Stupid Questions

Sup, /sci/entists. I'm making a simple device from spare parts. Part of it uses electricity to heat a metal element, kind of like a soldering iron. I just have three questions for you, /sci/, that hopefully some electrical engineers (or really anyone who knows more about electricity than me) can answer.

First of all, a battery hooked up via wire to a piece of conductive metal (the element) in a loop will heat the element, right? Second, approximately what voltage would be needed to heat the element to 149.3C/300.74F (a little over is ok, but not under)? Lastly, especially at these temperatures, this usage won't cause the battery to explode or catch fire or anything, right?

By the way, if this requires too large of a battery, I'll just say fuck it to a portable version and gut a soldering iron instead. Thanks for the help, sorry if this stuff is obvious.

You'll need a battery with a low internal resistance to supply enough current, voltage needed will depend on the total resistance. A lithium primary like a CR123, or a rechargeable NiMH or Li-Ion should do the trick. The batteries will heat up, but if the runtime is short it will be ok.

That's a rather precise temperature spec, you'll need a very good regulation circuit to keep it at that temp, there goes your simple device. But the more important thing is how much heat you want to generate, what are trying to do?

Also, if you really need a compact high current rechargeable, checkout the new LiMN cells. You can pull up to around 15 W out of a 16340 (34x16 mm) cell, for a short time anyway; and I've heard reports that you might be able to go up to 50 W for a 18650 sized cell, 65x18 mm.

lern2ohmslaw OP