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Parts:
- 1000W ZVS driver off ebay
- 24V 25A 600W PSU off amazon
- Larger NTC thermistors to upgrade the cheap Chinese design on the PSUs
- LM2596 buck converter I found in a drawer for stepping 24V to 12V
- 12V PC fan I found in a drawer
- A lot of thick wire
- A stainless steel cup
- Random power cable I found in a drawer
- Spade terminals from Lowe's
Ingredients:
- Water
- Milk
- Tea bags
- Parle-G cookies
Result:
image uploads are not working; please visualize a stainless steel cup of tea with insulated thick copper wire surrounding it connected to a a funny looking contraption with a computer fan on the top.
Sadly, this only lived from July 2023 to May 2024, due to me running this inside a drawer with no ventilation.
What did I learn?
A few things:
- Buying stuff off-the-shelf really just works. I got lazy and didn't do anything custom, and everything just worked. I first experimented with 120W as a proof-of-concept and quickly outgrew it so that I could justify the purchase.
- When your parents say "making tea isn't that simple, it's not just boiling water with tea bags and adding milk", they're wrong and you should trust your gut and intuition
- Don't trust sketchy Amazon power supplies from a no-name Chinese company to be well-engineered, otherwise you will open your PSU and find components inside glowing orange
- I really could've just made milk tea in the microwave the entire time...
- Don't run this in a drawer with no ventilation, the first thing to fail was the silicone wire insulation melting surprisingly.
It was fun while it lasted.
The next dream is to take inspiration from the Tactical Hot Dog and use a thermite charge to boil water and mix tea bags and powdered milk for a long shelf life.