Peltier Plate ID please...

[Les Hemmings]

Hi Chaps )

I've found a peltier plate ... white ceramic plate 4cm x 4cm x .5cm with +
& - leads.

Markings are LN/127068 (last digit may be a 'B')
and HL 03/02/17

Extensive googling hasn't given me a match anywhere except for some visually
similar.

Does anyone know how I could find out what voltage / amps this thing needs?

Any specs at all would be very handy! )

Cheers!

Les (thinking CPU cooler, car drinks cooler, night light for a hot bath
widget and generally playing around with it! First one I've ever come
across!)

 

[Les Hemmings]

That 127 in the first number is almost certainly the number of
couples, so it's likely to work well on 12V DC. Vmax will actually be
higher, around 14 or 15 volts but the best compromise for efficiency
is to run at a tad lower than maximum volts/amps. Imax (max current)
for a 40mm square TEC could be anywhere from 4 to 8 amps, with Qmax
(pumping power maximum when both sides are at same temperature) >can be
anywhere from 32 to 72 watts.

Have a 14v 3 amp (5 amp surge) supply handy... might need something beefier
perhaps?

If you can see the elements between
the ceramic slices (easy if it's not sealed with something to keep
water out), look at the ratio of element width to air gap width. If
it's about even (1:1) assume low power and current, if the elements
are thicker than twice the air gap, assume high.

Nope... sealed.

If you want to do general experiments, make sure it's not going to
get water vapour in it for more that very short periods, as that
degrades them. Also, hot spots and strong thermal cycling can degrade
them, so first thing is to get a big chunky bit of heatsink with a
FLAT surface, and use the thinnest smear of heatsink compound you can
manage, between the TEC and the metal.

Time to raid the old pc bits box for a heatsink then i think!

One thing that is worth trying to discover is whether it was built for
cooling, or power generation. Most are for cooling, but if you have a
power generating Peltier, you have something more interesting than
usual. They are meant to run hot, wheres most TEC's will fall apart
if they get to more than 136°C, and even running them at over 80°C is
bad because the metal atoms migrate in the soldered junctions and
degrade performance a lot within a few tens of hours.

Designed for cooling. Taken from the broken casing of a mini fridge that was
put out for the rubbish.

Might go back and see what else is salvageable now i know what i'm looking
for.. ie; power supply, heatsink, fan etc.

Thanks for the help ) Much appreciated!

Les

--
http://armsofmorpheus.blogspot.com/

Rev. Les Hemmings (First Church of Atheism) aa #2251

http://firstchurchofatheism.com/