Publishing fake projects is a thing. I understand why people do it but it upsets me to think how many viewers are frustrated when it doesn't work for them. This frustration certainly leads some folks with curiosity about electronics to abandon the hobby before they really get started.
So true it almost happened to me I was watching videos with fake and wrong information when I was younger but I found channels like this and now I'm more interested in electrical engineering 👍
Someone did this with a bunch of the TEC panels, I think it was 12 or 24, he used river water to cool it and a campfire to heat it. It was really impressive. It was Tech Ingredients, he also made a fridge using them.
I LOVE how we've basically done concluded the same design on this idea, independently haha. Great minds and all that! Or the logical conclusion. Loved the in depth coverage of the current capability etc! Good job. Really going to have to revisit this topic actually... got some new ideas. Btw, we should do a collab sometime!
Sir I am a subscriber of both of you.. and a big fan also I would love to see you together in a same project video.. plz do it.. Best of luck to you both😄😄👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Tech Ingrediants just built a HUGE TEG from 36 TEC's! It produced 100V DC with no load in boiling water with cool water pump, which was head pressure from a river! th-cam.com/video/hDLWO_Iaflc/w-d-xo.html
TEG expert here, nicely done GreatScott. Here’s a few bits of info on the subject. 1. The effect your seeing is called the Seebeck Effect. 2. The most efficient TEG system made is around 0.4%. 3. TEG’s are best suited for space exploration. This is because of a: vacuum of space slows the oxidation of the substrates b: infinite cooling due to the vacuum of space c: infinite heat from celestial bodies i.e. the sun. If no passive heat source can be used, radioactive isotopes are used, these are called RTG’s (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators). 4. The common substrates used to make thermoelectric modules are made of Bismuth Telluride or Lead Telluride that is doped with different compounds to make them Negative Or Positive Charged. Surprisingly, there is only a few manufactures who specialize in this field of alternative energy. So far China is in the lead in making these modules at such a low cost. High Efficient modules can run into the $1000’s. Makes it difficult for US manufactures to compete.
For anyone replicating this experiment, be careful when placing a bunch of tea lights right next to each other. If there’s not enough distance between them they can get hot enough to ignite the liquid wax and you end up with one giant fire.
Thank for this video, it was really intersting. The thermo-electric generator efficiency depends on the heat flux that goes trough the pelletier module, but in both designs (yours and the fake one), most of the head flux just pass trough the surrounding air. Therefore I presume that the design can be improved by adding some insulation, that prevents as much airflow as possible without switching off the candle. As a first try, I'd just replaced the metal grid cylinder with something much more closed like a soda can with a small opening, or a cardboard box attached to a heat sink.
Yes, there is a need. Read deeper into the comments, heh. No fanbase is free from arseholes, and there are plenty of pitchforks and torches in the shed over there...
We use TEG's (thermal electrical generators) in the Bush in Northern Canada. Natural gas flame on one side produced about 40 Watts.... But used a tone of gas. An interesting experiment would be to attach these TEG unites to the side of a wood stove.
Engineers: this is a peltier Generator, basically generates electricity from temperature difference between cold and hot... *_everyone else on the internet: OMG LOOK A FREE ENERGY DEVICE!!!!_*
Yeayou can also scream into quarz crystals and produce a small current. youre speaker is also a microphone. Hook up a osci and talk into a speaker, looks pretty cool and is a fun party trick (well on a party full of electrical engineers) This is the Piezo electrical effekt. You can either supply current to a piezo crystal and the crystal will start too vibrate or you vibrate the crystal and it will output energy In theory you could build a piezo generator running on the screams of humans wich is probably how hell produces its electricity
@@afox5319 similarly, you can shine a light at an LED to produce a tiny voltage or power a solar panel to produce a tiny amount of light. If course neither is as efficient at doing the other's job, but the principle is similar.
Enjoying your videos. Few years ago, bought a modified to be run by kerosene, RITEG or RTG Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. Those have been used for decades for powering remote lighthouses. However, it uses TEG-s not TEC-s. The G stands for Generator, and those come usually in darker mostly gray color.
Yeah, people don't realize that the type of thermoelectric coolers used as coolers in mini fridges don't work well as generators, and the thermoelectric generators don't work well as coolers.
(T)hermo(E)lectric (G)enerator as opposed to (C)ooler. TEGs are designed with a peak efficiency at high temperatures. The temperature differential (hot side, cold side) is what generates the electricity. Amazon has a TEG that claims 10 watts, but that is at a 120 C differential which is pretty difficult to reach because the conversion efficiency is closer to 5% so keeping the cold side also includes pumping away the wasted heat.
I know the theory of using those rods to join aluminum. I also know it takes practice. Thick aluminum is a very good thermal conductor. You pretty much have to heat entire parts. Otherwise, the heat you apply at the joint will get carried away to the cold parts of the metal and too much crud will build up before the joint is up to melting temperature. Then there is surface prep and how to get the bead started. Surface preparation
First time putting a face to a voice. I thought you would be a bit older. Glad to have a face to a voice. Your penmanship is still top notch!!! I wish I could write that good.
It is very interesting how every now and then we discover something on the internet that seems so good to the average Joe but, in reality, it is just nonsense. I liked your style of testing and redoing the right way. It is much more constructive than what some other people does by just writing bad talking in their comments. Kudos to you.
