Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:
> On 7 Apr 2024 17:28:19 +1000
> Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:
>> The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>> >
>> > I think I will print a small nuclear reactor on my 3D printer and go
>> > off grid entirely :-) :-)
>>
>> I printed this a few years ago in glow-in-the-dark plastic:
>> http://web.archive.org/web/20170209140207/http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1561276/
>>
>> The cooling towers make a handy pen holder at the scale I used. But
>> now it looks like the nuclear regulators have caught on and had the
>> 3D model pulled off Thingiverse! :)
>
> Yet worse the wayback machine didn't archive the STL (can't say I
> blame them).

This is why I never delete such files. Here's my copy:
https://objectstorage.ap-melbourne-1.oraclecloud.com/n/axqlf7atlxkh/b/attachments/o/nuclearpp.zip

--
__ __
#_ < |\| |< _#

On 4/6/2024 1:32 AM, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 05/04/2024 22:08, Lars Poulsen wrote:
>> On 15/03/2024 10:51, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
>>  >>     Make that 5 minutes * 500W/5W or 500 minutes which is indeed a
>>  >> long time but a lot shorter than the 150 hours you were expecting.
>>
>> On 3/15/2024 6:43 AM, druck wrote:
>>  > If you want 150 hours, you need to be looking at a backup generator,
>>  > so your UPS only needs to last as long as it takes for your generator
>>  > to fire up.
>>  >
>>  > That's usually a couple of minutes for professional diesel ones, but
>>  > as its home setup it might take you a few minutes to connect it up and
>>  > pull the starter cord on a cheap petrol one.
>>  >
>>  > It might then take a few more minutes to drain the tank of the sludge
>>  > that used to be fuel last time you used it, and to run to the garage
>>  > to get some fresh petrol.
>>  >
>>  > It might take a few more minutes if your spark plugs have been fouled
>>  > as you didn't clean it after use, and your air filter has a hundred
>>  > different types of bugs living it.
>>  >
>>  > So make sure the UPS lasts an hour or 2.
>>  >
>>  > Oh and once you've managed to get it going, and it's making a
>>  > tremendous racket, just remember everyone else in the neighbourhood
>>  > who is without power will be turning to look in your direction...
>>
>> I read this and feel first-world superiority for having last year
>> installed a 14kW Generac system, powered by our municipal natural gas
>> supply. In case of a power outage, it kicks in within about 10
>> seconds. When the grid comes back up, it syncs the AC to the grid
>> before pulling the relay to reconnect. And every other Wednesday, it
>> tests itself for 10 minutes, synchronizing before going off-grid as
>> well as before going back on-grid.
>> In case the muni gas is down, my electrician will come over and
>> install the propane conversion kit. (I don't have a good place to keep
>> propane tanks.)
>>
>> -- Lars
>
> I think I will print a small nuclear reactor on my 3D printer and go off
> grid entirely :-) :-)
>
How large is your 3 printer? Do you know of a power generator that fits
in a cubic foot? (Thermal, maybe? like what NASA uses for inerplanetary
probes?)

On 10 Apr 2024 at 14:15:07 BST, "Lars Poulsen" <lars@beagle-ears.com> wrote:

> On 4/6/2024 1:32 AM, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>> On 05/04/2024 22:08, Lars Poulsen wrote:
>>> On 15/03/2024 10:51, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
>>> >> Make that 5 minutes * 500W/5W or 500 minutes which is indeed a
>>> >> long time but a lot shorter than the 150 hours you were expecting.
>>>
>>> On 3/15/2024 6:43 AM, druck wrote:
>>> > If you want 150 hours, you need to be looking at a backup generator,
>>> > so your UPS only needs to last as long as it takes for your generator
>>> > to fire up.
>>> >
>>> > That's usually a couple of minutes for professional diesel ones, but
>>> > as its home setup it might take you a few minutes to connect it up and
>>> > pull the starter cord on a cheap petrol one.
>>> >
>>> > It might then take a few more minutes to drain the tank of the sludge
>>> > that used to be fuel last time you used it, and to run to the garage
>>> > to get some fresh petrol.
>>> >
>>> > It might take a few more minutes if your spark plugs have been fouled
>>> > as you didn't clean it after use, and your air filter has a hundred
>>> > different types of bugs living it.
>>> >
>>> > So make sure the UPS lasts an hour or 2.
>>> >
>>> > Oh and once you've managed to get it going, and it's making a
>>> > tremendous racket, just remember everyone else in the neighbourhood
>>> > who is without power will be turning to look in your direction...
>>>
>>> I read this and feel first-world superiority for having last year
>>> installed a 14kW Generac system, powered by our municipal natural gas
>>> supply. In case of a power outage, it kicks in within about 10
>>> seconds. When the grid comes back up, it syncs the AC to the grid
>>> before pulling the relay to reconnect. And every other Wednesday, it
>>> tests itself for 10 minutes, synchronizing before going off-grid as
>>> well as before going back on-grid.
>>> In case the muni gas is down, my electrician will come over and
>>> install the propane conversion kit. (I don't have a good place to keep
>>> propane tanks.)
>>>
>>> -- Lars
>>
>> I think I will print a small nuclear reactor on my 3D printer and go off
>> grid entirely :-) :-)
>>
> How large is your 3 printer? Do you know of a power generator that fits
> in a cubic foot? (Thermal, maybe? like what NASA uses for inerplanetary
> probes?)

