearing the same clothes!

[Snowflake]

You can also use that PWM dimmer to control your LED panel lighting... Brighter lighting = warmer Pete. :P

[Tomcat RV4]

Pete ,I have had similar thoughts, but realize I can get heated seat parts from local auto salvage yard ,so I plan to cut out and use under covers on my RV 4 seat bottoms and backs.. the grid is very light and would most likely work in a vest....Tom

[Dale F. Field]

Next time we meet, if I see you start to shake, should I rip off your vest
or snip the wires with my dikes?
Dale

[Sig600]

Power it off a 12v power source in the plane, no more cold WX flying!!!

[apkp777]

Do I hear "patent pending"?

[walkman]

An an Arduino and a temperature sensor to have it automatically regulate at a pre-programmed temperature.