DIY Resuable Sodium Acetate Handwarmer
Вставка
- Опубліковано 13 лис 2011
- Instructions on how to make a Reusable Sodium Acetate hand warmer
(For more detailed instructions see my instructable here - www.instructables.com/id/Sodiu...)
I bought my Sodium Acetate from www.hvchemical.com/. It was both local and cheap for me.
There are lots of instructions on how to make sodium acetate from baking soda and vinegar, but none of these instructions went all the way and showed how to actually make a worthwhile reusable hand warmer.
This video shows how to make the activator (clicker), the bag, and the proper solution consistency.
One of my motivations for making this video is to get some new ideas for making these hand warmers better.
1st idea. Right now I am using vinyl for the bag which works fairly well. The biggest problem with vinyl is that at super low temperatures it becomes brittle. I have thought that the plastic used in hydration bladders might work well but I don't know where to get that plastic.
2nd Idea - I want a better way to warm up the bags. Larger/Thicker bags take forever to recharge via boiling. One idea I played around with for a while was putting metal in the bag and trying to heat the metal using an induction cooktop. I think that has some promise except my induction cooktop is cheap and keeps turning off if there isn't enough metal on it. Also, the cooktop's controls were very rudimentary and I would often burn through bags. (Note I had to use 420 Stainless Steel or else the metal would rust).
3rd Idea -- I have starting making insulated bags to put the hand warmer in to make the heat dissipate slower.
Hopefully you find this video useful and maybe can provide some feedback on how to make it better. - Навчання та стиль
Doing a little searching the exothermic reaction temp is around 140 F. But the colder your solution is when the reaction starts the less heat you will get from it. If you start it cold, it will never get close to the 140 F. You can also alter the temperature to be lower by having a higher water content.
I found this article while which suggests that it might be possible to get higher temps. Ill put it in my video description.
This is an awsome instructable. I go primitive camping and a couple of these in my pack to slide in my sleeping bag to warm it before climbing in would be gr8. Thanks
I just found this video while searching about hand warmers. I live in Provo! Small world. Nice to see the BYU logo
This is amazing! I used to have these when I was a kid, and always wondered what was inside, and if it was possible to make one from scratch. Where do you find the vinyl? Is it just a vinyl shower curtain? Do you think a vinyl shower curtain would work?
I have only made my own sodium acetate once. It took a very long time, mostly because vinegar is mostly water and I had to boil most of the water off. I don't know how cheaply you could make it but it is a ton easier to buy it. I think I bought 5 pounds and that will make quite a few depending on the size you make your bags.
Wow really cool! Does the snap bracelet work like scratching a beaker to start crystallization?
I have tried a few different things, spring steel seems to be what works. I found that the slap bracelets worked the best. I have also tried cutting up a tape measure and had some success (It deteriorated quickly and didn't work very well). You might try the metal lid off a drink that pop to tell you when it has been opened.
If you find something else that works well please post it back here and let us know.
man this video is straight to the point. thanks.
I had no idea this was so "easy"...
I can't do it with such a bag unfortunately cause I don't have the machine to properly seal it. I'll have to think of something else...
Anyway thanks for that beautiful thoroughly made tutorial :D
Kevin suggests a clothes iron on his page. Probably best to put a sheet of paper between the iron and the plastic. And of course turn off the steam! That said, you can get heat-sealers pretty cheap nowadays off Ebay etc. Their quality is awful, but good enough for a one-off.
I apologize if this was asked previously, about how long will the bag you made in the video stay warm? Thanks.
I think that collapsible water bottles would probably work very well. The downside is that they cost a lot and start to be about as expensive as buying a hand warmer from a commercial source.
If you try it I would love to hear how well it works.
Wow 9 years late, I hope you still use this acount, great project and your post in instructables is even better cause you expose all your obstacles and futures objectives. Have you tried using a hair snap clip for starter? I'm curious are you currently fabricating for sale or you got bored of it already?
I still see when people comment. I haven't made one of these in years. I lost interest and there was already companies selling hand warmers fairly cheap (though not with sports logos). The problem is the vinyl bag seams eventually let go and I don't know why. But now that you mention it I have an old iv bag I should try it out with 🙂. As for trying it with a hair clip, no I haven't. If you try it let me know if it works.
