7 ms·
Wax Motor
- cbdumas 15d agoI'm surprised this page doesn't mention the automotive thermostat which uses the same principle to control the flow of coolant between the engine block and radiator in an ICE vehicle.
- jammaloo 15d agoPerhaps you would consider adding that information? That's would be an interesting addition!
- Terr_ 15d agoThe "See Also" has "Wax thermostatic element" [0] which seems focused on automotive applications, so perhaps it was there and grew large-enough that it got split off. > Its principal application is in automotive thermostats used in the engine cooling system. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wax_thermostatic_element https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wax_thermostatic_element
- alnwlsn 15d agoSeems as though it's been filed under a different page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wax_thermostatic_element https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wax_thermostatic_element
- flyingfences 14d agoThey were also used for cold-start idle air control in at least some cars before throttle-by-wire.
- moron4hire 15d agoObjects like this make me think of grimdark (steam|diesel)punk works like the video games Dishonored or BioShock. It feels like there's a touch of occultism or corruption whenever one creates a device that exploits analog side effects to create machines in a closed, black-box package.
- WJW 15d agoI have bad news to tell you about your "digital" computer.
- quickthrowman 15d ago> Objects like this make me think of grimdark (steam|diesel)punk works like the video games Dishonored or BioShock. It feels like there's a touch of occultism or corruption whenever one creates a device that exploits analog side effects to create machines in a closed, black-box package. The second sentence also fits for field effect transistors and solid state electronics in general. In the spirit of grimdark steampunk, have you ever heard of pneumatic logic? I still see these systems operating normally in some older mechanical rooms, it’s cool to see them still working after 40-50 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_circuit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_circuit
- wvbdmp 15d agoI see what you mean, but it’s less the exploitation itself than its immediacy and legibility. It doesn’t vanish behind a million abstractions or complicated miniaturization processes but can be readily experienced and understood, like steam. On the other hand one might as well associate it with “solar punk”, especially when powered by ambient temperature.
- bee_rider 15d agoYes, it seems generally *punk. It’s funny that steam, diesel, and solar punk have this association with immediacy. Does the originator, cyberpunk? Lots of cyberpunk stories present us with a society that is dominated by a digital abstraction. But the protagonist is special, so, they might not be.
- relaxing 15d agoI think the “punk” in cyberpunk was about the AI having a gritty, streetwise protagonist to enable it/fight against it. Extremely immediate.
- bonkabonka 15d agoBig Clive took one to bits some years back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPuvhnIoz2g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPuvhnIoz2g
- LeoPanthera 15d agoWhat a treasure Big Clive is. Educational, entertaining, and zero of those YouTube cliches and clickbait that everyone hates. I don't think he's ever said "Like and subscribe" literally ever.
- EA-3167 15d agoThat’s exactly what I needed to see, thank you!
- WJW 15d agoUsing this as a greenhouse vent actuator is pretty cool. It just makes so much sense.
- IshKebab 15d agoI once had an interview at PA consulting where they asked one of those questions where they have "the answer" but their question isn't well specified enough to lead to that unique answer. They kept adding conditions, but I hadn't ever heard of wax actuators before. (I was like 19 or something - didn't get that job!)
- IAmBroom 14d agoOMG, I HATE HATE HATE those interviews. I call them "Magic Word" questions. I was drilled for several minutes by an interviewer who was trying to get me to use the ONE PARTICULAR WORD out of the entire English language to describe something - something I had 100% already specified. If his manager hadn't been present, it would have ended with me not getting the job (and potentially a homicide) (which a jury trial would have acquitted, after I let him cross-examine me).
- palmotea 15d agoIf you want to see one in action, I found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sApyrDEXGAI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sApyrDEXGAI
- lemarchr 15d agoIt was so refreshing to see a video with a clear and direct title. In 2026 this would have been "We cracked open a motor. You won't believe what we found inside! <emoji>". Checking the channel, it seems they have succumbed to this for their latest videos.
- 7373737373 15d agoHere is a timelapse of one opening a greenhouse window as it gets warm: https://youtube.com/watch?v=S-55VBYbbdo https://youtube.com/watch?v=S-55VBYbbdo
- FriedPickles 15d agoHow does this deal with rain?
- Retr0id 15d agoPlants tend to enjoy rain
- MisterMunchkin 15d agoThat is such a good idea! Do people sell these as an actual product?
- Zanfa 15d agoYes. Most (even cheap-ish) greenhouse kits come with them, at least the ones I've seen around here.
