Science Fair Project ???????

[RPB67]

I need to make a model of a hot water heater and show how it works ?

Anyone have any ideas ????

[illuminatus]

Ummm... yeah... take an extension cord... cut the female end off.. strip the wires.. short em together... insert in a tub of water.. voila! (in a nutshell, it's a water heater! )....


But seriously... ummm.... How detailed do you need? Like, do you need an inlet and an outlet, or just the heating element?

[RPB67]

Science Fair not Creature Double Feature !

Need to make a heating element. Cant use and outlet. Either battery or some other power and show how it works.

[Nely]

Thats hard, no outlet? Solar power? Gas heater?

[Smell the Colors]

Originally Posted by RPB67

Science Fair not Creature Double Feature !

Need to make a heating element. Cant use and outlet. Either battery or some other power and show how it works.

You could get some 9V light bulbs and try to break the glass off them without messing up the filament. Insert into the side of a plastic bottle and connect to a few 9V batteries in series.

Might work.

[illuminatus]

Obviously, I wouldn't seriously suggest you use 110V AC

For a power source, how about one of those big ol square flashlight batteries (I think they're 12V off the top of my head)... All you need is a length of insulated wire. Make a coil, put it at the bottom, make sure the exposed wire never touches the water. Then short the wire. It'll create heat. As for a container, well, if you want to get fancy, you can cut a 5 gallon bucket in half, and then somehow seal it with a piece of lexan or acrylic, so that you can see inside the bucket. Does this even make any sense? I'm tired, so I'm barely coherent.

[Smell the Colors]

Originally Posted by illuminatus

Obviously, I wouldn't seriously suggest you use 110V AC

For a power source, how about one of those big ol square flashlight batteries (I think they're 12V off the top of my head)... All you need is a length of insulated wire. Make a coil, put it at the bottom, make sure the exposed wire never touches the water. Then short the wire. It'll create heat. As for a container, well, if you want to get fancy, you can cut a 5 gallon bucket in half, and then somehow seal it with a piece of lexan or acrylic, so that you can see inside the bucket. Does this even make any sense? I'm tired, so I'm barely coherent.

I don't think that would work (BTW those square batteries are 6V). The wire would have to be very thin, exposed, and touching the water in order to heat the water. The bucket idea is good, but you might want to go much smaller. 2.5 gallons of water will take a reeeaaallllyyy long time to heat up with any amount of voltage you're going to be able to use.

[AAlmeter]

If you want to get any noticable heat without using a car battery or household current, your best bet is to use some form of fuel.

You can go as small as your butane cigar lighter, or as large as a blowtorch.

Or you could even make your own alcohol burner. The torch or butane lighter require nothing more than a small spark to get rolling...the alcohol burner would likely need a match or, even better, a small candle as a pilot light.