Another dumbass question.
 

I had someone in another forum tell me that a tec was different from a pelt. Can you guys explain to me the diff or was this guy blowing smoke (which he does very often, which is why I am here)?

A peltier device is also refered to as a TEC.

Brian W

Thank you, now I'm gonna go pound that guy with a 2 year old frenchroll.:mad: Thanks:D

Peltier, named after the guy that invented it,
technical designation "thermo electric conducter/coupling"
from where the acronym TEC.

I think my question could also fall under this topic.

Is it me or do TEC devices seem to be a little more versatile then the low efficient and very low cooled (don't forget the high volume water pumped system that's needed) mods that they've become?

I'll come out and admit that I know next to nothing about Thermoelectric-Couplings.

The common effect of the TEC is the difference in temperature between the two ceramic plates when a current is introduced. Lets say, inputing around 20 voltz and 8 amps into one the these babys gives it the ability to pump some serious watts. A majority of TECs have temp a variance on the two plate around 65-75 degrees (farinheight or celsius???).

Could we use this effect in the oposite manner?

We should be able to place TECs between a heatsource and a cooling system thus creating a little juice? Wouldn't be much. What about taking a few smaller TECs and strategically placing them in locations where definable hot/cold sources exist. They could add up and possibly add some type of reserve juice for a "very low usage" device.

I'm thnking about wiring a few TECs up to a capacitor and having it discharge into a LED or something. This would act like a sort of "Thermo-Lighting" giving of pulses or flashes reflecting temp at the TEC juncture. Not to mention some added "ooooss" and "ahhhhs".

Does anyone know the required temp difference on a TEC that would give a current?

I'm getting a handful of TECs next week. One is a 240-255 watt, two are 135-150 watt and there's about 10 smaller ones.

I would love some feedback.

Thanks.

Hey mindspat,

I agree with you, Peltier devices are very cool... :)

There is a lot of good info available from several of the TEC manufacturers web sites (Melcor, TEDistributing, Tellurex, etc.)

You are correct, a TEC will generate DC electricity when placed between diff temp. - this is the Seebeck effect (which also produces a counter-current during normal Peltier effect mode). TECs are not very efficient (usually 25% - 33%), which means they take a lot of power to pump a little bit of heat energy. For example: a typical Pelt might require 240 watts of input power (12 VDC @ 20 Amps) to pump 60 watts of heat energy from cold side to hot side. Another kicker is that total heat coming out the hot side (heat pumped + applied power). In the previous example, a heatsink or waterblock will have to carry away 300 watts of thermal energy. Pelts usually require their own dedicated PSU because of the high current draw, which can use as much power as the regular PC PSU at full load.

The max diff temp quoted for most Pelts (60 to 70 deg C) only occurs under ideal conditions with no load - no heat being pumped. As soon as you start pumping heat the diff temp goes down, eventually to the point where there is no diff temp between the hot and cold side and the Pelt is just acting like a pure thermal conductor. The hotter the Pelt itself gets, the less efficient it operates.

You can do all sorts of cool (and hot) things with Peltier devices, just experiment... :D

Good reply!

You mention -->"For example: a typical Pelt might require 240 watts of input power (12 VDC @ 20 Amps) to pump 60 watts of heat energy from cold side to hot side. Another kicker is that total heat coming out the hot side (heat pumped + applied power). In the previous example, a heatsink or waterblock will have to carry away 300 watts of thermal energy" <--

Sounds like TECs are almost worthless based on the hype their getting.

Maybe if a variable type switch was used, so as to adjust the "juice" required to pump some heat, you would have a good ability to "fine tune" it to work within the parameters of a good liquid system. Do TECs really need to be pumped to the MAX of their ability?

Could TECs be configured to charge capacitors then dump a charge into a LED? What kind of temp variance do you need to give a current? Are there any specifications showing the output of a TEC when different temps are applied?

I have a nice concept for a "water pipe" using TEC type devices.

---

Thanks

mindspat

"Sounds like TECs are almost worthless based on the hype their getting. "

Don't worry.... It just a sound... :D

http://3rotor.homelinux.com/SCM-BB/o...1276.sized.jpg


you can use the "volume-nobb" to get rid of that sound....or just look at this picture, whenever the sound comes back :D

Ok.

Maybe I should give some credit to TECs (or Peltiers if you belive the hype).

But we're talking about a draw of 10-25 volts and 8-20 amps. That's ALOT of juice! What does a common household dryer run at?

One thing I do find attractive is the attention this brings to applied physics and electronc enginering. Does anyone realize the possibilities in store?

Bottom line is that TECs, or Peltiers if the voloume is too loud, need to be redesigned towards computer applications.

If any one is intrested in sharing ideas then please drop me a line. I'm willing to put some time into this.

mindspat@yahoo

http://www.coolchips.gi/

There you go. Hyper efficient, super TECs for you ;).

Well, seeing that it took them 6 years to get to where they are today, and that they're only halfway there, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Also, this company is doing research, so their "plan" is to license out the technology, for manufacturing. This of course might have to wait until their patents have been approved.

I like playing with the cool calculator on the coolchips website.

I tried to imagine supplying the same power that you could to a reasonable TEC. My thoughts were 3W per W transferred, for an 80W Load.

Then, it would be reasonable to assume you could keep the hot side at 40 degrees C.

This would give you a cold side temp of, wait for it........
















-154.89 degrees C:evilaugh:

Obviously, you wouldn't beable to insulate this well enough to prevent heat coming from other sources, so the temp would be a bit higher.

Alternatively, -10 cold side from 40 hot side would only require 27W for an 80W heat load.:drool:

If I'm not mistaken, that could easily be run off the PSU.

8-ball