Wicking Works

[onthecuttingedge2005]

I did the simple experiment 'without' any oneway valves, doesn't look good, there was bleed back into the system through the siphon pipe sucking air in a reverse flow.

I am pretty sure either the siphon pipe needs a oneway valve or the main pipe needs a oneway valve to prevent bleed back. I don't see any other way around it.

[FreeEnergy]

I did the simple experiment 'without' any oneway valves, doesn't look good, there was bleed back into the system through the siphon pipe sucking air in a reverse flow.

I am pretty sure either the siphon pipe needs a oneway valve or the main pipe needs a oneway valve to prevent bleed back. I don't see any other way around it.

one way valve won't help in my opinion because there would be a lot of pressure sitting on top of the one way valve and the flow of siphoning won't be enough to breakthrough the valve to keep the circulation going. sorry.
oh well back to the drawing board.

[FreeEnergy]

what if you used capillary tubes like an outstretched telescope?

theoretically it could go to infinity

i don't get it.
could you be a little more specific on how this should work?
thanks

[onthecuttingedge2005]

one way valve won't help in my opinion because there would be a lot of pressure sitting on top of the one way valve and the flow of siphoning won't be enough to breakthrough the valve to keep the circulation going. sorry.
oh well back to the drawing board.

I might have to add capillary action to the siphon tube, like making the core of the siphon tube with paper towels, this might do the trick so long as I have a oneway valve in there.

I will see about about adding the additional capillary force to the experiment, if it fails I know that I could get it to work with heat expansion fluids but then again I am trying to avoid the inevitable.

[mr_bojangles]

i don't get it.
could you be a little more specific on how this should work?
thanks

well the capillary effect occurs due to the surface tension variance of water in thin tubes, so one capillary tube of (x) diameter would raise water (y) amount

given that elongating the tube will not have an effect, as the length of the tube does not dictate the amount of water it can raise, but the diameter of the tube itself

with this in mind i think it logical to use increasingly thinner tubes, staggered in a manner as such that the bottom of each proceeding tube would start at the level where the water stops of the preceding one, basically stacking them

image modified from wikipedia, heres the link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Capillarity.svg