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New here - sorry if this topic is in the wrong category.
I am looking at flexible, resistive heaters and for my application I would like to operate these heaters with a constant power output. In other words, no matter what the ambient temperature is or becomes, I would like the output power of the heater to remain constant, understanding that the temperature of the heater itself may fluctuate. What type of power controller setup can I use to achieve this? For reference, the heaters I am looking at are DR1019-5 and DK1019-5 which have operating voltages of 12V and max power outputs of 45 W (at 5 W/sq inch). I will be operating the heaters well below the max power in my testing, close to 1 W or below. Thanks for any insight.
Good news: to a decent first approximation, all ya gotta do to achieve that is apply a fixed-voltage source.
Some algebra on Ohm’s law gets a person to Power=Voltage2/Resistance. Hold V constant, and P can’t change unless R does.
Any example of R in the real world will vary somewhat with temperature; the deeper questions are “how much” and “does it matter.” I don’t see any specification of such in the datasheets for the parts mentioned, but looking at extant examples of some resistor products the Temperatuere Coefficient gamut ranges from a few PPM to a few thousand PPM per °C.
Assigning some tolerance figures to your idea of “constant” and defining the operational temperature range will go a long way toward figuring if a given product will meet your needs.
