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View Full Version : [other] TEG's AND COOLING, ETC.



jp351
August 2nd, 2010, 12:38 AM
ok, as the title says, i'm kinda wanting to inquire about using a TEG to run a few case fans so my power supply isn't. with the power supply i have and how many total drives are in my desktop, i was looking into TEG's to produce a little extra power to run some case fans. my power supply will run a fair amount of stuff, but i'd rather not have 9+ fans plus the cpu fan running off it when it's already running a handful of drives.

i don't want to buy a $15-20 TEG and it not work or be entirely too small or something ridiculous.

anyway, i was wondering if anyone might give me a hand on this one. i mean, i can run a few fans off my power supply, but i wanted to get a TEG to run a few so the power supply is being run at peak all the time.. because as we all know, running any computer component at peak, all the time, kills it's life span. all in all, i know a few fans that run maybe 2w each won't kill it, but i do also have a few power lights, as well as a few others on a switch. when those are off i figure it saves something like 20w.. idk exactly..

point being, i was just wondering if anyone might be able to give me a hand figuring out what's best for a handful of 2w fans.. maybe some advice...?

thanks.


*EDIT*

i had a thought whilst i was outside smoking..
ThermoElectric Generators would have to work for such an application, otherwise they wouldn't be all over eBay in the computer section..
another though was that for something as simple as running a few low-watt fans, which would be better, the seebeck module, or the peltier module.. since they do pretty much the exact opposite thing, if one were to rig a peltier module to use the seebeck effect, then wouldn't it work to the same efficiency? but wait, if that's the case, then why are seebeck devices twice as expensive as peltier?
but wait, there's more.....
a seebeck module made of BiTe is only designed to run up to 200 C +/- ........ what's a peltier made of.. if it is made of the same BiTe material, then again, wouldn't it work to the same efficiency???

... but after researching this for the past idk how long.. not only does my brain hurt a little, but it seems that people use peltier modules for the seebeck effect, even though it's WIDELY regarded as much less efficient...


......anyone have any clues, hints, or suggestions..?????

...anyone even follow me? :P
i've got ADD so sometimes it seems like it's hard for me to keep up with my mind, but please, someone post something, i need another person to bounce ideas off of or talk to about this.. my roommate is a pretty smart guy, but this is out of his league.. :)

again, thanks :)