Electronic – Peltier Unit Not Working

coolingheatsinkpeltiertemperature

Recently I ordered a Peltier unit online and received it yesterday. Naturally, I was very excited to play with it. When I first turned it on, One side got hot, an another very cold. I had read that I should attach a heat sink to the hot side of the unit. So straight away, I attached a heat sink and a fan to the hot side (The fan is pulling air out).

I also added a heat sink to the cool side. However, both sides started getting very hot. I have tried reversing the polarity, changing the fan to push, and used voltages from 4 to 12. After nothing worked, I removed the heat sink on the cold side, But still, both side remain stubborn and insist on getting painstakingly hot.

Anyone got Any Ideas as to what's wrong?

Also, If it helps, at 12v the unit is using roughly 2A…

Best Answer

A peltier element is, in this order:

1.) a heater

2.) a thermal shortcut

3.) a thermal transfer unit

What happens is this: When you turn it on, the whole unit starts to heat up. But one side is somewhat cooler than the other. At first, one side feels warm, one side feels cold. Then the whole unit becomes hot because it is a heater primarily. The small difference of maybe 10 degrees between sides is not noticeable when one is 60C and the other is 70C. Source: [1]: http://quick-cool.de/peltierelemente/fragen-zu-peltierelementen.htm "FAQ Peltier German"