- gorgoiler 15d agoThe music is hilarious! Thus moved solar-thruster
- kazinator 15d agoThe expansion of paraffin wax is substantial. I have experience wax potting guitar pickups as well as bicycle chains. I use a skinny, tall tin can for this, placed in boiling water. When the liquid wax solidifies, it not only pulls away from the sides of the can so that the resulting ingot slides out freely, but a void forms in the center. The top surface has a depression and a deep hole in the center.
- post_break 15d agoMy mini truck uses a couple of these with vacuum lines to control the choke and EGR. They are expensive to replace for obvious reasons.
- limaoscarjuliet 15d agoWikipedia page has a small error. It shows an actuator (i.e. wax motor) described as thermostatic radiator valve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wax_motor#/media/File:Thermische_Stellantriebe,_Thermische_Antriebe,_Fussbodenheizung,_thermal_actuator,_actuateur_thermique.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wax_motor#/media/File:Thermisc... These are two separate things: thermostat will close and open based on surrounding temp., the actuator on the other hand opens and closes based on energizing a heating element that is driven by a separate thermostat. Wax motors are pretty cool things. They rarely fail and do their job even in damp environments. I take care of my better half's hotel with approx 100 of these installed and we replace one of these once every couple of years.
- ta988 15d agoAs you seem to know how to explain that would you mind fixing it? You don't even need an account.
- aaron695 15d ago[dead]
- GuB-42 14d agoTraditionally, Wikipedia encouraged you to "be bold", that is, if you think something is wrong, don't complain, don't ask for permission, just fix it. [1] But now that Wikipedia is becoming more stable, I wonder if this policy is still pushed as much. My understanding is that on all articles there is an army of autistic and obsessive people who will make sure it stays clean (I mean it in a good way), so if you mess things up, it won't last long, as in, seconds. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Be_bold https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Be_bold
- zamadatix 14d agoCertainly not all articles; most edits I make stick. The problem is it sticks out as an extremely sore experience when it is the case, so that's what you hear about.
- curtisblaine 15d agoI have this in the greenhouse that came with my house. Seeing its roof closed in fall after it had been open all summer made me question my sanity.
- ck2 15d agonow go blow your mind with the first known conversion of electrical to mechanical energy via "Franklin Bells" TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE years ago in 1752, wow (but they had no idea why it worked) * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_bells https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_bells Before the storm, the device would ring to remind Franklin, who had been obsessed with the study of lightning, urging him to chase the lightning ha "chase the lightning" needs to be a catchphrase
- BobbyTables2 15d agoWe’ll circle back, launch our go to market strategy, and chase the lightning for a win…
- rogerdickey 15d agoWax elements are also used in thermostatic valves for faucets (to keep faucet temperature constant given variable hot and cold mains): https://rogerdickey.com/the-ideal-faucet/ https://rogerdickey.com/the-ideal-faucet/
- sublinear 15d agoHard disagree with that faucet design, but is a neat idea. I like my bathroom faucet as low maintenance as it already is. The use case for the full unmixed hot tap is hygiene (usually washing face and shaving). I also don't want any hot water mixed in when I'm washing my hands. The water coming out of the unmixed cold tap indicates the ambient temperature of the pipes. That's a feature, not a bug.
- discardable_dan 15d agoYou should use warm water when you're washing your hands.
- sublinear 15d agoWhy? I'm already upset enough about what the water heater water is doing to my skin and am about to go tankless under my bathroom sink! That's by far the more practical option anyway if we truly cared about the problem instead of fawning over engineer porn. The problem is solved. This is pointless engagement about temperature preference masquerading as something more interesting.
- mkmk 15d agoSolubility is a function of temperature.
- maxerickson 15d agoIt used to be public health recommendation (bathrooms in commercial buildings will often only have warm water, for example, because code required it). There's been studies demonstrating that soap is what matters.
- alexpotato 15d agoThe greenhouse vents example reminds me a lot of a float valve (or ballcock). It's a simple mechanism that used buoyancy to either open or close valves as water level changes in a container. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballcock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballcock
- ddlsmurf 15d agoI got one from a microwave, it opened vents. It is incredibly strong, also, takes soo much power and is so slow - although i suppose near heat it must work great.
- razorbeamz 15d agoIsn't this more like a solenoid than a motor?
- rotringlvr 15d ago[dead]
- mechanicalpulse 14d agoA solenoid is a coil of wire that functions as an electromagnet. Solenoid actuators are named after the coil. This device does not contain an electromagnet, so it would be inaccurate to call it a solenoid.
- NetMageSCW 14d agoThe question was about function, not nomenclature and this is a linear actuator just like a solenoid.
