secretsmoker
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- 234
Hello again,
I am trying to design a passive solar convection heater thingy whatsit to rig up to our freezing cold garage along the lines of this sort of thing...
Adaptations I had planned to play around with include a solar powered arduino turntable/aiming device and possibly some sort of semi turbo-esque fan system hopefully driven by warm air currents or a simple stirling style heat gradient setup.
Obviously I want to make this into a welding project! The turntable/frame for the perspex sheet etc will probably be welded out of thin corner section but I had another thought. Are any of those really cheap roasting tins and cookware that can be had from pound shops/supermarkets likely to be mild steel under the enamel? Might take some magnets with me to find out after I finish work.
Basically I am thinking that if I could join together lines of roasting tins joined face to face into tank style units and connected end to end or, failing that, whatever weldable paint cans etc I can find for larger collector cells. Trying to think what is going to be the least amount of work in terms of prep and shaping.
I know this might sound like a bit of an odd project, but it's the sort of thing I have been wanting to play with for a while. I have made mock ups before using cans and gaffa tape but I think a heavy duty autonomously aimed one would be really good fun as a target. May not be that cheap once I have finished but a few of these in an array could actually be a pretty good source of heat without the need to burn anything.
Also wondering about testing out various cheap lenses to focus energy onto the cells if anyone can think of a cheap source of lenses (thought about those plastic tabloid size magazine magnifier aid things but I think they might go cloudy after a while)?
I am trying to design a passive solar convection heater thingy whatsit to rig up to our freezing cold garage along the lines of this sort of thing...
Adaptations I had planned to play around with include a solar powered arduino turntable/aiming device and possibly some sort of semi turbo-esque fan system hopefully driven by warm air currents or a simple stirling style heat gradient setup.
Obviously I want to make this into a welding project! The turntable/frame for the perspex sheet etc will probably be welded out of thin corner section but I had another thought. Are any of those really cheap roasting tins and cookware that can be had from pound shops/supermarkets likely to be mild steel under the enamel? Might take some magnets with me to find out after I finish work.
Basically I am thinking that if I could join together lines of roasting tins joined face to face into tank style units and connected end to end or, failing that, whatever weldable paint cans etc I can find for larger collector cells. Trying to think what is going to be the least amount of work in terms of prep and shaping.
I know this might sound like a bit of an odd project, but it's the sort of thing I have been wanting to play with for a while. I have made mock ups before using cans and gaffa tape but I think a heavy duty autonomously aimed one would be really good fun as a target. May not be that cheap once I have finished but a few of these in an array could actually be a pretty good source of heat without the need to burn anything.
Also wondering about testing out various cheap lenses to focus energy onto the cells if anyone can think of a cheap source of lenses (thought about those plastic tabloid size magazine magnifier aid things but I think they might go cloudy after a while)?