jamius.com

I came across this REALLY cool (albeit ancient) idea on lifehacker today.

I figured I'd share.
http://lifehacker.com/5825676/create-an-electricity+free-refrigerator-with-some-flower-pots-and-sand


Yes yes I know it's not a project per se, but still, it's cool. I wonder if you could make one that replenished itself with water every morning so it stayed cool all day. (Well, as long as the sun is out.)

Very interesting stuff. It works just like sweat evaporating. Coming up with something large scale that is maintainable would be interesting.

Yeah this is a good idea. Like sjvsworldtour said..... now how to make it on a larger scale. I guess it doesn't need to be portable. At least I don't need to carry a fridge around with me often, but apparently if Africa its handy.

Perhaps instead of using pots, you could use red brick. Like when you build a double brick house with a cavity between the two walls. Build the thing fridge size to get the scale more usable.

I was thinking it would need to be top entry, but you could be fancy and put a door on one side, that way it would be easier to put shelves inside to store the food. It would just look like an outdoor fridge i guess.

The hotter it gets the cooler the inside will become provided there's some air movement. I wonder if you could put a solar panel, a battery, battery charger and a fan to assist on still/calm days. In Adelaide Australia you often get 40C days in summer with no wind. Its dead still.

I like the idea.

I plan to tackle this project soon.

I believe that it absolutely can work, will work and be awsome when it does!

So far I've just been posting pics of all of my projects on Facebook. Maybe I should make a website or something...

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam called him a 'true scientist'. Mitticool, a clay refrigerator that works without electricity had turned the world's attention to its creator Mansukhbhai Prajapati, a craftsman based in Gujarat.

Presenting the national award to Mansukhbhai in 2009, President Pratibha Patil appreciated his work and asked him for a Mitticool.

Scientists and journalists from across the world have visited his unit to see how he makes eco-friendly products at a low cost.

A school drop-out, he has achieved a feat that many in the world envy today. The simple and unassuming Mansukhbhai is not keen on money. His ambition is to make more low-cost and eco-friendly products for the masses.

"A good majority of Indians cannot buy a fridge as it is expensive. Besides this, electricity bills and maintenance cost is also high. Mitticool is an eco-friendly product which has no maintenance costs. It also retains the original taste of vegetables, says Mansukhbhai who has sold 1500 units so far.

"I failed in the tenth standard. But I was not disappointed as I knew that I was capable of making something new," says Mansukhbhai who holds a patent for Mitticool.

People who considered him as incapable, now look up to him. They say, "you are the pride of our community!"

He has been popularising earthen products since 1988. The only drawback for him is the lack of stores to sell them.

The products are mostly available in Gujarat and in some stores in Mumbai and Pune only. Besides, the low-cost fridge, he has developed a water filter, non-stick tava and a pressure cooker all made of clay. And he has many more innovative ideas.

Is it safe to use old refrigerator shelves when making a home Barbeque Gill? I am building one from brick and need to know if the shelves out of an old refrigerator is safe or not.
________________________________
yahoo keyword tool ~ overture ~ traffic estimator ~ adwords traffic estimator

Good question, I don't know. But I'm always willing to speculate!

Steel wire welded together, with chrome plating that might have worn away. That would describe both fridge shelves and BBQ grilles, really. I doubt that fridges use any other process (such as soldering or brazing) simply because welding steel on an industrial scale is the easiest and cheapest method. It's more likely that the thinner metal in a fridge shelf would sag and burn away too quickly over a fire, though I've seen plenty of cheap BBQ grilles with similarly sized material.

I don't know. But I'm always willing to speculate!

An occasionally helpful but often counter-productive scenario. But that you identified your potential ignorance is a good sign.

Steel wire welded together, with chrome plating that might have worn away. That would describe both fridge shelves and BBQ grilles, really.

Stainless steel is not the same thing as chromed steel. Chromed steel is a chemical plating process. Chromed steel, car parts for example, are much shinier, brighter/whiter, more of a mirror finish. Stainless steel is a metallurgical result of alloying some metals (including chromium) with iron.

Stainless steel is not a coating. If you took anything stainless and cut through it, it would be stainless all the way through. It does not and cannot wear (wear 'off' anyway) because it's not a surface plating. If you wear it off, there's just more of the same underneath.

There is something called "hexavalent chromium" IIRC, which is produced in very minor amounts by stainless welding, and is poisonous/carcinogenic, particularly to lungs and.. liver or kidneys. Should have a fan on if welding a lot of stainless. Occupational danger, not so much a casual one. But Chromium 6+ requires welding temperatures.. I.E. 25,000'F plasma arcs or whatnot. Not BBQ temps of perhaps 1500'F or whatever they'll peak at (and often much less, around oven temps). Somewhere between the two you can elevate Chromium that high, lesser chromiums aren't as dangerous.

I've seen stainless racks on BBQs. I've also seen the black stuff, not sure what material that is, if it's powdercoated steel (like the rest of the inside of the BBQ) or maybe just flame-stained stainless.

Stainless liquifies around 2700'F, but will obviously lose strength and sag below that. You're *probably* just fine using ones from fridges, though, Scodi is right, they're a bit thin to be holding up under weight when hot. Stainless oven racks would be a much better choice, as I've seen those are more like 1/4" than 1/16" for the cross members you'll find in fridges. Old shopping carts (stealing is bad, mmkay?) are in between, 1/8" and would probably be fine.

Plain steel can be used for grilles, just like steel or iron is used for cookware.

Scodiddly wrote:Plain steel can be used for grilles, just like steel or iron is used for cookware.

"Can" but they rust something mightily under heat. Heavy cast iron pans with nothing in them start to be visibly covered in rust in only about 3 or 4 minutes on the stove. BBQing involves much higher temps, actual flame contact, and for very long periods of time. What protects a pan is mostly cooking oil and food covering its surface, also serving as a heat sink. A grill does not benefit from this.

Also, see Jamie's video on stove pipes, and how they burn/rust/rot through in about a year or two and need replacing, and his eventual solution of using, you guessed it, stainless chimney ducting rather than disposable stove ducting.