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I have 8 x TEC modules each with specs 12V, 6A, and I have a power supply of 12V, 10A.

If I connect all them in series, I know current stays the same and voltage increases.

  • But what I'm unable to understand is that will be voltage divided equally among the modules?
  • Also, will the cooling effect decrease with low voltage input? What's the relation of cooling effect with voltage and current?
  • To run all the modules with full effect, what kind of power supply will I need?
  • Currently, when I run two modules with my power supply, I don't get temp. lower than 10°C. What could be the problem?
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  • \$\begingroup\$ Your problem is insufficient heat removal on the hot side. Use a bigger heatsink. Use a blower. \$\endgroup\$
    – Janka
    Feb 7, 2018 at 13:45

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If you put the modules in series the current will drop.

Read the datasheet for your device, here's one for the TEC1-12706

If you put 8 in series each one will have approximately 1.5V and it's likely you will draw less than 500 mA current. Notice that operation at this level does not even appear in the graphs.

If you connected 2 in series then you'd have approximately 6 V per device, and you would have something like 2-3 A flowing, so could connect at least three pairs to your power supply, but might not be able to connect 4 pairs without exceeding your supply current rating.

You are giving up a lot of cold potential in this configuration since each device is limited to about 18 W and you could only use 3 series connected pairs on your power supply. This gives about 54 W total.

For 8 devices operating at 12 V you'd expect to be able to get somewhere near 72 W per device for a total of about 576 W from the devices.

enter image description here

Your current power supply is not rated to run 2 of these modules in parallel. To test out your heatsinking I'd suggest you connect only 1 device, and sort out you hot side heat dissipation, then replicated that 8 times larger.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks. This should work. I bought three more power Supplies of the same rating and now will be connecting two modules per unit. Hope this works. \$\endgroup\$
    – Sahay Maurya
    Feb 19, 2017 at 13:00
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Now sure exactly how much lower voltage affects the temperature, but I'm pretty sure that they are more efficient when run at their 12v. For all 8 you would need a 8×6a=48amp power supply at 12v. Cost wise, it would probably be cheaper to buy a 12v pc psu or a server psu. Make sure that it's rated for at least 550w and can handle the 48a on the 12v rail. Server power supplies are even batter and can be found for cheap (

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If you have to connect 8 units in series you require a power source of 96V DC and power rating of this unit should be 500W if each element takes 60W.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Welcome to Stackexchange, a site for quality questions and answers. Please do your best to use proper sentences. (Use periods and commas.) As is, your answer is difficult to read. I cannot tell where one thought ends and another begins. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bort
    Sep 20, 2018 at 15:20

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