From: ames!FNALD.FNAL.GOV!DROEGE
Subject: Columbus may have discovered america on Oct 12 but I found nothing!
Reply-To: ames!FNALD.FNAL.GOV!DROEGE
Organization: Sci.physics.fusion/Mail Gateway
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 18:41:37 GMT

This is the status of our current P&F type experiment.  13 October 1992 

Executive summary:  After end of run calibration it looks like a null 
experiment.
   
Charging Profile: Resistor equal to 170 ma per sq cm on cathode
Heater + Cell Power: 10.151
Cell Voltage: Presently aprox 3 volts  
Temperature: 24 C  Calorimeter shell, Cell temperature aprox. 30 C.

Date    Power    Source     Notes
        Watts

7 Sept   0.0008   Out/In     Empty cell calibration.  No source effect.
9 Sept  -0.0010   Out        Cell in, zero current calibration
9 Sept  -0.1902   Out        Charging Palladium.  
9 Sept  -0.0163   Out        Late Charging, almost balanced.
10 Sept -0.0004   Out        Full Current Operation
11 Sept  0.0002   In         Start Source Out/In at Full Operating Current
12 Sept                      Data Lost
13 Sept                      Data Lost
14 Sept  0.0092   In         Full 24 hour data
15 Sept  0.0130   Out        Full 24 hour data
16 Sept  0.0158   In         Some data lost due to UPS failure.
17 Sept  0.0173   In         Replaced UPS               
18 Sept  0.0239   Out   
19 Sept  0.0204   In         Partial data is suspect.  Switch to 20 second
20 Sept  0.0251   Out        data collection interval.
21 Sept  0.0271   In
22 Sept  0.0312   Out
23 Sept  0.0372   In 
24 Sept  0.0409   Out
25 Sept  0.0497   In
26 Sept  0.0513   Out        Corrected last point, shell servo sick
27 Sept  0.0551   In         Corrected data, shell servo sick
28 Sept  0.0570   Out        Partial correction, shell servo fixed
29 Sept  0.0608   In  
30 Sept  0.0649   Out

After several problems, one of which blew a fuse, the cell was removed and 
replaced by a resistor.  The calorimeter is now humming along with an 
indicated net heat of 80 mw.  This is quite consistent with a steady 
calorimeter drift since 16 September.

After opening the calorimeter and replacing the cell with a resistor, the 
calorimeter came right back to where it was with the cell, to about 5 mw, 
which is well within previous calorimeter opening experiments.  

So I must conclude that there was no anomalous heat.  Sorry, everybody, I 
really thought that the experiment was going as indicated.  I think I will go 
out and get drunk.  Meanwhile, we will run the calorimeter a while and see if 
it drifts with a resistor.  Note that we did this for 5 days before this run, 
and it was steady as a rock.  We have also done many other of order week long 
drift runs.  The calorimeter has had the same constant to a few mw for at 
least six months.  

Most likely problem would be the series of power failures around 17 September.  
The calorimeter depends on the thermoelectric devices (TED) pumping constant 
power if they are operated at constant temperature and constant current.  I 
have not seen a slow drift before in any of the long calibration runs.  Thomas 
Kunich has said that he has had trouble with thermoelectric devices losing 
capacity when they were temperature cycled.  I am very gentle with the TED and 
have had no previous drift problem.  But perhaps something unusual happened 
during the power outage that caused stress on the TED.  I was not there.  In 
any case, I would not expect a slow steady drift from fractured TED.  Have not 
found any other cause yet.  All the usual problem temperatures seem to be OK. 

The fuse blowing problem is also a possibility.  But not too likely.  It was a 
short to ground from the cell anode.  It must have been just a sudden short.  
Insulation finally gave way where it rubbed on the inner copper heat shield.
A slowly developing short would have been detected by the current sum which 
would detect any unbalanced current to ground.

My bet at the moment is the heater servo, which does have a pot.  But this is 
a tiny correction.  Tough business this calorimetry.

So Dick Blue and Dieter Britz, you should have taken me up on my bet.  (Be 
careful, this may be a plot to get you to bite after I have all the problems 
cured.)

I will put up the details of the last two weeks if anyone wants to see them.  
At the moment, I just don't want to look at the data. 
                                                            
Tom Droege 

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