Its like the "perpetual motion free energy" annoying scam videos. They make them because A) Most people still believe theres a "free lunch" B) Most of the public is ignorant of physics & electronics so they can be exploited. Thanks for guys like you trying to help change this !!!!
with your rebuild of his project, I would suggest that you could increase your efficiency a whole lot by getting the candle closer to the flame, surrounding the pencil holder with aluminum foil and operating it in winter time with colder air passing by the top fins. Also for the one you made, spread out the modules so there is more heat sink per module and use a bigger heat sink
Thermoelectric generators are also available, the chip is little bit thinner and the sellers says that they are specifically designed for generating power not for cooling.
Unfortunately, most videos featuring peltiers (including this one) forget how crucial clamping pressure is for the TEC's efficiency. Nice video for a proof of concept though.
It's funny how at a certain part of education; you can just look at stuff and laugh at the illusionists props, because you can plainly see all the parts required for the solution are not accounted for. What a time to be alive. Golden age inbound.
Excellent work man. These people wish to tap into "zero point" and "free" energy when they barely use what we make efficiently. I'm working on ways to be efficient as possible so that I can make my energy NEEDS as low as possible. Makes it easier to generate what you need.
Aluminum very quickly reoxidizes if you scratch off the oxide layer. There are fluxes for low temp tin zinc solder and for high temp aluminum zinc solder if using a blow torch.
To solder aluminum you have to warm up the material from the opposite side, never heat up directly the solder rod. Flux is with special solder not necessary, just a bit skill
I would argue against soldering aluminum altogether. Clean way to do joints is TIG welding. If you cant or dont want to do that, then stay on the side of screws and bolts.
Move your heat source closer to the TEG units, add a heatsink to the bottom side to increase heat-gathering surface area. The heat source is poor- much of your heat is wasted pouring away from the unit. Putting a large heatsink with much more surface area for the heat to be captured from the tea candles as well as moving them much closer (less height) would have made a substantial difference. Using only one of these low current TEG modules, I installed a small heatsink on the bottom and applied a backpacking stove at low output mode/small flame, the flame was directly applied to the small heatsink feeling for the least amount of wasted heat escaping the unit. I installed a large CPU heatsink with heatpipes on the other side of the TEG. I did not push the unit to its limits at all and I was able to get consistent 350mah at 5V self powering its own 120mm fan to cool the large heatsink. This 350mah was only when the fan was forcefully stopped/braked, when the fan was free spinning at high speed, the current draw was only 70mah at 6.7v (less resistance) but proving there was plenty of spare current using a small flame and only one TEG module at low and safe temperatures avoiding burning of unshielded wires.
Efficiency suggestion: 1) Use an in insulative material for the sides of the water reservoir instead of the aluminium. You could also add a top. Both will make the ice last longer. Someone already mentioned adding salt to the ice water to make it colder. 2) Add an insulative skirt to the bottom as well, the candles will fill it from the top down with the coolest air spilling out at the bottom and the hottest air will be trapped at the top.
Love this 😁 I'm working on something similar. Note that ThermoElectric Coolers and ThermoElectric Generators are similar but different. You're using the coolers TEC in reverse but you'll have better results with the generators TEGs
Considering efficiency's on paper, a Stirling engine should produce more power from the same temperature differential. Life isn't so simple as doing the math, it's better to test these things given practical limitations of designs and cost.
Perhaps. Just as Tj Wolf commented above, this should be determined experimentally. In general however, Peltier technology so far has been inefficient, and a well-designed Stirling engine and a DC generator might do the job better than Peltier modules given the same thermal energy.
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Stirling effect was the most efficient it was possible to get with regards to capturing energy from heat transfer, so it'd _probably_ work better... That said, my memory isn't what it used to be, and there were probably qualifiers.
As a career EE with >20 years in RFIC design I can say you totally NAILED IT! The fake one failed a freshman physics analysis big time...calculate the energy available from the tea candle flame (old school bomb calorimeter), account for low efficiency of Seebeck Effect and it is no where near the amount of power (volts * amps) needed to do a legit charge. 5V @ a few mA probably won't even power the charge controller in a cell phone, never mind charge the battery.
I've been following TechBuilder even before he had youtube channel, he did a lot of his projects when he was young so this one might be just remake of his older project (not trying to defend him, he should have redo all calculations or at least mention true power output). He also made shoes that generate electricity by using piezo electric elements when he was 15 for Google Fair 2014.
Watching you proove him wrong is better than hating on him for publishing a fake project, thanks for sharing your version, and the specs of the one he created. You should cover more of theese fake projects, you're good at electronics, and it would definitely be a series worth binge watching for sure. 📺👀
Hello Scott. In my final Electrical engineering project I have worked with a Brushless DC motor (form a hard disk) as a wind generator, and I would like to know why is it that you get less energy form the electrical machine working as a generator. I though all electrical machines were reversible without different power losses!!! Thanks for your great videos :)
With motors, AFAIK you get quite well the same efficiency both ways, provided you handle the many-factor-dependent voltage and current properly. With peltiers, I don't know but I think the major caveat on using as generator is the practical inability to get all the heat gradient "focused" through the peltier material interface. Ie. big proportion of externally administered heat flux will "bypass" the interface through ambient heat and structures, whereas when when the peltier is powered by electricity, all its generated heat gradient is produced at the material interface, as it is its natural origin point and thus any of it cannot "miss" it as in generator-usage case.
