Okay, so I'm trying to figure out what this funky smell is that burns my nose every now and then. After a week or two I finally realize it's my Glade PlugIns Scented Oil warmer thingy. As such I introduce Victim #1, which you see to the right.
FINE PRINT: Glade(tm) and PlugIns(tm) are trademarks of SC Johnson, A Family Company. I release them from liability for any stupidity on my part for misusing one of their products in such a way that may be considered dangerous.
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The Situation: Okay, so I'm trying to figure out what this funky smell is that burns my nose every now and then. After a week or two I finally realize it's my Glade PlugIns Scented Oil warmer thingy. As such I introduce Victim #1, which you see to the right. |
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Solution #1: Bad
I figured it was just the particular flavor I had in it...it was kinda strong, unlike the scratch-n-sniff sticker
on the box. I recently got a new flavor for it, in hopes that it would not be so strong...well that just didn't work.
The new one was better, but still started to make my eyes water and nose tingle after a couple of hours.
The lesson to learn is don't spend more money, make use of stuff you've already got, which brings us to...
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Solution #2: Good So I am thinking, this thing would be just about the right strength for a room the size of an average 2 story house. It even says on their web site "for larger rooms" ... well I'm using it in a small room (about 11' x 11' x 8' = 968 cu. ft.). Needless to say, this thing is overwhelming at a minimum. So I figure 1/10 the smell would be just about right. How does one get that? With math! Yeah, I minored in math, which authorizes me to do complex calculations like this:
Given: Wall socket = 120V
Given: Oil warmer rating = 120V
Observed: Spare wall-wart on shelf rated 12V, 500mA
Derived: 12V/120V = 1/10
Therefore: Oil warmer wired to wall-wart gives 1/10 fragrance output
Wow, it's brilliant! So that brings us to Victim #2, which you see to the right.
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On to the hacking: The first thing I needed to do was remove the "outlet blocker" as this was an old-style warmer. When doing this, I noticed that Glade had already implemented the "rotating plug" feature of the new-style warmers from the very beginning. The problem was that they put the plug on the wrong end, so when rotated, the wick would not point upwards... I also needed to clean this thing up...ick! |
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To the left you'll see how I plan to piggyback the warmer on the wall-wart. | To the right, my first functional prototype, messy by requirement. |  |
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Finished Product: So here it is, cleaned up to use minimal wiring and be a small package. | And here you see the whole thing in action. |  |
Final Thoughts:
Well, I've had it running for almost an hour now and it hasn't blown up, caught on fire, or otherwise had any
core meltdowns. And to top it off, the smell is very faint, which was the original intention. Woohoo!
There are two things here that you might have noticed...the transformer outputs DC, but the warmer was designed
for AC. I think this is okay, because it probably just has a rectifier circuit inside anyway (total guess). The
transformer also is only rated to 500mA and I don't have a clue what the warmer needs, especially at 12V DC.
Go back to Dr. Cheap's House of Hacks!
