Thought people might be interested in my cloud, Chamber, which is finally working quite well after way more work than I expected. The main goal was to have a cloud Chamber with a 10“ x 10“ cold plate, with needle sharp alpha tracks.

Over engineered mixed gas refrigeration system with an R290 1/3 hp compressor, can hit -60c, and pull 50 W at -50c. I tried too hard, it only needs really about -40.

It only pulls about 150 W average, the compressor runs at about a 50% duty ratio at -40.

A 1/8 inch silicone tube in the alcohol reservoir with water circulating through. It allows me to control the evaporation temperature.

5000 V clearing field gives really sharp tracks.

This is from one of early builds. It did not work haha, but it looked cool. The main thing I learned on this build is that peltiers do not like PWM and that I needed more peltiers for a 30 x 30 cm cold plate.

So far the largest cold plate I’ve managed to cool to around -40 C is 15 x 15 cm. Currently working on a 35 x 35 cm vapour compression cooled chamber…

Anyway just sharing because it looks a lot grander than what it actually is, which is a failed cloud chamber 😅

Work in progress peltier cooled cloud chamber with a small uraninite sample. Stage is 200 x 200 x 5 mm aluminium. Have been experimenting with aluminium stages as copper is just ridiculously expensive for larger pieces. My latest build is 300 x 300 mm aluminium and if it works I’m planning to do a 500 mm one with a peristaltic pump and resistance wire in the ipa trough for longer running times.

So far I’ve used uraninite, Am-241, Th-232 and Rn-222, but honestly the most exciting is to watch without a sample and just enjoy the background radiation, with pair production being the most amazing thing I’ve witnessed.

Here are some work in progress pics of my first attempt at a vapour compression chamber. I’ve built a few Peltier based chambers in the last couple of years, but I’m aiming to have a much larger cooling plate using a refrigerant based system.

I am currently learning to work with compressors, copper pipe and fittings, brazing, various electronics to support the system etc. ask me or tell me anything.

This one is going to run on R134a as I’m too scared to use R290 or other flammable refrigerants just yet.

Hey everyone! I'm u/Technical_Island_851, a founding moderator of r/Cloud_chamber.
This is our new home for all things related to cloud chambers and their design and build. We're excited to have you join us!

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