Thermoelectrics

[echnidna]

Just browsing through some old mags and found this about a thermoelectric boat motor.

Is anyone aware of availability of thermo electic cells or generators?

[pedro the swift]

This effect(Seebeck) is used in those portable fridges (Waeco, etc). Also used to measure temperature as a thermocouple.
Basically just two different metals joined (welded or crimped) and one junction is the hot end and one junction is the cold end.
If you heat up the "hot" emf you can measure a voltage at the "cold" end. Also of you feed a current into one end it will get cold compared to the end you feed the power into. Basis of the portable fridges.
Voltage developed is rather small (millivolts) but if you can connect a whole lot of junctions together it can add up.
It has been used in satelite power supplies and they heat source is a small nuclear source.Quite long lived too.

[echnidna]

I'm familiar with the theory, just wondering about the availability of cells etc.

[DavidG]

See