Is there a way...

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 2:05 pm

...To run a small heat coil in controllers dating back to the NES?

Most people, I guess, have problems with sweating. Thus, for the PS2 and XBOX, a few corps made airflow controllers with small fans in them.

I suffer from the complete opposite problem. My hands freeze. Not literally, of course, but they get damn cold (Cold enough that they take forever to warm up with me sitting on them). I was just wondering if I could run small coils off the main voltage supply without drawing so much that I fry something. Prolly a coil of CAT5 wire around a small bolt then soldered to short out, thus, creating heat. Just like an electric stove/oven, heating pad, or some other small personal heater.

I don't need a lot of heat. Just enough to keep my hands a normal temp. And I certainly don't need to be frying my consoles by doing this.

Mario · Post by **Mario** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 5:56 pm

Ehh, I don't think so. If you short anything, it'll likely fry. Your best bet would be an external battery pack with a small piece of heating wire. (It can be found in toasters)

hailrazer · Post by **hailrazer** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 6:07 pm

Wear gloves ?

Jongamer · Post by **Jongamer** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:12 pm

hailrazer wrote:Wear gloves ?

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:22 pm

hailrazer wrote:Wear gloves ?

The obvious answer...But it won't work. I lose to much dexterity, and cant feel the buttons.

Tried. Thanks though.

Mario; I really didn't want to go that route... But the CAT5 would work just like toaster wire.

Valium · Post by **Valium** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:25 pm

Cut the fingers off em?

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:37 pm

Valium wrote:Cut the fingers off em?

WHAT!?!?!?

EDIT: OH! The gloves....>.>.... Umm...Its a thought....Its hard for me to cut the fingers off the gloves I have. Very nice, and kinda expensive.

EDIT2: Wait, that wont work.... My fingers are whats getting cold Cutting the fingers off of the gloves would defeat the purpose.

hailrazer · Post by **hailrazer** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:39 pm

HBN wrote:
Valium wrote:Cut the fingers off em?
WHAT!?!?!?

EDIT: OH! The gloves....>.>.... Umm...Its a thought....Its hard for me to cut the fingers off the gloves I have. Very nice, and kinda expensive.

Open Finger Mechanics Gloves.

Costs $15 at an Auto Parts Store:

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:18 pm

I don't think it'd work, though (As stated in EDIT2), as its my fingers that are getting the coldest. A heating element is the only thing that would produce heat that will allow full dexterity, and the ability to feel the buttons.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:37 pm

Try fingerless gloves. If your palms are warm, your fingers will likely be warmer, too. Similar to if you put a hat on when its cold out, it keeps your body warmer as a whole.
If you use something to heat your hands, how about a space heater pointing at your hands?

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 9:05 pm

vskid wrote:Try fingerless gloves. If your palms are warm, your fingers will likely be warmer, too. Similar to if you put a hat on when its cold out, it keeps your body warmer as a whole.
If you use something to heat your hands, how about a space heater pointing at your hands?

Space heaters are kinda expensive to run for as many hours as I game. I'll try the gloves, but I'm still not sure. Cuz my hands (Palms) stay pretty warm. Its mostly just my fingers.

Mario · Post by **Mario** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 9:35 pm

HBN wrote:
hailrazer wrote:Wear gloves ?
The obvious answer...But it won't work. I lose to much dexterity, and cant feel the buttons.

Tried. Thanks though.

Mario; I really didn't want to go that route... But the CAT5 would work just like toaster wire.

Well, you certainly can't take power from the controller...

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:54 am

This sounds like a very fun project... There are a few ways to go about this, but lets start by figuring out some things... First of all, what controllers will you want to do this with? Also, how much are you looking to spend?

You won't be able to safely leech enough power from the controller ports, but there are other ways to go about getting power to it WITHOUT a stupid looking battery pack. The wires used to carry power to the controller should be strong enough to supply the heater with adequate current. However, the controller ports are usually limited to where the controller can only draw a certain (usually very low) amount of current... but who says we have to get power from the controller ports? For example, for a PS2 controller, you could splice into the cord near the plug of the controller (or hack up a controller extension cord if you didn't want to damage the controller cable itself) and add a USB plug wired to the 5V line. The safest way to do this is probably to completely cut off the 5V line going to the controller port, and only supply the 5V to the controller from the USB port. Keep the grounds connected for both, though. This should allow up to 500mA for the heater, minus a few mA for the controller itself. This should be enough.

CAT5 cable is a bad idea... probably won't work. The way I see it, you have two options... Nichrome wire (toaster wire, although I recommend you buy it OEM instead), and resistors. A few 1/2 - 3 watt resistors placed throughout the controller should work quite nicely. But, it depends on which controllers you're using... some of them may not have the room inside.

You've picked a very intriguing project, and you also have a very strange problem. And since I like weird stuff, I'd like to try to help you...

Gimme some more info and we'll go from there...

Tibia · Post by **Tibia** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:25 am

There are literally hundreds of full-finger gloves available that are extremely tactile. They're all very affordable, too. I've got several pair made by Ironclad that I use quite frequently. There's no sacrifice in dexterity at all.

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 9:18 pm

Electric Rain wrote:This sounds like a very fun project... There are a few ways to go about this, but lets start by figuring out some things... First of all, what controllers will you want to do this with? Also, how much are you looking to spend?

You won't be able to safely leech enough power from the controller ports, but there are other ways to go about getting power to it WITHOUT a stupid looking battery pack. The wires used to carry power to the controller should be strong enough to supply the heater with adequate current. However, the controller ports are usually limited to where the controller can only draw a certain (usually very low) amount of current... but who says we have to get power from the controller ports? For example, for a PS2 controller, you could splice into the cord near the plug of the controller (or hack up a controller extension cord if you didn't want to damage the controller cable itself) and add a USB plug wired to the 5V line. The safest way to do this is probably to completely cut off the 5V line going to the controller port, and only supply the 5V to the controller from the USB port. Keep the grounds connected for both, though. This should allow up to 500mA for the heater, minus a few mA for the controller itself. This should be enough.

CAT5 cable is a bad idea... probably won't work. The way I see it, you have two options... Nichrome wire (toaster wire, although I recommend you buy it OEM instead), and resistors. A few 1/2 - 3 watt resistors placed throughout the controller should work quite nicely. But, it depends on which controllers you're using... some of them may not have the room inside.

You've picked a very intriguing project, and you also have a very strange problem. And since I like weird stuff, I'd like to try to help you... Gimme some more info and we'll go from there...

Like I mentioned, I'd like it as far back as the NES if at all possible. I think its fair to say that the Atari systems just wont do. I hope that the NES will.

Any help you can give would be great. Thanks!

Tibia, "extremely" isn't good enough. Plus I still wont be able to feel the buttons like I would without gloves. Gloves wont work for me. Thanks anyways, though.