Sounds like a dream come true, right? It's not, it's pure bull shit, it requires a Hell of a lot more energy to convert a liter of water than they attempt to claim.
Checkout the site, watch the video. I can only imagine they're scamming govts or the UN.

http://fontus.at/

Quote from: Solar on November 16, 2016, 02:34:51 PM
Sounds like a dream come true, right? It's not, it's pure bull shit, it requires a Hell of a lot more energy to convert a liter of water than they attempt to claim.
Checkout the site, watch the video. I can only imagine they're scamming govts or the UN.

http://fontus.at/

i don't see anything about a guarantee under any and all conditions.   

Quote from: walkstall on November 16, 2016, 02:59:40 PM
i don't see anything about a guarantee under any and all conditions.   

I first saw it on one of those "Must Have the Latest Tech" videos.
Of course I was intrigued, so I went to the website, where they claim to use a tiny solar panel to create enough energy to fill that bottle.
Problem is, it takes 100 times the energy their panel creates to render that bottle full in 8 hrs, it may trickle full after a month, but not in a day, and definitely not enough to sustain life.
All one has to do is look at the energy required to run a dehumidifier for a day to generate the same amount of water and you quickly realize they're full of shit.

Probably a Peltier chip, with 2 heat sinks, one on each side.   They use them in portable electric coolers.... something like <20% efficiency.

I was making the SAME THING for keeping a safe dry.  One side is cold, the other is hot.  Pull the air over the cold side, the humidity condenses, then push the same cooled (and dryer) air over the hot side, and it reheats, drain the water away, just like a miniature dehumidifier.

Whatever is in the air, pollen, pollution, essence of skunk, will be condensed ... to some degree, into that bottle.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jmk4XgQF8XY/T8eC5S6LkpI/AAAAAAAAACI/kqjYxLNjLS4/s1600/peltier.jpg

Here's how to set it up...

http://www.skycraftsurplus.com/images/products/detail/sk4503.jpg

If you use those really nice copper heat-sinks off a CPU cooler, there's very little else one can do to increase efficiency.
If there's $30 in parts, I'd be surprised.... the rest is marketing.

BTW... the little junctions are FRAGILE, one breaks and the whole thing is done.  Vibration is a "chip killer".   Overvoltage/current kills them in seconds, and if you're dumb enough to be holding one between your fingers (yep, did that), one side will freeze to your skin in a split second, while the other burns your fingerprints into the ceramic.   ... really sucks having a burnt thumb and a Peltier chip stuck to your index finger, 'cause you thought you were smarter than the "Warning!!!" on the packing label.

Peltier chips are really neat things.... that nobody has figured out a really good use for.   They are really energy wasters and have a miserable habit of failing at the most inconvenient times... or in the case of the chest coolers, draining your car battery completely flat, because you forget to unplug it before you crawled into the test...  (did that too, several times)

Quote from: Hoofer on November 16, 2016, 06:23:50 PM
Probably a Peltier chip, with 2 heat sinks, one on each side.   They use them in portable electric coolers.... something like <20% efficiency.

I was making the SAME THING for keeping a safe dry.  One side is cold, the other is hot.  Pull the air over the cold side, the humidity condenses, then push the same cooled (and dryer) air over the hot side, and it reheats, drain the water away, just like a miniature dehumidifier.

Whatever is in the air, pollen, pollution, essence of skunk, will be condensed ... to some degree, into that bottle.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jmk4XgQF8XY/T8eC5S6LkpI/AAAAAAAAACI/kqjYxLNjLS4/s1600/peltier.jpg

Here's how to set it up...

http://www.skycraftsurplus.com/images/products/detail/sk4503.jpg

If you use those really nice copper heat-sinks off a CPU cooler, there's very little else one can do to increase efficiency.
If there's $30 in parts, I'd be surprised.... the rest is marketing.

BTW... the little junctions are FRAGILE, one breaks and the whole thing is done.  Vibration is a "chip killer".   Overvoltage/current kills them in seconds, and if you're dumb enough to be holding one between your fingers (yep, did that), one side will freeze to your skin in a split second, while the other burns your fingerprints into the ceramic.   ... really sucks having a burnt thumb and a Peltier chip stuck to your index finger, 'cause you thought you were smarter than the "Warning!!!" on the packing label.

Peltier chips are really neat things.... that nobody has figured out a really good use for.   They are really energy wasters and have a miserable habit of failing at the most inconvenient times... or in the case of the chest coolers, draining your car battery completely flat, because you forget to unplug it before you crawled into the test...  (did that too, several times)

Which is why I called BS on their claim of capturing water with a tiny solar panel, you could really call it that.
Look at that thing, maye 6"x6" at best, and the sun creates 1000 watts of energy per sq meter that hits the earth during perfect conditions, the best solar panel captures roughly 10 to 20% of that, if memory serves me, which means their panel possibly captures less than a watt, nowhere enough to create heat to offset air temp and capture moisture.