- mechanicalpulse 14d agoYou're not OP, but I think it's obvious that the question wouldn't have been asked had the nomenclature been more precise (i.e., had the article been titled "wax linear actuator" rather than "wax motor"). Yes, it's "like" a solenoid in the sense that it uses electricity to move a piston, but a solenoid is a very specific type that relies on electromagnetism. Linear actuators are also available in other forms -- geared and pneumatic ones immediately come to mind -- and I felt it was important to point out the distinction.
- nom 14d agoBoth are linear motors.
- IAmBroom 14d agoA solenoid is a type of motor. It converts non-motion energy (electricity) into mechanical motion.
- phyzome 15d ago...what is the point of starting this post with an egregious slop image?
- fourthark 15d agoThe Wikipedia page?
- cwillu 15d agoDid you post this on the wrong link? The first image is literally just a photo of a part, you can look up the part number.
- phyzome 14d agoOops! Right discussion page, wrong thread. I meant to post this as a reply to this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49747003 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49747003
- modeless 15d agoI love alternative types of actuators. Electromagnetic motors are great but they're pretty complex to make, require rare earth metals for best efficiency, and require gearing in most applications. I think in the far future most of our devices will be using other types of actuators, probably made mostly of organic materials. There are many concepts for alternative actuators that just need some breakthrough materials to work.
- ACCount39 14d ago"Just need some breakthrough materials to work" is the kind of "just" that stops things dead in their tracks. So far, the game in town has been primarily hydraulics or electromagnetics, and the things that replace them are better hydraulics and better electromagnetics. Alternative actuators are either super niche or fail to leave the labs.
- Trace88 15d agoMy old espresso machine had one of these, always amazed by the simplicity and robustness. Low-tech solutions often hit different.
- Fordec 15d agoHuh. Do these work in a vacuum? Presumably if sealed right? I imagine there's a few space applications, particularly with solar panels.
- tesseract 15d agoYeah, they are used in space. I don't work directly in this field, but have discussed wax motors with some newspace/smallsat folks, and get the impression they are popular for the same reason nitinol wire actuators are: few moving parts, no rotary bearings, resettable/multi-use unlike pyrotechnic actuators.
- geokon 15d agoSeems this would make it possible to make a relatively cheap waterproof actuator if you made it out of something corrosion resistant? I've been looking for actuators to use in damp/wet environments and sealed actuators are rather expensive and supposedly don't last too long
- bartread 15d agoThis is why wax motors are used for washing machine door locks.
- geokon 15d agohow does it work for a door lock?it seem it works pretty slowly. Mayne you know, are the internal components already designed with corrosion in mind?
- dfox 15d agoIn washing machine application the locking action is quite fast as the heating element is PTC connected more or less directly to mains, pretty substantial amount of energy gets dumped into the wax over few AC line cycles. In that application (and also in most industrial automation situations) ~100ms is more than fast enough because when most of the effector components are AC powered you end up with ~40ms worst case actuation delay just from the physics of AC electricity. On my washing machine it is quite noticeable that when you press "start" the door gets positively locked well before the capacitive sensing "button" finishes playing its haptic feedback non-sense. (the fact that front panel of cheap-ish toploading washing machine is actually a huge touchpad with haptic feedback that is designed to look and behave like five physical buttons says many things about economics of manufacturing stuff for that somewhat hostile environment at these scales)
- geokon 14d agooh interesting - I didn't realize PTCs can be used that way safely. I thought it hits a target temperature and then will continue heating at that temperature (which in your scenario would be unsafe). Maybe for my usecase it'll be hard to find a suitable actuator b/c I have a 5V system running of battery (looks like 12V ones do exist though)
- 21asdffdsa12 15d agoImagine if you will- a 3d sintered (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintering) sand structure. Placed in it is heat collecting material- aka salty-brine- which stores heat as a kind of battery. Placed within it are waxmotors as actuators. Placed within it are nodes with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silica_gel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silica_gel - the whole thing is literally dumb as a printed rock, but also capable to do work powered by the sun. It collects moisture from the air, distills the water out of the silica gel and stores it- then releases it in the evening to plants at the root. A terraforming rock, printed in-situ, with materials available in situ (well except silica gel, optical fibers and wax-motors).
- yccs27 15d agoI always wondered what the actuator in the exhaust air valve for my apartment ventilation was - now I'm pretty sure it's a wax motor! You can use a switch to increase the airflow, but it takes a few seconds to react and opens/closes very slowly and quietly.
- everforward 14d agoSome of them are a sort of hydraulic one that uses a spring and some fluid to make the spring release slowly. No idea which you would have lol. The slow closing prevents water hammer, at least in water systems. In air systems it might just prevent a blast of back pressure blowing all the dust out of your vents onto your carpet.
- Forbo 14d agoHuh, fun coincidence! I just pulled this article as a WikiGacha card recently.