This is a very unusual heating wire that uses a core of very fine carbon fibre strands encased in a soft rubber sleeve. It has a resistance of about 33 ohms per metre (about 10 ohms a foot) so suitable lengths can be directly powered from the mains supply. Shorter lengths like 1m (40") can be run directly from 12V and will dissipate about 4-5W of heat per metre along the length of the cable.
This material seems to be designed for underfloor heating purposes. Probably laid in a pattern and then screeded over to protect it.
I was trying to work out how to connect it and the only indication I've come across is that you strip it to expose the carbon fibres and then fold them back on the insulation before ramming it into the end of a copper tube. In one image it showed it being crimped too.
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17 thoughts on “Testing carbon fibre heating wire. with flame test”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars M T says:

    Has anybody installed this in their floor? Success?

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars William Walker says:

    Looks like the same stuff I bought last year from Aliexpress

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mike M says:

    Was investigating some stuff for heating the earth in plant pots with a 12v supply. My cable was a more conventional under floor heater with two wires in it. Still all a bit fragile to terminate.

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mike M says:

    Many years ago a colleague melted a rolled up cable attached to a 2kw heater. I thought the main issue with the coiled up cable was the fact it was an inductive load and therefore it dissapated more heat than the uncoiled wire would.

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars مطور برمجيات says:

    5-12v 1-2A. for 1m !!؟ خ

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Volker Siegel says:

    Glass and carbon fibres are different from asbestos in that they are not crystalline like asbestos, so they can not split in even finer fibres. So most of the glass or carbon fibres have the same diameter they had at production. I think they can not easily go into the lungs without touching the walls on the way.

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Blender Wiki says:

    Power up a cable and keeping in a coil setup is always a bad idea. Becareful. Is not only about airflow is about the inductive coil heater you involuntary make.

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars no112358 says:

    The wire I have can go to max 18W per meter. You cut it to what you need without exceeding 18W/m. I got 66ohm/m wire and installed 15x 5m lengths into my floor, I terminated the same. That's about 2.4KW@230V in floor heating. Regulated with a thermostat. Works great.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mike Smith says:

    Heated flooring is a God send.

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ross Birch says:

    Trace heating to stop water pipes freezing

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dustin Smith says:

    Planning on using some of this and a 100W solar panel to keep potted plants warm in the sun room so they dont stress out on the chillier days.

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Byron Morris says:

    Thank You.

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Julian makes says:

    hi clive great video. How would you vary or reduce the heat output of this if it had a fixed length of say 10m while reducing the power used? cheers o/

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars nixonsmateruby1 says:

    I saw this online and it came from a wall type socket, went all around the floor and the other end went back to the same socket.

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars nixonsmateruby1 says:

    Hello from North East England. Could you do a video on infrared panel heater, but the DIY one you buy on eBay. You can buy a metre long one on eBay for about £25 and they are basically copper, with strips of horizontal carbon, and I bought one, and you feel the heat, but I just wired it up to an old radio lead with a 13 amp fuse. I would like to see a professional view on how much they cost as I don't have anything to measure it, but with UK energy prices maybe you could do a review and tell us the cost of leaving on compared to other heaters. Cheers.

  16. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars BLAMFLAP says:

    Carbon fiber: "Omg, my lungs!"
    Potentially carcinogenic smoke from the wrapping: "Oh look, it's smoke"
    👍👍

  17. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Heating Pad Coinchi says:

    Very good

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