Hey guys, my hotplate is on it's last leg... err half a leg by now, so I figured this would be an excellent time to start up this thread. Some of you may know (probably just Vesp), the hotplate I have been using for the past 3 years or so was a GE double burner from walmart, with I believe a 900watt large burner and a 650 watt smaller burner (1550 total watts, and that seems the like the advertised distribution). Let me just say, this hotplate has been one hell of a champ.
Even after so many years of abuse, this hot plate could still heat my oil bath to well over 270C (I was distilling eugenol and isoeugenol at atmospheric pressure). Of course, when the oil reached this temp, it filled the garage with acrid burnt oil smoke, but that's not the point. It has kicked the bucket multiple times, with either broken wires, frayed plug, etc, but I just keep bringing it back to life. The regulator on the big burner finally kicked the bucket, as the little screw stripped the hole completely. To temporarily fix this, I put the regulator off the smaller burner on it, and just hooked the smaller burner up to run full blast, for it's remaining life span. I would deffinitely recommend this hotplate to anyone wishing to buy a hotplate. Again, that's a walmart GE dual burner with 1550 watts.
So how about the rest of you? What have you tried and what has failed you, what has met or exceeded your expectations?
Even after so many years of abuse, this hot plate could still heat my oil bath to well over 270C (I was distilling eugenol and isoeugenol at atmospheric pressure). Of course, when the oil reached this temp, it filled the garage with acrid burnt oil smoke, but that's not the point. It has kicked the bucket multiple times, with either broken wires, frayed plug, etc, but I just keep bringing it back to life. The regulator on the big burner finally kicked the bucket, as the little screw stripped the hole completely. To temporarily fix this, I put the regulator off the smaller burner on it, and just hooked the smaller burner up to run full blast, for it's remaining life span. I would deffinitely recommend this hotplate to anyone wishing to buy a hotplate. Again, that's a walmart GE dual burner with 1550 watts.
So how about the rest of you? What have you tried and what has failed you, what has met or exceeded your expectations?