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Water-cooled Celem capacitor

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IamSmooth

Fri Apr 16 2010, 10:18PM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
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Posts: 1567

Anyone here used one and water-cooled them? I just got one and it has nipples for water tubing for each plate on one side. On the other side are just flat holes. Am I suppose to let the water just run out into a bucket?

cjk2

Sat Apr 17 2010, 02:02AM

Registered Member #51 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 04:17AM
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Typically in water cooling, you recirculate the water and run it though a radiator to remove heat. I have often used a small heater coil out of a random truck which i got at a junk yard years ago. In a pinch tho, you can simply stick a tube to the faucet of your sink and let the hot water run down the drain. Be careful, as the water will (might?) be conductive and you might create a path to ground.

I would recommend careful consideration of the consequences of conducive coolant in a system that deals with high voltages.

IamSmooth

Sat Apr 17 2010, 02:53AM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
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I appreciate the reply, but that was not my question. The Celem capacitor has drilled holes in the copper plate without nipples or threads on one side. My question is what does one do with this? Do I just let the coolant (water) drain out? Do I wedge a piece of tubing into the hole and drain through this?

This is a question only someone with one of these would be able to answer. My question involves the method one makes the connections for the coolant to the capacitor.

hboy007

Sat Apr 17 2010, 08:57AM

Registered Member #1667 Joined: Sat Aug 30 2008, 09:57PM
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the fraction of members that actually own such a capacitor may be low, so we would enjoy seeing a picture of it. Does it look like this one?

Steve Conner

Sat Apr 17 2010, 10:01AM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

I have a Celem capacitor, but it just has flat plate terminals, I had to make my own water cooling blocks. Maybe yours was supplied with cooling blocks that can be unscrewed?

You are supposed to attach tubing somehow. Water squirting around high voltage wires isn't cool. Maybe the flat holes are supposed to line up with orifices in a manifold that has O-rings or something.

IamSmooth

Sat Apr 17 2010, 02:20PM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
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Posts: 1567

Here are pictures of the front, top and back.

The front has two connectors for tubing. The eight screws are electrical terminal connections. The back has springs threaded into the outer two holes on each side, which dead-end. The center hole goes straight through to the other side, but is flat on the surface. The pen on the bottom picture is pointing to one of them. I probably need some insert with an O-ring as Steve suggested.

EDIT:

I have made a connector using some nylon tubing connectors. I have tested it while pumping 200 G/min through and it was nice and dry. I will post pictures of the finished product when it is completed.

radiotech

Mon Apr 19 2010, 02:36AM

Registered Member #2463 Joined: Wed Nov 11 2009, 03:49AM
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How many amps do you think you will be passing through your capacitors while water cooling is flowing?

IamSmooth

Mon Apr 19 2010, 02:55AM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
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I figure that I am passing about 200A with my current 120vac version with my 20 capacitor bank.

I should be doing 400A with the 240vac microprocessor auto-tune version. The capacitor is rated for 1000A and 600v rms. I bought three 260 G/min pumps. One will be to cool the work coil. The other two will cool each side of the capacitor plates. I will use large buckets of ice-water. I have an IR thermometer so I can monitor the external temperature.

I am giving medical board exams now, but I plan on finishing connecting the copper pipes to the capacitor. I made all the connections; I just have to sweat them together. I also need to pick up some of the connectors and pump tubing from the hospital.

My limiting factor right now is that my variac only does 240vac @ 20A. I guess I can output 40A for a few minutes. I would really like to get my hands on one that can do 30-40A. I will have to wait, or possibly buy one on Ebay.

radiotech

Mon Apr 19 2010, 04:55AM

Registered Member #2463 Joined: Wed Nov 11 2009, 03:49AM
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While it is running,if you knew the volume of water in the capacitor,
and the temperature rise of the water, you could calculate watthour conversion of energy to heat and from that the power factor of the capacitor.

...

Mon Apr 19 2010, 05:16AM

Registered Member #56 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:02AM
Location: Southern Califorina, USA
Posts: 2445

I haven't used that particular capacitor, but I can say it is common in (expensive) copper pieces to add a stainless 'helicoil' in every tapped hole--due to the fact that copper is very soft and can easily be stripped out. This in mind, I would say your guess that it is designed to be bolted to another plate is probably correct, although I am sure you can get away with just using a good epoxy (JB weld would probably be fine) to epoxy a piece of copper tube in. You could also probably use low melting point solder, but you have to be careful to not overheat the cap, or let the cap get above the melting point when in operation!

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