Failure Report
We've learned so much about the importance of admitting failure especially when working in communities or on projects that other groups are working as well. So, we wanted to be upfront about our mistakes and share what we think could have been better in our process and design.
Failure
Failure
Melted blanket
Our 100% Polyester Blanket could not withstand the heat of the diodes. It began to melt onto the JB weld after 2 hours.
Action
We purchased a 100% wool sweater to replace the blanket as insulation. Result: The diodes on the bottom of our pot burned through the wool sweater as well.
Didn't work
It is still a mystery as to why it didn't work, but one day when we tried to cook, both diode chains wouldn't heat up.
We brought our panel and pot into lab to test them and they both worked. We confirmed there was full sunlight on the panel during the trial. It is still a mystery as to what happened.
No Switch
For our second diode chain we decided not to put a switch on it. It backfired because it ended up over heating and frying the diodes instead of our potatoes. It also burned out wool sweater a little.
In the future we would recommend adding a switch.
Rubber gasket
As we cook, steam comes out of the pot and soaks our insulation. We wanted to make a food safe gasket but never got to it.
This could be a cool future improvement to the design.