Guide/How-To (No 56K): 1500W Immersion Load Tester

:soap: :stop:
WARNING: This guide features crappy humor, meh photography, and volatile sealent. When working remember that airflow is your friend, so open a window. Also watch your fingers and if your younger, work with a parent or with their supervision, and lastly this isn't for everyone so work at your own risk.

A guide in pictures, but I'll add some wording as well. Decided today to build a immersion load tester, mostly for chillers, but surely can find other uses for a large inline load testing system. Can test a water loop or heat up a nice bath as well!

Total cost for the load tester was around $40. This of course is without a large variac, (20 amps recommended for this sorta load), to control the load, and a kill a watt to read the load.

So pictures;
http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02740.JPG
Total parts about $40 as I said, but you can see just how simple. Theres some primer and such that I was going to use but decided to go with aquarium sealant, should hold decently I think.
All the PVC is 2 inch.

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02741.JPG
Very easy and acquirable tools.

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02742.JPG
The heater;

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02745.JPG
We start with the basic design, the main tube chamber contains the immersion heater, the in and outputs, and a Y off. The Y off will go to an open top for adding liquid as well as monitoring flow and dropping in a temperature probe if wanted.

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02746.JPG
Actual sizing now, of course with a 8" long immersion heater you dont need a 2 foot PVC tube ;)

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02747.JPG
Hacksaw cutting, really easy, I mean, seriously, very easy. The rule of thumb here is, thumbs don't grow back. Remember that.

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02748.JPG
A few ounces of elbow grease later;

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02749.JPG
A bit long, but on purpose, want some extra liquid in the bottom;

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02750.JPG
Broke out a 3/4" holesaw bit, could have used the adjustable, but couldnt find my hex driver. Easy as pie with PVC, didnt even need to clamp it down;

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02751.JPG
A little loose due to the bow of the tube, but more then good enough!

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02752.JPG
After setting the adjustable holesaw to a size I deemed "close", I drilled the pilot hole, trick here is to flip the end cap over;

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02753.JPG
Vrrrrrrrrr tada!

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02754.JPG
Now flip it back; :rolleyes:

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02755.JPG
Clamp or vice is really needed here, but the adjustable hole saw goes right thru. Watch your hands and body here as the spinning bar can break bones. :shocked:

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02756.JPG
Dropping in the immersion heater, bit tight it seemed then spinning it slightly went right in like it was meant to be. And after another 360 degrees perfect fit, nice and snug, and the rubber gasket makes a tight seal;

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02758.JPG
Sealent;

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02760.JPG
Begin the sealing! Murder on the hands indeed, but solved that shortly. Just pull back the tube a little bit, spread on the sealent, then slide it back. Then follow with a paper towel to remove excess and push it further into the joint;

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02761.JPG
Call it lazy, I call it innovation;

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02762.JPG
Now we're sealing tight!

http://www.thewiltedrose.net/adam/Ph...W/DSC02763.JPG
And leave to dry!

Looks good. We really need to fix the lighting in your basement and teach you how to take better pics :D

I feel like I'm missing the point here. It makes sense to test water cooling rads and whatnot, but where's the purpose in phase? How do you intend to use this?

I'm still trying to figure out if the whole thing is a joke or not :D

As to the sealant.... why? :shrug:

Hahaha for water chillers and such!
Come on :P Aint it obvious?
As to the sealent, this stuff should survive negative temps. I've used it before at low temp points and had no trouble.

oh ok!!! water chillers hadn't even crossed my mind. sorry

hey NOL: bout that sealant, Does it try really hard? i am going to warn you that those silicon based sealants degrade over time... I know this was a cheap project but a glue that actually fuses(melts and drys) would be best. For plexiglass, weldon#3,4 and 16 work. So im not sure if those would work on these, but a fusing glue and that silicon stuff on top would last longer IMO

I do understand this was a super quick and cheap test though :D

Looks fantastic

Melts and bonds PVC, hmmm yeah that would be best. Of course even better is copper pipe. But, PVC it was, this is majorly a prototype though.

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant...=91&top_cat=87
yeah but 2" od CU is currently running ~50$ per foot :shakes: haha im sure you could find it for 30$ or so but still. WIll the load tester melt the pvc if it is not beeing cooled by a chiller?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by n00b 0f l337

Melts and bonds PVC, hmmm yeah that would be best. Of course even better is copper pipe. But, PVC it was, this is majorly a prototype though.