@@nivekmic yeah, you can personalize these with whatever logo you want, which is the best part of it! If you do try the I.V. bag, can you let us know here how it works? And, have you tried catheter or colostomy bags? They are definitely designed to _not_ leak, LOL!
+Kevin Dodge, I read your instructable where you stated you could find the metal discs in bulk. I actually have an alternate use for a bulk supply in some electronic work I'm doing but I can't find them anywhere. Can you point me in the right direction? Thanks!
***** I wish I could. I found them only once and am not sure how I did. I have looked again for other people and have not come across them again.
My seals were about 1/8th inch. I have seen people do a double seal on the edge to try and prevent it from blowing out.
So far with vinyl I have found that no matter how good the seal, eventually the bag will fail. The bag I made in this video failed somtime last fall when I was taking it to a football game. Made a mess but it wasn't too hard to clean up.
Thanks if i were to make my own sodium acetate can i use cyder vinegar
What kind of sealer are you using? I want to try this, but I'm not sure how wide the seal should be.
Very useful video!
Clear vinyl is fairly easy to find. I have bought it both at WalMart and at fabric stores.
Your shower curtain might work but I doubt the material is thick enough to make a bag that will last very long.
This was AWESOME!!!!
How long does it stay warm for?
Ive got my own hand warmers but after seeing this i want to make my own, can i use glue gun or sew it to seal it? Will some plastics melt in the boiling water?
I am trying to calculate how much sodium acetate to purchase will 30 gram of sodium acetate be enough for a small hand warmer?
Kevin can you post more of your experiment? Love your Reward Project . practical for motivating kids. (Commented here coz its off on your recent Video. )
Thanks for the request. Sorry, it seems if you mark the video "safe" for kids then comments are turned off.
I have done 2 projects since the reward project. I posted one of them (The Love note drawing machine). The second was a fingerprint scanner to control power to my TV so that I could enforce screen time rules with my kids. That second one I never completely finished for a few reasons. 1. I ran out of steam. 2. I was afraid of managing 120v ac power inside a 3d printed housing. 3. I felt like taking away my kids choice to turn on the TV took away my opportunity to teach my children proper viewing habits (I go back and forth on that one).
Any way, since I burnt out I have taken a step back and taken it easy. I have other hobbies that are front and center right now (keeping kiwi plants alive through the spring, keeping diy fish tank controller running). If any of those sound interesting I could make some videos about them. Let me know.
@@nivekmic Anything on YT right now is watched, (even nonsense Stuff). Yours makes a lot more sense, practical and creative. The most crucial part is Your TITLE and the search criteria you will put.
Like for this video it can be searched more if its relatable to its USE or purpose. if i may, the title now is too "scientific". " DIY Heating Pad " or " DIY Heating Pad Magic" , im no expert. i just feel you hv soo much ideas that are useful and with purpose than most garbage in YT that are watched on because the Title is great. The 2 other videos , ive watched also.. so mucglh potential... the Title just needs to be refined and the search criteria you placed in. i sooo hope you post more videos. Again your Inventions are Great. It shld be watch by millions. The Kiwi and Fish Tank invention is Genius.. But the Title needs to be sooo relatable. ask a a creative teen probably or view the million viewed YT DIY, how they made it more searched and interesting. sometimes they use the term "Worlds Best, First, Greatest, Unique, one of a kind, Cleanest, etc" not the exaggeration but the practical use. the Kid's reward is soo useful to Parents and Students even corporate ppl who does training games to hv a little fun. Lookg fwd w/ your innovations. God So Bless your work.
@@miksUSA777 those words ("world's best, greatest," etc) are clickbait words, though, and that's not cool. The DIY terms are much better!
you're a pro! I've been looking for a non-metallic activator so that I could microwave it and the bag to re-liquify it. Will the vinyl melt in the microwave?
The activator I am using is metal, if you find one that works that isn't metal I would be interested in hearing about it. I have never tried microwaving my bags.
