David Roberson <[email protected]> wrote: > > I reluctantly have to agree with you. I would love to have that run as a > reference, but just the taking apart of the unit to reinstall a new wire, > or any changes whatsoever mess up the calibration. >
This happens to some extent with most calorimeters. Ed and others have told me that when you take the lid off a Seebeck calorimeter, and then you put it back and bolt it down, the calibration constant comes out measurably different. If the excess heat is so small it might be brought into question because of effects like this, it is too small to believe. I have enormous respect for Ed, and McKubre, Miles, Fleischmann and others who have mastered calorimetry to such an extent they can detect these microscopic changes. I understand why they want extreme accuracy and precision. At the same time, I feel that if you cannot even detect the heat without that precision, I cannot trust it. High precision should be used to explore robust heat when it appears -- if it appears. It should not be used to confirm heat at the extreme low limits of detection. - Jed