TEC (Thermoelectric Cooler) and TEG (Thermoelectric Generator) modules are both based on the thermoelectric effect, but they serve different purposes and operate in opposite modes. TEC: Consumes electrical power to create a temperature difference (cooling or heating). TEG: Generates electrical power from a temperature difference.
Nice job with your analysis and build, especially with being transparent about everything. However, one could argue that using ice on one side of your Peltier array is equally unfair as using a blowtorch on the other side. So neither project really demonstrates charging a cell phone with tea lights (in the spirit that tea lights are the energy source). But the video is valuable for teaching about thermoelectric devices. Thanks.
I think the issues you were having with the soldering is due to the oxide layer Aluminum protects itself with. You may have to prepare both mating surfaces just before soldering due to how quickly the oxide layer forms.
You should be able to make ice outside in the wintertime or at least bring in snow from time to time if you lose power during a blizzard. With ice storms, you'll have to ice trays on an elevated surface such as a metal table as the ground might be too warm. If you can't power a cooling fan with candle power, I'd forget about it.
TechBuilder was just a kid when he won the google science fair with his piezoelectric generator. The project is almost the same as his thermo generator that produce low power. I think he worked on these project not to trick us but only to make small projects that can be adjust in due time while some supporting technology is not yet available at this present time. He is not a fake kid. He is just learning the curve line.
Hey could you see if you can light a LED with a “foxhole radio” like they built in WW2? I’ve been seeing a video go around where a guy uses the power from FM radios to light one for free
I cant say if that exact setup is possible as I haven't seen the video, but in theory it should work. It is the same technology used in wireless chargers. You would need to be close to the transmitter or have a massive antenna or both just to get usable power from it.
@@zachdemand4508 Yes; Theoretical a «field» would be present proximal to the antenna; In physics any energy can often - more often than expected - produce some energy which would result in this being very plausible experiment; But this is no free energy ~ there is no such thing? I did see a gravity wheel which suggests considering but no free energy has ever been produced reliably there has always been slight of hand
@@ChiDraconis I never said it was free energy. Although it would be free to the person using the device as long as they dont pay the bill at the radio station.
@@zachdemand4508 Correct; I was speaking to warn the few; Just now i see that some radio stations pulled I got a brand new pair of roller-skates due to exotic statements made by uninformed
one thing you can do is to add something that stirs the ice water bath. the bath initially provides a significant temp difference, but you quickly loose it due to insulation effect. stirring allows for constant exposure of cold water.
Regarding the peltier cell array you created, I believe that by connecting them all in series you are limiting the total current produced to the minimum. As a suggestion: Once you are using a buck boost converter, output voltage should not be a problem to you, but power. I would try rewiring the cells all in parallel (you can also include diodes at the outputs of each cell to prevent cells from consuming each other's generated current) and see if that increases the output current you get at 5V Thank you!
The problem is not just the current. It's the power/energy available. At 6.5V and 200mA with the lowered top, there is only around 1.2W available out of the generator. Doesn't matter that you change the wiring from series to parallel to lower the voltage to increase the current, the power would stay around the same. The buck/boost converter also can't create power obviously and because it is also not 100% efficient the power available would be less than the 1.2W. The phone charging current wouldn't change.
@@TheWingAnthony you are correct if we only consider two ideal Peltier cells. However, considering individual differences in the current generated on each cell, the series config will force the circuit's overall current to the minimum possible, compromising the total power available.
It doesn't strictly have to be ice, because at the interface, the heatsink is something like 0-4°C, cold water rather than solid ice. You might as well use cold water from a mountain stream that you replace a few times a minute. Basically, just camp near glaciers, problem solved - i don't think "most survival situations" was ever a claim, but that there are nonzero survival situations where it would work. That being said, there might be a more effective way than having a big Peltier assembly stashed on you.
This device works when the Sun is not there. Personally I only see one good use for this device. Silent Generator. You can build a gas generator with 0 sound with this tgm. If you have an rv it makes sense. The problem is they are very expensive compared to the cooler units. So you can buy more batteries instead of those units. But as far as i know if you want a slient generator,even if it is very inefficient, this is the way to go.
@@IIGrayfoxII : That I know, but most of Thunderf00t's Kickstarter targets deal with poor/inexistent understanding of thermodynamics, which is the case here :)
I think you also need a special flux to solder Aluminium, because it forms Aluminium-oxide as soon as it gets in contact with oxygen. That is probably why you where not very successfull ^^
You are almost right, an oxide layer is always present on aluminium but you cannot solder it at all. You can weld aluminium but soldering is not an option
@@IrishSkruffles You can solder it but it needs special solder and a wire brush to remove the oxide layer just before soldering. That said - epoxy is easier unless you need electrical conductivity.
For a flexible fuel TEG, what if you used 2 containers with modules sandwiched between them? Fill cold side with cold alcohol or antifreeze. Fill hot side with heated thermal oil. Cold-side liquid could be left outside during winter months. Hot-side oil could be heated with either fire or solar via Fresnel lens or parabolic reflector. Seems like that would give better control of temps on hot side (to keep the heat under the module’s recommended max operating temp) and allow flexibility for heat sources. As well, with a thermos, hot oil could be stored until it’s time to use the TEG or refill the hot side. Just an idea.