You may be able to microwave it even with the metal disc, but I'm not sure how the vinyl would hold up. It's sharp edges that cause an issue with metal in the microwave, so with it being fairly smooth, small, and in the solution, it might be alright. The inside of the microwave is actually made of metal, but it's flat and smooth so it doesn't cause any problems.
If you test it, just keep an eye on it and shut it off if it starts to arc.
Please where do you get the sodium acetate?
It seems like I tried a canning lid once and I couldn't ever get it to start the crystallization. They simply don't bend far enough to have the metal slots grind on one another.
How long will the hand warmer last?
For how long does the heat remains as such
So cool!!
This is great! I mean, I used to have one of these from a science kids book, n I know you can get them pretty much anywhere now.
Science though ^_^... *SCIENCE*!! Lol, Im a giant geek.
ANYWAY, thanks for posting! I really appreciate the transcript being available too!
Glad you liked it.
I’m gonna make a huge one
Instead of a slap bracelet you can use an old measuring tape, hope this helps!
how repair hole
my magic gel pad punctured whats is the solution
Does anyone know how to make it last longer without warming the solution before? Different quantities maybe?!
i have a question, why does it heat up and mine does not work, please any suggestions??
34 thumbs-down? What is with that? Are they some sort of flat-earthers that don't believe simple science?
It might have to do with the BYU logo.
wow, thanks
You would need a glue that would would stay strong even when you boil the bags. Hot glue wouldn't work. I have thought about using vinyl glue but haven't ever given it a shot. A combo of sewing and vinyl glue might work. Try it with hot water first though.
Some plastics do not work at all. I tried painters tarp once and the solution melted right through it. Other than that and vinyl I don't know of any other readily available thick clear plastic sheet.
Can this be good for football handwarmer?
Where can you buy a decent heat sealer for cheap, and can you put a link for the vinyl material you used from Walmart?
I bought my heat sealer on ebay. I don't know if typical food sealers will work or not as mine has a heat element on top and bottom. That was why I showed the flat iron as a possible alternative. I have had some limited success using an oven and baking the vinyl with a piece of paper sandwiched in the middle to make a bag. For the material you simply buy clear vinyl from a fabric store or search for clear vinyl on amazon and buy it by the yard. I don't know the best thickness but the lower the gauge the thicker the material. I would try 10 gauge.
Do you have to wait for it to cool to reactivate it? I'm going to attempt to make a self resetting engine coolant heater. Not sure if the solution will remelt at the 85°c coolant temperature, but on average that temperature will be sustained for 30-40 minutes. But it would be reheated when it was still actively giving off its own heat, which if there isn't any active chemistry that stops you doing that it would have the benefit of reducing the energy requirements to remelt the solution.
Also is the step to chill it quickly nessassary?. I might buy a small amount to see if it will reset from the coolants heat and then if that works I'll buy a large amount to build a full coolant heater.
I'm a hypermiler and would love to keep my fuel economy above 70mpg into this winter xD.
You don't have to wait for it to fully cool in order for it to start crystalizing, though the process is slower and forms larger crystals. The crystalization process is an exothermic reaction that works just like the exothermic reaction that occurs when water freezes. The reaction for sodium acetate will increase its temperature to 54-58c when it freezes. So at 85 c it will be completely liquid. If you try it I would love to hear about the results.
why and how does the activator work?
Can I make the activator form something else??
@lboogie875 I bought my sodium acetate at hvchemical
If I only want to use it once in a day, do I have to boil it or will it go back to neutral on it's own? Or do I have to boil it no matter when I will be using it again?
You store energy in the solution by boiling it. The energy is released when you activate it and it turns from a solution into crystals. In order for it to work again you have to add energy back in by boiling it.
@@kevind2683 depending on how much powder you add you may be able to get away with dropping a clean paket in a hot beverage. I have a small store-bought version that I put in my morning tea/coffee. I rince it off when I wash my breakfast dishes and can then take it to work.
I suggest adding the powder at a lower tempature (closer to your beverage maker) so the oversaturated soulution is stable up to that tempature.
I like the music.
