Night Vision IR Tools - Easy Way to Heat Up Steel Targets Electrically

Dogtown

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  • Jun 21, 2007
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    I've been playing around with these recently and they've turned out to work pretty well if you want to shoot steel at night and don't want to use a propane torch.

    I spent a couple years struggling with shooting steel at night with various LWIR thermal scopes and clip-ons. The main issue that the spot where I often shoot longer range is out in the high desert with lots of rocks and sage brush, and unheated IPSC steel just tends to blend into the background or totally get lost unless I'm right up on it.

    For a while I was using propane torches to heat up the steel so they would be easier to pick up with thermal, but it was a bit time consuming, I went through a lot of propane, and it often resulted in uneven temperatures across the target and wouldn't last very long on cold nights. Then I randomly stumbled on these electric heaters that you install onto the steel from IR Tools. It's not something you just put on/take off - you've got to install it with a thermal paste, so the heating element is permanently on there with a wired connection to the power source. They've got a few 12v/24v options to power them, including BA5590 bricks though I think that's too expensive and overkill unless you need them going for a very long time. Instead I got the cable with alligator clips and velcro'd some fairly inexpensive 12v 10Ah lithium batteries to the rear of the plates.

    I did some initial testing in the garage and used a Skeet IRL to see how the plate heat up over time.
    1742772572639.png


    After just a few minutes the center of the front face of the target was glowing
    1742772611861.png

    Unheated steel to the left for comparison. By 10 minutes the entire heated plate was a uniform white.


    Last night I did some tests with a Voodoo-S and detection was very easy, even out to 800 yards. For shits and giggles I did a comparison through MWIR so you can see unheated vs heated...


    Unheated IPSC


    After 20 minutes of heating


    The heating is very minimal - they aren't even warm to the touch, but it's plenty for LWIR to get a solid color that stands out from the background. Those 12v batteries kept the targets heated for at least 3 hours in 50F weather.
     
    Last edited:
    That's actually a pretty good idea. It would probably take longer to heat the steel because it would have to heat the magnet and then radiate into the steel, but that would make it easy to swap on/off.

    I've done a couple trips with these now and it hasn't been an issue with them attached to the back like that. I use velcro to secure the cable to it doesn't dangle away from the steel and as much as I worried a bit that the alligator clips wouldn't stay attached, they held up just fine.
     
    The only reason I mentioned that some of my steel hangs year-round. Be nice to pop the heater off when not in use.
    You could attach the heaters to a larger backing of your choice (AL HVAC tape, sheet steel, etc), then attach magnets to the larger overlay.

    I used a similar heating pad for zero purposes. Stuck it on with duct sealant tape (not fabric 100mph tape). I like the idea of 10AH LIFePO batteries because they’re lighter than lead acid.
     
    This is pretty cool, thanks for sharing!

    How do they stand up to heavy hits on steel? Any caliber restrictions?

    This has me wondering how a stock tank heater would work
     
    That's actually a pretty good idea. It would probably take longer to heat the steel because it would have to heat the magnet and then radiate into the steel, but that would make it easy to swap on/off.

    I've done a couple trips with these now and it hasn't been an issue with them attached to the back like that. I use velcro to secure the cable to it doesn't dangle away from the steel and as much as I worried a bit that the alligator clips wouldn't stay attached, they held up just fine.
    Strong, large magnets could be on the backside of the heating element and edges. Should hold.
    If they were used enough you could weld a bracket to the back with spring loaded arm and box for the battery/ wires.
     
    Strong, large magnets could be on the backside of the heating element and edges. Should hold.
    If they were used enough you could weld a bracket to the back with spring loaded arm and box for the battery/ wires.
    Good idea with the box to hold it all in place. A cheap solar panel would be a nice addition as well, just drive down and flip the switch to turn on the heating element.
     
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    Reactions: db2000
    Cool idea! I have been warming steel by putting it next to my wood stove. In the spring or summer, I was going to actually put it in the chest freezer first and see how that works when it's 60-80' out
     
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    Reactions: Lowdown3
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