Fridge Case

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NeoNemesis

2[H]4U
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Mar 10, 2004
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I just had a great idea for a pc... I'm gonna build it inside of a fridge. It will probably suck up power like nobodies buisness but it will be a fun project for this summer.
 
Well, I've never done it and it will give me something to do on my spare time.

Edit: I could put a keg inside with a beertap to increase the originality. Better yet, I can use the beer as cooling when its not being drank. Of course then I would have to run it through the freezer so it would get cold again.
 
I hope you're kidding... no regular computer will ever function inside of a stock working refrigirator. The water vapors will kill everything.

Now, if the fridge isn't working... then you'll be fine.
 
Inside older fridges maybe, but I thought that newer fridges had minimal vapour at worst, certainly not enough to harm a computer. Well if I can't do that then I could run some piping through the freezer and liquid cool the pc. Please get back to me on this.
 
Just keep in mind a fridge isn't meant to remove heat 24/7. It keeps things cold, but they don't produce heat. I have a deepfreeze in the basement, and if the power fails, it can keep food frozen for 3 days without kicking on. To remove the heat from a processor (or other parts of a computer), the fridge will have to run 24/7 instead of kicking on every few hours for a minute or two. Fridges are NOT designed to do this, and will probably die pretty fast (not to mention use tons of power).

Now, if you want phase change cooling, think about ripping an old window airconditioner apart and using it to chill water pumped to your CPU. That's the way to go :D
 
Moisture will condense on the coolest things around it.

So all the hot/warm PC parts (in theory) would not get condensation on them.

The cooling coils should condense almost all the moisture out of the air in the freezer compartment, the moisture will turn to frost on the coils.

You would want to make sure that no moisture could drip onto the components (say if hot air from the processor melted some of the frost off a coil), and that the components cannot end up in a puddle of frost.

I think the trick would be to get the freezer compartment completely clean and dry, put a window in the door (double-pane?) then close it all up and power on the and freezer at the same time. Maybe toss in a big old pack of "do not eat" :) in there before powering up the system.

As far as the freezer being able to keep up, I bet it would have a good chance. Look at the size of the condensor and compressor on a VapoChill and compare them to a standard freezer.

All that being said, I would only attempt it with expendable components (both PC and freezer).

And use a GFI outlet ;)
 
Originally posted by Slonik
I hope you're kidding... no regular computer will ever function inside of a stock working refrigirator. The water vapors will kill everything.

Now, if the fridge isn't working... then you'll be fine.
Click to expand...


Says who, I seen it done before and they had no problems.
 
Heres a plan.

Find a way to disable the fridge part of the freezer/fridge combo. Then, build your PC inside the fridge. Then watercool the system, but drill a hole through from fridge to freezer, and keep the radiator and possibly pump / resevoir in the freezer.
 
Allot fridges already have a vent from the freezer to the fridge(how do you think the fridge stays cold?). Just remove all the crap that regulates it and run some hoses threw it and seal it so no cold air will flow into the fridge and it could work extremly well :)
 
I'd just let the cold air stay around the computer. Keep in mind that if you keep the area with the computer warmer than the liquid being pumped into the waterblock, you WILL have condensation. You'll have to insulate all of the tubing and probably your waterblocks too. I'd just leave it as is, and do as one guy guy said, load the thing up with those packs of "do not eat" :p
 
There are many less expensive, less time intensive alternatives to this idea that will be smaller and look better. IMO its not worth messing up a fridge for this.
 
Originally posted by Slonik
I hope you're kidding... no regular computer will ever function inside of a stock working refrigirator. The water vapors will kill everything.

Now, if the fridge isn't working... then you'll be fine.
Click to expand...

failure.

all you have to do is insulate everything and youre fine.
 
WAIT A MINUTE

I was just thinking..

condensation happens when you put something COLD in a HOT HUMID enviroment, but if you have something HOT in a COLD DRY enviroment, NOTHING HAPPENS! so why is this a problem, again? its a problem with TECs because, cold element in hot enviroment...
 
Originally posted by kronchev
WAIT A MINUTE

I was just thinking..

condensation happens when you put something COLD in a HOT HUMID enviroment, but if you have something HOT in a COLD DRY enviroment, NOTHING HAPPENS! so why is this a problem, again? its a problem with TECs because, cold element in hot enviroment...
Click to expand...

DING! DING! Exactly.

Now, going on this......it makes me wonder why anyone (a la posted article) would want to do liquid cooling. They weren't OC'ing the comp considerably.....why not just go with a nice HSF? a chilly 35-40 deg F breeze on the CPU would be more than sufficient, would it not?

*waits for the extremists to flame*
 
Originally posted by royjr
DING! DING! Exactly.

Now, going on this......it makes me wonder why anyone (a la posted article) would want to do liquid cooling. They weren't OC'ing the comp considerably.....why not just go with a nice HSF? a chilly 35-40 deg F breeze on the CPU would be more than sufficient, would it not?

