Thermotek Chillers Exposed! (TEC Question)

[300EVIL]

Hey Everyone,
I purchased one of these Thermotek chillers (broken) on ebay for running my large Coherent laser diodes.







After testing The unit, I came to the conclusion that it won't heat or cool but the pump and other control circuitry are working properly.

Time to take it apart!





As it turns out their was an open circuit to the power going to the TEC's so that calls for complete dis-assembly of the solid state heat exchanger. Fun!







Polyurethane foam is really fun and easy to remove! Not!
It turns out that their are 5 40mm TEC's on each side of the heat exchanger block all wired in series. Too bad you can't just run them in parallel. Obviously the PS would see a dead short and wouldn't work too well.





5 TEC's on one side read good continuity however the other side was completely open. Time to find the instigator.



You are the weakest link!

So, My question is.... How would I determine what the wattage of this TEC is? I do want to match them, right? Also, I was thinking of maybe just replacing them all. I see 40mm TEC's on ebay between 40-140W. Which way should I go? Also, can I get better prices on TEC's or is ebay the best I'm going to get?

Thanks!
Adam

[Lasernerd]

let them sit for a bit then check the resistance of the good modules

i found the 40-60 watt TEC's to be around 2.8 ohms.
140 watt 0.8 ohms

[MechEng3]

Looks like you are in for some testing to make a graph or chart of what one good tec will do. Then you can get a good replacement perameter after testing of the voltages and output of the one good tec out of the chain. Lab notes required. You need a couple of digital thermometers....

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/38...Probe_12V.html

These will work in a pinch if you have no other means....

[300EVIL]

Good suggestions guys. I'll get right on that. I have a couple of IR thermometers that should do the trick.

[allthatwhichis]

I have seen TECs over 400W. I have one from a CPU TEC waterblock. It used a 24 volt, 25 amp power supply.

[300EVIL]

Found this link! Exactly what I need! http://www.customthermoelectric.com/..._analysis.html

[dsli_jon]

Hey A -

Fun!

heh... I love the nearly M-T bottle of JD in the background... classic...

These guys http://www.chillercity.com/ might have some spares and/or a 'carcass-version' of one of these, if you end-up running into any 'walls'...

peace...
j

[mophead]

Hey A -



heh... I love the nearly M-T bottle of JD in the background... classic...

MMmmmm..... Tennessee Whiskey. Only thing better is-- back in the hills-- double 'n' twistin' likker.

[300EVIL]

Hey A -



heh... I love the nearly M-T bottle of JD in the background... classic...

These guys http://www.chillercity.com/ might have some spares and/or a 'carcass-version' of one of these, if you end-up running into any 'walls'...

peace...
j

MMmmmm..... Tennessee Whiskey. Only thing better is-- back in the hills-- double 'n' twistin' likker.

+




=






Yeah, that bottle has lasted me 6 months or so. I'm mainly a beer man. I take a swig or two of ol Jack now and then.

Matter of fact........ AHHH..... That's good!

[dsli_jon]

...yes, but you must watch your 'proportions', cause:

+





...Can =

... which is never good... BUT, if you do get the 'mix' just right, it sometimes can =



... which is GOOOOD!!!
j

(sorry for the mini-jack... this WAS about your TEC...