DO OR DIE!!! TEC WaterChiller or bust!

[Quicksilver]

So I've had these sitting around for ages:

They're the stock heatsinks that come with 2.2 GHZ and 3.0 GHz Xeon processers. Each one is DAMN heavy and full of copper and aluminium.


I've also got these fans

I've been sittin' on these for a while too. Each one is DAMN LOUD. Ever heard a Vantec Tornado before? Yeah, about as loud as those. But they kick out some gale-force winds.

With all this cooling power just idleing around, I'm getting pretty antsy to use it.
So I have a watercooled computer, and I really like it.

But I want to take it to the next level! I want to use all that air cooling gear plus a pair of 72 watt peltiers and an appropriate waterblock to build a WATERCHILLER!

Now I know all about the risks of condensation on the cooling loop, and the extreme electrical demands of a peltier system, but I think I have a way around that.

I see people building external watercooling enclosures for their gear all the time. Personaly, I dislike the idea of an external enclosure for watercooling, and I built my first system fully integrated into the chassis.

However, if I build an external waterchilling unit that was also housed the watercooling elements and the associated powersupplies for both water cooler and waterchiller, then I'd have a reason to justify the clumsy external box.

So how to go about using TEC's to make a waterchiller? I have a home made waterblock that exactly fits the two 72W TECs perfectly side by side. I was thinking that I'd put one peltier on each side of the block, and put two heatsinks on each side.

Each HS would have a high output 60mm fan on it and the whole thing would be in an enclosure with an "air tunnel", a large fan sucking air in one side and a large fan blowing air out the other side.

All this would come after the radiator in the watercooling loop. This is so that the water can be as close to room temperature as possible before entering the chiller.

So, what do you guys think? Can it be done?

 

[BigTaf]

Id be a little skeptical

only because I question if those heatsinks are going to be able to dissapate the 144watts the pelts put out and still give you a cooling improvement. not to mention the condenstaion that will drip inside your seperate enclosure.

 

[Quicksilver]

four copper/aluminum HS won't be able to dissapate 144W with 150 CFM+?

I think just ONE of these monster 'sink/fan combos could cool one peltier. They were designed for 2u rack server Xeons.

Each one of these fans generates 60CFM+ They scream like banshees, but i'll be running 4 of them across 4 heatsinks supplied with fresh air by 2 - 85CFM 80mm's

Also, there won't be much of a load on the cool side since the dual 120 radiator will take care of the heat generated by the CPU

 

[HeThatKnows]

Won't work.

Let's say your heatsinks and chiller block are perfect, keeping the hot side of the TECs at ambient, the cold side at water temp. How much cooler will the water be? Well if your flow is 4 l/min (a hair over a gallon/minute), the water will exit the chiller 0.5° C cooler than it entered. Oooooo...

On the off chance that your CPU isn't adding as much heat as the TEC's are pulling out, the water temp at the radiator would drift down to below ambient. Then you'd be blowing warm air over a cool rad, heating the water. D'oh!

The way to make a chiller is to have a hot loop (hot side of TECs and rad) and a cold loop.

 

[Quicksilver]

On the off chance that your CPU isn't adding as much heat as the TEC's are pulling out, the water temp at the radiator would drift down to below ambient. Then you'd be blowing warm air over a cool rad, heating the water. D'oh!

That's precisely what the radiator BEFORE the waterchiller is for. Dissapate whatever heat the CPU generates BEFORE the water enters the air-cooled waterchiller so that the incoming water is as close to ambient temperature possible. Then the TEC's will reduce the water temp a few degrees and I don't have to deal with condensation.

I suppose what I fail to mention is that I already have all this stuff and I'm wondering what to do with it all. I am willing to make an investment in bigger TEC's and a quality ($100+) powersupply if this idea shows potential. I really want to get my water temp below room temp, but not have to deal with condensation. This is possible with a variable-voltage powersupply and TEC's.

I KNOW that these heatsinks will be enough to cool one TEC by themselves (completely ignoring noise) If this idea won't work without buying 2 more 72w TEC's then fine. I've got the spare waterblocks to do it. I'm going to do this no matter how uncertain the outcome is, so you won't convince me no to. I'll be posting pictures along the way though, and I think it'll be fun.

I'll take pictures of the possibilities for enclosures tonight or tomorrow.

 

[zer0signal667]

Won't work.

Let's say your heatsinks and chiller block are perfect, keeping the hot side of the TECs at ambient, the cold side at water temp. How much cooler will the water be? Well if your flow is 4 l/min (a hair over a gallon/minute), the water will exit the chiller 0.5° C cooler than it entered. Oooooo...

What's the temperature differential across the two ends of a radiator? Not much... The difference doesn't matter, it's always going to be small when the system's in equilibrium. The real problem, as you mentioned, is being able to maintain the low temperature on the cold side of the peltiers. So you need good heat dissipation, and powerful enough peltiers.

 

[Quicksilver]

The real problem, as you mentioned, is being able to maintain the low temperature on the cold side of the peltiers. So you need good heat dissipation, and powerful enough peltiers.

So you're saying that the effectiveness of the whole system hinges on reducing the temp difference between the hot side and the cold side. And, the real trick is in reducing the hot side temp because I'm against room temp on the cold side, right?

If that's so than what is the effective difference between what I'm proposing and any other commercialy available air-cooled waterchiller on the market? Is it that my TEC's are smaller? Is it that the waterchiller's don't use waterblocks?

I know that even the most efficient and well ventilated heatsink is still only going to bring your heat source down to 5 or 10 degrees above ambient but, dispite that, commercialy available waterchillers use room temperature air to chill water, and I don't think they use compressers. And they don't put out 50+ DBL's while they're doing it.

Each of the 6 fans I plan to use puts out between 60-85 CFMs and 50-60 DBLs
These are the most tremendous air movers I have ever seen in their size. I can't express how much air the four 60mm's put out when they are running together.

 

[cell_491]

theres ALOT of problems with this plan first off two 72watt pelts isnt anywhere near enough power for todays cpus youll need at least two 226watt or even better two 300watt and youll never cool them with heat sinks the only way you will do it is with another seperate water cooling system, youll need three water blocks itll have to go waterblock TEC then waterblock then TEC then another water block with the cold side of both tecs facing inwards now youll need a seperate cooling loop with a seperate radiator and pump for the two outermost waterblocks. youre also going to need an industrial power supply a pc psu WILL NOT cut it i suggest meanwells there pretty good

 

[Quicksilver]

I'm not trying to cool the CPU with the TECs just the water. The dual 120 Rad is for the cpu.

I have two waterblocks that can fit a total of 8 TECs. I'm not at the point where buying 6 more TEC's is out of the question.

I could purchace two additional 72w TEC's and run them two per block in paralell.
The additional TEC's would be about $25 which is nothing to spend when I'm this far along.

I want to use the 72-80w versions because I have 8 heat sinks and I want to be able to air cool the whole thing, no second water loop.

And I don't even think that the second water loop is even necessary in the first place. All a water cooling loop does is displace the heat form the source to a radiator that is not physicaly connected to the heat source. This allows you to have a radiator with greater surface area than any CPU heatsink possible. But I'm not trying to cool a CPU. I'm trying to cool water with multiple, smaller heatsources.

I also just happen to have another dual 120 rad just sitting around not hooked up to anything. I'd have to buy another pump, but a second cooling loop isn't COMPLETELY out of the question, but I'd like not to deal with it.

 

[cell_491]

the thing is man when you cool the water in a watercooling system that cools the cpu then your still cooling the cpu plus if you think about all the other components in your system that add to the heatload there is no way in hell two 72watt pelts will do the job imean theres people who have made compressor based waterchiller that get to -30c with no load but as soon as you put it on a cpu the water temps jumps to about -5c and the cpu die is around +8-10c and thats with a friggin compressor system you wont get anything near that low with a weak pelt system you probably wont even get below ambient. However if you take my advice and use bigger watercooled pelts you may get close to the same results as a compressor based system

 

[cell_491]

and by the way a psu capable of powering even two 72watt pelts is gonna run you over $150 so its kinda ridiculous to speed this kinda cash if your not going to do it right, 2x300watt with a seperate watercooling loop is the ONLY way your gonna get below ambient and by the way 300watt pelts arent expensive.

P.S. heres a 437 watt pelt for $50 http://www.frozencpu.com/exp-04.html

 

[Quicksilver]

the thing is man when you cool the water in a watercooling system that cools the cpu then your still cooling the cpu

Not if the CPU's heat is taken out of the equasion before the water even enters the chiller

plus if you think about all the other components in your system that add to the heatload there is no way in hell two 72watt pelts will do the job

Even though I'm only cooling the water and no other componants in my system are a factor in this equasion besides the CPU, I'm starting to think that I'll need at least another two 72-80w TEC's for this. So you're right, two won't do

imean theres people who have made compressor based waterchiller that get to -30c with no load but as soon as you put it on a cpu the water temps jumps to about -5c and the cpu die is around +8-10c

Compressers are expensive. TEC's are cheap. I don't need or want those kind of temps. I want below ambient.

and thats with a friggin compressor system you wont get anything near that low with a weak pelt system you probably wont even get below ambient. However if you take my advice and use bigger watercooled pelts you may get close to the same results as a compressor based system

I already have all this air cooling stuff, watercooling stuff, and empty cases JUST SITTING HERE, doing nothing. Spending a grand total of $200 to get my water below ambient temperature without a compresser sounds like a fun way to spend that money.

Maybe you're right in that I'll eventually need bigger TECs to get as far down as I want. Ok, I'll do it if I need to. And even though I still think I can complete my goal using just air cooling, maybe I'll have to go with a dual loop system. Ok, I'll doit if I need to. But I want the challange (and cost savings) of building an air-cooled water-chiller

 

[HeThatKnows]

Not if the CPU's heat is taken out of the equasion before the water even enters the chiller

But there's the problem. If you cool the water down, the radiator becomes less effective. Say your rad dumps a 100 watts when the water that enters in 3° over ambient. Drop your water temperature to 2, and the rad only dissipates 67 W. At 1° degree the rad's only good for 33W. If the water is below ambient, the rad is taking heat in and warming the water.

You can't just say the rad will take care of all the CPU's heat. There's an equilibrium amongst water temperature, rad effectiveness, and how how much heat the TEC can (has to) eject. And that equilibrium will suck.

If your water is above ambient, the chiller simply a noisy expensive substitute for a better rad. If the water is below ambient, the rad is a burden on your chiller's capacity.

 

[Quicksilver]

But there's the problem. If you cool the water down, the radiator becomes less effective. Say your rad dumps a 100 watts when the water that enters in 3° over ambient. Drop your water temperature to 2, and the rad only dissipates 67 W. At 1° degree the rad's only good for 33W. If the water is below ambient, the rad is taking heat in and warming the water.

Ok, so lets see if I understand. Before the computer is turned on we'll assume that the water is at ambient temp. Ok, I turn on the pump and room-temp water starts circulating. Ok, now turn on the fans on the rad. Now I have room temp water that is being maintained to that temp by the rad. Now turn on the cpu. The water which was room temp, dispite the rad, is now heating up. However, the rad keeps the temp in check and the water has only risen 3 degrees above ambient. Ok, so now my computer is hummin' along with the watercooling doing it's job. Now I turn on the waterchiller after the system has reached equilibrium. What happens? Well if I can keep the hot sides close enough to room temp, the water temp should drop, right? So, let's say that the water temp drops all the way down to ambient, a whole three degrees. HOLY SHIT! I SUCCEEDED!

The water won't get below ambient temp because of the rad, but that's what I want. I don't want to deal with condensation. But I think that the above situation is not what I'll observe. I think that the temp difference betweenthe outlet of the waterchiller and the inlet of the rad will be greater - because of the TEC's.

If water leaveing the waterchiller is BELOW ambient, and then the rad just heats the water back up to room temp after leaving the CPU, just to be cooled again to below room temp, then I've REALLY succeeded.
At that point I'd be curious to see what happens when the rad is turned off.

 

[cell_491]

fine then try it, but i can gauruntee you it wont work like you think it will...

 

[Quicksilver]

Well if it doesn't then all these pounds of copper I did't pay for will g to the recyclers

 

[masher]

> "...If the water is below ambient, the rad is a burden on your chiller's capacity."

This would only be correct if the radiator was positioned aft of the chiller. You are misunderstanding the nature of the flow loop he's proposing. What is actually correct is, "if the chilled water is below ambient *after* leaving the cpu block, then the rad is a burden on capacity".

So thermodynamically, the flow makes sense...but I do question the effectiveness of the approach. My gut feeling is you'd see a larger gain by using peltiers to chill your radiator for a larger dV there.

Finally, as for the matter of cost....any slight savings you'd have by using cheap pelts over a compressor approach would be eaten up in a couple months time in higher electric bills.

 

[Lazn_Work]

You can get TEC waterchillers to work, but not like you have yours planned.

First read this: http://www.procooling.com/articles/html/kev_explores_pelt_water_chille.php

"Unfortunately, as you can see from the pictures, there was only a .5 degree difference in temperature. 150w of chilling power got me a mere .5 degree change. Whoop-dee-fuckin-doo? The water would go in at 25.7 degrees and come out at 25.2. I tried filling the sink with warmer water, but I still got the same results."

What does work is if you have enough TEC wattage to more than cool all your heat, and run a closed loop on the cool side of the TEC with it providing all the cooling power, and then run a hot side loop with the radiator.

But with your plan, the water will be through the waterblock too fast to cool down significantly, and because of the heat sources and radiator it will basically do nothing.

==>Lazn

 

[Mosfet]

I used to run a simalar setup back in the day on an Athlon XP.
I didn't use a radiator tho.

Just a pump/resevoir, CPU Block, and WaterBlock/Pelter/Slot-A cooler setup.
And I have to say, it worked quite well.
The water was continuously running below ambient temp.
In fact I was planning on doing the same thing again with my P4 setup.

 

[magnuspah]

Yep, I tried it years ago. 2 Peltiers 75W each. Each being cooled by 2 heavy duty AMD Athlon air coolers (trust me, those were massive). The room was loud as I had 2 120mm fans running fullblast. A dedicated 400W PS for that setup alone (to go with another 400W for the system). Radiator was about 1.5ft long with 4 120mm fans running (2 sucking and 2 blowing). Lots of noise. Hard to think when the system was on (I don't know what I was thinking). End result, I think a 2-3 degree drop. I even upped the peltiers to 112W. Still about 3 degrees. 150W peltiers, well, then the hot end was just too hot for the heat sinks and fans to cool down. Ended up using 2 water blocks to cool those down. Now, 2 water blocks with 2 more radiators and fans (I had lots of parts). End result, hovering around 5F or less difference. Peltiers will not do it. A more cost effective method would have been getting a small fridge and put the system in there. Unfortunately, the fridge would crap out less than a year since it would have to be on the cooling cycle all the time while the system it on.

 

[compslckr]

only way to really decide if this will work or not is to just build it and try it out!

go for it and let us know how it turns out

 

[Jonsey]

For 200 bucks you could easily build a compressor based chiller system. As was mentioned before, it would be more economical to run than the TEC's. Realize that everyone here is telling you it won't work, but you think it will. I think this is a case of you just liking the idea you came up with. Of course, you can always build it and prove us wrong...

 

[masher]

> "...only way to really decide if this will work or not is to just build it and try it out!"

If it wasn't for math, science, and engineering, this would be true. Calculating the max theoretical performance of such a setup is fairly trivial...if I wasn't an inherently lazy person, I'd do it. The real problem is a peltier is a very inefficient cooling mechanism.

If you really want to use a spare peltier to increase your watercooling performance, put it between the cpu and the waterblock....cooling the chip directly, and shedding its waste heat into water, not air. Your radiator's thermal efficiency would increase as a result of higher input temperature, and the slightly warmer water entering the cpu block would be more than compensated for by the higher dT there due to the pelt's presence. And finally, you could boost performance further simply by use of a larger radiator (or multiple radiators).

 

[Devii]

I would think a closed channle of some sort with the fins -in- the water, say in a zig zag pattern, to slow down the water and ensure some contact and turbulance...

so like this

(fans)
(HS facing up)
(Hotside pelt)
(Coldside pelt)
(HS facing down into water)
(water)

You can chill water, you just need a longer/thinner, slower flow.

another option would to be do what I said above, use 2 of them gap the fins, add plenty of imperfections, use them for cooling side by side, flatten/cube the fins, make a shallow path for the water to flow over/around/in the cooling fins...

Just my ideas, but I would think it would work better than flat surface/short block ideas...

 

[cell_491]

peltier is a very inefficient cooling mechanism

QFT...that about sums it up. If you want a good waterchiller a pelt system IS NOT the way to go. Take a look at building a compressor based system you could build one for the price youll pay just for the psu that you'll need for the pelts. A compressor system will definately get your water temps below ambient.

 

[Lazn_Work]

I would think a closed channle of some sort with the fins -in- the water, say in a zig zag pattern, to slow down the water and ensure some contact and turbulance...

so like this

(fans)
(HS facing up)
(Hotside pelt)
(Coldside pelt)
(HS facing down into water)
(water)

You can chill water, you just need a longer/thinner, slower flow.

another option would to be do what I said above, use 2 of them gap the fins, add plenty of imperfections, use them for cooling side by side, flatten/cube the fins, make a shallow path for the water to flow over/around/in the cooling fins...

Just my ideas, but I would think it would work better than flat surface/short block ideas...

you mean like this: http://www.overclockers.com/tips89/index04.asp

Anything that can be done has been done.

==>Lazn

 

[Quicksilver]

Wow, ok well I'm still going through all the posts, but now after getting linked on the front page, I'm getting some really good responses, and some good bits of info to think about.

I'm starting to reconsider my idea to go all-out with 8 TEC's. I love an extreme system for "extreme-ness" sake, but not if the ammout of juice it'll suck will significantly dent my electricy bill.

Honestly, the true beginnings of this idea was when I hooked two 85 CFM 80mm Tornados, and 4 60mm 60 CFM screamers up all at once. The ammount of noise was deafening.
I thought: There has GOT to be a way to use all this stuff for SOMTHING......

A-HA!! WATERCHILLER!!

 

[Quicksilver]

You can get TEC waterchillers to work, but not like you have yours planned.

First read this: http://www.procooling.com/articles/html/kev_explores_pelt_water_chille.php

==>Lazn

Ok, that was really helpful, thanks.

 

[Quicksilver]

For 200 bucks you could easily build a compressor based chiller system.

Do you have a link of any kind?

this is a case of you just liking the idea you came up with. Of course, you can always build it and prove us wrong...

Guilty as charged. But it's more of a desire to use the stuff I have around me. Plus, I cant wait to see the look on my friends faces when I hit the power switch and all these fans start screaming.

 

[Quicksilver]

you mean like this: http://www.overclockers.com/tips89/index04.asp
==>Lazn

Ooh, that's a good article too.




So, what if I did this:

Build waterchiller, same idea. Instead of a closed loop system, I'd run two loops with one common reservour.
Say a 1/2 gallon tub that both loops draw from and dump into.

I could also slow down the flow of water through the the cooler by using two blocks in paralell and a low flow pump.

Think that is any better of an idea?

 

[Lazn_Work]

Ooh, that's a good article too.

So, what if I did this:

Build waterchiller, same idea. Instead of a closed loop system, I'd run two loops with one common reservour.
Say a 1/2 gallon tub that both loops draw from and dump into.

I could also slow down the flow of water through the the cooler by using two blocks in paralell and a low flow pump.

Think that is any better of an idea?

Well once again, if you have enough peltier power to cool all your heat sources, then the radiator will just warm up your water.. if you don't have enough peltier power to cool all your heat sources, the peliters will not add much to what the radiator does on it's own.

Either this or your original idea will be good for a .5 to maybe 2 degree improvement over no peltier at all, but for the amout of electricity they draw, that is just not worth it.

By having a closed loop for the peliters, you don't have to slow down the water in the cold block because it will come back around with only the heat added to it that you want the peltier to take anyways. (and you want the water through the heat sources to have as high a flow as possible for best cooling)

But by having a open loop, or a shared loop with the radiator, the peliter only gets the water for a fraction of a second before it goes back to the radiator, and the rad will always try to bring the water back to Air temp, from either temperature direction.

Edit: here is someone who had the same idea as your first one: http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=9337

Edit2: here is one that actually works: http://www.jkinney.freeservers.com/custom2.html

If you notice that working one (from edit2) is basically the same as the one from the procooling article, but instead of a one time shot through the peltier, the water is a closed loop, and there is a separate hot loop for the other side of the peltier. Also notice he has 3 72W pelts for a 1700MHZ Athlon.. So again, enough power for all the heat added to the system. If he put a radiator on the cold side of the loop, it would warm the water up, and if he did not have that much peliter power, it would not make enough temp difference to be worth the electricity put into it. Also notice all the condensation he has on the cold side..

Personally I think the best use of a Pelt is directly on a coldblock to the CPU. Less to insulate against condensation, and more result for your effort. As for what to do with all those Xeon heatsinks, sell them.. I am sure there is at least some market for them.

==>Lazn

 

[masher]

> "Think that is any better of an idea?"

No, its significantly worse, as a common reservoir would have both systems working against each other.

The problem with your original system is simple. The maximum theoretical drop in water temperature is likely a couple degrees C...the effective practical drop smaller than that....and even ignoring any heat absorption between the chiller and the cpu block, such a small decrease will likely not net you even a measurable change in core temperatures, given the large dT that already exists between the cpu and block.

Use the strengths of each cooling system *together* if you want something effective. Watercooling is effective at moving large amounts of heat and becomes more efficient at higher dTs. Use the peltier to directly cool your cpu, and the waterblock to cool the peltier. With even a single peltier, you'll see a measurable drop in *core* temperatures...even as your water temps rise.

 

[rodsfree]

Honestly, the true beginnings of this idea was when I hooked two 85 CFM 80mm Tornados, and 4 60mm 60 CFM screamers up all at once. The ammount of noise was deafening.
I thought: There has GOT to be a way to use all this stuff for SOMTHING......

A-HA!! WATERCHILLER!!

If all you really want to do is use the fans, to build a chiller, and get slightly below ambient. Without killing the power bill. Then build a "bong".

Seriously, build a minature water cooling tower. Put a couple loops of copper tube in the reservior at the bottom and run the coolant from the PC through them. Get a second pump for the cooling tower. Use it to pump water from the res to a shower head on top of your little tower. the water falls down into the res. Blow air up through the tower with the Gawd-Awful fans that you've got. Evaporative cooling will drop the temp of the water several degrees below ambient. and you get to use all of that stuff.

X the pelts tho.

If you got the room then you can put the bong outside and build a bigger one. Bigger is better with a water tower.

 

[syukton]

Water isn't the way to go if you want to chill your fluid using peltiers. Use acetone or alcohol.

I don't think you should chill the fluid though, I think you should strap the cold side to the CPU and use the water block to cool the hot side. If you can keep the hot side at ambient with a radiator system you could drop the cold side well below freezing. Put a pair of pelts front to back (hot side facing cold side, so it goes hot, cold, hot, cold) and you'll get a cumulative effect, allowing you to take things significantly below freezing. Use the radiator to dissipate the heat of the peltier, use the peltier to cool the CPU.

If you're dead set on having a reservoir of chilled fluid, then I suggest you switch to acetone or some type of alcohol. Use two reservoirs, one to dissipate heat from the hot side of the pelts and one to contain/sustain the cold fluid. I would suggest getting insulated tubing and insulating all your fluid distribution blocks ("water blocks" -- not applicable if you aren't using water though eh?) instead of having the bare metal exposed, as it's those bare metal surfaces which give way to condensation at sub-ambient temperatures.

 

[Jonsey]

Do you have a link of any kind?

I'm working on my second phase-change unit now. I spent 45 bucks on the compressor, new, off ebay, $20 on the condensor and capillary tube, and $5 on the filter drier. I bought a big tank of R-22 for less than $60 (which should last me through lots of phase-changers), but propane works almost as good. I'll make the evaporator/reservoir out of ABS and coiled copper tube, shouldn't cost more than $20 all together.

Lots of people do it even cheaper. They just go buy an A/C unit for 80 to 100 bucks new, submerge the evaporator in a insulated box or icechest, and they have a chiller that will take them to -20c easy. That's the best way if you don't have the torches and A/C equipment to build your own.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=22968

That should give you some inspiration. It's not that I don't like your idea for the TEC, I just feel like you could get incrediably better results for less with a compressor system.

 

[Quicksilver]

Well everybody is telling me "don't do that, you won't see the kind of gains you're looking for"
and, it's not that I don't believe you guys, I just want to try this and use my gear. I'm thinking I'll need to modify my plans and use two paralell blocks and four TEC's and a lower flow pump.

Water isn't the way to go if you want to chill your fluid using peltiers. Use acetone or alcohol.

and I think I'll try this too.



Part of my reason for doing this also comes from my desire to build an external housing for a watercooler. I can't justify building a big, ugly enclosure for JUST a watercooler, I want a chiller too, even if it's just a room-temp one.

 

[Jonsey]

What's the reason behind using a non-water coolent?

 

[RevelationX]

What's the reason behind using a non-water coolent?

Different evaporation/boiling points.
Stick one hand in water and one in alcohol,now remove them and which one gets cooler faster?..Big chilled water units often use amonia, these are what you find ontop of grocery stores to cool the meat lockers and the dairy chillers



Think how funny that was before I replaced "Big child" with "Big chilled".Still might be spelled wrong but atlest I'm not talking about chilling big childrens units...I'm still trying to unsee that..gaaahhhh!!!..

 

[BigTaf]

four copper/aluminum HS won't be able to dissapate 144W with 150 CFM+?

Theres a good chance it will, but that would only be cooling the heat dissapated from the tecs, so that would get your tecs to ambient room temperature. If you want to get your cpu below ambient room temperature you will either need atleast a 226pelt on the cpu directly and watercooled, or you could opt to put 226watt pelts on the block and then setup a seperate water loop to cool them.

its not that i dont think itd be cool to try, but its a big project so id make damn sure its worth it. BTW I find this is the wrong forum to ask about tecs, they dont seem to be very popular around here.

Unforunatly [H] is one of the more opinionated places and theres some things that just dont fly around here. God bless the [H] though.

 

[|oR|Spetsnaz]

I agree that a compressor based system is a better idea. I really think that a Vapochill system is the way to go tho because they have already figured out all the annoying details like dealing with condensation on and around the CPU.

Hmmm...Somebody should design a kit that lets you buy a certain model window air conditioning unit and convert it into a cheap condensor based cooling sytem for PC's. That would be leet.