Dan you ROCK. I just pulled one of these from a neighbors dumpster after helping my father in law build a dish from scratch (3 footer from cardboard and chrome vinyl) now I can make my own for freeeee. nice.
Love your videos. Spray with window cleaner, then put your strips down. Won't effect the stickiness. While the cleaner is wet you can easily reposition. Then simply squeegee the cleaner out to get a super tight surface fit with no bubbles at all! The cleaner dries slowly and leaves a perfect fit. Done that method many times on smooth surfaces.
Hi Dan you dont need a dish, if you just use lots of small mirrors and aim them at the target you can achieve the same thing. the advantage of this method is that you can cover the wall of your house and have a really big solar concentrator. A word of warning though, as a small test I used mirrors that were 2" square and only covered an area the size of a tea tray and just with that small area I managed to set my wooden microscope box alight, so if you use the side of your house to focus mirrors the area would have to be fenced off and covered in warnings, a rolled up material cover over the mirrors would also be a good thing when you not making power. You dont need a solar tracking device either. If you place the first mirror on the center of the wall and place a large wooden board were you are going to put the boiler tube then at half hour increments you mark the position of the reflection. This will give you a banana type shape on the board. Then you bend a stainless steel pipe to that shape. So the boiler is always on the focal point but the mirrors never move. To accommodate for summer and winter you can either use a bigger diameter pipe or just design in a vertical adjustment on the boiler which you update once a month. The boiler can be fed by line water which is at 4 bar via a copper float valve from a cars carburetor. This means your steam turbine will operate at 4 bar, if you fit a condenser on the turbine you can reuse the water. Come on Dan build it I don't own my own property so its not worth me building it but you could power your home with that easily, just need a sound proof box for the turbine exhaust, or maybe install the turbine underground.
I took a convex mirror, the kind that are in stores or blind spots, and took it out of its frame. Then I just pushed the middle of it down and it turned into a concave mirror. Got some pretty cool results with it.
Great apport, I'm planning to use this to develop a low cost destination/filtration system for low income communities that suffer with water shortages. This 2 antennas, a pressure pot and some copper tube you can have a 100% energy free destilation filter enough for a family of 4
* Use the holes to mount the dish so that it doesn't get away from you. Useful for sanding, cleaning, and application. * Use a small squeegee to apply the film, it will ensure a better finish. - As well, depending on the film you use, you may be able to use a small spray bottle full of slightly soapy water to help application. * When trimming the edges, use the second method of cutting, wherein the dish remains focal point up and the blade is taken along the edge of the folded metal (not the back/bottom edge). It's similar to trimming applied grip tape on a skateboard. * When trimming, if you go in the direction of the overlap, and not against it, while angling the blade slightly downwards (~65-80deg), you will have the least snagging.
I was watching this and I can't help but wonder if applying techniques used in car window tinting could be used to improve. Car Tint is a film with a serious adhesive. Spraying a relaxer (de-ionized water and a cap of baby shampoo in a spray bottle) on the surface would allow for some play in the film. When the sprayed on solution dries, it leave the adhesive in it's full glory to hold. Makes ironing out bubbles and avoiding tears a whole lot easier.
Hi, loved your video, it was very easy to understand. I was thinking it might be easier for you to keep the dish from rocking side to side while applying the film, you could set the dish onto a small pillow or use some good sized pieces of blue tack smooshed on the bottom. I love blue tack and use it for so many things!
Just a thought, don't know if it's been mentioned. You could probably use a normal GOTO telescope mount as a heliostat of sorts. ASCOM software allows the flexibility to adapt and develop beyond standard tracking support. The mounts are designed to support some heavy loads and can be bought reasonably cheaply. Thanks for the videos :)
I've done the parabolic mirror but I used it to boost the wifi signal coming in an going out. I could not afford to get wifi for myself so my tablet had a weak signal that I could not use even thou it was open so I used the parabolic mirror to direct the weak signal at my tablet worked great it boosted the incoming signal an sent it out with no problem. Of course I was using aluminum but it work. Thank you Loader.
How ironic, was playing around wth the idea of turning my Direct antenna into a solar reflector. Was searching the web for the formula to find the focal point when I came across the above video. It will save me alot of time and mistakes. Thanks.
It is best to use regular flat mirror plates at least 1/4 inch thick that can be obtained at any glass shop that sells windows.. You can also find them in big box hardware stores for almost nothing.. remember no thinner than 1/4" because thinner mirrors are like funny mirrors that can bend like you find them in the fairgrounds at your local county... Don't use them! They can concentrate sunlight toward unpredictable targets and start 'em smoking.. and catch fire sometimes . The Sun moves so the concentrated spots moves .. but it can start fire before it moves away. it is a roulette game.. Don't ! Stick with heavy thick mirror plates 1/4" as they are not bendable but BRITTLE IF YOU BANG THEM AROUND.. Handle them with great care and mount them with homemade sheet metal placeholders . Don't use those crappy plastic clear mirror mounts found at hardware stores as they come with thin screws.. I fashioned mounts out of galvanized sheet metals and I use bolts to fasten them before placing heavy 1/4" thick plate mirrors on framed plywood boards supported with a 4x4 fence post as an back anchor with heavy concrete slabs as deadweight against the bottom of the post to hold the whole board down against winds. all I need is to lift up the bottom of post and twist the plywood board around to realign the sunlight through the window. Flat unbendable mirrors is the safest way to reflect sunlight thorugh windows which the sunlight never reach like the northern sides of the house.. or apartment. It is pointless to use any other kind of mirror like parabolic or anything with curves or bends.. as they are too hazardous to handle . I am not going to patent my idea .. not worth it.. as most people are only interested in solar panels for financial reasons ..
