Solar Air Heater - DIY

[Accipiter82]

You can us empty beer/soda cans to build solar air heater

[inetdog]

You can us empty beer/soda cans to build solar air heater

For some reason, it seems to work better if you empty the beer cans yourself!

[Naptown]

For some reason, it seems to work better if you empty the beer cans yourself!

true but in the interest of quality control it is also better to wait a bit between the emptying and the building of the panels.

[Accipiter82]

true but in the interest of quality control it is also better to wait a bit between the emptying and the building of the panels.

Agree This is my goal panel_od_limenki_19s.jpg i find good tutorial and just to wind one more friend that will help me to empty all 100+ beer cans

[sunburnt]

my thought and i dont think much but

beer cans ar much thiner than the gutter spouts will this lessen heat transfer .. all burnt here.....

[Naptown]

beer cans ar much thiner than the gutter spouts will this lessen heat transfer .. all burnt here.....

Incorrect
Heat transfer across a medium is a function of the thermal conductivity of the material, temperature differential and THICKNESS OF MATERIAL.
Look at any heat transfer material the BTU rate is dependant on the thickness of the material. The thicker the slower the transfer.

[likes to eperiment]

Paint coatings and heat absorbing/transfer

One other almost always over looked area of heat transfer inefficiencies is the paint coating department. Much of the paint commonly used for collector assembles contain heavy polymers that actually are slow to absorb heat and transfer heat just as poorly. Think condoms and paint coatings act similar. Highly polished black chrome is very nearly the most heat absorbent surface available. Just tough to make an aluminum can polished to high luster, however the increased performance would be mentionable.
I just made a post offering interesting possibilities in the absorbing and releasing of solar radiation with different materials in the beer can collector thread. Its certainly food for thought.
Interesting to think about would be an aluminum can similar to a florescent bulb only larger in diameter. Polished to a high degree with a smooth and black finish. The paint should contain a high degree of metalic bits, cover well with a single coat, be nontoxic, and cheap to use. The black can/gutter assembly works well enough to be of use but you can see the room available for improvement.
Stay safe, don't burn anything up or down, and never quit experimenting!