So I used the popular science recipe to make this, which is basically exactly the same as yours except they have you use baking soda and vinegar to make the sodium acetate and an alligator clip to activate it. For some reason when I add the crystal to the solution, nothing happens. I did add some blue food coloring, which they said is okay, but I am perplexed as to why this is not working. The baking soda and vinegar I used were both kind of old, but the baking soda fizzed a ton when I put it in. Any ideas to why it's not working?
did you boil down the sodium acetate solution to concentrate it?
can you just use a washer or dose it have to click? can you use an can instead or do I have to buy a snapbraclet?
A guy on Kevin's Instructables said he puts two pennies in, and rubs them together to activate.
Where did you buy Sodium Acetate in Provo? Shipping is so expensive.
It wasn't in Provo, it was at Hi Valley Chemical in Centerville just north of Salt Lake.
thanks!!
This is cool, I have a vacuum sealer and some heavy bags so I can make a bunch of these
how long do you boil it for to reactivate it?
and how long does it take to loose its heat once you activate it?
For the size I show in the video it probably takes 20 minutes of boiling to completely reactivate it. How long it keeps its heat depends on how hot it is when you activate it. If you let it completely cool down first then you probably only get 20 minutes of good heat from it.
@@nivekmic can you define "completely cool down" for me? Do you mean below room temperature? Do you mean below body temperature? 🤔
@@MaryAnnNytowl what I meant by "completely cool down" was cool down to the ambient temperature. When I was taking them to cold football games I found they stayed warm a lot longer if I simply heated them an hour before I planned on using them.
How long does the heat stay and would the heat sealer form a food saver work to seal the vinyl ?
The amount of heat and length of heat is dependent on how hot the solution is when you activate it. Normal room temperature I would say you might get 45 minutes.
A heat sealer from a food sealer might work. The main problem is that most food sealers only heat on one side. It will be difficult to get both sides of the vinyl hot enough to melt together. Might be worth a shot though.
@@kevind2683 the commercial ones claim they last 5+ hours. Is it possible that the solution they use has less water and more of the sodium dissolved in it? Would that make them stay warmer longer?
Hey what was the bag that u bought at walmart called?
I didn't buy a bag, I made one using vinyl from Walmart. You might be able to use a cheap hydration bag if you don't want to make one.
Hi,is it complusery to cut a slit on the disk
Yes, it is needed. It won't work without the slit.
How do you know you have a good consistency while you are mixing
The film on top of the solution is the best indicator. If you don't have a film add more sodium acetate or boil off some water. If your film is too thick add water. Your goal is a very thin film while the solution is very hot (close to boiling)
about what temperature does the heat pack warm up and can you alter the temperature?
Idk if you still use UA-cam but I will answer the question
It does warm up for a while
And you can't alter the temp
Could you use a ziplock and heat seal below the zip
Salene Brom Maybe. Trying to seal below the zipper you will fight with the sodium acetate solution. If any gets into the seal you won't get a good seal. The problem with ziplock bags has not been the zipper but that the bag gets tiny holes fairly easily. Even the freezer bags. It works well for a temporary bag though, and it is easy to change out when it gets a small hole.
@lboogie875, I assume your talking about the bag, not the bottle? The bag is about 10" x 7" and easily holds 4 1/2 cups of solution. When I buy sodium acetate I buy it in a 5 pound bucket, and 5 pounds should make a few hand warmers this size.
will it stihll work if i dont put a logo on it
it will
lhwhl hahahaha
Ok I can’t watch it’s a BYU fan
You might think about picking up a flour sifter to help with those lumps ;)
how many water do u use ? like ml?
It is about a 1 to 1 ratio. So add the same amount of sodium acetate and water. Then you need to observe the solution and add either water or boil off water until you get a thin film of crystals forming on the surface while the solution is near boiling.
How does the clicker work
Breaks of a tiny piece of metal due to the scraping, creating a nucleation centre.
Just a thought, from reading your instructables page. I can't comment there cos I don't have an account, and I have ENOUGH accounts I don't really need already!