Not really even if it looks so. These TEC elements have a really rough surface compared to CPUs so you really need a lot of it. Already made this experience by myself.. it's going to get expensive.. At least: What helps is to let heat up the TEC afterwards so the thermal paste can flow better.
@@Oxytropis1 Ah, that was what you meant. I've already thought about that a bit, too, but the two sides are usually made out of ceramics. So that might be a bit more tricky and also the ceramic dust might be a bit problematically since as I guess it's similar to glass. But I might try it in the future whenever. Needs some research tho.
1:00 Your face doesn’t match your voice 😂 You look different than I had thought, Scott. Btw, nice video :) I’ve been here since 45k subs on my older accounts
![The best (cheap) Peltier module [test 2]](/img/n.gif)
Publishing fake projects is a thing. I understand why people do it but it upsets me to think how many viewers are frustrated when it doesn't work for them. This frustration certainly leads some folks with curiosity about electronics to abandon the hobby before they really get started.
So true it almost happened to me I was watching videos with fake and wrong information when I was younger but I found channels like this and now I'm more interested in electrical engineering 👍
SubigirlAWD _ That's awesome
they're everyhwere on youtube. suprisingly with more than 13 million more views. i only remember americantech but thered too many of them
Is it possible to calculate the efficiency before hand? it will save lots of time if you can visualize the result.
and do you hnow what it even worse? it's from "Verified" channel
Someone did this with a bunch of the TEC panels, I think it was 12 or 24, he used river water to cool it and a campfire to heat it. It was really impressive. It was Tech Ingredients, he also made a fridge using them.
Thanks for sharing this Karl Jay! 😊🌎❤️💪
I LOVE how we've basically done concluded the same design on this idea, independently haha. Great minds and all that! Or the logical conclusion. Loved the in depth coverage of the current capability etc! Good job. Really going to have to revisit this topic actually... got some new ideas.
Btw, we should do a collab sometime!
Yes yes, you both should.
Agree!!! Can't wait for the collab
Sir I am a subscriber of both of you.. and a big fan also I would love to see you together in a same project video.. plz do it..
Best of luck to you both😄😄👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Tech Ingrediants just built a HUGE TEG from 36 TEC's! It produced 100V DC with no load in boiling water with cool water pump, which was head pressure from a river!
th-cam.com/video/hDLWO_Iaflc/w-d-xo.html
I used frying pan xD
TEG expert here, nicely done GreatScott. Here’s a few bits of info on the subject.
1. The effect your seeing is called the Seebeck Effect.
2. The most efficient TEG system made is around 0.4%.
3. TEG’s are best suited for space exploration. This is because of a: vacuum of space slows the oxidation of the substrates b: infinite cooling due to the vacuum of space c: infinite heat from celestial bodies i.e. the sun. If no passive heat source can be used, radioactive isotopes are used, these are called RTG’s (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators).
4. The common substrates used to make thermoelectric modules are made of Bismuth Telluride or Lead Telluride that is doped with different compounds to make them Negative Or Positive Charged.
Surprisingly, there is only a few manufactures who specialize in this field of alternative energy. So far China is in the lead in making these modules at such a low cost. High Efficient modules can run into the $1000’s. Makes it difficult for US manufactures to compete.
0:02 GreatScott turned into a Minecraft villager
Hu...humm
LMAO XDDD
😂
The second hurm...after done trading with steve
🤣
For anyone replicating this experiment, be careful when placing a bunch of tea lights right next to each other. If there’s not enough distance between them they can get hot enough to ignite the liquid wax and you end up with one giant fire.
@qwerty mnbvc Not the efficiency but power output should be higher for a short while before the whole house burns down 🤣
@qwerty mnbvc LMAOOO
@@scientistharsh
Good, that mean more power.
Feels like a Mehdi video but with less/more brow. (less overall brow but more brows if you count them)
True fact
big brain maths
Less area of brow, but the brow is higher.
The brow gets compensated by the (dashingly handsome) beard.
I definitely prefer GeatScott, Mehdi humor is quite noisy tbh
Thank for this video, it was really intersting.
The thermo-electric generator efficiency depends on the heat flux that goes trough the pelletier module, but in both designs (yours and the fake one), most of the head flux just pass trough the surrounding air. Therefore I presume that the design can be improved by adding some insulation, that prevents as much airflow as possible without switching off the candle. As a first try, I'd just replaced the metal grid cylinder with something much more closed like a soda can with a small opening, or a cardboard box attached to a heat sink.
No need to tell us not to call him out, cause he took down the video, lol.
well he still has it up on his fb account
Yes, there is a need. Read deeper into the comments, heh. No fanbase is free from arseholes, and there are plenty of pitchforks and torches in the shed over there...
@@Corbald which one is the sharpest? 😜😅
@@EvenTheDogAgrees I agree with that one. You may get charging sign, so your phone will turn off battery saver and discharge faster
i'm sure thats an oxymoron
We use TEG's (thermal electrical generators) in the Bush in Northern Canada. Natural gas flame on one side produced about 40 Watts.... But used a tone of gas.
An interesting experiment would be to attach these TEG unites to the side of a wood stove.