That is why you use as Sun Tracker: ua-cam.com/video/r0ff-uxWyp0/v-deo.html The movement of the sun is predictiable and if nothing is within 3 feet of the parabolic mirror, the reflective light is harmless as it becomes off axis. It scatters into a wider harmless pattern past the focal point vs. a tight beam. Flat mirrors cannot concentrate sunlight, just redirect it unless you are using an array of many mirrors.. The thicker the glass the less light that is reflected because all consumer mirrors are second surface so the metalized coating that makes glass into a mirror is on the back and covered with gray back paint. The sunlight must pass through the glass, reflect off of the coating and pass back through the glass so roughly 15% of the sunlight is absorbed in the glass as consumer glass is not truly clear optical glass. It is usually a green tint. Look at the edges. Even with a flat mirror, sun tracking is required. You cannot cook with a flat mirror unless you do this which works with all thickness of mirrors depending on size. Large thick 1/4" glass that is larger than 20" x 20" can flex. 1/8" flexes at 12"x12" and so on. ua-cam.com/users/GREENPOWERSCIENCEsearch?query=archimedes For simple redirecting as you described, flat mirrors work great but again, sun tracking is required because unlike a parabolic mirror that has a focal point then scatters into an ever widening focal pattern, flat mirrors can send a blinding beam towards traffic etc.
that suntracker is fine for solar cooking but I am talking about heating indoors ... which requires entirely different set ups.. So I find thick plate mirrors to be workable for my home. I have them now.. most people do not think that we can heat indoors with solar energy.. or that we bother to develop anything ... except those famous beer cans .. which is not what I want.. I want to apply more sunlight all around the house through reflection. I know that the glass plate retards the heat delivery somewhat but it is not that significant maybe 10% loss.. My point is I understand that the mirror cannot be bendable like thinner mirrors can be that is why we call them funny mirrors.. which is very dangerous to use with heating indoors as there will be hot concentration spots from accidently bended mirrors mounted on boards that may warp from rain for example.. I had years of experience with my mirrors used for indoor heating and I find it very frustrating trying to explain it to the public at large.. It works great.. people look at them and think they are ugly.Oh well. At least, I cansay that you don't really need parabolic types to heat indoors which is crazy or unnecessary. you can use parabolic mirrors to heat water used to circulate through radiators indoors if you wish.. There is many ways to skin a cat. It is just that people are not trying hard with solar energy .. They just beeline to solar panels and solar cookers, that is it! all for federal tax credits.. There is a company that make solar walls that absorb direct sunlight and circulate indoor air through the exterior sealed metal wall. they are selling huge walls to companies for indoor heating but they are unable to get any qualificatioin for federal tax credits just because the government said NO! you tell me why not?
I want to do this with my science classes. Only problem is that it all comes out of my own pocket! Someone gave me a dish through Freecycle, so that part is done! Keep up the great work!
Hi, Part A is more adhesive and covers better. Part B is thinner and requires a gloss black backer or a layer of part A first to bump up the reflective power. Usually Part A alone is good.
:-) He is a stray that adopted us. Great cat and does some really crazy things. They other day he was meowing but taking. I thought I was watching a digitally doctored youtube video. Got the camera and he stopped. Would have been worth a million views on youtube LOL He splits to the roof when our dogs are out of our house in the big yard.
The dishes unsanded are like teflon and a light wax spray will release just about anything. I think if you punched some small holes in the adhesive, this would allow the clear resin to lock it in when finishing side 2. There would be no release barrier that the sheet would otherwise create. Good idea, not sure what resin would be best. Spray would be too thin.
I LOVE this - thank you!! I have several of these dishes I got on a maintenance job where people had basically abandoned them. Think I'll try it on the cheap with one of those reflective mylar "space blankets" and some "Titebond" glue.
I have worked with my hands my entire life (over 60). FYI, stabilize your work. That way you can focus on achieving your goal with the materials. Bless the good works of your hands:) Good video. I subscribed right away.
It seems to me that the lighter the backing, the more reflection you will get. Even if it looks less like a mirror per se, the shiny backing should reflect more than the glossy black. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I had to restore a classic car headlight reflector, i used a £1.00 (one pound) emergency thermal blanket, that is like a plastic film but very reflective, it reflects your body heat back and stop you from getting frozen if you ever get stuck in cold places, a must for mountaneers, and so I did exactly what you are doing here, cutting into small width strips and sticking it on the reflector, using a double sided tape, I stuck the tape to the reflector and then laid the reflective strips on it, needless to say my headlight worked so well that it even passed the MOT. Earlier on the headlight failed MOT as the tester rejected the brightness not being adequate due to rusty reflector. Is your reflective mirror film the same kind of plastic stuff or is it better
good question! to pile on, would it be brighter if the surface was mirror polished/buffed, applied as a solid sheet using the window cleaner method, and maybe buffed again?
