A little advice on these heat mats

uksparks · May 1, 2015

Hi,

Had someone come to me who wants some heat mats connecting, at first I thought he was on about underfloor heating..

Anyway, I get there and he has to big sheets of steel folded and fixed together into something that resembles a paste table.

Hmm whats that? He makes this stuff, this is not his website, but the same stuff:
The Solid Surface Company - DuPont? Corian® - Acrylic Solid Surface Worktops

Anyway, so he is using this big metal thing to heat it plastic to bend it. It will get to over 200oC on each side of it.

There are to be two lots of three heat mats.

He says here you go, here are the mats and this other thing which looks like a temperature probe.

Ill be honest, I don't want to go there with constructing it as there is no information with it and the other issue I have, where would I stand if something goes wrong with it in terms of electrically and he gets a belt? I feel like I would be making something without a CE mark if you see what I mean?

I think I should stay away from it. Has anyone else seen one of these? He said he made the metal thing to save buying one at £800 or something like that.

I feel like if I made it and put it together, not only could I be making something potentially dangerous but I would get the blame. Its also all metal and it would only take a loose wire or something not right, or some wire to melt because I have not assembled it correctly because he has made the frame himself and bought these bits it could go bang.

To me its just not worth it. Anyway, my question is, has anyone else seen these heat mats?

[ElectriciansForums.net] A little advice on these heat mats

Marvo · May 1, 2015

If you've got no experience of this sort of machine then don't get involved. This isn't just about connecting up the wires, it's about ensuring the finished item is safe for the operator to use and conforms to machinery regs which are outside of the scope of a domestic electrician. If someone gets injured when using it you'll be the one standing in a court of law so walk away.

uksparks · May 1, 2015

That's my thoughts entirely, there's no way I'm going to wire it up as its a bit unknown for me and I can see it coming back to bite me!

sinewove · May 5, 2015

With these mats you would have to control the temp accurately or they have a short life.A digital control is better than a capillary stat and you may need a contactor if the load is too high.
regards,sw