Ooooo Electroboom should be interested in this.
His next video:"How to destroy your phone using a candle,heat sink and some Peltier device".
THE RECTIFIER!
You'll should do better job of bringing this to him!!
I think we now know what his next video will be!
Well first a moment I thought I was in electrobooom's channel
And get shocked in the process!
Engineers: this is a peltier Generator, basically generates electricity from temperature difference between cold and hot...
*_everyone else on the internet: OMG LOOK A FREE ENERGY DEVICE!!!!_*
Yeayou can also scream into quarz crystals and produce a small current.
youre speaker is also a microphone. Hook up a osci and talk into a speaker, looks pretty cool and is a fun party trick (well on a party full of electrical engineers)
This is the Piezo electrical effekt. You can either supply current to a piezo crystal and the crystal will start too vibrate or you vibrate the crystal and it will output energy
In theory you could build a piezo generator running on the screams of humans wich is probably how hell produces its electricity
The skeptic in me always says... it's not free when ice is needed and so are candles. Energy is needed to make the ice and candles cost money.
@@afox5319 similarly, you can shine a light at an LED to produce a tiny voltage or power a solar panel to produce a tiny amount of light. If course neither is as efficient at doing the other's job, but the principle is similar.
Fixing hot plate at 50 degrees and the heat sink, which thermoelectric module would produce more power: TEC1-12702, TEC1-12706 or TEC1-12710?
TGM-199-2.0-1.2
This is the first time I'm seeing his face
I was like "so this is what he looks like..."
He showed his face years ago
Hot
This confuses me. Every couple videos he how's his face.
Same
Enjoying your videos. Few years ago, bought a modified to be run by kerosene, RITEG or RTG Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. Those have been used for decades for powering remote lighthouses. However, it uses TEG-s not TEC-s. The G stands for Generator, and those come usually in darker mostly gray color.
THE RECTFI.... eerrr... GREAT SCOTT!
ElectroBOOM lol
OMFG I just started watching that video after this one, I nearly fell of my chair laughing!!
FUUUUULL BRIDGE RECRIFIER
RECTUMFRIER
Cyber Cat 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I like how the "pedestal" you put the tea light on is just a WIMA film capacitor
Nouuu nouuuu
- Great Scott(2019)
Random.
Does your family tree look like a ladder ?
Random. No. Just no
"Video unavailable
This video is private."
Haha, looks like his video is not public anymore xD
0:10 first reaction video from GreatScott
Hello. Instead of TEC versions, use TEG, that is for GENERATORS :) Thanks for video.
Yeah, people don't realize that the type of thermoelectric coolers used as coolers in mini fridges don't work well as generators, and the thermoelectric generators don't work well as coolers.
(T)hermo(E)lectric (G)enerator as opposed to (C)ooler. TEGs are designed with a peak efficiency at high temperatures. The temperature differential (hot side, cold side) is what generates the electricity. Amazon has a TEG that claims 10 watts, but that is at a 120 C differential which is pretty difficult to reach because the conversion efficiency is closer to 5% so keeping the cold side also includes pumping away the wasted heat.
I love proyects with fail parts (soldering aluminum) that gives a better view to the public
I know the theory of using those rods to join aluminum. I also know it takes practice.
Thick aluminum is a very good thermal conductor. You pretty much have to heat entire parts. Otherwise, the heat you apply at the joint will get carried away to the cold parts of the metal and too much crud will build up before the joint is up to melting temperature.
Then there is surface prep and how to get the bead started.
Surface preparation
Three German personalities i'm subscribed:
1. Manni Gaming - pc gaming
2. Captain Joe - airplanes
3. Great Scott - electronics
LOL, that intro is like when ElectroBOOM rectifies videos, only that much more calm (and without getting yourself shocked).
*bleep* *bleep* *bleeeeep*
First time putting a face to a voice. I thought you would be a bit older. Glad to have a face to a voice. Your penmanship is still top notch!!! I wish I could write that good.
What you should have done with the aluminum solder is to clean the oxide from the aluminum in order to clean the joint.
It is very interesting how every now and then we discover something on the internet that seems so good to the average Joe but, in reality, it is just nonsense. I liked your style of testing and redoing the right way. It is much more constructive than what some other people does by just writing bad talking in their comments. Kudos to you.
Roll the intro! THE RECTI- oops wrong channel again.
PURIFICA- eh... different thing.... RECTIFIER!!
Devlover Nibir yes
@Devlover Nibir you dont have to ask, we already know
*full bridge rectifier*
Wow! I have watched numerous videos of you, but now I see you for the first time.
Keep up the good work!
Bro you are life savior.
I'll be completing my electronics engineering this year.
Your videos are very educational.
Thanks
Its like the "perpetual motion free energy" annoying scam videos. They make them because A) Most people still believe theres a "free lunch" B) Most of the public is ignorant of physics & electronics so they can be exploited. Thanks for guys like you trying to help change this !!!!
Great job... we need more debunkers like you to stop these money-grubbing liars! 👍
with your rebuild of his project, I would suggest that you could increase your efficiency a whole lot by getting the candle closer to the flame, surrounding the pencil holder with aluminum foil and operating it in winter time with colder air passing by the top fins.
Also for the one you made, spread out the modules so there is more heat sink per module and use a bigger heat sink
GreatScott is the only TH-camr I know who still uses handsaw...
