7 ms·
Why would you use bimetallic strips instead of, say, a solenoid? The whole point of the discussion is to avoid thermal losses...
by MauranKilom 5y ago
Why would you use bimetallic strips instead of, say, a solenoid? The whole point of the discussion is to avoid thermal losses...
- tzs 5y agoThe comment I was replying to said DC motors actually use AC internally. My comment was an attempt to design a DC motor that definitely uses no AC. Solenoids have an inductor with a changing magnetic field that stores energy and eventually gives it back. I want to avoid the possibility that that changing magnetic field will induce a current somewhere that is in the opposite direction of the normal current in that place thereby producing AC. By just using the DC input to make heat, there is no chance of inadvertently getting AC.
- formerly_proven 5y ago> You move the outer magnets by using the resistors to heat the their bimetallic strips. You move an out magnet back to its original position by letting it cool back down. You are switching the resistors on and off with a pulse pattern that will look a whole lot like you're driving a stepper motor. That's what we call AC. DC means that the voltage stays constant over time. AC means it changes. Switching DC on and off creates AC.
- tzs 5y agoDC is any current that flows consistently in one direction. AC is current whose flow direction switches back and forth.