Off competition project - gyro-soup-heater

[Boncuk]

Hi friends,

of course I also had some ideas to participate in the competion here at this superb forum and its outstandingly friendly members.

It had to be something useful built with the few allowed parts.

So I got the idea to combine practical use with ease of daughter or son.

Lets say you receive an invitation of an arabic Emir who resides at the North Pole or close to it. Their favorite meal is sheep meat. Getting served a soup containing the grease of a sheep the grease will form a layer similar to wax on the surface of the soup very quickly.

This device takes care of adequate temperature within the soup so that can't happen to you if you use it. Since you don't eat soup all day long the device might serve as a toy gyro for your kid.

The design is heavy enough to submerge in the soup and also to rotate freely for a considerable time.

If you want to built your own gyro-soup-heater be careful to place components very accurately. Otherwise the gyro will topple. The big electrolytic capacitor in the center is not important for proper function. It is just a handle to spin the gyro. Underneath the cap drill a 3mm dia hole and fix a prepared screw (3X10mm, preferrably brass) with cone shape at its end for resistance free rotation of the gyro.

Small balancing offsets can easily be compensated by some solder in the proper position.

Have fun

Hans

P.S. People try telling me that I'm full of sh..... That's not true! Is it?

 

[HarveyH42]

It'll probably work as intended, but there are so many things wrong. How's it spin, with wires for the 12 volt source? Since you Have 12 volts, why not use one of those coffee mugs you plug into the car cigarette lighter and a spoon. What sort of waterproofing would you use for the board. Soup would conduct pretty good, not to mention the lead and flux probably not to healthy, but all that sheep fat might no be either. If you spin it using the capacitor as a handle, wouldn't that mean putting your fingers in the soup? Hope the last guy washed his hands after making the yellow snow.

Sorry, don't think it's a great idea in practice, but it'll probably function. Should include some sort of thermal protection, the transistors might not last long after the soup is consumed, but then again the ambient temperature might be good enough.

 

[Boncuk]

Hi Harvey,

spinning should be done without any cable connected. This messes up the balance. I thought using flat cable connectors like they are used in car electric. But how you connect the device is completely up to you.

I'm not worried about flux, since it should be soldered manually there will be just a little leftover of it which I guess doesn't do any harm. It can be removed too, but I think it's just waste of material and time to do so.

If you dunk the circuit in clear water for two days any health risk should be minimized.

Insulation is not necessary at this low voltage, as well as heat protection. The total power dissipation is slightly above 10W, just enough to keep the soup warm. Four power transistors and four high current resistors each rated 9W each won't get that hot if the supply voltage doesn't exceed 13.8V.

At a supply voltage of 12V and no voltage drop in the circuit each resistor would dissipate 8W and still be well within rated limits.

If you don't want to use it as heater give it to your kid. The gyro will rotate for a long time with a diameter of 6" and the heavy transistors in the periphery.

After all, this project was not meant to be a serious one.

Regards

Hans