Need some peltier help....

[AMDfreak]

Please keep in mind here I know little to nothing about electronics and wiring. Ok, I have an 84W peltier, and of course there are 2 wires, 1 black and 1 red. According to directions recieved, the red should go to the yellow wire on a molex connector, and the black to the black right beside it. This is supposed to be 12V power. With 2 different power supplies now, they will not power up with the peltier connected. When I switch the wires to red going to red and black going to black on the other side of the molex connector (5V power?), everything powers up and the cold side gets cold enough for condensation to form. Am I doing this right or am I gonna screw something up??

 

[AMDfreak]

bump, I'm desperate. It seems that 12V is required. I got the system put back together, but cooling is no better than without the peltier. Surely an 84W element should take it below ambient. Any ideas why when plugged into 12V power nothing turns on?

 

[Viper GTS]

Sounds like your power supply isn't strong enough to drive it at 12V.

Viper GTS

 

[AMDfreak]

I wish I could easily believe that, but my PSU is a Sparkle 400W. I thought that should be more than enough..... What should I look for in PSU specs to see if it's adequate?

 

[AMDfreak]

I got some new info I was hopin I could get some feedback on. It seems that my PSU's overcurrent protection is being tripped. It's rated at 12A for 12V power. The peltier should only pull about 7 or 8A, however, if the temp on the hot side is equal to or greater than the temp of the object to be cooled, the peltier may draw more power. If I upgrade to a 530W PSU rated at 20A for 12V power, this should solve my problem right? Any other suggestions are welcomed.....

 

[Fish54]

Yes, your p/s is rated higher than the peltier, but remember that there are other things drawing on that 12V rail...ie cpu, hard drive, fans, etc. IT is very possible that the combination is drawing too much current. IT is also possible that the peltier is meant for 14V or higher, meaning that it may in fact be pulling more current than it is rated for. The more powerful p/s may be halpful, but I think you might be better off buying an external DC power supply rated high enough, and use it just for the peltier. Good luck.
-Fish