Rosemary Ainslie circuit demonstration on Saturday March 12th 2011

[Rosemary Ainslie]

Guys,  It seems that OUR.com have banned me from viewing their forum.  Not sure of the thinking here.  Poynty himself HOWLED when Harti separated him from his work.  Somehow he feels this is due to me.  Apparently they want a free field where I can do nothing to stop all that slander.  I think this is justified because?  Actually I'm not sure why.  I thought I was knee deep in a friendly discussion with Poynty.  How wrong can one be. 

I've now reported their abuse EVERYWHERE.  I may as well add it here.  Mookie has put out a general appeal for all to 'feel free' to come and comment.  But i think they're only accepting ADVERSE comment.  Never seen a more blatant example of bigotry and more sanctioned intentions to indulge in 'hate speech'.  But Poynty apparently justifies it under the banner 'opinion'.  I see NO opinions.  Unless they do some retrospective editing.  Poor Mookie is trying to advance the general impression that I'm always in my pyjamas - and that I live in a dusty little hole where I weave my fantasies at whim.  Again.  Not sure of the relevance - but could someone perhaps advise him that my living quarters are ample and really well serviced.

Rosemary

[Rosemary Ainslie]

Hello,
I was wondering how much would the batteries last, if they weren´t getting any charge. This is a very crude aproximation:

If you use 6 12v batteries to power a DC load dissipating 50 watts, the current is around 50/72 which is 0.7 amps .  Dividing the AH rating of the batteries, lets say 100 AH, by the current, we get the run time of 142.8 hours.

If the load is pulsed, it seems there will be extra run time, even more so with lead acid batteries.

What is needed is replication and continuous operation of the heater, this is better than the the measurements route. Any takers?

A simple PIC microcontroller + drive transistor could set the gate voltage and provide a safety circuit breaker function.

Best,
Alex

Alex I don't suppose that the batteries are more than 100 ah's but I'll check.  And we've certainly run them for longer than 142 hours.  But that's 142 x 8 and even then - it's assuming a .7 amp discharge.  We've never managed any evidence of discharge.  Nor have we seen any depletion of battery voltage.  But it's not an argument that we'll win.  Ever.  And I, for one won't try it again.  But it MAY be relevant if any of you guys do these tests on smaller battery capacities. 

Not so keen on replications.  It would be nice to try a small application. But either way - it's your choice.

Kindest regards,
Rosemary

[Rosemary Ainslie]

Hi Rosemary,

So back to applications.  In your opinion, would it be possible to drive the existing resistive heating element in an off the shelf home water heater appliance from this circuit?  If not, what is necessary to retrofit an existing heater with a replacement element suitable for use with the circuit?  I think it is a easier path to mass implementation to provide a modular kit suitable to upgrade the existing devices in use, as opposed to the larger manufacturing requirements and hence consumer investment required
to replace existing systems altogether.

Cheers,
Twinbeard

Hi Twin.  That's more or less what we were considering.  When we chose that element it was simply to see how far from 'standard' we'd need to move.  The surprise was that we didn't need to move away at all.  Those elements that the guys are showing seem good.  But small Ohmage may be preferred - just so that you can keep the battery voltage low.  We could up the voltage because we had a generous donation of all those batteries.

Nice thinking.

Rosemary

[alexandre]

Hello Rosemary,

I have been reading about it and I believe I have underestimated the capacity of the batteries. As for battery voltage, as pointed out already, it doesn´t represent the remaining charge. Especially when there is pulsing going on.

No consense on the mesurements either. IMO, more work is needed on this experiment. I would like to see continuous operation.

I hope you take this as constructive criticism.

Best
Alex

[Rosemary Ainslie]

Hello Rosemary,

I have been reading about it and I believe I have underestimated the capacity of the batteries. As for battery voltage, as pointed out already, it doesn´t represent the remaining charge. Especially when there is pulsing going on.

No consense on the mesurements either. IMO, more work is needed on this experiment. I would like to see continuous operation.

I hope you take this as constructive criticism.

Best
Alex

You all would.  And with good reason.  But I don't have the funds to get a continuous test going with the required constant supervision.   So. If even three experts stated that such a test would be definitive then that's another story.  I'd bend over backwards to get it going.  You see Alex - I'm anticipating a really slow but steady discharge from the battery.  Certainly, from previous experience - that's what was evident.  So.  I'd first run a control - say discharging 0.7 amps.  Then I'd need to run my own test.  The control would run for about 100 amp hours /0 .7 amps = about 142 hours x 6 batteries = 857 hours or a staggering 35 days.  Not too much of a problem because we'd be able to put that on a data logger.  Now comes our test.  Now we'd need constant supervision because it has a tendancy to trend into that heavy duty output mode which is hazardous.  So.  We'd first need to recharge those batteries then run it for the same period - another 35 odd days  before we got any kind of proof at all.  Then - to satisfy the picky complainers I'd probably have to run it for a further 35 days or to its point of absolute depletion - assuming it's depleting at all.  Then the argument will be to RERUN the control and the test because - you see -  the rate of charge at the start of both tests may have skewed the result.  That would take a further 34 - 35 days  each.  And at the end of it?  I'll be told that I'd simply fudged those results. 

I assure you - battery durations will never cut it as an argument.  And as I keep trying to remind you all - this is absolutely NOT the entire argument.  There is nothing - in prinicple or in fact - that prevents these applications on AC supplies.  What we've done should be more than enough as it depends on standard measurement protocols.

Kindest again,
Rosemary 

And I do take it as constructive suggestion.  I'm not sure that it's any kind of criticism at all.  It's just that what you're actually asking is the continually supervised for more than a month and possibly to be done twice.  I simply cannot afford it.

EDITED
I've had to change those numbers.  I multiplied instead of dividing.