More Heating Questions

[sam]

I am in the process of putting a heating set-up together and have my own little set of question. Firstly, the circut heating system will be about ten amps. This may seem like a dumb question but do I only need a ten amp fuse for this or should I go higher? Also for the switches, it looks like Big Kam and Kelvin used ones that opened or closed both the posative and negetive ends of the circut using switches with four connection points. Is this necesarry, or can I get by with single circut switches. Thanks for the help.

Also to let you guys know I allready have the metal for my press. It is going to be made out of two 8" channels for the top and bottom and then a combination of 2 10" channels and 4 angles for the support. Hoping to get it all bolted together soon, but its taking a little longer then normall because I do not yet have my licence and some of the stuff I need to buy requires a car to get home.

-Sam

[G-man]

Hi Sam,

I can answer at least one of your questions. I just have one switch on my system and it works just fine. I should leave the fuse question up to the electronics experts, but I'll give it a shot and someone can correct me if I'm mis-informed. Since heating circuits don't exhibit a start-up surge, you don't need to size your overload protection but just a tad higher than the load that your heater will draw. My heater draws 8.3 amps, so I use a 10 amp fuse.

Good luck,

G-man

[kelvin]

If you are using 240v, you should be using a double pole switch (switches both sides of circuit). A single pole will work, but for safety reasons, a double pole is much better.

The fuse should also be a little higher than the load, about 10-15%.

-kelvin