Official Luthiers Forum!

For those of you that have mentioned having had success using baby bottle warmers as HHG warmers - is this the type you are using (with a thermostat control)? I would guess buying one without some sort of control would be a roll of the dice that it was designed to opperate in the 140 to 150 degree range.

The use of the Rival Little Dipper mini hot pot was also recommended in the Glue Pot Options thread. So I'm guessing that this one wired to hit near the 145 degree sweet spot right out of the box? I don't believe it has any controls other than on/off.

thanks

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Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois

Yep I use something similar different brand is all keep a close eye on how yours works mine seems to cycle up to the heat eg I leave it set to 140 f but next time I use it the thermostat cuts out at say 110 f, then next time without adjustment it'll reach 120 f....... and may take up to 8 cycles to reach 140 f if you try and hurry it it just over shoots, also some measure glue temperature and some measure water temperature I'm unsure I just measure water temp but was amazed at the difference when I measured glue temp.

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

I have the Rival Little Dipper and you're correct that there are no adjustments to make. Mine pretty much sits at 140 F as do most of them right out of the box. Be aware that several folks have reported temperatures that were too far from 140 F to be usable.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I have 2 Baby bottle warmers (different makes). One of them just about gets the glue at the correct temperature on full setting, the other needs to be turned to a lower setting. The temperature of both will vary by a few degrees C. which bothers me not. Within a 4 or 5 degrees to 140F is good enough in my experience.

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'm going to order one of the Rival Little Dippers or modify a hot pot. I remembered last night that my wife has a mini crock pot (like the Little Dipper) that she has used at some recent parties. It only has 3 settings though - warm, low and high. I gave it a test last night and warm setting temp settled down in the mid 120's and the high setting landed in the mid 150's. Ratz.

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Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois

So what was the results of the "low" setting since "warm" was too cool and "high" was too hot?

Sorry Ed that was a typo. I tested the low and high settings. My wife was not too keen on me commandeering her crock pot anyway so it was probably for the best.

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Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois

Mid 150's is ok for a short time, do you plan to have it on all day? Could the 'router controller' shave off 10 degrees? You have to remember in a glass of water inside the pot it takes a while to heat the whole thing. A tall glass might act as a wick to cool down the inside water 5-10 degrees. And the plastic glue bottle will be a lower temp also unless you let it warm up over an hour. You are still overcoming the 'insulation' values of the inside containers. Maybe that can be modded. Test the water in the glue bottle for temp and time!

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Good points Frei. My wife may be out of luck after all.

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Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois

Decided to give the Rival Mini Dipper a try and ordered one off of Amazon for $21 including shipping. Fired it up tonight with a layer of marbles on the bottom and checked the water temp - 140 degrees +/- a degree. Perfect. You can slowly raise the temp up to about 150 with the plastic lid in place.

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Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois