Aloha from Humidity Island

A

ahi

n00b
Joined
Aug 25, 2004
Messages
8
aloha, my name is mike and i'm a newborn [H]-aholic

this is my first post and i'm learning loads from this forum and the respective links. much mahalos. the spirit of aloha on the web. awesome. :D sorry for the long post btw. :eek:

i'm planning on building my own cooling system but my problem is condensation (why thank you, i'd like to join the club). but living in hawaii, there's just way too much humidity and dew point (i live next to the beach as well). you may think it rocks, but no a/c is allowed in this apartment and all i want is to ease the pain of my cpu.

Dew Point: 64°F
Humidity: 73%
Temp: 73* and feels like 73* (whatever that means from weatherchannel.com)
and it's 11pm. so yes, condensation is more of a problem than normal.

what i've learned here is that the evap unit from an a/c or dehumid from wal-mart is my best option. and i know that i would need die-electric grease and insulation from the hardware store to protect my mobo. i just gotta figure out all the details of the evap unit, how it'll work with my exos, and how it can dual-serve to cool / dehumidify my work-room.

i'm currently reading threads and howstuffworks.com and pounding google, and considering taking a refrigerant class at the local college. hopefully i find a decent solution before i build a monstrosity. however, i just wanted to say aloha to the group for now.
 
btw, the pc that i wanna mod currently has 4x80mm tornados for cooling, so please help me, i've got the deaf <:eek:>
 
I had a similar problem (the deafening from 2 machines, including a FX5800 vacuum cleaner fan). I went to watercooling. Since conventional watercooling is not below ambient, you do not get condensation problems. I went with an external box solution to be able to do my maintenance without worrying about spilling stuff inside my machines.
 
Even if U want to build it your self Id go and read Asteks (www.vapochill.com) manuals on how to install one of their unit. U can pick up some issues and tips there as well. And if U have the Dough buy a LS :D
 
i also thought i'd read up on forum.vapochill.com to see how users tweak / upgrade established asetek systems. i'm gonna head off to read up on some vapochill / waterchill manuals. hopefully i can learn more about condensation, humidity, and dew point there. if not i'll check howstuffworks :rolleyes:
 
Tell me about it.... dew point is 71 degrees here today North Carolina.... state motto "It's not the heat, it's the humidity"
 
ahi said:
there's just way too much humidity and dew point (Dew Point: 64°F
Humidity: 73%
Temp: 73* and feels like 73* (whatever that means from weatherchannel.com)
and it's 11pm. so yes, condensation is more of a problem than normal.
Click to expand...
Ha! Go visit Cuba right now, 90F, 100% humidity. I scoff at your silly, girlie-man 70-something humidity! ;)

Then again, not a lot of phase-change cooling there. Freaking wall unit A/C's cost like $500 US (and the people make like $25-$30 US/mo.).

I just wanted to say that Hawaii is not Humidity Island. Cuba is. :D
 
if you wanna get technical, we do have 100% humidity majority of the time, and i was making an example of the humidity, dew point and temp at 11 pm

but if anyone has experience in such climates, POSITIVE feedback would be helpful and not just funny
:p
 
Basically at 100% humidity anything ambient temperature and lower is going to cause condensation ( ie 90 degrees and 100% humidity, the dew point is 90 degrees) The only solution I have seen for condensation is thermal grease, neoprene, and thermal tape. Thats more hassel than I want to get into so for me phase change and pelts are out. I briefly considered a water chiller set to a temp a few degrees above dewpoint but dewpoint is usually so high here, that wouldn't help me much. Anyway I decided that plain old watercooling was the best solution for me, always a little above ambient. ( i.e. it will never have condensation)
 
WOW! You think hawaii is humid? I guess living right next to the beach might do it. Either that or you haven't gone anywhere truly humid. I've lived a lot of places and Hawaii is one of the least humid, or at least reasonably humid. Then again, I do live in the central part of the island, but still. You want to talk about humid, go to florida in the summer or as previously stated, cuba. Those places are truly humid. You can actually feel the air around you.

As for your problem, I ran a watercooled setup in a non a/c room for about a year with no problems. This was a 1.4 Athlon to boot, which was a very hot running chip. I didn't take any extra precautions against condensation either.
 