Only if your printer can print plutonium-238.

--
Tim

On 10/04/2024 14:15, Lars Poulsen wrote:
> On 4/6/2024 1:32 AM, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>> On 05/04/2024 22:08, Lars Poulsen wrote:
>>> On 15/03/2024 10:51, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
>>>  >>     Make that 5 minutes * 500W/5W or 500 minutes which is indeed a
>>>  >> long time but a lot shorter than the 150 hours you were expecting.
>>>
>>> On 3/15/2024 6:43 AM, druck wrote:
>>>  > If you want 150 hours, you need to be looking at a backup generator,
>>>  > so your UPS only needs to last as long as it takes for your generator
>>>  > to fire up.
>>>  >
>>>  > That's usually a couple of minutes for professional diesel ones, but
>>>  > as its home setup it might take you a few minutes to connect it up
>>> and
>>>  > pull the starter cord on a cheap petrol one.
>>>  >
>>>  > It might then take a few more minutes to drain the tank of the sludge
>>>  > that used to be fuel last time you used it, and to run to the garage
>>>  > to get some fresh petrol.
>>>  >
>>>  > It might take a few more minutes if your spark plugs have been fouled
>>>  > as you didn't clean it after use, and your air filter has a hundred
>>>  > different types of bugs living it.
>>>  >
>>>  > So make sure the UPS lasts an hour or 2.
>>>  >
>>>  > Oh and once you've managed to get it going, and it's making a
>>>  > tremendous racket, just remember everyone else in the neighbourhood
>>>  > who is without power will be turning to look in your direction...
>>>
>>> I read this and feel first-world superiority for having last year
>>> installed a 14kW Generac system, powered by our municipal natural gas
>>> supply. In case of a power outage, it kicks in within about 10
>>> seconds. When the grid comes back up, it syncs the AC to the grid
>>> before pulling the relay to reconnect. And every other Wednesday, it
>>> tests itself for 10 minutes, synchronizing before going off-grid as
>>> well as before going back on-grid.
>>> In case the muni gas is down, my electrician will come over and
>>> install the propane conversion kit. (I don't have a good place to
>>> keep propane tanks.)
>>>
>>> -- Lars
>>
>> I think I will print a small nuclear reactor on my 3D printer and go
>> off grid entirely :-) :-)
>>
> How large is your 3 printer? Do you know of a power generator that fits
> in a cubic foot? (Thermal, maybe? like what NASA uses for inerplanetary
> probes?)

Actually a sort of cast iron range stove filled with decay products that
would do about 20kW thermal, and boil enough water for a 20KW steam
turbine style alternator would be ideal.

I could feed the grid with surplus power.....

--
I was brought up to believe that you should never give offence if you
can avoid it; the new culture tells us you should always take offence if
you can. There are now experts in the art of taking offence, indeed
whole academic subjects, such as 'gender studies', devoted to it.

Sir Roger Scruton

On 10/04/2024 15:07, TimS wrote:
> On 10 Apr 2024 at 14:15:07 BST, "Lars Poulsen" <lars@beagle-ears.com> wrote:
>
>> On 4/6/2024 1:32 AM, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>> On 05/04/2024 22:08, Lars Poulsen wrote:

>>> I think I will print a small nuclear reactor on my 3D printer and go off
>>> grid entirely :-) :-)
>>>
>> How large is your 3 printer? Do you know of a power generator that fits
>> in a cubic foot? (Thermal, maybe? like what NASA uses for inerplanetary
>> probes?)
>
> Only if your printer can print plutonium-238.
>
Any inkjet can print *that*, but as Shakespeare's Hotspur says 'does it
then go critical...?'

--------------------
William Shakespeare
“I can call the spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
But will they come, when you do call for them?”

― William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 1

--
I was brought up to believe that you should never give offence if you
can avoid it; the new culture tells us you should always take offence if
you can. There are now experts in the art of taking offence, indeed
whole academic subjects, such as 'gender studies', devoted to it.

Sir Roger Scruton