Forum:Solar heater for PVC safety seal bands

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I have a small business in Haiti and the electrical situation is very bad. I would like to heat the PVC shrink bands that I put on my bottles using solar energy heat. Does anyone have any ideas how this might be done? 01:41, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

How high of a temperature do you need to reach? How many bottles would you want to seal at one time? Tom Sponheim 04:19, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Typically 100 to 120 °C will shrink PVC. Do you want to do a batch at a time or is the process continuous, one after another? For the former, an oven is more suitable. A concentrator may work for a continuous process, but unless the band is uniform in light absorbing properties, direct heating with sunlight may cause uneven shrinkage. Instead, heating air with solar energy and using it to heat the PVC may give better results. Walter Siegmund 04:31, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the responses. I'm not sure how to apply what you said, Walter. Any suggestions as to how to heat the air and force it onto the bands? We currently use a heat gun and it pulls a lot of electricity. I'm hoping to find a low tech solution. As far as whether we want to seal in batches or one at a time, it doesn't matter, as long as it gets done.

How about cutting the point off of a cone pointed at the sun. Then insert the head of the bottle into the hole from the bottom. I'll draw you a picture if I'm not making sense. Tom Sponheim 23:02, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

I think I get what you're saying. Would the cone get hot to the touch? What are the best materials? Could I make it from cardboard and foil? How big would it need to be? Hotsoslil 15:12, 4 March 2007 (UTC)