the incredibly simple, cheap, sturdy friction heater.

[nitinnun]

i have seen many friction heater prototypes online.
here is a protot-type, of my design.

(you can test the science of this, by quickly rubbing your hands together.
the energy that you spent to rub your hands together, was very efficiently turned into heat.
by the friction of your skin rubbing together.)



1:
buy a big, cheap, sturdy box fan, from your local walton-trustfund-brat-outlet.
like this fan:

http://www.amazon.com/LASKO-20-In-Box-Fan/dp/B00002ND67/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1224478668&sr=8-6

this model of lasko fan, has a very sturdy plastic blade.
it is also very elecricity efficient.


2:
"modify" the fans plastic grill.
so that you can "attach" a steel pot to the fan blades.
like this pot:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.breworganic.com/ProductImages/pots_and_systems/7.5-gal-pot.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://www.breworganic.com/browseproducts/Economy-7.5-Gallon-Stainless-Steel-Pot.html&h=470&w=500&sz=27&hl=en&start=1&um=1&usg=__rHc9Wj-oYsEjSSEmEaFuDBP6AuI=&tbnid=B9vHvbNd_Z2PpM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsteel%2Bpot%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26sa%3DG

the plastic fan head is very sturdy. and could be made to support even a large pot.
but if need be, you could drill holes into the plastic fan head, and insert steel supports.


3:
attach a slightly bigger pot, to the fan case.
(i plan on attaching steel sheet supports, to this bigger outer-pot. then attaching the steel sheet supports, to the fan case).


4:
pour motor oil into the bigger outer pot.
so that the smaller inner pot rubs against the motor oil, when it spins.

sort of like the drawing at the bottom of this post.


5:
turn on the fan. and hope that the inner pot can spin fast enough, to generate enough heat.

[helmut]

i have seen many friction heater prototypes online.
here is a protot-type, of my design.

(you can test the science of this, by quickly rubbing your hands together.
the energy that you spent to rub your hands together, was very efficiently turned into heat.
by the friction of your skin rubbing together.)



1:
buy a big, cheap, sturdy box fan, from your local walton-trustfund-brat-outlet.
like this fan:

http://www.amazon.com/LASKO-20-In-Box-Fan/dp/B00002ND67/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1224478668&sr=8-6

this model of lasko fan, has a very sturdy plastic blade.
it is also very elecricity efficient.


2:
"modify" the fans plastic grill.
so that you can "attach" a steel pot to the fan blades.
like this pot:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.breworganic.com/ProductImages/pots_and_systems/7.5-gal-pot.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://www.breworganic.com/browseproducts/Economy-7.5-Gallon-Stainless-Steel-Pot.html&h=470&w=500&sz=27&hl=en&start=1&um=1&usg=__rHc9Wj-oYsEjSSEmEaFuDBP6AuI=&tbnid=B9vHvbNd_Z2PpM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsteel%2Bpot%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26sa%3DG

the plastic fan head is very sturdy. and could be made to support even a large pot.
but if need be, you could drill holes into the plastic fan head, and insert steel supports.


3:
attach a slightly bigger pot, to the fan case.
(i plan on attaching steel sheet supports, to this bigger outer-pot. then attaching the steel sheet supports, to the fan case).


4:
pour motor oil into the bigger outer pot.
so that the smaller inner pot rubs against the motor oil, when it spins.

sort of like the drawing at the bottom of this post.


5:
turn on the fan. and hope that the inner pot can spin fast enough, to generate enough heat.

Hi
Do you can add a pic of your prototype and add some mesurements as well.
Thanks in advance
helmut

[nitinnun]

i just realized a few hours ago, that i could abuse common household appliances like this.
so i don't have pictures yet.
but i'm very certain that the physics behind it, will work.


i need to get a box fan.
and decide what the right size for steel pots are.


the pots need to be light enough to spin easily.
yet have enough surface area, to create enough friction, to create enough heat.

[resonanceman]

i just realized a few hours ago, that i could abuse common household appliances like this.
so i don't have pictures yet.
but i'm very certain that the physics behind it, will work.


i need to get a box fan.
and decide what the right size for steel pots are.


the pots need to be light enough to spin easily.
yet have enough surface area, to create enough friction, to create enough heat.

nitinnun

If I remember right in another  post you said   you  usually get  the  general  part right but might  be off on the details .     
Getting  something  built  the first time is all about the details .

No  I am not  British   


Although   in general   the  basic  concepts seem  sound  actually  gettnig everthing  working together   presents some problems .

If  you removed the  fan  blade  and  made a " lid " for the inner  pan that was  strong  enough to  support  the weight  of the pan the   chances of success  would  go  up  quite a bit .

The  fan blade  has no  flat  surface  that it  convienient to   attach  something to .  even  if  you   got   your pan  bolted on with enough  accuracy to  spin easily    plastic   that  holds weight  tends to " creep"     it  will slowly deform so  it will not  stay  in  allignment .   adding  heat would make  the  creep worse .   

  One   detail  that might make it  more likely to work  is to   plan on  not using much oil.
By this I mean  design  it with the  inner pan SETTING inside the outer pan .   Not suspended  above the  bottom.   Just  add enough   oil to  provide some lubrication  ( maybe a teaspoon  of oil at the  most )
The   large pan   will  carry the weight  of the  inner pan  all that you  would have to do is  make sure the inner  pan is centered well enough  and attached strong enough .

Any metal to metal friction  will make it  work more like the heating  device that  uses  wood for  friction ...... except  the   metal   will  last along longer than the wood  .

Using  water in place of oil might  be a possibility but  would make things  difficult . The  water  would have to be replaced at the proper rate . 


gary

[yaz]

You know what a really good friction heater is... an automatic transmission. That's why it NEEDS a cooler to keep it from overheating. Don't believe me? Plug up your tranny cooler lines and take a 20 minute drive on the highway, you'll be sitting on the side of the road with a smoking transmission!
That's what happened to me when my external cooler plugged up. Got it working...$2100 later!

So try using transmission fluid and maybe putting some metallic filings in the oil to create more friction. I know when I change my fluid I have magnets in the pan and they're always covered in metallic filings. Hey...Just change your transmission fluid and use THAT! It already has enough metal fillings and crap in it to ruin your transmission, but perfect for a heater!! Plus you'll be doing your vehicle a favour!

Also adding a flywheel would help out the motor spinning all that mass.