T Shadow wrote:
I appreciate all those who have given constructive suggestions. For
the record, my wife has Multiple Sclerosis one symptom of which is poor
blood circulation. She is always "cold" even in the summer. More
blankets, which only keep body heat in, don't help. What is needed is
a heat source other than her body. Hence the electric blanket. She
still complains it isn't warm enough and I have no idea how to test if
it is working properly merely from a heating perspective. It feels
warm but not hot. I assume, without taking the thing apart, that there
are a bunch of resistive elements wired in parallel. Thus some could
be open and the blanket still heat.

The other concern is safety since, unfortunately, another of her
symptoms is incontinence.

The blankets we have are perhaps 20 years old. They still seem to work,
but do not get very warm. On the other hand, I don't recall how warm
they are supposed to get. I am sure they are regulated so that you
don't inadvertently burn yourself from a high setting. I would have
just gone out and bought a new one if money weren't an issue.

In searching the web, I noticed many Electric Utilities offer "safety
tests" for electric blankets, so there must be some protocol. I was
just hoping someone here knew it although it is hardly "electronics".

Another article I found suggested that they "used to be unsafe" but
newer standards have been adopted which make them safe.

Leaving out the "tin foil hat" concern about electromagnetic fields, I
assume the main risks are shock and fire. My presumption was that the
UL certification covered those and the ones I have carry UL
certification.

I suppose the best thing to do is to just buy a new one. And yet,
without understanding the failure modes of the old ones, there still
remains in my mind a safety concern.

--
Nelson


Most electric blankets build up resistance over time. I've only had one
last(put out full heat) more than 5 years. Most just out of warranty. The
one I have now says it doesn't do that and is a little past that age. It's
still working fine. Would have to look the brand name up. Hadn't heard of it
before purchase. IIRC it has Mills in the name.




Maybe they're just not built like they used to be. My grandma has one
that's at least 40 years old, it's on the bed in a spare room now and
when I've stayed there I still never turn it up past 3 or so, set it to
5 or 6 and I'm sweating, it goes all the way up to 10.