» MAKE: NOISE — Discuss this article

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• Circuit diagram
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  The link to the diagram does not seem to work - I get a 404 error.
  
  I'm using explorer 6 and the latest firefox - neither worked.

  Posted by AlexanderDumas on September 13, 2008 at 14:31:08 Pacific Time

• Diode part numbers
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  I've just spotted a typo in the part numbers for the diodes mentioned on page 129 of Make magazine. They should be 1N4001 or 1N4002, not "LN".
  

  Posted by c0redump on September 15, 2008 at 04:20:30 Pacific Time

• Seebeck generator - What is the gasket for?
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  Cheers,
  
  just wondering what's the exact function
  of the gasket cut from the PCB-board?
  Is the PCB-board plated with copper from
  one side or two? Somehow I guess you shouldn't allow the heat to escape via gasket, past the Peltier-cell.
  (So the plastic layer inside PCB-board
  is important, and one should not use a pure copper plate instead?)
  
  Yours,
  
  Kartturi
  
  PS. Same problems with Circuit-page as the above poster had.
  
  

  Posted by Kartturi on September 18, 2008 at 13:49:31 Pacific Time

• Circuits and Diagrams
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  The link appears to be broken.

  Posted by 3LAN on September 25, 2008 at 20:10:27 Pacific Time

• A design that could withstand heat from a cooking fire?
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  I have done a little research and it appears that the TEC modules have an upper end of about 180 degrees C. However, I though that if you used some Thermo-trex 2800 wire (resists up to 600 deg. C continuous heat) and a good enough heat sink, you could have a power generation module that you could suspend over a cooking fire or mount in a chimney type arrangment that could be used to power laptop computers by burning biomass...
  
  interesting idea, but I think the TEC modules are the weak link. any thoughts?

  Posted by diyed on September 28, 2008 at 14:56:51 Pacific Time

• Seebeck Generator Efficiency
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  Out of curiousity, did you go through any revisions in creating this design? At first I thought that a fan would be unneccessary, same for the gasket. As I thought about it, I realized that both would create a larger temperature differential, by helping the cool side pull more heat from the hot side, making the peltier module come closer to optimal output. I am inferring that the higher your temperature differential, the closer you can come to max output. I also read that the peltier modules are only about 10% efficient, so I am guessing that if you need to generate close to theoretical maximum output on the module you need to really try to optimize.
  Lastly, I am not an EE or even an electrical hobbyist at this point, but I am intrigued by the possibility of stepping up the voltage to power a rugged notebook. I have seen a wide variety of Peltier modules on ebay but what I am not understanding yet is how far I can boost output on a smaller unit, or when I need to go to a larger units. I saw some that came close to the 90 watts I'd need, but I figure there's more to it than that. Need to read up!

  Posted by diyed on September 29, 2008 at 06:31:50 Pacific Time

• Seebeck improvements.
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  In the article you say "use plenty heatsink grease" to increase the output - that will have the opposite effect ! You need to improve the connection between the cell and the sinks sure, the only way to do that is to make the surfaces FLATTER and use LESS compound. Lap the surface of your heatsinks on wet and dry paper tacked on a glass plate, or, better still, use some grinding grit on the glass directly. Correctly flattened, all you should need is a translucently thin film of grease.
  
  Steve

  Posted by steve@thetaylorfamily.org.uk on September 29, 2008 at 09:02:33 Pacific Time

• Thermopile?
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  might this device also be called a thermopile?
  
  http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/POWER/thermoelectric/thermoelectric.htm

  Posted by diyed on September 30, 2008 at 06:58:40 Pacific Time

• Using a solar death ray?
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  How about powering a group of these on a flat panel with heat from a solar death ray? (Parabolic mirror dish?)
  
  Possible?

  Posted by sherab on October 01, 2008 at 20:25:01 Pacific Time

• Little Voltage
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  I have followed the design with only reasonable differences, and have yet to produce anything greater than 1v. I have even tried two TEC's in series. When I shopped Ebay for the TEC's I noticed many varying voltages, and chose 12v. Was this a mistake or does it make little difference since the voltages produced fall well below this threshold.

  Posted by cable489 on October 05, 2008 at 22:24:19 Pacific Time

• LM117?
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  Where can I pick up 117 IC?

  Posted by LarryBrennan on October 24, 2008 at 19:40:56 Pacific Time

• different watts
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  how does different wattage on the peltier cells affect the output?
  Will a 80w peltier over a candle produce more or less volts than a 40w?
  And how about the current, will it be higher or lower than the 40w?
  

  Posted by maneuver on November 24, 2008 at 02:12:01 Pacific Time

• Did more testing
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  Which leads to the need for more testing
  
  I put the 92 watt cooler on the rig, and it did great.
  
  it was able to output just over 8 volts no load, and 2.5 amps at .1 v.
  
  Again at over 400 degrees f, same as the other tests.
  
  now I need to test at what minimum temps the 92, and the 46 make useable voltage. I have the data for the 92 I just tested, and hopefully within the week will gather the same for the 46.
  

  Posted by mis4tun81 on December 02, 2008 at 14:08:30 Pacific Time

• Portable igloo cooler block? plus solar power
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  I recently acquired a couple cooling blocks from EPO with a heat sink and cold sink/shoe with a unmarked peltier cell in it( checking the homepage for EPO told me it was 12v/5amp). how would I go about using it for this project?
  
  another note...
  My dad looked at this project and thought that a solar-heated (heated wit hsolar light reflected onto a surface by many mirrors; similar to a supermarket scanner) seebeck would be a neat- and environment-friendly way to produce power. I would like to know id this is possible, thanks!
  
  ~~--Bladebaka

  Posted by Bladebaka on December 21, 2008 at 19:32:24 Pacific Time

• Make is cool for creative ideas, but don’t blindly trust their claims.
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  I'm sorry that you feel that way, maybe you could have a look at the feedback from other readers that tried this project.

  Posted by Andrew Lewis on January 04, 2009 at 09:26:14 Pacific Time

• 
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  @Almost_There - if you look at the feedback on the article page which you linked to and all the folks who *did* get it to work i would say that it's likely you didn't build it correctly or gave up too soon without checking out the tips and hacks. you could email us, post in the forums, talked with other makers or documented your project. but it seems posting about this on our tv debut post is all we'll get.
  
  if you only built "one thing" it's possible that you're not an expert in making things like this. part of making is trial and error, not every project will work on first try. we don't expect anyone to "blindly trust" claims, but i don't think you gave this project a chance. if you're interested in getting the project working join in the discussion on the page.
  
  

  Posted by philliptorrone on January 04, 2009 at 11:57:18 Pacific Time

• TEG generator
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  I built one similar here, made about 1.5W . Building an improved version in the new year.
  
  http://reukpower.blogspot.com/

  Posted by TST1 on December 04, 2009 at 07:03:11 Pacific Time

• tec peltier
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  I was wondering if anybody knew if it is okay to use a 60 watt generator instead of a 37. If not, where do you get a 37 watt?
  

  Posted by Technosims on August 29, 2010 at 16:38:55 Pacific Time