Where is Colin Furze? :)
Check out Uri Tuchman, hand everything. Wizard of creation. Made his own lathe etc.
Thermoelectric generators are also available, the chip is little bit thinner and the sellers says that they are specifically designed for generating power not for cooling.
Techbuilder has a few 'fake' projects. If your looking for more stuff to debunk look at the piezoelectric generator.
Asking the viewers to not bully the guy with the fake project. Class act!
Unfortunately, most videos featuring peltiers (including this one) forget how crucial clamping pressure is for the TEC's efficiency. Nice video for a proof of concept though.
It's funny how at a certain part of education; you can just look at stuff and laugh at the illusionists props, because you can plainly see all the parts required for the solution are not accounted for. What a time to be alive. Golden age inbound.
so GreatScott is rectifing some YT videos Now 😂
Excellent work man. These people wish to tap into "zero point" and "free" energy when they barely use what we make efficiently. I'm working on ways to be efficient as possible so that I can make my energy NEEDS as low as possible. Makes it easier to generate what you need.
When soldering aluminum, I believe you need a flux to clean the surface for the aluminum filler material.
Yes, but it has to be a pretty nasty aggressive flux.
Aluminum very quickly reoxidizes if you scratch off the oxide layer. There are fluxes for low temp tin zinc solder and for high temp aluminum zinc solder if using a blow torch.
I didn't even think it was possible to solder aluminum. Solder doesn't seem to wet it. I guess I was dealing with the oxidation layer though.
To solder aluminum you have to warm up the material from the opposite side, never heat up directly the solder rod. Flux is with special solder not necessary, just a bit skill
I would argue against soldering aluminum altogether.
Clean way to do joints is TIG welding. If you cant or dont want to do that, then stay on the side of screws and bolts.
Move your heat source closer to the TEG units, add a heatsink to the bottom side to increase heat-gathering surface area.
The heat source is poor- much of your heat is wasted pouring away from the unit. Putting a large heatsink with much more surface area for the heat to be captured from the tea candles as well as moving them much closer (less height) would have made a substantial difference.
Using only one of these low current TEG modules, I installed a small heatsink on the bottom and applied a backpacking stove at low output mode/small flame, the flame was directly applied to the small heatsink feeling for the least amount of wasted heat escaping the unit. I installed a large CPU heatsink with heatpipes on the other side of the TEG. I did not push the unit to its limits at all and I was able to get consistent 350mah at 5V self powering its own 120mm fan to cool the large heatsink. This 350mah was only when the fan was forcefully stopped/braked, when the fan was free spinning at high speed, the current draw was only 70mah at 6.7v (less resistance) but proving there was plenty of spare current using a small flame and only one TEG module at low and safe temperatures avoiding burning of unshielded wires.
Efficiency suggestion: 1) Use an in insulative material for the sides of the water reservoir instead of the aluminium. You could also add a top. Both will make the ice last longer. Someone already mentioned adding salt to the ice water to make it colder. 2) Add an insulative skirt to the bottom as well, the candles will fill it from the top down with the coolest air spilling out at the bottom and the hottest air will be trapped at the top.
This is the first time I have seen Scott.
Now I see how you say "Let's get started" :)
Love this 😁 I'm working on something similar. Note that ThermoElectric Coolers and ThermoElectric Generators are similar but different. You're using the coolers TEC in reverse but you'll have better results with the generators TEGs
I love this new style scott... super awsome way of introduction..
I like how you present the math behind your project. This by itself is a proof of the authenticity.
Would a stirling engine be better with a dynamo and same amount of candles?
Stirling engine phone charger. BRB, making 1000 and flooding banggood.
Considering efficiency's on paper, a Stirling engine should produce more power from the same temperature differential. Life isn't so simple as doing the math, it's better to test these things given practical limitations of designs and cost.
Perhaps. Just as Tj Wolf commented above, this should be determined experimentally. In general however, Peltier technology so far has been inefficient, and a well-designed Stirling engine and a DC generator might do the job better than Peltier modules given the same thermal energy.
Stirling engines wase build to make electricity
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Stirling effect was the most efficient it was possible to get with regards to capturing energy from heat transfer, so it'd _probably_ work better... That said, my memory isn't what it used to be, and there were probably qualifiers.
Take a peltier module to a geothermal hotspring during the winter.
2:11
> A bit of grease
As a career EE with >20 years in RFIC design I can say you totally NAILED IT!
The fake one failed a freshman physics analysis big time...calculate the energy available from the tea candle flame (old school bomb calorimeter), account for low efficiency of Seebeck Effect and it is no where near the amount of power (volts * amps) needed to do a legit charge. 5V @ a few mA probably won't even power the charge controller in a cell phone, never mind charge the battery.
I've been following TechBuilder even before he had youtube channel, he did a lot of his projects when he was young so this one might be just remake of his older project (not trying to defend him, he should have redo all calculations or at least mention true power output).
He also made shoes that generate electricity by using piezo electric elements when he was 15 for Google Fair 2014.
Watching you proove him wrong is better than hating on him for publishing a fake project, thanks for sharing your version, and the specs of the one he created. You should cover more of theese fake projects, you're good at electronics, and it would definitely be a series worth binge watching for sure. 📺👀
Hello Scott. In my final Electrical engineering project I have worked with a Brushless DC motor (form a hard disk) as a wind generator, and I would like to know why is it that you get less energy form the electrical machine working as a generator.
