MtB Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Right, there's been a disaster. My Ecofan has stopped working. A brief bit of fault tracing reveals the Peltier cell has died. The motor is fine. Surprisingly there seems to be no such thing as a replacement cell on the market to buy, in fact the manufacturer's website states they don't sell them "as its replacement is a controlled procedure involving strict torque settings etc..." This sounds a right load of bollux to me so off to ebay expecting a load of third party cells to buy, but no, to my surprise nothing except a couple of USA sellers. Plenty of Peltier cells there but none that I can find small enough (30mm x 30mm) to fit. Also, they all seem to be sold as heating/cooling units powered by leccy. Now I'm fairly sure they work backwards but I thought I'd ask here first. Has anyone replaced the Peltier cell on theirs? Which cell did you buy? MtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starcoaster Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 (edited) HOW did you break an Ecofan?! Boys! I agree this is a disaster though, I mean you've only got three of them and two of those £200 tat Sterling engines... HAY take the cell out of one of the tat engines and use that! Edited November 30, 2014 by Starcoaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnetman Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Do they actually work? Ecofans I mean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cereal tiller Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Right, there's been a disaster. My Ecofan has stopped working. A brief bit of fault tracing reveals the Peltier cell has died. The motor is fine. Surprisingly there seems to be no such thing as a replacement cell on the market to buy, in fact the manufacturer's website states they don't sell them "as its replacement is a controlled procedure involving strict torque settings etc..." This sounds a right load of bollux to me so off to ebay expecting a load of third party cells to buy, but no, to my surprise nothing except a couple of USA sellers. Plenty of Peltier cells there but none that I can find small enough (30mm x 30mm) to fit. Also, they all seem to be sold as heating/cooling units powered by leccy. Now I'm fairly sure they work backwards but I thought I'd ask here first. Has anyone replaced the Peltier cell on theirs? Which cell did you buy? MtB Simply drive it with a belt from your Stirling engine? Or,mount it horizontally above the stove,it will work equally well! CT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEO Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Hi, Google Calfire, will give all the info for repair, you have to return the unit to them though. Hope that helps. L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thewatchmaker Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 They do work in reverse I built my own using a cooling unit from one of those cheap 12v fridges Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted November 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Fanx Leo, but the Calfire website you mention is the one that says the Peltier cell can't be replaced*, hence this thread. MtB *Other than by sending the whole unit back to them to provide a quotation for repair, 'if possible'. However, just found one on ebay for £12.99, an insane amount of money given other sizes seem to be about £2.50! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PELTIER-THERMOELECTRIC-COOLER-ELEMENT-30MM-IDEAL-FOR-WOOD-STOVE-BURNER-FAN-/361123022502?pt=UK_HG_FireplacesMantelpieces_RL&hash=item54149c06a6 HOW did you break an Ecofan?! Boys! I agree this is a disaster though, I mean you've only got three of them and two of those £200 tat Sterling engines... HAY take the cell out of one of the tat engines and use that! I reckon YOU broke it, from over there! MtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Star Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Do they actually work? Ecofans I mean I was wondering that, I was going to start a new topic asking it, but if anybody would care to venture an opinion here as to whether they are worth buying I'd be glad to read it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starcoaster Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 I reckon YOU broke it, from over there! MtB Ernie sez hi... He is turning the shit out of the air. And looking smug about it. No, you cannot have him back, he lives with Stevie now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLWP Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Fanx Leo, but the Calfire website you mention is the one that says the Peltier cell can't be replaced*, hence this thread. MtB *Other than by sending the whole unit back to them to provide a quotation for repair, 'if possible'. However, just found one on ebay for £12.99, an insane amount of money given other sizes seem to be about £2.50! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PELTIER-THERMOELECTRIC-COOLER-ELEMENT-30MM-IDEAL-FOR-WOOD-STOVE-BURNER-FAN-/361123022502?pt=UK_HG_FireplacesMantelpieces_RL&hash=item54149c06a6 MtB As they generate a voltage, you could daisy chain several of the smaller ones together. No idea if five cheap ones will be as good as one big one Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnetman Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Might be better. Does the Peurkert exponent factor come into play here ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLWP Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 (edited) Might be better. Does the Peurkert exponent factor come into play here ? No - you cannot change the laws of physics Richard Edited November 30, 2014 by RLWP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted November 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 As they generate a voltage, you could daisy chain several of the smaller ones together. No idea if five cheap ones will be as good as one big one Richard No, the problem is finding one SMALL enough to fit into the space available in the Ecofan. The dead cell is 30mm x 30mm. All the cheap cells on the market are 40mm x 40mm or bigger. I'll buy the £12.99 one as no-one seems to have run into this problem before... MtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mack Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 However, just found one on ebay for £12.99, an insane amount of money given other sizes seem to be about £2.50! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PELTIER-THERMOELECTRIC-COOLER-ELEMENT-30MM-IDEAL-FOR-WOOD-STOVE-BURNER-FAN-/361123022502?pt=UK_HG_FireplacesMantelpieces_RL&hash=item54149c06a6 2 for £7.12 here. Same seller has 5 for £15.63 or 10 for £30.35. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youthoftoday Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 There may be a part number printed on the Peltier device if you take it apart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted November 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 2 for £7.12 here. Same seller has 5 for £15.63 or 10 for £30.35. Excellent, thank you! How did you find that??! Just bought a pair, I'll report back about how well they work, or not, when they arrive. MtB There may be a part number printed on the Peltier device if you take it apart? Good suggestion thanks, but no cigar. Took it out earlier to inspect closely for that exact reason! MtB (No identifying marks on it anywhere) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mack Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Excellent, thank you! How did you find that??! Searched Ebay for Peltier 30mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J R Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Lets not get into a discussion as to whether Ecofans work or not and are useful or not. Hope that the OP gets his working again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Lets not get into a discussion as to whether Ecofans work or not and are useful or not. Hope that the OP gets his working again! Agreed. A simple search for ecofan will reveal them all in their multiplicity But I suspect SS knew that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted November 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Searched Ebay for Peltier 30mm. Now that is WEIRD. So did I. NO results... MtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenlyn Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 The last two I have bought came from Denham marina. They had them in stock, 11quid each. Easy to fix with soldering iron. Strangely the two I've repaired were two blade rather than three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Star Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Agreed. A simple search for ecofan will reveal them all in their multiplicity But I suspect SS knew that No, I don't. That's why I asked. If you aren't prepared to give a simple answer to a simple question, can I respectfully request that you "go do one" and leave it to more intelligent people to provide a reply? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted November 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Use the search facility. There a loads of threads already. MtB (Or are you saying you want someone else to do that for you?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Saunders Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Google 'peltier 30mm x 30mm' I spy a new website - Mike the Ecofan Man! Good luck, Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray T Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 (edited) No, I don't. That's why I asked. If you aren't prepared to give a simple answer to a simple question, can I respectfully request that you "go do one" and leave it to more intelligent people to provide a reply? Sorry to butt in but Bazza2 is not unintelligent by any means and you are somewhat rude and are not "respectful" at all, IMHO I take it you have not met Bazza2 in person? If you had you would be more respectful. Edited December 2, 2014 by Ray T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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