Ciongratulations on a most excellent solar reflector. Where i live we have very strong solar insolation . and all of this most valuable source of energy is wasted due to the material required for reflectors being either not available or very very expensive.The yearly solar insolaton over the entire country for the year is around 700 terawatt hours. yet this enormous amount has been going unused for ever. As against the country's solar insolation the total global energy consuumption is around 200 terawatt hours per year.. Congratulations again on a most beautiful solar reflector.
the longer ones are used to focus the signal from multiple orbiting satellites. in the us this is usually from 110, 119, and 129 degrees (19 degree span). using these long dishes (dish network dish1000) will neither help, nor hurt the refelction of the sun, which is only from 1 spot in orbit. if there were 3 suns, spaced within 19 degrees of each other, it could reflect all 3 to a focal point the width of the LNB.
i used to work for a huge Texas Instruments solar farm.They would put the Mylar fabric on a 4ft ring, seal it then vacuum out the air from a nipple valve on center of the bottem to make it convex . those mirrors would light a 2x4 wood block up 6ft away . They used 24 of them on a array that followed the sun .Each mirror was focused on a receptor that heated i believe Freon fluid witch turned generators for energy. The only problem is Calif would not let them burn anything on cloudy days. Many millios was lost as the entire farm was shut down due to California environmental laws.
What do you mean that California wouldn't let them burn things on cloudy days? What happens to all of those parabolic dishes when a project like this gets abandoned? Thank you
The shape of the dish is similar to that of a saucer sled. It could be interesting to try making a solar mirror from one of those. Thanks for the video.
You need fireproof foam for the walls or cushion behind the drywall. Even a thin layer will work. The sound vibrations transfer through hard surfaces. Try prosoundfoam com 1" STUDIO WEDGE 96 sq ft 179
How about a space blanket. Seal all the holes but one, and put a hose connector in that one hole. Connect a vacuum pump to the hose connector. Spray adhesive over the metal surface. Epoxy the edge and stretch the space blanket over the metal. Use some elastic material to hold the edge tight while the epoxy dries. Then apply a vacum to draw the space blanket tight to the metal where it should stick to the adhesive.
Thanks! I've been looking for a way to mirror a parabola. I am experimenting with 3D printing, and I have a smaller parabola inverted above a larger one's focal point of the same formula so that the smaller one will revert the reflection back into a beam that'll shoot through the hole in the larger one. Probably should have included a diagram...
A large mixing bowl works well. I was having a hard sale and had some out on the table. I reached across and damn near fried my arm. That's how I unfortunately(?) Discovered for myself the parabolic effect
you can get down to finer than 3,000 grit with one of those 3 step headlight restorer kits for $24. ...then compound and final with jeweler's rouge on a felt buffing pad. Would be a very high quality finish...and way flatter than a topper...and aluminum loves to be polished...
I think I would use a piece of terry cloth to smooth the material down. The short cut off pieces can be placed near the edges of the dish where longer pieces are not needed.
Well "Dan" / Mr. Rohas. STILL WITH US! how long it's been? 20 years? Heheh. Get em Mr. Rohas. As consistent, GOOD JOB. Those parabolic large Schieliner usable mirrors sounds RIGHT. YOU DO ONLY ONE I've found, cheap, but works. thanks. Now you know what it feels like to be WORLD FAMOUS!!!!! Muuuuu hahahah ahaaaaaaaaaaaaa.! Hehe. Tanks again, Sheesh 20 years!
well....when you take the dish down there are 4 bolts that fit fluch in the holes....i know im a tech if you really wanna make it look pretty withou the mylar start with 100grit then do 200 jump to 600 the 800 last finish with a very high grit (2000ish) it can be found at an autozone type store for removing scratches from clear coats
You could but the parabola shape is already there. The vacuum works on any mount. The dishes are thinner and the vacuum sealed edge is trickier to hold.
Semi-transparent reflective film has a higher mirror reflection with a black backer. Look at a gloss finished black car at an angle, it is like a mirror.
@jaffa25 A heat sink behind the PV cell is essential. Most silicon cells have a max operating temp of only 60C. At the focal point of even a small 1m dish you'll get 600 - 800C. If the cells are 10% efficient that means the heat sink must remove the remaining 90% of the heat. This can be drawn off for water heating, steam generation and/or some kind of power generation using either stirling or rankine cycle.
Yes. Roll a bath towel into a long shape then make a circle. Set dish on top. Or three cans or books. No challenge to the work needed to to a good job.
Thanks for this. Learning & applying knowledge so we can do more for ourselves! One thing, your videos seem a little dark, even with my monitor turned all the way up. There are free video converters that can brighten the whole thing with one click. Or you can put more light on the bench.
Would it not be possible to cover the dish with one piece of mylar and create a partial vacuum behind it so it is sucked back to the shape of the dish? Done slowly so as not to break the mylar.
Very interesting, but the dangers should be stressed more. At the end of the video the device is shown leaning casually against a tree. Say the phone rang so you stopped recording and ran inside. Meanwhile Boo Boo the cat decides to go investigate the interesting new object (or a toddler/bird/squirrel, etc, or some dry, combustible leaves blows by). Stare into the focal point for even a fraction of a second and get immediate blindness or hold anything there, including Boo Boo's tail & it burns!
