I need help in building a popcorn popper from hairdryer parts

[duffy]

I have an idea! Make a popcorn popper out of a hairdryer, then make a hairdryer out of a popcorn popper!

This was similar to how "The Very Mischief" by Lesley Frost got started - one kid tried to make a clock out of Victrola, while the other kid tried to make a Victrola out of a clock. Before long they wound up with polar bears in the fridge.

 

[Sceadwian]

I know that was in jest Duffy, but logically it doesn't apply. Using a popper as a hair dryer is trivial if not a little clunky, you just have to keep your head far enough away from the output of the popper to avoid burns; using a hairdryer as a popper requires re-engineering the basic components, there is no quick and easy work around.

 

[jpoopdog]

understood.
Also , the motor i checked, was in parallel with the coil.
The coil i have completely removed from the hairdryer mica sheet, now wrapped on a peice of cardboard ready to go when i need it.

Another thing. it isnt a 300% power output increase, its still 1000 or therabouts, watts of power. the fan blows so hard on the coil that it never gets that high. but if the fan were off and the coil heated up, without that regulation it would surely set the hairdryer on fire.
it seems that things like these arent as simple to explain (on your end), as i thought. ill look at the local tip shot for a popcorn machine and ill open it up and compare with the hairdryer parts.

 

[cr0sh]

Take a look at this:

**broken link removed**

Vents around the edges (likely slightly smaller than a popcorn kernel) to bring the air in and swirl it (and keep the kernels moving). I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the heating element was located (or a cast as a part of, like an electric skillet) under the metal bottom. Air is pumped in via a high-speed fan, to swirl the kernels around - while the bottom gets hotter and hotter (just like making popcorn using a pot on the stovetop, except without any oil). When the kernel pops, its lighter, and floats out on the air being pumped in.

So you essentially would need to make such a round chamber (light gauge steel sheeting riveted together would work OK), but you need to somehow get a small high-temperature heating element, like that used on a stove; I don't think a hair-dryer element would work. The other thing I don't know about (never looked into it, but have wondered about it - probably will when I finish this post) is why a heating element on a stove doesn't "short out" when a metal pot or pan is placed on it.

Then again - I've also wondered about what heating elements are made out of, ever since I saw the element in my oven "burn" (had to get a replacement element)...guess its off to wikipedia/google for me!

---

Ah - there it is - something called "calrod" - doesn't explain the "burning" I witnessed, but does explain why you can put something on it without it shorting:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heating_element

 

[jpoopdog]

that is exactly what i am trying to do.
also stove top elements are completely insulated. they have nichrome inside them, which does not touch the metal exterior.