I though all electrical machines were reversible without different power losses!!!
Thanks for your great videos :)
With motors, AFAIK you get quite well the same efficiency both ways, provided you handle the many-factor-dependent voltage and current properly.
With peltiers, I don't know but I think the major caveat on using as generator is the practical inability to get all the heat gradient "focused" through the peltier material interface. Ie. big proportion of externally administered heat flux will "bypass" the interface through ambient heat and structures, whereas when when the peltier is powered by electricity, all its generated heat gradient is produced at the material interface, as it is its natural origin point and thus any of it cannot "miss" it as in generator-usage case.
TEC (Thermoelectric Cooler) and TEG (Thermoelectric Generator) modules are both based on the thermoelectric effect, but they serve different purposes and operate in opposite modes. TEC: Consumes electrical power to create a temperature difference (cooling or heating). TEG: Generates electrical power from a temperature difference.
The French channel "Incroyable Expériences" did the same thing but for real a long time ago
This is probably the best example of i am about of this man career
ElectroBOOM x GreatScott when?
Go outside open the lid of a bin and climb inside wait for the garbage truck get disposed of properly
@@silvia_fuku0ka845 ???
Nice job with your analysis and build, especially with being transparent about everything. However, one could argue that using ice on one side of your Peltier array is equally unfair as using a blowtorch on the other side. So neither project really demonstrates charging a cell phone with tea lights (in the spirit that tea lights are the energy source). But the video is valuable for teaching about thermoelectric devices. Thanks.
I was so confused. I always thought, from your accent, that you were Japanese 😁 my bad! Love the videos, keep up the great work!!
I've never thought that Tech Builder may make a fake projects . I am following him since a long time and he has some very good projects
You should check out techingredients’ version of a TEG
I'm glad you made a video like this, way too many fake electronic videos out there.
Great work.
Nice build 👍 what if you made a few of those and you wired them in parallel do you think this would work over a bigger heat source without ice
Thanks! I love to see fake projects busted! Your design is nice, too.
Replace the little tea lamp with about 30kg of glowing plutonium.
You are something else :))
Like satellites? Yeah would be cool, let call in at the shop for some on my way home....
Should work for about 50years (Voyager is still pottering along).
I think the issues you were having with the soldering is due to the oxide layer Aluminum protects itself with. You may have to prepare both mating surfaces just before soldering due to how quickly the oxide layer forms.
Yeah I think even welding aluminium is not easy and soldering is much much more difficult
I thought he was watching ElectroBOOM failed attempt
Nice honesty. Relatively well made this scott version and still so low charging current.
"This has to be a joke"
Dude, you have a great meme potential
You should be able to make ice outside in the wintertime or at least bring in snow from time to time if you lose power during a blizzard. With ice storms, you'll have to ice trays on an elevated surface such as a metal table as the ground might be too warm. If you can't power a cooling fan with candle power, I'd forget about it.
electroboom you switched places,face,reactions everything i am disappointed
no u
@@waliddiy9348 no u
@@personious_k no u
@@waliddiy9348 no u
no u
just a few notes : aluminum can NOT be soldered, and the correct hole for tapping standard M5 (0.8mm pitch) is 4.2mm , any way, great vid !
At least know I know how to keep my phone charged if I ever get stuck in the Arctic.
TechBuilder was just a kid when he won the google science fair with his piezoelectric generator. The project is almost the same as his thermo generator that produce low power. I think he worked on these project not to trick us but only to make small projects that can be adjust in due time while some supporting technology is not yet available at this present time. He is not a fake kid. He is just learning the curve line.
Hey could you see if you can light a LED with a “foxhole radio” like they built in WW2? I’ve been seeing a video go around where a guy uses the power from FM radios to light one for free
I cant say if that exact setup is possible as I haven't seen the video, but in theory it should work. It is the same technology used in wireless chargers. You would need to be close to the transmitter or have a massive antenna or both just to get usable power from it.
@@zachdemand4508 Yes;
Theoretical a «field» would be present proximal to the antenna;
In physics any energy can often - more often than expected - produce some energy which would result in this being very plausible experiment;
But this is no free energy ~ there is no such thing?
I did see a gravity wheel which suggests considering but no free energy has ever been produced reliably there has always been slight of hand
@@ChiDraconis
I never said it was free energy. Although it would be free to the person using the device as long as they dont pay the bill at the radio station.
@@zachdemand4508 Correct;
I was speaking to warn the few;
Just now i see that some radio stations pulled I got a brand new pair of roller-skates due to exotic statements made by uninformed
If you're close enough to a broadcast antenna farm, you can light a florescent tube just holding it your hand.
one thing you can do is to add something that stirs the ice water bath. the bath initially provides a significant temp difference, but you quickly loose it due to insulation effect. stirring allows for constant exposure of cold water.
2:53 when German gets you XD
😂
Scott you are one of the best out there if not the best one here on youtube.
Thank you very much scott and keep on teaching us.
Hot glue: *exist*
Great Scott: this is beyond science.
Regarding the peltier cell array you created, I believe that by connecting them all in series you are limiting the total current produced to the minimum.