You were asking about suitable bags... What about a rubber hot water bottle? They're meant for the temperature. Eventually, after years, some can spring holes, but generally they're pretty good, when I was a kid we had decades-old hot water bottles that were still good as ever. Since they're full of boiling water in bed, not developing holes is a big part of their design.
Of course it would make a pretty enormous heater, but if you wanted something like your large one, to shove up your jumper at sporting events, it might be about right.
I like the idea, the only problem would be activating the solution (it would be hard to press the clicker if you can't see it), though I guess I could just unstopped the hole and activate it that way.
Somebody in a comment somewhere, can't remember right now, said they use 2 pennies instead of a clicker, rubbing them together starts the process. So you could perhaps glue the pennies to a certain part of the hot water bottle. At least, a coin small enough to fit in, even if that's not a penny. Just an idea.
I tried the penny idea and could not get it to work.
Very cool and I love BYU!
you are a genius.
what is the activator's material?
Spring Steel
probably would be easier to use a sifter to get rid of the lumps
i bough the real ones 4 little hand wormers, 1 long 6"x 16 there goes 40 some bucks
Dude, this is so cool!! Thank you so much. :D
Could someone explain me how exactly does the clicker acts as a trigger?
sparks.. i think
I have read some places that say a tiny particle is ejected from the rubbing metal when you click it and this gives a location for the reaction to start. Other places have suggested that the shock wave from the clicker causes the reaction though I haven't found this to work from any other sort of shockwave (hammer, dropping it, ...).
@@nivekmic yes, the first one is correct. The metal gets a tiny bit knocked off of it when it's "clicked" that gives the solution a nucleation site, like how supercooled water needs an impurity to instantly turn to slush; distilled water doesn't like to do that, because there's nothing in it to let the water nucleate on.
This is amazing
any particular reason you dip the bag in ice before activating it?
Not really other than the reaction looks better when the solution is cool.
+Kevin Dodge lol ok. i just got one from an online store today and the heat lasts barely for 10 mins. what factors control the duration of the heat? can i make it last for 4 -5 hours or more. specially in sub zero temperatures
+Bobby S The main factors that will make the heat last longer is how warm the solution is when you start the reaction and how well you insulate the bag.
The hotter the solution the less energy that is used in initially heating itself up. Even then it will only stay warm to the touch for 30+ minutes unless you wrap it in an insulator to slow down how fast it is losing its heat.
I found that if I boiled the bag right before going to a football game and put it immediately in an insulating pouch then it would stay warm for almost the whole game.
For an insulating pouch I used a bubble wrap envelope and cut a square out of the face of it.
Actually boiling it just before use is a good idea. You can use the warmth of the boiled bag for sometime...(i am guessing 20-25 mins) and as it starts to cool down, you can click the metal disc.
Incidentally do you have a DIY video of those 'activate by oxygen' packs that need to be unwrapped to activate.They claim 7 hrs plus of constant heat. Now that would be really nice.
+Bobby S sorry, I haven't really used the oxygen ones.
My mind is blown..
I removed the link. I tried to search for the professor and college that was suggesting and neither seem to exist. As far as I can tell 140 F is the max temp.
If you want to find the article for yourself google search for "Christoff Malkovich sodium acetate"
Mine gets solid when it cools down from boiling. What's wrong??
Either you didn't boil it long enough or you have a very small hole in your bag.
Have not tried this but based on above comment and my husbands knowledge of metals being a machinist I would think a canning lid would be possible. although it is considerably larger than the one you have cut from the slap bracelet.
this is great for marching band :P
Literally what I use mine for.
What is it that the coin does to make it crystallise ?