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You know that cleaner and glue for pvc (which it looks like you have in the pic) does melt and bond the pvc? All that sealant is doing is making a mess and looking ghetto ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by teyber

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant...=91&top_cat=87
yeah but 2" od CU is currently running ~50$ per foot :shakes: haha im sure you could find it for 30$ or so but still. WIll the load tester melt the pvc if it is not beeing cooled by a chiller?

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Psh, just get steel and tig weld it shut :cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by [XC] gomeler

Psh, just get steel and tig weld it shut :cool:

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Could mig it if you are careful and a decent welder.

Nice hand work but the design can be simplified.

Firstly it would be wise to purchase flat caps as a far supior seal can be acheived and the ports can be placed there (One at each end).

The tee is un-needed, all that is needed is a bleed line and drain-coc (I couldn't spell the last part correctly f**king retarded auto censore bs!)

Total parts list? 2 Caps, length of pipe, 1 drain-coc, 1 needle valve for bleeding, heater, tubing ports.

Quote:

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The tee is un-needed, all that is needed is a bleed line and drain-coc (I couldn't spell the last part correctly f**king retarded auto censore bs!)

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Hey MG Pony is this what you were talking about?

Hehe, I know what you mean. Its like somebody writes something about

Matsu:banana::banana::banana::banana:a

compressors :rofl:

Great idea! I will definitely be using your design to adjust the heat load for my chiller.:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mytekcontrols

Hey MG Pony is this what you were talking about?

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:rofl: :ROTF: :ROTF: :ROTF: :ROTF: :rofl: :ROTF: :rofl: :clap:

Sealents all dry, seems justtttt fine :)
Well now to build a chiller that can take on 1500 watts ;)

nice guide their NOl keep up the good work mate.
I moved the thread to the chiller section and made it a sticky ;)

lol thats just wrong!

Cool thanks Kayl, whats wrong Xeon?

I think he's referring to my interpretive photo that I posted earlier. Basically just trying to live up to the rules you posted at the start of this thread, that being crappy humor :p:

Hey Nol, do those immersion heaters come any smaller? I had something else in mind for it, something other then load testing chilled water which I wont get into here since it would be :off:

Nol I have to say that you are definitely a jack of all trades around here, nice job on the chilled water load tester :up:

After doing a little research on Immersion heater. I have a few questions on how to control and maintain a set heat load. First, the immersion heater has to be controlled by a thermostat to shut down at set temperature or it will continue to heat the water beyond desired heat load. Also, how do you calculate watts to temperature, so the thermostat can be set to maintain set wattage?

For example: Lets say I want to tune my system for 800 watt load....what temperature would I need to set the thermostat to maintain the heat load?

I don't think there is a thermostat connected to this thing, nor meant to be (Nol feel free to correct me if I am wrong). The idea as I see it, is to have a heater that is capable of up to 1500 Watts on a 120V supply. The load control aspect (which I think was already mentioned earlier) would be to use a variac to regulate the voltage going to the immersion heater, and something like a Kill-a-Watt Meter to let you know how many watts you are actually putting into it. This should then give you the ability of simulating any desired heat load from 0-1500 watts.

Bingo you got it Mytek, and thank you for the compliments :)

if you want something to stand up to better heat/cold temps use systesm 636 pvc or cpvc used for flue gas venting
not sure what the laws are in other provinces or states but in ontario it's a must so it's easily available (required to have a gas fitter license)

http://www.ipexinc.com/Content/EN_CA..._System636.asp


btw check here for immersion heaters

http://www.chromalox.com/products/im...g/default.aspx

NOL have you tried to drill through hard materials with that hole saw? like dense LVLs, espanite, or sheet rock?

Updating this soon enough, the old one works and such, however the goop I used to install the barb was not the best idea considering it was simply silicone. Does anyone know where I can get a water proof/sealing project box? Hard plastic and such?

I may go for the gold in ghetto-ness and use a small PVC bucket wrapped in cloths for insulation, witha ghetto lid. Great idea with the immersion heater though :up:

Update tonight;
New inline version, up to 2000W now, high turbulence and easy filling! Expect it later peoples. Oh and $40 or so ;)

No pictures :(

awesome, thanks!