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Originally Posted by Exie
Hi Folks,
I'm thinking of embarking on a little water-chiller project. I'm dreaming up something similar to the Swifttech MCW-Chill.
Here's my first question: If I get 2 x 226w pelts - Can I run them off a standalone 450w PC power supply @ 12v ?
I'm planning on fixing some custom copper heatsinks to the "hot" sides of the Pelts, just how Hot should I expect it to get ? eg. 50c , 60c , 80c hiigher ?!?
The design in my head isnt final just yet, but if the consensus is that 226w Pelts iis "too big" I might settle for 2 blocks of 80w pelts in a similar config to the MCW-Chill.
What do you think ?
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Detail:
Look at the amps supplied on the 12V line. Your power supply is actually several different power supplies all rolled into one package, and the rating (450W) is only a sum of the wattages available on all the different parts. You could run the two 226W pelts on a 450W 12VDC power supply (maybe), but not on a 450W power supply that provides 250W on the 12V line, 150W on the 5V line, 48W on the 3.3V line and 2W on the -5V line. Substitute rail for line if you like.
Also, 226W pelts don't consume 226W. They move (at max) 226W of heat. For example, one 226W peltier consumes 364.8 watts of electricity. This is of course moving 226W of heat while maintaining zero temperature differential. Max efficiency is different than max heat moving is different than best cooling. Setups will vary.
Get two PC power supplies (one for each pelt) and go for it. As for how hot the hotside gets... that's the wrong end of the horse to be looking at. If the pelts are moving 226W of heat, and the heatsinks are 0.1C/W and the ambient temperature is 26C, then the heatsinks will be 26 + (0.1 * 226) = 48.6C. Are fanless heatsinks going to be 0.1C/W ? Probably not. There's a reason people watercool peltiers.
Sounds fun, though. Keep telling us how things go.