As a suggestion: Once you are using a buck boost converter, output voltage should not be a problem to you, but power. I would try rewiring the cells all in parallel (you can also include diodes at the outputs of each cell to prevent cells from consuming each other's generated current) and see if that increases the output current you get at 5V
Thank you!
The problem is not just the current. It's the power/energy available. At 6.5V and 200mA with the lowered top, there is only around 1.2W available out of the generator. Doesn't matter that you change the wiring from series to parallel to lower the voltage to increase the current, the power would stay around the same. The buck/boost converter also can't create power obviously and because it is also not 100% efficient the power available would be less than the 1.2W. The phone charging current wouldn't change.
@@TheWingAnthony you are correct if we only consider two ideal Peltier cells. However, considering individual differences in the current generated on each cell, the series config will force the circuit's overall current to the minimum possible, compromising the total power available.
Me: Do thermal generators exist?
2 seconds later...
Great Scott: **A video about thermal generators.**
Great video BTW
1) I love the debunking part 2) How is using ice feasible for most survival situations? 3) Please revisit! DIY or BUY with a camping fire charger?
It doesn't strictly have to be ice, because at the interface, the heatsink is something like 0-4°C, cold water rather than solid ice. You might as well use cold water from a mountain stream that you replace a few times a minute. Basically, just camp near glaciers, problem solved - i don't think "most survival situations" was ever a claim, but that there are nonzero survival situations where it would work. That being said, there might be a more effective way than having a big Peltier assembly stashed on you.
Why would we even be bothering with stuff like this, when there's a publicly available thermonuclear fusion generator just floating in the sky.
Yeah, I want to power my home with nuclear energy using PV panels.
Yeah but it goes away during half of day and sometimes hides so you need tea light powered alternatives
@@JaredConnell You can store some of the power in high current batteries and have them connected to an inverter to power your house during the night.
This device works when the Sun is not there. Personally I only see one good use for this device. Silent Generator. You can build a gas generator with 0 sound with this tgm. If you have an rv it makes sense. The problem is they are very expensive compared to the cooler units. So you can buy more batteries instead of those units. But as far as i know if you want a slient generator,even if it is very inefficient, this is the way to go.
@@ademmeral At the end of the day a Stirling generator will still be more efficient.
If you try searching it up, it is deleted, Your Welcome for saving your time
Well tbh i will just use the power used by the fans attached to heatsink to charge my phone
We cannot leave everything for @Thunderfoot to debunk 😁😁😁, Great video !
Thunderf00ts speciality is stupid kickstarter projects
@@IIGrayfoxII : That I know, but most of Thunderf00t's Kickstarter targets deal with poor/inexistent understanding of thermodynamics, which is the case here :)
I think you also need a special flux to solder Aluminium, because it forms Aluminium-oxide as soon as it gets in contact with oxygen. That is probably why you where not very successfull ^^
You are almost right, an oxide layer is always present on aluminium but you cannot solder it at all. You can weld aluminium but soldering is not an option
@@IrishSkruffles You can solder it but it needs special solder and a wire brush to remove the oxide layer just before soldering. That said - epoxy is easier unless you need electrical conductivity.
Wow, da zeigt sich mal jemand nach ner Weile. Schön dich mal zu sehen 😂
Ganz nebenbei : cooles Video 😉
"By adding a bit of thermal paste" as he proceeds to put all of the paste in the known world on the sink
For a flexible fuel TEG, what if you used 2 containers with modules sandwiched between them? Fill cold side with cold alcohol or antifreeze. Fill hot side with heated thermal oil.
Cold-side liquid could be left outside during winter months. Hot-side oil could be heated with either fire or solar via Fresnel lens or parabolic reflector.
Seems like that would give better control of temps on hot side (to keep the heat under the module’s recommended max operating temp) and allow flexibility for heat sources. As well, with a thermos, hot oil could be stored until it’s time to use the TEG or refill the hot side.
Just an idea.
You use way to much thermal paste
Not really even if it looks so. These TEC elements have a really rough surface compared to CPUs so you really need a lot of it. Already made this experience by myself.. it's going to get expensive.. At least: What helps is to let heat up the TEC afterwards so the thermal paste can flow better.
@@Oxytropis1 Um.. what do you mean? (My English ain't the best.)
@@Oxytropis1 Ah, that was what you meant. I've already thought about that a bit, too, but the two sides are usually made out of ceramics. So that might be a bit more tricky and also the ceramic dust might be a bit problematically since as I guess it's similar to glass. But I might try it in the future whenever. Needs some research tho.
You are my favorite you tuber in electronics. I have learned a lot through your videos. Thank you for taking the time to make awesome videos
I was a victim of techbuilder 😭😭😭
I build same charger like his. But not charging well 😭
Me too, he made lose couple of bucks on junk TEC module
Yeah right 😔
Just buy a new charger for safety of your Phone.
Hey Scott, good thing you are appearing in the videos now.
1:00
Your face doesn’t match your voice 😂 You look different than I had thought, Scott. Btw, nice video :)
I’ve been here since 45k subs on my older accounts
I wanna say the same😂 his face doesn't match his voice
I thought he was chinese
the way he described the hot and cold sides of the heatsink generating electricity sounded like an exploit in a videogame
oh god, you have a face!! XDD
One of the best channels on TH-cam! We love you in Louisville KY Scott