Quote from: Solar on November 16, 2016, 07:20:32 PM
Which is why I called BS on their claim of capturing water with a tiny solar panel, you could really call it that.
Look at that thing, maye 6"x6" at best, and the sun creates 1000 watts of energy per sq meter that hits the earth during perfect conditions, the best solar panel captures roughly 10 to 20% of that, if memory serves me, which means their panel possibly captures less than a watt, nowhere enough to create heat to offset air temp and capture moisture.

It really misses out on the BEST part of the day to capture water, early mornings, before sunrise.
10-14% solar panels were pretty much the norm, so the energy input is minuscule, so is the overall unit.

As long as the cooling side can get below the dewpoint, and suck alot of air across the heat sink, it'll so something.

Quote from: Hoofer on November 17, 2016, 10:15:43 AM
It really misses out on the BEST part of the day to capture water, early mornings, before sunrise.
10-14% solar panels were pretty much the norm, so the energy input is minuscule, so is the overall unit.

As long as the cooling side can get below the dewpoint, and suck alot of air across the heat sink, it'll so something.

That's the thing, the unit is way too small to do what they claim.

Got to thinking, if a novice like me can spot this for the scam it is, then there must be others far more qualified on the subject.
Obviously there are.
A quick Duck, Duck go search of Fontus water bottle scam turned up a page full, here's the first two on the list.

https://www.metabunk.org/fontus-self-filling-water-bottle-indiegogo-scam-campaign.t7495/

http://www.craveonline.com/design/990759-fontus-self-filling-water-bottle-scam-evidence-suggests#!

Idit:
Also, looking through the pages, something that I neglected to catch was, the lack of a working prototype, despite the images, which are mere props designed for the scam.
These guys are selling the idea that since it's possible to remove water from the air already, people will happily donate to our lost cause.
There's got to be a special place in Hell for scum like them.

the guy who reviewed the thing, also well known for reviewing Oscilloscopes and electronic test gear.... er, ah... looking for a good descriptor, besides, he's a bit of a biased nerd, IMO.

250watts per hr., doesn't take into account the days you encounter a downpour, or peddling so hard, your dripping sweat gets sucked into the bike mounted unit (that's pulling water in the form or rainfall or sweat - right out of the air!!!)

At any rate, those little Peltier chips are a fun thing to play around with, they break and burn out easily, and if my source of water depended on anything using a Peltier chip, I'd have a back-up plan or a healthy reserve system.

On the other hand, if my micro-hydro, wind generator, or solar panels needed a dump load....   sure, dehumidify a gun case, ehhhhh.... it's just a toy.  More fun at a bar, "I bet you can't hold this between your fingers for 5 seconds!"

No joke, I have a handful of 120watt, and a couple rated at 400watts...  they are just toys.   Oh, and when you take the power away, if there's a cold source on one side, and heat on the other (serious Delta-T), they will generate a minuscule amount of power, not like a battery's 80% efficiency, more like light a single LED... couple of watts.

Quote from: Hoofer on November 17, 2016, 04:56:57 PM
the guy who reviewed the thing, also well known for reviewing Oscilloscopes and electronic test gear.... er, ah... looking for a good descriptor, besides, he's a bit of a biased nerd, IMO.

250watts per hr., doesn't take into account the days you encounter a downpour, or peddling so hard, your dripping sweat gets sucked into the bike mounted unit (that's pulling water in the form or rainfall or sweat - right out of the air!!!)

At any rate, those little Peltier chips are a fun thing to play around with, they break and burn out easily, and if my source of water depended on anything using a Peltier chip, I'd have a back-up plan or a healthy reserve system.

On the other hand, if my micro-hydro, wind generator, or solar panels needed a dump load....   sure, dehumidify a gun case, ehhhhh.... it's just a toy.  More fun at a bar, "I bet you can't hold this between your fingers for 5 seconds!"

No joke, I have a handful of 120watt, and a couple rated at 400watts...  they are just toys.   Oh, and when you take the power away, if there's a cold source on one side, and heat on the other (serious Delta-T), they will generate a minuscule amount of power, not like a battery's 80% efficiency, more like light a single LED... couple of watts.

Yes they are very fragile, had several go out, from voltage issues to rough handling a couple of coolers.
The concept is cool, but really a novelty where a cooler is concerned.
Had one that kept coffee warm though....
Damn, now that I think about it, it probably had a heating coil in it.

I stumbled across another site where this guy breaks down the math where physics are concerned and proves the tech does not exist today that makes this feasible.
He did say batteries could play a part at the rate were going with current tech, but the idea of perpetual motion has yet to be conquered, so don't invest just yet.