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Hey all - Here is a little project I posted this weekend. I was trying to figure out how to quickly create a large arc cutout (2.6" diameter) in an aluminum plate in order to fit the curvature of a soda can. Misusing the fly cutter did the trick. Check out the Can Cooler Project details here if interested. Thanks! -Keith
Last edited by desktoplathes; 05-16-2012 at 09:55 AM.
That's not misuse, that's creativity. If you just bored a hole in a block and cut it in half, you would have gotten 2 pieces with more contact area.
Cool project but if your idea is to cool a can of soda the fastest then a bucket of salted ice water will do it much faster. You have a higher delta T and probably 10 times more contact area with the can.
Matt
Matt - Thanks for the feedback. Agreed... there are much faster and simpler ways to cool a can of soda! With this project, I'm going for a very niche application where I don't have easy access to ice or water and don't want the mess at my desk. Also, there isn't room for a mini fridge but there is plenty of power. Part of my fascination with having fabrication tools at home is that I can make custom devices that would likely never be found in the marketplace. Who would make a drink cooler that only fits 12 oz soda cans right? Lastly.. I had some peltiers and aluminum bar stock laying around so why not have some fun with them? :-) -Keith
Keith, looks like a fun project! I too have been known to do things that would never be viable for commercial use or sometimes even worth the effort of making two! But, usually I'm more interested in learning about something I've got on my mind or like you, have goods parts laying around and an idea develops.
Hopefully you will have the time and inclination to keep this project going a bit longer and develop it some more. Lynn
Lynn - Exactly! I usually head down a narrow path like this when I'm interested in tinkering with and learning about something new. I'd never messed with Peltier coolers until this effort. I've started collecting some data with an arduino and will post the results in the next few weeks. The next phase will be to finish up an enclosure that can support that massive upside down heat sink / fan combo. Also, I need to keep condensation from dripping and causing future problems. Lots of fun challenges to solve. Thanks for your feedback! -Keith
Keith, you can prevent condensation by doing the cooling in a vacuum.
Matt
Haha, yes and that would take care of the losses due to convective heat transfer from the ambient temp air! Time to build a vacuum chamber :-)Originally Posted by keebler303
Keith, you can prevent condensation by doing the cooling in a vacuum.
Matt
A turbopump would be an ambitious hobby project!
Matt
Nice project and good job so far!
You could try using less voltage with your peltier... Simple fix but you might not be happy with the time it takes to cool.... Also sand your surface with super light sand paper (On a FLAAAT suffice) till you get a merrier finish on both sides (not the peltier ) and use heat transfer gunk so your air gap is next to nothing. I think brass works better than aluminum for heat transfer but I never looked into this much...
Copper is the best conventional material for conductivity, aluminum is both cheaper and easier to machine.
If you really want high conductivity, look up highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG).
Reduced voltage would give you reduced cooling, some arctic silver at thermal junctionswould definitely be helpful.
Matt
Yep... am using arctic silver at thermal junctions. I've collected some data with a thermistor RTV'd in a can of water - just need to plot it out and see what kind of time to chill I'm getting. It's quite a bit more than 10 minutes I'm afraid (guessing ~20). -Keith
I did this exact thing many moons ago when I was building watercooling systems. Man I wish I still had those pictures.
I was even asked to help design a cooling vest for motorcycle police using the pelt tech.
One tip I will give you is isolate the pelt between the heatsink and the cooling block. If I remember right I used the foam pack that meat comes on when you buy it from the store. layered it up
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