(09-25-2025, 06:33 PM)Jim Mac Wrote: Hey Tom,
A full wave bridge rectifier is just 4 diodes. You can absolutely use Schottky diodes to make a FWBR.
I just have doubts a single coil and a single magnet can make enough power to heat a Peltier module.
Well, I said that is "probably true". I thought so myself until recently due to the often stated "extremely low efficiency" of Peltier devices.
But really, like heat pumps generally, a Peltier device does not "make heat".
What it does is use a little energy to MOVE much more thermal energy than the electrical energy it consumes, and what else I didn't know, when used for heating, all the electrical energy used is ALSO converted into heat that is added to the heat moved.
I received an email just this morning from Peter Selvey (above two videos) and he said:
"I recently got a crazy COP of 30, using 1W to create 30W of cooling. Not a useful condition, but amazing nonetheless. In useful conditions I’m getting COPs in the 3-5 range fairly easily now."
Not sure what he means by "useful condition" but he does say for a "cooling" application. Generally for heating, the COP will be even higher.
I realize his controlled set-up is not quite like using 1 watt generated by a Stirling engine to MOVE 30+ watts of thermal energy into the engine with 29 Watts of "excess" useable power to do whatever you want with, but who really knows?
The numbers look good enough to justify running an experiment to see what the results might be.
All I do know is the so-called "Carnot Limit" appears to be based on 1820's obsolete caloric theory, (and nothing else) and in my experience does not hold according to actual experimental data and measurement with Stirling engines and I think it is safe to say that Peter Selvey has reached much the same conclusion when it comes to Peltier solid state heat pumps. The "Carnot Limit" is either just complete nonsense or it is inaplicable to these devices.