Check any hobby shop. I know that there's one on 19th Ave. and Northern. Ask for adhesive-backed mylar in the model airplane department. They also sell a little iron that looks like a shoehorn with a rheostat for temperature control to facilitate melting the adhesive backing. The Iron and several meters of mylar shouldn't run more than about $30.
yes but you only need the vacume to apply the plastic mirroring to the surface and it doesn't need to be maintained after the coating sticks to the surface of the dish.
Another difference though, is that the focus of a satellite dish is not above the center, it's offset (so that the LNB box doesn't cast a shadow on the Satellite dish). So if someone was planning on a frame around the dish, they should be aware that they need to find the focus, not assume it is on a line out from the centre perpendicular to the middle of the dish.
i really like it how hard i search to know how to do that i wanna know what kind of paper you used it wher can i found it? finally you are a really good teacher i ever seen thanks alot and hard luck
A small comment when applying the reflective tape. Twist a towel into a snake shape and lay it on the bench in a circular shape (like a donut). Place the dish in the middle and the towel will support the dish and you won't have the dish rocking around while you're applying the tape.
re; post from Sept. You need fireproof foam for the walls or cushion behind the drywall. Even a thin layer will work. The sound vibrations transfer through hard surfaces. Try prosoundfoam com 1" STUDIO WEDGE 96 sq ft 179
i belive is easy if you put water with soap first you put the reflective film, this help you to remove bubbles and help you fix if you make any mistake
Thank you for enjoying our work. No chrome paints work. They are pewter to silver at best. Even the expensive 3 part process. The best method is adhesive tape or strip the dish with naval jelly then buff.
I used aluminum tape that I got from the .99 store and polished it with aluminum polishes and it's way easier and cheaper especially when u can't find the paper u have
Use a automotive brass heater coil connected to the TV dish (using the exsisting arm on the dish) at a distance that warms the water running through the coil to just pre-warm the wAter before it reaches the hot water tank
clever re-use of a satellite dish! I wouldn't be holding my hand anywhere near the focus though- nor look at things illuminated there. Apart from the infra-red (heat), and visible brightness, surely the UV is also intensified. Couldn't that cause eye-damage (like snow-blindness) or sunburn/skin-cancer?
i agree. what more can i do with this than boil a bottle of water and burn sticks? i have a solar water heater in mind as an outdoor bathroom application. and maybe burn a hole in a steak. i would like to know what more can be done with this than possibly burning down my outhouse
Dan why don't you do like you did with the trashcan lid reflector with one of these? Put the glue on the dish stretch the plastic over it and use a vacume to shape it to the dish. that way you have one continuous mirror without blemishes.
That mirror stuff is just aluminized mylar plastic. All you need to do is lay the entire sheet over the dish, heat it up with a salamander heater or some other heat source to 350 degrees, and the plastic sheet will fall into place w/o any seams.
I'm trying to keep the sound in, since I have a movie theatre stereo system that is hooked up now, but can still be heard from outside. The room its in is like a guest room, not too furnished or anything.
One question: if you put this parabolic mirror in the botton of a pool, facing up, would it head the water in the pool in the focal point? If so, this would be a very nice pool heather...
@Orangmaniac Yes, white would be better. Black makes it easier to see a reflection in it, so many people tend to think of that as a better mirror... but you don't want a mirror (which is for seeing images) in this case, you want a reflector!
the holes and the lines from the strips will impede vision on objects millions of miles and light years away. I would have used the dish as a mold to pour in melted high grade sparkling clean clear glass, then had it polished with a computer until there were no bumps left...
Dan you ROCK.
I just pulled one of these from a neighbors dumpster after helping my father in law build a dish from scratch (3 footer from cardboard and chrome vinyl) now I can make my own for freeeee. nice.
Love your videos. Spray with window cleaner, then put your strips down. Won't effect the stickiness. While the cleaner is wet you can easily reposition. Then simply squeegee the cleaner out to get a super tight surface fit with no bubbles at all! The cleaner dries slowly and leaves a perfect fit. Done that method many times on smooth surfaces.
Carl Armbruster you can’t teach this know it all anything!
wow thanks
What is the name of the film and where do you buy it
Hi Dan you dont need a dish, if you just use lots of small mirrors and aim them at the target you can achieve the same thing. the advantage of this method is that you can cover the wall of your house and have a really big solar concentrator.
A word of warning though, as a small test I used mirrors that were 2" square and only covered an area the size of a tea tray and just with that small area I managed to set my wooden microscope box alight, so if you use the side of your house to focus mirrors the area would have to be fenced off and covered in warnings, a rolled up material cover over the mirrors would also be a good thing when you not making power.
You dont need a solar tracking device either. If you place the first mirror on the center of the wall and place a large wooden board were you are going to put the boiler tube then at half hour increments you mark the position of the reflection. This will give you a banana type shape on the board. Then you bend a stainless steel pipe to that shape. So the boiler is always on the focal point but the mirrors never move. To accommodate for summer and winter you can either use a bigger diameter pipe or just design in a vertical adjustment on the boiler which you update once a month.
The boiler can be fed by line water which is at 4 bar via a copper float valve from a cars carburetor. This means your steam turbine will operate at 4 bar, if you fit a condenser on the turbine you can reuse the water.
Come on Dan build it I don't own my own property so its not worth me building it but you could power your home with that easily, just need a sound proof box for the turbine exhaust, or maybe install the turbine underground.
I took a convex mirror, the kind that are in stores or blind spots, and took it out of its frame. Then I just pushed the middle of it down and it turned into a concave mirror. Got some pretty cool results with it.
