Watt Limit on a TEC

When you get a Watt rated TEC, does that mean anything above that wattage, the TEC is incapable of moving that much heat across itself?

So if you get a 136Watt TEC, and you are trying to cool something that's say 230 Watts output, you are about 106Watts short on your TEC? So in this case the 106Watts is staying on the cold side of the TEC unable to move through, adding to the other heat that keeps piling up on the cold side, eventually leading to devices failure?

Is this very simple scenario correct in theory? and if so if you got a 400 Watt TEC, would it overcome the 230Watt Barrier, and am I able to limit this device to say be a 300 Watt Pelt but limiting the Current/Voltage?

Based on temperatures and a CPU wattage calculator that seems to be correct in the respcts I've been able to test, the point when you accomplish nothing(0*C difference) is about 30*C, which is probably what my water temp is at. This has actually made me pretty darn happy believe it or not. The Calculator has my CPU at about 137.5 Watts, my TEC is rated for 136.8 Watts, and the CPU is very slowly heating up, at about a pace of 1*C every 5 mins, but it is stuck hovering around 30 - 31*C which is expected as the CPU can't make it stay 100% usage 100% of the time. With this info I think I can figure out how many Radiators would be needed to cool a 300Watt TEC or other things along those lines. This is making me very happy

using rad's in a tec setup uasually isnt the right thing to do .

but the way you are using your tec & the way you are trying to do it will work for you , by keeping the temps in check & solving the condensation prob caused by using tec's to get as cold as possible for benching

Some how I got the EPU monitor running in OC Mode, and at 100% CPU Load from Orthos, it uses 60Watts at 4GHz. Which means that the Molex is only capable of putting out 5 Amps each connection. But less than 5 amps might be sent to the TEC, because I am sharing the line with the case fans and the water pump. Which makes sense.

Watts = Voltage * Amps
P = 12 * 5 = 60 Watts

TEC Watts = 5(0.2 Amps) + 0.6 Amps [How Many Case Fans I Have and their current Use and Water Pump]

TEC Watts = 5A - 1.6A = 3.4A * 12V = 41 Watts cooled by my TEC

Which explains why my temp will never level off when running Orthos at this Speed.

In Conclusion I am 20 Watts too short on my TEC. My TEC is only rated for 9A so adding in another rail isn't a viable option. In the future, I plan on buying a 400 Watt TEC rated for 15.4V and 26A, putting 12V, 10A through it, and that will put it at 120Watts cooled.


(LOAD) Delta T = (1 - (61Watts / 120)) * 67 = 32.9*C Difference (Hot to Cold)

(IDLE) Delta T = (1 - (12Watts / 120)) * 67 = 60.3*C Difference (Hot to Cold)

Its all numbers atm, but that is pretty promising.

HDCHOPPER said:

using rad's in a tec setup uasually isnt the right thing to do.

Click to expand...

Well, really how else are you suppose to cool a TEC? Heatsinks don't work unless you just want refrigerator temps at 21*C Pushback Ambient.