circuit
ideas
Heat Control Unit
 Sandip Nair
T
his circuit will turn the heater
‘on’ when the temperature of
water falls below the lower
limit set by you and turn it ‘off’ when
the temperature increases above the
higher limit.
The circuit works off 12V regulated
power supply and comprises bridge
and op-amp sections. The bridge sec-
tion is built around resistors R1 and R2,
preset VR1 and resistance temperature
detector (RTD). The op-amp section is
built around IC1.
At normal temperature of water
(say 30°C), the voltage at pin 3 of IC1 is
w w w. e f y m ag . co m
higher than the voltage at pin 2. Thus
the output of the op-amp is high and
relay driver transistor T1 conducts to
energise relay RL1. The N/O contacts
of RL1 connect the power supply to
the heater. As a result, the heater starts
warming up water.
As soon as the temperature of wa-
ter goes up to, say, 60°C, the voltage
at pin 2 of IC1 becomes higher than
the voltage at pin 3. Thus the output
of op-amp IC1 goes low. Relay driver
transistor T1 stops conducting and
relay RL1 de-energises. The pole con-
tact with N/C of RL1 disconnects the
power supply to the heater and further
heating of water stops.
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s.c. dwiv
edi
Now when the water temperature
goes below the preset level, the relay
energises again and connects the heater
to the power supply for heating the
water. The cycle repeats.
Select the values of resistors R1
and R2 according to your temperature
requirements, but these should be
such that R1= R2, or proportional. The
bridge can be theoretically balanced
by measuring the resistance of PT-100
(RTD) for the desired temperature and
varying the resistance of the preset.
PT-100 has a positive temperature
coefficient. That is, its resistance in-
creases as the temperature increases.
For calibration, let’s consider that
water is to be heated up to 60°C and
has to maintain that temperature. First,
heat the water up to 60°C (measure the
temperature using a thermometer).
Keep sensor PT-100 (RTD) inside wa-
ter. Keeping RTD at 60°C (as measured
by the thermometer), adjust the preset
such that the potential difference be-
tween the inverting and non-inverting
inputs of IC1 becomes negative. That
is, when water temperature is 60°C,
output pin 6 of IC1 should be low.
Assemble the circuit on a general-
purpose PCB and enclose in a suitable
cabinet. Connect PT-100 wires to the PCB
and dip the metallic part of sensor into
water for sensing its temperature. 