Pls share some sample
Great apport, I'm planning to use this to develop a low cost destination/filtration system for low income communities that suffer with water shortages. This 2 antennas, a pressure pot and some copper tube you can have a 100% energy free destilation filter enough for a family of 4
* Use the holes to mount the dish so that it doesn't get away from you. Useful for sanding, cleaning, and application.
* Use a small squeegee to apply the film, it will ensure a better finish.
- As well, depending on the film you use, you may be able to use a small spray bottle full of slightly soapy water to help application.
* When trimming the edges, use the second method of cutting, wherein the dish remains focal point up and the blade is taken along the edge of the folded metal (not the back/bottom edge). It's similar to trimming applied grip tape on a skateboard.
* When trimming, if you go in the direction of the overlap, and not against it, while angling the blade slightly downwards (~65-80deg), you will have the least snagging.
UA-cam suggest me after 12 years😂😂
Am watching it on 2021...
I was watching this and I can't help but wonder if applying techniques used in car window tinting could be used to improve. Car Tint is a film with a serious adhesive. Spraying a relaxer (de-ionized water and a cap of baby shampoo in a spray bottle) on the surface would allow for some play in the film. When the sprayed on solution dries, it leave the adhesive in it's full glory to hold. Makes ironing out bubbles and avoiding tears a whole lot easier.
Thanks dude
Very nice method, the result looks perfect. Well done it's a good job and certainly the best way to do it that i've seen until now.
Hi, loved your video, it was very easy to understand. I was thinking it might be easier for you to keep the dish from rocking side to side while applying the film, you could set the dish onto a small pillow or use some good sized pieces of blue tack smooshed on the bottom. I love blue tack and use it for so many things!
Just a thought, don't know if it's been mentioned. You could probably use a normal GOTO telescope mount as a heliostat of sorts. ASCOM software allows the flexibility to adapt and develop beyond standard tracking support. The mounts are designed to support some heavy loads and can be bought reasonably cheaply. Thanks for the videos :)
I've done the parabolic mirror but I used it to boost the wifi signal coming in an going out. I could not afford to get wifi for myself so my tablet had a weak signal that I could not use even thou it was open so I used the parabolic mirror to direct the weak signal at my tablet worked great it boosted the incoming signal an sent it out with no problem. Of course I was using aluminum but it work. Thank you Loader.
@321ozzy :-) Thank you for the nice comment and sharing. Enjoy your coffee.
Dan
A blast from the past
How ironic, was playing around wth the idea of turning my Direct antenna into a solar reflector. Was searching the web for the formula to find the focal point when I came across the above video. It will save me alot of time and mistakes. Thanks.
It is best to use regular flat mirror plates at least 1/4 inch thick that can be obtained at any glass shop that sells windows.. You can also find them in big box hardware stores for almost nothing.. remember no thinner than 1/4" because thinner mirrors are like funny mirrors that can bend like you find them in the fairgrounds at your local county... Don't use them! They can concentrate sunlight toward unpredictable targets and start 'em smoking.. and catch fire sometimes . The Sun moves so the concentrated spots moves .. but it can start fire before it moves away. it is a roulette game.. Don't ! Stick with heavy thick mirror plates 1/4" as they are not bendable but BRITTLE IF YOU BANG THEM AROUND.. Handle them with great care and mount them with homemade sheet metal placeholders . Don't use those crappy plastic clear mirror mounts found at hardware stores as they come with thin screws.. I fashioned mounts out of galvanized sheet metals and I use bolts to fasten them before placing heavy 1/4" thick plate mirrors on framed plywood boards supported with a 4x4 fence post as an back anchor with heavy concrete slabs as deadweight against the bottom of the post to hold the whole board down against winds. all I need is to lift up the bottom of post and twist the plywood board around to realign the sunlight through the window. Flat unbendable mirrors is the safest way to reflect sunlight thorugh windows which the sunlight never reach like the northern sides of the house.. or apartment. It is pointless to use any other kind of mirror like parabolic or anything with curves or bends.. as they are too hazardous to handle . I am not going to patent my idea .. not worth it.. as most people are only interested in solar panels for financial reasons ..
That is why you use as Sun Tracker:
ua-cam.com/video/r0ff-uxWyp0/v-deo.html
The movement of the sun is predictiable and if nothing is within 3 feet of the parabolic mirror, the reflective light is harmless as it becomes off axis. It scatters into a wider harmless pattern past the focal point vs. a tight beam.
Flat mirrors cannot concentrate sunlight, just redirect it unless you are using an array of many mirrors..
The thicker the glass the less light that is reflected because all consumer mirrors are second surface so the metalized coating that makes glass into a mirror is on the back and covered with gray back paint. The sunlight must pass through the glass, reflect off of the coating and pass back through the glass so roughly 15% of the sunlight is absorbed in the glass as consumer glass is not truly clear optical glass. It is usually a green tint. Look at the edges.
Even with a flat mirror, sun tracking is required.