*waits for the extremists to flame*
Click to expand...

well hell. a nice fridge thatd fit a comp AND a 6 pack is probabily cheaper than a good WC system. i just might have to do this :D
 
another option is to submerge the computer in an oil (nonconductive) and place that in a fridge. the oil absorbes the heat and thge fridge cools the oil. water may condense on the oil, but it will not penetrate.
 
How unpractical! The oil will leak out. The best thing is to buy a small freezer, and tear that apart, using the freon coils to cool your CPU. Of course it will be blow-your-head off loud, since you have a compressor working. And it will be way overkill in terms of cooling.
 
Psyker wrote: . . . another option is to submerge the computer in an oil . . .

Might have trouble with the oil attacking some parts . . . and the HDD? Eeek:)

Now if you want to submerge, fluorinert is the ticket ;)

I think if everything was inside the cold area except the floppy, cdrom and power supply it would work OK. Just watch for "defrost" drips and puddles, and make sure every thing is sealed and put in a big of bag of dessicant . . . . stand back and plug it in.

I agree that water cooling is no benefit though . . . just set the fridge to "extra cold" and use a good HSF.
 
The fridge idea has 2 main problems. 1 the fridge isnt designed to remove as much heat as a computer produces. Second is condensation.

We'll solve the condensation issue first. 1, Seal up the inside, this means making sure the stock seal is perfect, then cover it in duct tape to be sure. But first you need to run some wires, You'll need just 3, Power Supply, Monitor, USB(USB can handle almost all your peripherals). Make sure these are sealed tight. Now that no new air(with moisture) can enter the fridge we need to get rid of the moisture already in there. Cover the bottom of the fridge in silica beads, they will suck up the moisture from the air inside. Let it the fridge sit sealed up for a few days. Start her up and there should be no condensation.

Refridgerators normally function for only a few minutes at a time, and even then they dont remove alot of heat from the inside. Even if it could run continuously it may not be able to handle the heat load. Then instead of the outside insulation keeping your pc cool, it just holds in the heat. So tear out the stock condensor and replace it with something beefier, maybe from a AC unit, thats designed to move alot of heat continuously.

Even though its possible to do its not very easy. Now if you want to make a fridge PC start from scratch. Build a well insulated well selaed case. Get yourself a monster of an AC unit. Mount a vaporizer(similar to a WB) on your CPU, GPU, NB whatever you want to cool. Now insulate the AC tubes. Do the same silica gel bead thing inside your custom fridge. Now if you did this right the AC unit will not only pull heat away from the hotspots you directly cooled but teh entire system. Cost of project...Rediculous.
 
computer in a fridge = nerd pipe dream. not only will your computer overheat, but you'll also kill a perfectly good refrigerator. and last time i checked oranges didn't dissipate 200+ watts of heat.
 
people seem to fail to recognize ITS BEEN DONE BEFORE AND IT WORKED PRETTY WELL
 
Originally posted by DRJ1014
lets just say no to the fridge idea
Click to expand...

Sorry, chief. I cannot do that. Afterall,.....I have the exact same mini-fridge as in the posted article.



Wal-Mart rox! :p
 
Originally posted by crystalfontz
Psyker wrote: . . . another option is to submerge the computer in an oil . . .

Might have trouble with the oil attacking some parts . . . and the HDD? Eeek:)

Now if you want to submerge, fluorinert is the ticket ;)

I think if everything was inside the cold area except the floppy, cdrom and power supply it would work OK. Just watch for "defrost" drips and puddles, and make sure every thing is sealed and put in a big of bag of dessicant . . . . stand back and plug it in.

I agree that water cooling is no benefit though . . . just set the fridge to "extra cold" and use a good HSF.
Click to expand...

people have done it, as you said the concern is the harddrive, the solution was to either seal it completly in wax, or to just have the harddrive out of the vat
 
While it's true a fridge isn't meant to cool something thats constantly generating heat, it may still provide a considerably cooler than ambient effect and provide very good cooling for the components in the computer. The freezer may no longer freeze but it would provide colder air for the computer.
 
Originally posted by Psyker
another option is to submerge the computer in an oil (nonconductive) and place that in a fridge. the oil absorbes the heat and thge fridge cools the oil. water may condense on the oil, but it will not penetrate.
Click to expand...

ok, probably unlikely.. but there's a major flaw in this.

water will sink in oil..... please guys we've had this problem many times on this forum. People claiming a 55 gallon fish tank full of oil will fall through the floor..

Ok, I'm not saying condensation will hurt anything. but it seems he implied that water would condense and float on the oil.
 
Most of the people who have tried submersion have longer standoffs to hold the parts off the bottom. This would allow water to gather at the bottom and not short anything. I'm guessing water would actually stay at the top for the most part.

Oil has pretty high surface tension. A small drop of water wouldn't necessarily sink. As the hot water eventually rose it would heat the water and evaperate it.

Well actually, it would depeend on how fast water collected on the surface that would determine if it would sink or not.
 
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