Disable Auto-Off Feature?

[SweetErika]

I'm a big fan of heating pads, but they all seem to come with an automatic shut off feature. The latest pad I'm trying shuts itself off after 30 minutes and has the controller pictured below (the two halves of it are connected by regular screws, BTW).

Is there a relatively easy way to disable this feature? I don't really know how the feature works or much about electronics, but I'm hoping someone here might have an idea and possibly be able to talk me through it. If it's likely not too difficult, I can take a pic of the 'guts' of the controller.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s317/Gitway/000002-2.jpg

Thanks in advance!

 

[Weird Harold]

I'm a big fan of heating pads, but they all seem to come with an automatic shut off feature. The latest pad I'm trying shuts itself off after 30 minutes and has the controller pictured below (the two halves of it are connected by regular screws, BTW).

Is there a relatively easy way to disable this feature? I don't really know how the feature works or much about electronics, but I'm hoping someone here might have an idea and possibly be able to talk me through it. If it's likely not too difficult, I can take a pic of the 'guts' of the controller.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s317/Gitway/000002-2.jpg

Thanks in advance!

I have the same brand of heating pad (although mine shuts off after one hour,) and the auto-off feature is part and parcel with the temperature controller -- it's all one single integrated circuit.

I don't believe there is anyway short of replacing the integrated circuit with a custom chip to disable the auto-shutoff.

 

[SweetErika]

I have the same brand of heating pad (although mine shuts off after one hour,) and the auto-off feature is part and parcel with the temperature controller -- it's all one single integrated circuit.

I don't believe there is anyway short of replacing the integrated circuit with a custom chip to disable the auto-shutoff.

So much for my dreams of a quick fix!

It's probably going back in favor of one with a longer auto-off then. I like this one because it gets nice and hot, unlike many of them. Then again, my last one of the same brand died after about a year, so maybe I am better off with my Walgreens/Sunbeam one that gets passably hot.

 

[Weird Harold]

So much for my dreams of a quick fix!

It's probably going back in favor of one with a longer auto-off then. I like this one because it gets nice and hot, unlike many of them. Then again, my last one of the same brand died after about a year, so maybe I am better off with my Walgreens/Sunbeam one that gets passably hot.

Actually, I like the auto-off feature because I do tend to fall asleep with the pad left on.

However, if I'm not falling asleep, I just change the setting every time I think about it -- up a level and down a level which resets the auto-off until I either fall asleep or I think about resetting the timer.

 

[rthnck]

I wonder what happens if you just cut off the whole damn controller and splice the plug back together. Will the pad just be hot 24/7?

 

[Weird Harold]

I wonder what happens if you just cut off the whole damn controller and splice the plug back together. Will the pad just be hot 24/7?

Nope, the pad would just melt-down if you wired direct household AC into it.

If I understand the documentation correctly, these heating pads work on a pulsed DC voltage the controller creates from the AC power input -- they don't have the two sets of elements for low, medium or low+medium heat ranges that older style heating pads used.

 

[shysilverwing]

This is a little off topic, but I love heating pads as well, but my room also tends to get really cold at night, so I own a heading mattress pad (which gets really hot), the auto off goes off after about ten hours.
Although its not the same as a heating pad, I prefer it because, for one thing, it gets my bed really warm, also, it stays on for a very long time.

 

[SweetErika]

This is a little off topic, but I love heating pads as well, but my room also tends to get really cold at night, so I own a heading mattress pad (which gets really hot), the auto off goes off after about ten hours.
Although its not the same as a heating pad, I prefer it because, for one thing, it gets my bed really warm, also, it stays on for a very long time.

Yeah, I have one of those too. Little is worse than getting into a cold bed! Mine doesn't have auto-off, but I just turn it down or off before I go to sleep, and that works perfectly well for me.

 

[Lalah]

Damn! I thought this thread would be about disabling the auto log-off feature of the forum. I was going to be all over it.

 

[SweetErika]

Damn! I thought this thread would be about disabling the auto log-off feature of the forum. I was going to be all over it.

When you log in, check the box to save the info as a cookie, and it should keep you logged in as long as that cookie is in your browser (so make sure your browser doesn't clear the cookie every time you close it or whatever by looking under Options/Preferences).

If that doesn't work right away, there's another simple trick to get it to recognize you want it saved that was talked about after the last upgrades had the system logging people out all the time, but I forget what it is. Harold or someone probably remembers though!

 

[Lalah]

When you log in, check the box to save the info as a cookie, and it should keep you logged in as long as that cookie is in your browser (so make sure your browser doesn't clear the cookie every time you close it or whatever by looking under Options/Preferences).

If that doesn't work right away, there's another simple trick to get it to recognize you want it saved that was talked about after the last upgrades had the system logging people out all the time, but I forget what it is. Harold or someone probably remembers though!

It keep logging me off every time I'm inactive for about 15 minutes. Damn annoying when I'm writing a long post or PM.

 

[Weird Harold]

It keep logging me off every time I'm inactive for about 15 minutes. Damn annoying when I'm writing a long post or PM.

Make sure that you check the "Remember Me" box whenyou log in. You have to have cookies enabled for it to work, but I've stayed logged in since the last update because I never bother to explicitly log out.

My last read pointers reset if I'm inactive for over fifteen minutes -- because of the auto log-off -- but the "remember me" cookie simply loggs me back in with my next activity.

You do have to explicitly log out or anyone using your browser will automatically be logged in as you, but that's only a problem if you have multiple users on your computer with the same account.

 

[mjl2010]

I'm a big fan of heating pads, but they all seem to come with an automatic shut off feature. The latest pad I'm trying shuts itself off after 30 minutes and has the controller pictured below (the two halves of it are connected by regular screws, BTW).

Is there a relatively easy way to disable this feature? I don't really know how the feature works or much about electronics, but I'm hoping someone here might have an idea and possibly be able to talk me through it. If it's likely not too difficult, I can take a pic of the 'guts' of the controller.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s317/Gitway/000002-2.jpg

Thanks in advance!

Erika, I may have an idea for you. I'd have to see the inside and also have any input and output voltages and currents that are listed on the back of the controller.

I'm super busy these days but this sounds like fun.

MJ