You cannot cook with a flat mirror unless you do this which works with all thickness of mirrors depending on size. Large thick 1/4" glass that is larger than 20" x 20" can flex. 1/8" flexes at 12"x12" and so on.
ua-cam.com/users/GREENPOWERSCIENCEsearch?query=archimedes
For simple redirecting as you described, flat mirrors work great but again, sun tracking is required because unlike a parabolic mirror that has a focal point then scatters into an ever widening focal pattern, flat mirrors can send a blinding beam towards traffic etc.
that suntracker is fine for solar cooking but I am talking about heating indoors ... which requires entirely different set ups.. So I find thick plate mirrors to be workable for my home. I have them now.. most people do not think that we can heat indoors with solar energy.. or that we bother to develop anything ... except those famous beer cans .. which is not what I want.. I want to apply more sunlight all around the house through reflection. I know that the glass plate retards the heat delivery somewhat but it is not that significant maybe 10% loss.. My point is I understand that the mirror cannot be bendable like thinner mirrors can be that is why we call them funny mirrors.. which is very dangerous to use with heating indoors as there will be hot concentration spots from accidently bended mirrors mounted on boards that may warp from rain for example.. I had years of experience with my mirrors used for indoor heating and I find it very frustrating trying to explain it to the public at large.. It works great.. people look at them and think they are ugly.Oh well. At least, I cansay that you don't really need parabolic types to heat indoors which is crazy or unnecessary. you can use parabolic mirrors to heat water used to circulate through radiators indoors if you wish.. There is many ways to skin a cat. It is just that people are not trying hard with solar energy .. They just beeline to solar panels and solar cookers, that is it! all for federal tax credits.. There is a company that make solar walls that absorb direct sunlight and circulate indoor air through the exterior sealed metal wall. they are selling huge walls to companies for indoor heating but they are unable to get any qualificatioin for federal tax credits just because the government said NO! you tell me why not?
You are missing the whole point of a parabolic mirror. The point is to concentrate the light to, yes, catch things on fire, cook, melt metal, etc.
I want to do this with my science classes. Only problem is that it all comes out of my own pocket! Someone gave me a dish through Freecycle, so that part is done! Keep up the great work!
Hi,
Part A is more adhesive and covers better. Part B is thinner and requires a gloss black backer or a layer of part A first to bump up the reflective power. Usually Part A alone is good.
:-) He is a stray that adopted us. Great cat and does some really crazy things. They other day he was meowing but taking. I thought I was watching a digitally doctored youtube video. Got the camera and he stopped. Would have been worth a million views on youtube LOL He splits to the roof when our dogs are out of our house in the big yard.
That is a great tip! Thanks a lot Dan Rojas; you're my virtual teacher!!
The dishes unsanded are like teflon and a light wax spray will release just about anything. I think if you punched some small holes in the adhesive, this would allow the clear resin to lock it in when finishing side 2. There would be no release barrier that the sheet would otherwise create.
Good idea, not sure what resin would be best.
Spray would be too thin.
I've been watching your videos for years. Thank you, and great work!
Instead of mounting through the mirror with bolts, JB Weld a bracket the back.
LMAO! I dig the ominous music when you're burning the wood.
I LOVE this - thank you!! I have several of these dishes I got on a maintenance job where people had basically abandoned them. Think I'll try it on the cheap with one of those reflective mylar "space blankets" and some "Titebond" glue.
I have worked with my hands my entire life (over 60). FYI, stabilize your work. That way you can focus on achieving your goal with the materials. Bless the good works of your hands:) Good video. I subscribed right away.
John L Bales :-) Thank you for the info and the sub!
Very welcome. Take good care of those hands:)
It seems to me that the lighter the backing, the more reflection you will get. Even if it looks less like a mirror per se, the shiny backing should reflect more than the glossy black. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I had to restore a classic car headlight reflector, i used a £1.00 (one pound) emergency thermal blanket, that is like a plastic film but very reflective, it reflects your body heat back and stop you from getting frozen if you ever get stuck in cold places, a must for mountaneers, and so I did exactly what you are doing here, cutting into small width strips and sticking it on the reflector, using a double sided tape, I stuck the tape to the reflector and then laid the reflective strips on it, needless to say my headlight worked so well that it even passed the MOT. Earlier on the headlight failed MOT as the tester rejected the brightness not being adequate due to rusty reflector. Is your reflective mirror film the same kind of plastic stuff or is it better
mylar
good question! to pile on, would it be brighter if the surface was mirror polished/buffed, applied as a solid sheet using the window cleaner method, and maybe buffed again?
Holy crap! I had no idea this could be done. Great video. (love the cat)
Wonderful video. I tried the same thing with an 8 foot dish, but never figured out how to get it reflective enough.
Ciongratulations on a most excellent solar reflector. Where i live we have very strong solar insolation . and all of this most valuable source of energy is wasted due to the material required for reflectors being either not available or very very expensive.The yearly solar insolaton over the entire country for the year is around 700 terawatt hours. yet this enormous amount has been going unused for ever. As against the country's solar insolation the total global energy consuumption is around 200 terawatt hours per year.. Congratulations again on a most beautiful solar reflector.
the longer ones are used to focus the signal from multiple orbiting satellites. in the us this is usually from 110, 119, and 129 degrees (19 degree span). using these long dishes (dish network dish1000) will neither help, nor hurt the refelction of the sun, which is only from 1 spot in orbit. if there were 3 suns, spaced within 19 degrees of each other, it could reflect all 3 to a focal point the width of the LNB.
thats my favourite content you are showing
i used to work for a huge Texas Instruments solar farm.They would put the Mylar fabric on a 4ft ring, seal it then vacuum out the air from a nipple valve on center of the bottem to make it convex . those mirrors would light a 2x4 wood block up 6ft away . They used 24 of them on a array that followed the sun .Each mirror was focused on a receptor that heated i believe Freon fluid witch turned generators for energy. The only problem is Calif would not let them burn anything on cloudy days. Many millios was lost as the entire farm was shut down due to California environmental laws.
