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Just to grab your attention, check http://www.stud.ntnu.no/~arnesen/peltierbeer/ out. This man is my new god.
Anyway, the real purpose of this thread is to discuss how to play with a peltier device without burning my apartment down. I have ordered a 40mm, 110w (15V/10A) peltier from Ebay and a bunch of accessories (heat sink, fan, copper plate, etc). I may do the peltier beer thing, use it to cool my computer cpu, make a cooler, or use it to cool a CCD camera for my telescope (more on that one later...), or just mess around with it. What I'm concerned about is how to power it and control it.
From what I understand (not much), a peltier acts a little like a slow inductor electrically - when you first turn it on the resistance is low and it gradually increases as the device gets up (down) to temperature. So what I'm most concerned with is frying a power supply by drawing too much amperage when I first turn it on.
So my first question is - is the initial resistance low enough to cause an amperage spike? If so, how can I avoid that? Resistors (I probably want a rheostat anyway to vary the output)? Capacitors?
Next (related) - if I plug a basic 6 or 9V DC power supply rated at 1-2A, will it supply the rated power or supply as much as the peltier can suck from it until it burns out? That would be a simple, low-cost (low output) alternative to a real power supply if it can work. Again, if I need to add something to keep the amperage down, I can do that.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway, the real purpose of this thread is to discuss how to play with a peltier device without burning my apartment down. I have ordered a 40mm, 110w (15V/10A) peltier from Ebay and a bunch of accessories (heat sink, fan, copper plate, etc). I may do the peltier beer thing, use it to cool my computer cpu, make a cooler, or use it to cool a CCD camera for my telescope (more on that one later...), or just mess around with it. What I'm concerned about is how to power it and control it.
From what I understand (not much), a peltier acts a little like a slow inductor electrically - when you first turn it on the resistance is low and it gradually increases as the device gets up (down) to temperature. So what I'm most concerned with is frying a power supply by drawing too much amperage when I first turn it on.
So my first question is - is the initial resistance low enough to cause an amperage spike? If so, how can I avoid that? Resistors (I probably want a rheostat anyway to vary the output)? Capacitors?
Next (related) - if I plug a basic 6 or 9V DC power supply rated at 1-2A, will it supply the rated power or supply as much as the peltier can suck from it until it burns out? That would be a simple, low-cost (low output) alternative to a real power supply if it can work. Again, if I need to add something to keep the amperage down, I can do that.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
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