I don't know exactly. Maybe someone else can chime in. I have read that it somehow creates a nucleation site for the first crystal to start the chain reaction. I have also heard it suggested that it creates a shockwave that causes the chain reaction to start (though I could never repeat the shockwave theory via any other method).
it actually releases some NaAc particles into the supersaturated solution causing the solution to revert back to the solid form. Once the liquid turns into a solid, it releases mass-energy which causes heat
pls sub if that was helpful
I saw another video and it said it was there to start the reaction. Basically, have you ever put something (a bottled drink) in the freezer and take it out a few hours later only to see it was still completely in liquid form, no ice whatsoever in it? But then as soon as you open the top or shake it around a bit or even as you're pulling it out of the freezer it starts to freeze (like a slushy)? That pretty much the same idea. As soon as you agitate the liquid there is a "point of nucleation", a point where in the smooth inside of the bottle ice crystals can start to form. The heat pack solution should already be in another form but isn't because it's supersaturated, it stays liquid because there is no "point of nucleation" but as soon as you click that metal, that's like when you pop the top to your drink that was in the freezer or when you shake it up a bit, all of a sudden the ice starts forming (point of nucleation) but in this case the heat pack turns into what it's supposed to be but wasn't because it was in a supersaturated state.
Man, I meant for this to be short(er).
@@boyo5194 it releases a tiny metal piece, *not* a bit of salt, for the salts to nucleate on. A salt can't nucleate on another bit of salt. It needs _something else_ to stick to, for it to begin "freezing."
My solution keep activating it self before i can put it in a bag?
How do i prevent this from happening???
+Nikolaj Kilime, when I put my solution in a bag it is still very hot, near the boiling point. At this temperature it can't activate. Once in the bag and the bag is sealed you would probably want to shake it up to dissolve the small amount of crystals that may have formed while filling the bag.
Does it matter if it solidifies before it gets in the bag? Couldn't you lump the crystals in, seal the bag temporarily, then boil it?
Absolutely! The only downside is that you would probably get a lot more air in the bag that way.
So it doesn´t matter if the solution activates before you put it in the bag? you can always boil it once it´s in the bag, and get the same results?? And thanks for the responds, it´s really helpful :-)
Put it in the bag while the solution is still very hot.
No a washer does not work. It is not simply the clicking that causes the reaction, it is the slits in the disc rubbing on each other when it is clicked that causes the reaction.
Kevin Dodge Hello, I love your video.. I am wanting to make many of these for Christmas gifts this year and I wanted to know how long your packs have lasted you and if there is anything you would do different?? would love to hear any advice from you that wasn't covered in the video because I want to get started on this project if you recommend it would be fine for giving as gifts. thanks!!
I haven't done these for a while. I found my vinyl bags kept unsealing and making a mess. One of my friends would put a double seal on edge on the bag to prevent this. Otherwise its pretty straight forward. Good luck.
Eppiccc mannn'
Funny, but the funnel is actually from AutoZone. :-)
Can I get you a whisk for Christmas bud?
😃 I thought the meat pounder worked rather well.
No, you have to use white vinegar. Also make sure you use baking soda, not baking powder.
Awesome video....my only suggestion would be to tell us where the average idiot like myself could get sodium acetate
This is where I bought mine at -- www.hvchemical.com/. I will add it to the description.
PROTIP: don't add it all at once, put your materials in slowly while stirring frequently to prevent clumping. They actually teach this in cooking class......
You had me at "Y".
When you factor in time and chance/rate of possible failure, these are quite expensive.
Once you find the right combination, though, these can be personalized with any design you can copy onto it, which you can't get commercially.
we start with a simple slap bracelet.
who the fuck has a slap bracelet LOL
Not worth to fit cause you need a good sealer
Does this work if i'm not a Mormon
You have to believe in science. Kidding, it'll work even if you don't believe in science, as I suspect you actually understand. You don't even have to change your underwear.
I really want to watch this but the music was annoying to the point I couldn't continue
Mine works nothing like this, if I click it again after boiling it it doesn't crystalize straight away. A total waste of money this was, had I Watched this video lol
the best bit is when you use a pee wee as a funnel :)
Or you could just buy one for a few bucks.
don't puncture your bag!!!!!
gay music..
Use gloves for the chemicals man! Stay safe
harveyboy45 I don’t think he needs to for this sodium acetate is also used to make salt and vinegar chips
this is a scam
Awful noise music! Get rid of the noise and just talk.
Please where do you get the sodium acetate?
I buy mine here - www.hvchemical.com/ because it is somewhat close to me.
Kevin Dodge do I buy Anhydrous or Trihydrate?