DC temperature circuit

[curtrw]

Hi, my name is Curt. I'm pretty much a novice at electronic circuit
building, having only built a couple of simple circuits. (555 timer)
My problem is I'm trying to build a 5-12volt dc circuit that will cool an
object (mirror) to ambient temperature via a fan, and then maintain that
temperature. Any referals or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Curt

 

[John Popelish]

curtrw wrote:

Hi, my name is Curt. I'm pretty much a novice at electronic circuit
building, having only built a couple of simple circuits. (555 timer)
My problem is I'm trying to build a 5-12volt dc circuit that will cool an
object (mirror) to ambient temperature via a fan, and then maintain that
temperature. Any referals or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Curt

A fan cannot cool a source of heat all the way to ambient temperature,
but can only reduce the temperature rise above ambient. If you want
to cool to at or below ambient you also need some sort of heat pump,
like a peltier cooler.

In general, to hold a temperature to a setpoint you need a sensor to
measure the process being controlled, a feedback controller (in
simplest form an opamp connected up as an integrator) and an output
device (fan, cooler, etc.).

Once I better understand your requirements, I can make more useful
suggestions.

How much heat energy (watts) are you trying to dissipate? What sort
of physical package is this heat source contained inside?

--
John Popelish