Peltier cells

Kelainefes · #1 08-10-2008, 19:33

Ok, i would like to experiment a little with this babies, they are dirt cheap.
Anybody has ever tried one?
Any suggestion? What kind of cell power/CPU power ratio should i look into?
I'm not looking at subzero, more like ambient temps under load.

Clunk · #2 08-10-2008, 20:30

I'm not sure if they are worth the bother really mate, you'll need a beefy power supply to power them, some good cooling to cool the back of them down (water) and I wouldn't think that ambient temps at load would bring you much of an overclock for your pain

Kelainefes · #3 08-10-2008, 21:33

I was thinking that i could use a good air cooler on the hot side, if i didn't want to go near or below zero C.
As a matter of fact i think it's not a problem at all.
Using a 300+ watts tec is one thing, and you do need a good water cooling system for it, but with a cell of around 150W i think that a TRUE would have no problems, who cares if the HSF runs hot at around 70c?
And it would be just for playing around a little, not 24/7 usage ofc, so i could just jumpstart a second PSU to feed the TEC.
But if you think that staying at say 30 C instead of 55-65C doesn't make any difference overclocking wise, or that there is no way a TRUE would be enough to cool a TEC, well, i think i'll just find something else to do.

Clunk · #4 08-10-2008, 22:09

Try it and see, I think that the air cooling will struggle, but you will soon see

Kelainefes · #5 08-10-2008, 22:38

One thing i have no idea about: if i connect a tec to a PSU that is able to provide more Ampere then the TEC can take, such as most PC PSUs, will i fry it?

Clunk · #6 08-10-2008, 22:43

Not sure mate, I haven't been that daring

Kelainefes · #7 08-10-2008, 23:42

no problems, but i nosed around a little and i see that MACS produces TEC coolers that use regular heatpipe HSFs on the hot side, basically what i want to do.
Their product has 4 heatpipes, and the fins have only a 92x92mm front surface area, and uses a 50W TEC.
So maybe 75-100 watts could work with a TRUE?
/goes mumbling

Kidda! · #8 09-10-2008, 01:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelainefes

no problems, but i nosed around a little and i see that MACS produces TEC coolers that use regular heatpipe HSFs on the hot side, basically what i want to do.
Their product has 4 heatpipes, and the fins have only a 92x92mm front surface area, and uses a 50W TEC.
So maybe 75-100 watts could work with a TRUE?
/goes mumbling

Well good luck to you here Kel ........... looked into this a few months back as i wanted to intergrate a pelt into my watercooling loop but even the lower powered pelts seem to have a massive heat output so i gave up on the idea

Keep us informed if you do go ahead

good luck ..... got me finger crossed for ya !

Kelainefes · #9 09-10-2008, 01:26

Yeh, first i'm gonna document myself on the matter, i wanna know exactly what i need for the specific temp range i'm looking at, and if a HSF can do it.
Not to mention that if the fins get too hot, i might have to insulate the fan to prevent the plastic from melting, and duct the hot air so it doesn't go to the PWM or PSU.

SquidgyB · #10 09-10-2008, 03:08

As far as I remember, the thing about having the HSF side of the peltier being that hot is that the heat on the peltier must be carried away quickly, like with a wc block, because if your cooler is at 70, your peltier surface will be at an even higher temp, which means the peltier won't do it's work properly and the chip will in turn get hotter. If it goes too far then the peltier might fail, which would obviously be a bad thing...

The other thing I remember is that for cooling a peltier with air, heatpipes aren't necessarily the best option in a cooler... they have a temperature "ceiling" at which they can operate, whereas a cooler like an alimunium finned block, the old types actually work better for peltiers.

This is all off the top of my tired head, so I could well be wrong, it's definitely something to look into though.