What do you mean that California wouldn't let them burn things on cloudy days? What happens to all of those parabolic dishes when a project like this gets abandoned? Thank you
The shape of the dish is similar to that of a saucer sled. It could be interesting to try making a solar mirror from one of those. Thanks for the video.
a saucer sled isn't parabolic.
i watch your videos because i like to save money and i think you have good ideas. i don't realy care about mother earth but i enjoy your ideas
You need fireproof foam for the walls or cushion behind the drywall. Even a thin layer will work. The sound vibrations transfer through hard surfaces. Try prosoundfoam com
1" STUDIO WEDGE 96 sq ft 179
Dan I always enjoy your teaching!
How about a space blanket. Seal all the holes but one, and put a hose connector in that one hole. Connect a vacuum pump to the hose connector. Spray adhesive over the metal surface. Epoxy the edge and stretch the space blanket over the metal. Use some elastic material to hold the edge tight while the epoxy dries. Then apply a vacum to draw the space blanket tight to the metal where it should stick to the adhesive.
Enoch I haven't Found a Mylar Space Blanket To be Elastic!
what he is using is also called mylar which you can buy in sheets.
Good Video, very clever to take a dish into something useful, now to build a device for heating of water and a guide to the sun .....
I used regular paint remover to clean my disck, it work woferful, no need to paint dont need sandind
Thanks! I've been looking for a way to mirror a parabola. I am experimenting with 3D printing, and I have a smaller parabola inverted above a larger one's focal point of the same formula so that the smaller one will revert the reflection back into a beam that'll shoot through the hole in the larger one.
Probably should have included a diagram...
A large mixing bowl works well. I was having a hard sale and had some out on the table. I reached across and damn near fried my arm. That's how I unfortunately(?) Discovered for myself the parabolic effect
You could use some varnish to seal the edges to help prevent moisture getting in perhaps
you can get down to finer than 3,000 grit with one of those 3 step headlight restorer kits for $24. ...then compound and final with jeweler's rouge on a felt buffing pad. Would be a very high quality finish...and way flatter than a topper...and aluminum loves to be polished...
Yes, it will. Just place the mic at the focal point.
Also with your Neighbors, are you keeping their sound out, our your sound in?
I think I would use a piece of terry cloth to smooth the material down.
The short cut off pieces can be placed near the edges of the dish where longer pieces are not needed.
Well "Dan" / Mr. Rohas. STILL WITH US! how long it's been? 20 years? Heheh. Get em Mr. Rohas.
As consistent, GOOD JOB. Those parabolic large Schieliner usable mirrors sounds RIGHT. YOU DO ONLY ONE I've found, cheap, but works. thanks. Now you know what it feels like to be WORLD FAMOUS!!!!! Muuuuu hahahah ahaaaaaaaaaaaaa.! Hehe. Tanks again, Sheesh 20 years!
Have you tried vacuum sealing it from behind? Might save a lot of work.
I have wondered the same thing, only using a mylar blanket.
great i have been thinking a similar idea for these dishes so great u can add a stirling engine in the focus! greetings from mexico
It is very good to reflect the Sunlight back to the Sun.
Solar panels take the heat on the Earth, that´s a problem
well....when you take the dish down there are 4 bolts that fit fluch in the holes....i know im a tech
if you really wanna make it look pretty withou the mylar start with 100grit then do 200 jump to 600 the 800 last finish with a very high grit (2000ish) it can be found at an autozone type store for removing scratches from clear coats
Like pretty much all your videos!
You could but the parabola shape is already there. The vacuum works on any mount. The dishes are thinner and the vacuum sealed edge is trickier to hold.
The cells used are "CPV" they are designed for higher heat. The cost per watt is cheaper for regular PV vs CPV.
Semi-transparent reflective film has a higher mirror reflection with a black backer. Look at a gloss finished black car at an angle, it is like a mirror.
Wow, amazing surface transformation. Very nice work, actually burned the wood strip. Just don't leave it out for the cat to nestle up in. in...haha.
@jaffa25 A heat sink behind the PV cell is essential. Most silicon cells have a max operating temp of only 60C.
At the focal point of even a small 1m dish you'll get 600 - 800C. If the cells are 10% efficient that means the heat sink must remove the remaining 90% of the heat.
This can be drawn off for water heating, steam generation and/or some kind of power generation using either stirling or rankine cycle.
Very interesting. I think I would have made something to stabilise the dish so that when I was working on it it didn''t move about so.
Yes. Roll a bath towel into a long shape then make a circle. Set dish on top. Or three cans or books. No challenge to the work needed to to a good job.
Well done Dan.
Thanks for this. Learning & applying knowledge so we can do more for ourselves!
One thing, your videos seem a little dark, even with my monitor turned all the way up. There are free video converters that can brighten the whole thing with one click. Or you can put more light on the bench.
Would it not be possible to cover the dish with one piece of mylar and create a partial vacuum behind it so it is sucked back to the shape of the dish? Done slowly so as not to break the mylar.
it is metalized so it should help for wifi. The microphone just needs a solid curved surface.
