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need help with a small water heating system

Last post 01-28-2008, 9:19 PM by shelledcornstoves. 2 replies.
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  •  10-13-2007, 8:31 PM 528

    Surprise [:O] need help with a small water heating system

    Hey everyone, i'm new to these forums and i have a query about a compact water heating system.

    this system will be heating a small chamber that holds about 1 litre of water. i need to keep the temp. around 120-140F degrees and i also need to power it off of a 12v system I.E. car battery or small 12v dry cell.

    also, what would you recommend for a voltage/amperage control that way when the water isn't needed, it can be regulated and kept at about 45F degrees to resist agenst freezing?

    i was thinking of a simple wire/coil settup, direct from the battery, loop it around a few times submerged in the water and then right back to the battery again. the materl of use would be stainless steel to protect agenst rust. also need a way to regulate agenst too much voltage being this is settup inside of a car and the battery would be relayed to the alternator so that it may be recharged at the same time as it's being used.

    any help would be GREAT!
    thanks!
    Jay
  •  12-19-2007, 3:25 PM 546 in reply to 528

    Cool [H] Re: need help with a small water heating system

    The physics behind water heating is fairly simple to apply and should be able to be managed with tools Minco provides online. There is the issue of cold start warm-up, i.e. what volume of water needs to be raised from temp A to temp B in some duration of time. Heating the entire liter may not be practical, depending on how much time you can allow for warm-up, as it can be very power demanding. It is possible that you would want to isolate some portion of this water and apply demand heating at some flow rate. This becomes more practical. The volume of water and the warmup time in this instance is defined from the numerator in the flow rate and time is the denominator  units, i.e. volume per time. The amount of heat energy that must be absorbed in the water is easy to calculate, but it is bit more challenging to put that into action. There would need to be a sufficient heating path for the flow of water to be able to absorb the heat required.

    It sounds like you might want an auxilary heater that maintains a minimum temperature in the storage chamber to ensure the water there does not freeze, but if this is an automotive application, you also have to make sure you don't drain the battery of the vehicle if it is not operated for several days.

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  •  01-28-2008, 9:19 PM 556 in reply to 528

    Hmm [^o)] Re: need help with a small water heating system

    The location in the auto was not specified and is very important to know. The auto radiator with a 138 deg cap will maintain water withing the specified temp when auto is running. Use the auto heater water to heat the specified one litre of liquid.
    To prevent freezing, use antifreeze.
    Assuming antifreeze is not the solution,
    go to the hdwe store, Home depot, Lowe's, or a mobile home repair shop and purchase an electrical 120vac, 60 hz heat tape of the desired length (6 ft to 15 ft readily available at $10-$30 each).
    A heat tape is designed to actuate at 40 def F to specificallyh prevent freezing of water pipes ie like entrance to mobile homes and travel trailers. You will need to purchase a $40 inverter, 360 watt or whatever inverter wattage the heat tape requires.
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