:eek: yeah, i'm about 150ft from the ocean and on warmer days/nights i sweat just sitting here coding. but when i'm up at my dad's house towards the middle of the island i can't really sense the humidity. i've been to florida in the summer, and spring. i've been to arizona in the summer and winter. i've been to louisianna in early summer, late spring. i've been to san antonio in the late summer. i know what's the difference between just hot, and hot AND humid. and by the way, i live in hilo, hawaii. not honolulu, oahu

Average Temperature, Rainfall, Humidity
• Average January temperature range:
Honolulu: 65 to 79 degrees F (18.3 to 26.1 C)
Hilo: 63 to 80 degrees F (17.2 to 26.7 C)

• Average July temperature range:
Honolulu: 73 to 87 degrees F (22.8 to 30.6 C)
Hilo: 68 to 83 degrees F (20 to 28.3 C)

• Average annual temperature:
Honolulu: 77 degrees F (25 C)
Hilo: 73 degrees F (22.8 C)

• Average annual precipitation:
Honolulu: 23 inches (584 mm)
Hilo: 134 inches (3404 mm)

• Average annual snowfall:
Honolulu: 0
Hilo: 0

• Average number of days per year with appreciable precipitation:
Honolulu: 102
Hilo: 282

• Average daily relative humidity:
Honolulu: 63%
Hilo: 75%

• Average number of clear days per year:
Honolulu: 90
Hilo: 30

BUT I KNOW WHEN I'M WRONG. as you noted, we're nowhere near the 100%.. according to statistics, the relative humidity for the entire city of hilo is 75%. but remember, i'm 150ft from the shoreline (that's gotta count for something? maybe +10%?). idk, so tell me :confused:

but who has the highest humidity levels is not the point. i just want to know what can help if i want to go just about zero-c. i'm currently just above ambient with my WC. anyone out there have FURTHER advice for me from an area of approx 75%-90% humidity levels? oh yeah and relatively close ambient temperatures too. and again, just above zero-c :D

you shouldn't encounter condensation with a non-chilled WC because you can't reach ambient with a solo WC on an active cpu (unless your computer produces no heat?).

astolpho, thanks for the help regarding the dew point calc, and your practical experience with sub-ambient cooling solutions. however, i still want to embark on this journey as my curiosity is only growing stronger to do what can't and shouldn't be done! :rolleyes:
 
I hope you didn't think I was being an ass towards you. I was just surprised to hear hawaii and humid in the same sentence. Then again, I was right in assuming you must be near the beach. I've been it hilo before and it did seem a little more humid. Then again, this was also after spending a couple weeks at PTA which you might know, is practically a desert. It's actually very similar to out here, elevation is almost equal and about as dry. Not as dusty out here, but that's cause we've covered the whole base with rocks.

As for going sub ambient. You should be safe regardless of humidity and dew point as long as you use enough insulation. Fully insulate all coolant lines and cooling blocks. I haven't researched the materials a whole lot, but I believe neoprene is the best solid and I believe there is a gel you can use as well. If you actively cool all the heat producing components, I would almost say to try and insulate the case as well. That might cause a problem with it getting to hot for the rest of the components though. At the least, I say seal the case well, use a minimum of fans and put some damp rid inside.
 
It's been a while since I've posted here, but I was reading your thread and it looks like you could use some assistance.

This guy lives in Singapore so I imagine the weather conditions are similar to yours.

These guides are great enjoy the read, I know I did.

Refrigeration Basics 1
http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=713&s=1

Refrigeration Basics 2
http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=714&s=1

Regasing a Prometiea/Vapochill
http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=716&s=1

Insulation guide
http://wwww.vr-zone.com/?i=230&s=1

Mounting a Prommie onto the GPU
http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=172&s=1

Dual Cascade Cooler
http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=618&s=1

Dual-Evaporator Cooler
http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=1227&s=1
 
Syco said:
I hope you didn't think I was being an ass towards you. I was just surprised to hear hawaii and humid in the same sentence. Then again, I was right in assuming you must be near the beach. I've been it hilo before and it did seem a little more humid. Then again, this was also after spending a couple weeks at PTA which you might know, is practically a desert. It's actually very similar to out here, elevation is almost equal and about as dry. Not as dusty out here, but that's cause we've covered the whole base with rocks.
Click to expand...

:D i thought you were so i got all defensive and forgot that i was here to learn. i've been drunk up PTA several times. amazing we've got so many ecosystems on this island.

12 Axes, now THAT'S what i've been looking for. u daman
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top