I'm sorry Dan, I couldn't quite capture what you called that reflective tape?
Thanks for all the great info in your videos!
Very interesting, but the dangers should be stressed more. At the end of the video the device is shown leaning casually against a tree. Say the phone rang so you stopped recording and ran inside. Meanwhile Boo Boo the cat decides to go investigate the interesting new object (or a toddler/bird/squirrel, etc, or some dry, combustible leaves blows by). Stare into the focal point for even a fraction of a second and get immediate blindness or hold anything there, including Boo Boo's tail & it burns!
Looking into it. Thx for all the help!
Check any hobby shop. I know that there's one on 19th Ave. and Northern. Ask for adhesive-backed mylar in the model airplane department. They also sell a little iron that looks like a shoehorn with a rheostat for temperature control to facilitate melting the adhesive backing. The Iron and several meters of mylar shouldn't run more than about $30.
No, this is solar film, with a thinner film for curve adhesion. The Tinted stuff will sort of work.
JUST THE THING I NEEDED....THANKS MAN
Hello black cat Booboo!!
That dish looks pretty proffesional. Few of them can heat up water for bath or swimming pool I hope. Greetings from PL.
never found a discarded dish where I live. I would have remembered. I will keep this in mind...
Do you not have municipal waste disposal sites where you take all your junk? I think that's what he means.
What is your take on using the slim-line, more elongated dishes? Also, doesn't sanding the gray stuff off the dish distort the dish's parabolic shape?
yes but you only need the vacume to apply the plastic mirroring to the surface and it doesn't need to be maintained after the coating sticks to the surface of the dish.
Great job man, say my hi to your cat
Another difference though, is that the focus of a satellite dish is not above the center, it's offset (so that the LNB box doesn't cast a shadow on the Satellite dish). So if someone was planning on a frame around the dish, they should be aware that they need to find the focus, not assume it is on a line out from the centre perpendicular to the middle of the dish.
i really like it
how hard i search to know how to do that
i wanna know what kind of paper you used it wher can i found it?
finally you are a really good teacher i ever seen
thanks alot and hard luck
A small comment when applying the reflective tape. Twist a towel into a snake shape and lay it on the bench in a circular shape (like a donut). Place the dish in the middle and the towel will support the dish and you won't have the dish rocking around while you're applying the tape.
re;
post from Sept.
You need fireproof foam for the walls or cushion behind the drywall. Even a thin layer will work. The sound vibrations transfer through hard surfaces. Try prosoundfoam com
1" STUDIO WEDGE 96 sq ft 179
@Lokivoid silver gets dark much faster . Simply apply polish or some another covering
If you place something round under your dish, it will be more stable and easier to apply the film than having it wobbling on a flat table.
Excellent presentation.
i belive is easy if you put water with soap first you put the reflective film, this help you to remove bubbles and help you fix if you make any mistake
Thank you for enjoying our work. No chrome paints work. They are pewter to silver at best. Even the expensive 3 part process. The best method is adhesive tape or strip the dish with naval jelly then buff.
I used aluminum tape that I got from the .99 store and polished it with aluminum polishes and it's way easier and cheaper especially when u can't find the paper u have
Use a automotive brass heater coil connected to the TV dish (using the exsisting arm on the dish) at a distance that warms the water running through the coil to just pre-warm the wAter before it reaches the hot water tank
clever re-use of a satellite dish!
I wouldn't be holding my hand anywhere near the focus though- nor look at things illuminated there. Apart from the infra-red (heat), and visible brightness, surely the UV is also intensified. Couldn't that cause eye-damage (like snow-blindness) or sunburn/skin-cancer?
i agree. what more can i do with this than boil a bottle of water and burn sticks? i have a solar water heater in mind as an outdoor bathroom application. and maybe burn a hole in a steak. i would like to know what more can be done with this than possibly burning down my outhouse
Dan why don't you do like you did with the trashcan lid reflector with one of these? Put the glue on the dish stretch the plastic over it and use a vacume to shape it to the dish. that way you have one continuous mirror without blemishes.
That mirror stuff is just aluminized mylar plastic. All you need to do is lay the entire sheet over the dish, heat it up with a salamander heater or some other heat source to 350 degrees, and the plastic sheet will fall into place w/o any seams.
I bet that black cat has great thermal collection properties! lol, Just kidding, makes me miss my ole kitty.
wok lid and Squirrel Baffle will make a parabolic mirror base
I'm trying to keep the sound in, since I have a movie theatre stereo system that is hooked up now, but can still be heard from outside. The room its in is like a guest room, not too furnished or anything.
May I use this in dobsonion telescope
One question: if you put this parabolic mirror in the botton of a pool, facing up, would it head the water in the pool in the focal point? If so, this would be a very nice pool heather...
@Orangmaniac Yes, white would be better. Black makes it easier to see a reflection in it, so many people tend to think of that as a better mirror... but you don't want a mirror (which is for seeing images) in this case, you want a reflector!
the holes and the lines from the strips will impede vision on objects millions of miles and light years away. I would have used the dish as a mold to pour in melted high grade sparkling clean clear glass, then had it polished with a computer until there were no bumps left...
Fill the bolt holes in with bondo and sand them smooth.
Very good
Nice video. I may have to give that a try.