Best Solar - for free

[Steve Dyer]

Here is how make a solar:

1. Go to the pub.
2. Ask the landlord for a free dud beer fridge:
http://www.buycleverstuff.co.uk/inde...ront-298-p.jpg
3. Slide out all the shelves except the bottom one.
4. Put a metal tray (an old uncapping tray is perfect) sloping above the shelf.
5. Put a wood or plastic handled saucepan below the shelf to collect the wax. (The handle will be burningly hot even so.)
6. Lean it against a brick so that the double-glazed glass is roughly at right angles to the sun's light.
7. Put frames in uncapping tray.
8. Return to pub with jar of honey to thank landlord for giving you his junk.

You will have to repeat this process about every four years 'cos the black plastic in the fridge degrades in the working temperatures of a highly efficient, double glazed, hermetically sealed and insulated solar - which is what you have just made.

Best

Steve

I originally posted this elsewhere but I guess it should be here

 

[oliver90owner]

The only real deviation for me would be trying to remove the melted wax from the 'oven' via a small channel at the lower end (but still have a large enough vessel such that if the outlet solidifies the vessel does not overflow). Not 'hermetically sealed' (with a hole), but hot air does not get out, nor cold air get in.

And number 8., or course, - take him a large wax beeswax candle as well, for when there might be a power cut!

RAB

 

[Steve Dyer]

The only real deviation for me would be trying to remove the melted wax from the 'oven' via a small channel at the lower end (but still have a large enough vessel such that if the outlet solidifies the vessel does not overflow). Not 'hermetically sealed' (with a hole), but hot air does not get out, nor cold air get in.

And number 8., or course, - take him a large wax beeswax candle as well, for when there might be a power cut!

RAB

Hmm - being naturally a drone I didn't think of that. It would be very easy to drill a hole out. At the bottom the "back" of the fridge is about halfway forward since the compressor mechanism is behind it, so it could vent into a container underneath the tilted bottom of the fridge. If one inserted a metal pipe it might keep hot enough not to block, but the capacity of the bottom of the fridge on a slope would be pretty big if it did block anyway.

I just empty the saucepan fairly often, but this does mean the wax is melted and re-melted sometimes which isn't optimal..

Steve

 

[oliver90owner]

but this does mean the wax is melted and re-melted sometimes which isn't optimal

Probably not too important for the candle!!

RAB