Alan Petrillo wrote: > Do you do this by varying your input voltage/current, or by > attaching a big heat sink?
I do not need to alter voltage or current, the elements I use are 1800W but are over 2 metres in length and approx 1 cm wide. this makes for an energy density of 1800 / (200 * 1 * 3.14) which is less than 3w/sq cm. Todd is also on the mark, my tank is insulated and has a bolt on lid with a seal. A waste of energy otherwise, th only downside is the bottom is not yet insulated and causes interesting stratification of thermal layers, pumping fixes / mixes this. > One of the thoughts I've had was to make something like an electric > frying pan. What you have with and electric frying pan is basically a > 110v 1500W heating element which has been fused into a BIG heat sink. > I'm not real sure what you'd do about electrical connections, but it'd > be interesting to try. Again heat density is an issue, as well as the electrical connections as you pointed out. > Ah. Most of the water heater elements I see over here are elongated U > shapes. I suppose for that you'd take the diameter of the element and > the total length of the element rather than the length of the bent > shape. It would be twice the length of the bent shape plus half a > circle the radius of the width of the U. Do I have that right? Yes you are right, my elements are doubled over yet again so a 50 cm element has 4 lengths and three curves! > > It depends. Most of the ones I see around here, particularly if they're > 110v are 1500W. The 220v ones are usually around 2000W, with a few as > high as 3000W. In this case wire two elements in series and cut their output by a quarter. This is a very good option and is the simplest and cheapest way to go. So and 1800W element now puts out 450W, two give 900W which is much more useable and safer (oil wise) as it heats slower. The 220V 2000W elements on 110 V output approx 1000W, put two of these in series and get 500W > Isn't that what this exercise is all about? Have fun, and be good for the environment while doing it. Absolutely! MP ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for Your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at Myinks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/l.m7sD/LIdGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
