Peltier Cooler Supplier (Thermalelectric Cooler or TEC)

[Pitts85]

Hi Jeff,

Nice work on the Peltier Cooler refrigerator. I'm designing something very similar and have recently acquired a 40x40mm TEC. It seems rather small to cool a volume similar to the one you have in your cooler. I was wondering if you could give me an idea of the size of your Peltier Cooler and possibly refer good source for the device.

Here is a like to the TEC that I'm experimenting with: http://www.amazon.com/TEC1-12706-Thermo ... 859&sr=8-1.

Thanks,

Andrew

[mightyohm]

For my solder paste fridge, I used an Igloo Kool Mate 36, which is a thermoelectric travel cooler. It came with a TEC, fan, heatsinks, etc. - it was basically already a refrigerator and I just added a precise way to control the temperature.

About a year later, the cooler stopped working (I think the fan died and it got really warm, but I can't remember exactly). I replaced it with a real compressor-style mini-fridge, which works much better because it can handle a much larger temperature differential inside/outside.

I wish I still had the cooler here because I could tear it apart and measure the size of the TEC.

You can get a rough idea of the scale of things from this photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mightyohm/ ... 404403515/

The heatsink was about 4" across. I don't think the TEC covered the entire heatsink, so it's entirely possible that it used a 40x40mm size TEC.

TECs are all over eBay, but if you want to get one with heatsinks, etc. I would try to find a used thermoelectric cooler like the one I used and use it for parts.