Tips on changing a Peltier pad (Thermoelectric Heat Pump) Pic Heavy
Since I often see discussion on wineadors, and peliter pad cooling devices I figured this might come in handy for any DIY folks.
Today a customer with a Peltier cooled unit put in a call that their unit was no longer cooling. Perfect, might as well take some pics for folks since no matter the pad type, failure is almost always the same cause.
Here is the unit with the cooling cabinet removed and the rear heat sinks visable. This would be what you would look for on the back of your wineador (not this size, but what a heat sink looks like).
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After removing the screws that mount the heat sink to the front cold block, gently lift the heat sink up to expose the peltier pad.
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Now if you notice the normally white heat sink compound has dried and turned silver/grey. It is now dry and no longer capable of transferring heat. This is most common cause of failure. Without being able to get rid of the excess heat the unit basically cooks itself and no longer functions.
The bottom of the heat sink also has dried up compound on it.
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When removing the pad from the device, pay close attention or take notes as to which way the wires are placed and the color of each side. If you put the new pad in backwards you will never know until you have it all back together to find the unit now heats instead of cools.
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Next step is to clean off all old compound. You need to have a clean smooth surface to start with. No tools are required to clean other than your hand and a paper towel. Be sure to clean both the cold plate and the heat sink.
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Now for this unit the peltier pads are about the size of a silver dollar. Much larger than the standard wine cooler. But these unit are designed to cool the cabinet to 39'f with a room temp of up to 80'f. Be sure to have your heat sink compound at the ready.
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Use your finger to cover entire bottom of pad with compound, do not leave any bare spots. The whole side needs to be covered.
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Place the pad down on the clean side of cold plate. It will hold pretty good since the compound is pretty sticky. Now cover entire top side. Clear wires out of way using tape to keep them secure for time being. Once tops are covered you are ready to place your cleaned heat sinks back on. Looking thru the screw holes of heat sink align to screw holes of cold plate and slowly lower heat sink onto pad. You do not want to have to slide it to find screwholes you would end up moving peltier out of position.
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Now begin putting your heat sink screws back in, taking care to only make the screws snug. Do not try to tighten too much you could crack your peltier.
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There you have it. Hope this helps some understand what these things look like and realize its not that hard to do yourself.
