[sdiy] Peltier Elements

[Tim Ressel]

Hey,

This was looked at by my chamber guru buddy at Agilent
and I. It is impractical for large chambers, but for a
small one it it do-able.

Some points. First, the peltier devices are thin, and
chamber walls are think, so you'll need a riser (greek
work meaning 'aluminum block') to get to through the
wall. Peltiers are rather ineffecient, so for the
performance you require you may need a hugh power
supply. Luckily big surplus switchers are cheap.
Peltiers are soldered together with real low temp
solder. If you let them get too hot, they will
unsolder themselves. I once tried to glue a peltier to
a heat sink using heat-cyred thrermo-conductive epoxy.
I cleverly thru it into a production oven that said
150 degrees on it. Sadly it was 150 degrees C. The
peltier melted and came apart.

I would like to make my own chamber using a peltier
for cooling. I was thinking of using an Igloo picnic
cooler for a cheap chamber. Perhaps a group project??

Check out these sources for info:

http://www.peltier-info.com/
http://www.melcor.com

Melcor has a nifty calculator for configuring peltiers
to insulated boxes.

--Tim

--- Czech Martin <Martin.Czech at Micronas.com> wrote:
> Since my thermo chamber has no active cooling, I'm
> considering
> peltier elements. They are pretty expensive.
> I think the problem is that I have to maintain a
> large temperature
> difference, i.e. cool the hot side of the element,
> otherwise
> it won't cool. This can cause some trouble in the
> construction
> and thermal isolation.
> 
> Any hints/experiences?
> 
> 
> Martin Czech
> 
> CAD/CAE Library Group
> Micronas GmbH
> Hans-Bunte-Str 19
> D 79108 Freiburg
> Tel.: +49-761-517-2422
> FAX.: +49-761-517-2258
> http://www.micronas.com
>  
> 


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