How's this for an $8 super cooler?

B

Badger_sly

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 20, 2002
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compAC45small.JPG

AC unit was already there, just had to spend about $8 for the dryer ducting, zipties and velcro.

compAC47small.JPG

Ducting velcroed to AC vent to allow 50% air in the room and 50% into the case, or can be removed/reinstalled quickly. 120mm fan on side of inside of case helps pull the air in. Remote controlled: fan or cool, temp adjustments, fanspeed, 24 hr. timer. High/Medium/Low settings, with low being very quiet (can't hear during music or gaming).
 
How are you controlling the condensation and humidity levels inside the case?
 
Im not sure about this but isnt the air the ac produces dry air ?
 
Shane said:
Im not sure about this but isnt the air the ac produces dry air ?
Click to expand...


Yes, fairly dry. And condensation could only occur on the outside of the case, where warmer, more humid air would ocntacty a cooler surface.
 
looks good but i will say if you end up having to do this, i think you may need to really think about water cooling
 
w/ a good hsf, this prob does better than most WC units. now just emagin a bong w/ that piping right into the fan... low, thated be like 20-25 below room :eek: :cool:
 
Where do you live? What happens when you overclock to the point you need that setup, and then it gets all cold in the winter and you can't run the AC without getting a severe case of bronchitis? (provided you have seasons there, i.e. anywhere other than San Diego...)

Slick idea though. :)
 
If you are worried about the air being dry, maybe try this: put a couple "gates" in the ducting. A wire screen that doesnt restrict airflow would work fine. There are these rocks of chemical crystals you can buy at general stores that absorb any moisture. They are around the size of fish tank gravel.... just put some of that stuff before each "gate" and it will dry out the air even more
 
Just dl Speedfan or Motherboard Monitor 5. Both are good. Please, whatever you do give the temps. It sound like you have a world class cooling system.
 
I can't believe I'm going to be the first to suggest the reason he has not replied yet is indeed due to the condensation effect :)

BZZZZZT.

I hope not though :)
 
Baddreams said:
I can't believe I'm going to be the first to suggest the reason he has not replied yet is indeed due to the condensation effect :)

BZZZZZT.

I hope not though :)
Click to expand...


LOL, no, not quite. Everything is running fine since I set it up a couple of weeks ago.

The only condensation there is, is when I have it set on High (from High Medium or Low) and the temp turned all the way down to 60, and then the condensation is only on the flat metal part that attaches to the AC, after about 30 minutes. As such, the outside of the case was so cold, it hurt to hold my bare hand on it. I only ran it like that once, when I first hooked it all up, so usually when it's running on Low with the temp at 65-68 there is no condensation, and the case is just comfortable cold (about equal to a can that just came out of a soda machine).

I did it simply because I was bored, saw my computer sitting close to the AC unit anyway, and thought "hmmm, I wonder......"

The computer is in a semi small room (14 x 16) which is on the second floor of a 2 story house, so it gets pretty warm from May to October. Usually during this time, my video card (BFG 5900nu OCed @ 5950) sits around 52 celcius at idle, and would get up to low 70's in the heat of fighting in Battle Field Vietnam. As for temps, it drops everything (board, memory, cpu, & PS) quite a bit, depending on how low I set the temp and fan speed on the AC. The one time I blasted the cold for 30 minutes, my video card at idle kept dropping, and dropping, and dropping, down to 23 celcius, while my then 1.6A @ 2.2 was down to 78 F, and the PS at 58 F. Right now I don't remember what the PS was at under load, while blasting the cold, but my cpu sat at around 90 F, and my video card didn't go above 45 celcius.

Normally, now, with the AC running on Low and the temp set to 68, my video card idles about 38 celcius, and gets to high 50's under load, while my cpu is around 92 F and 104. The memory stick I don't know for sure, but it's cold to the touch. As for cost, it's roughly $5 - $8 more a month, with that AC unit running on low about 20-25 hours a week.

I already have the modification figured out for winter time. Before then, I'll put a "Y" splitter piece of metal ducting inline between the AC and computer, with the extra opening on the "Y" going through a short run of the flexable dryer ducting to another flat metal piece (like that on the AC now), which I'll attach to the fold-out accordian on the side of the AC unit. That will have access to fresh air from outside (there's normally a fine mesh grid on the flat metal part to keep things out), and the 120mm fan mounted in the case will pull the air in. I'll also make the flat metal piece, that now covers half of the AC's outlet vent, cover the whole vent. Then, on the "Y" piece, the section leading to the outside air, I'll put in a wingnut turning valve, so I can turn the valve closed. That way, I could choose between AC air, or outside cold air.

Current system is Epox 4PDA2+ rev.2 P4 2.8C OCZ pc3200 rev.2 (whole thing not tweaked to top OC yet).

*(sorry for long post)
 
Shane said:
Im not sure about this but isnt the air the ac produces dry air ?
Click to expand...

Correct. That's why it's an air "conditioner", because it conditions the air by removing the humidity. The humidity collects inside the AC unit and drains outside.
 
I don't and won't know, as I wouldn't put water in my case. I'll stick to really cold air.
 
Badger_sly said:
Correct. That's why it's an air "conditioner", because it conditions the air by removing the humidity. The humidity collects inside the AC unit and drains outside.
Click to expand...


I doubt it. It's called an air conditioner because it cools the air. Not because it removed humidity. The drainage you see is from humidity in the atmosphere condensing on the unit itself. If this were the case, no one would ever need coasters in their house because all the air would be "dry".


You know what would be bad ass. Build a complete A/C circuit with the pc in the middle. Picture it, the intake pulls the warm air out of the case, cools it, and then injects it back in. The only way to really make this work would be to wire the thermal probe for the A/C to the inside of the case so you could adjust the temp of the case with a turn of the dial on the A/C.
 
blackrino9 said:
You know what would be bad ass. Build a complete A/C circuit with the pc in the middle. Picture it, the intake pulls the warm air out of the case, cools it, and then injects it back in. The only way to really make this work would be to wire the thermal probe for the A/C to the inside of the case so you could adjust the temp of the case with a turn of the dial on the A/C.
Click to expand...

That might be a good idea, just put a dryer pipe from the other sidepanel going to the intake on tha A/C and just cool the cold air. and maybe add some fans to keep the air moving an just seal off the case to the outside. Kinda reminds me of This only cheaper.
 
blackrino9 said:
I doubt it. It's called an air conditioner because it cools the air. Not because it removed humidity. The drainage you see is from humidity in the atmosphere condensing on the unit itself. If this were the case, no one would ever need coasters in their house because all the air would be "dry".


You know what would be bad ass. Build a complete A/C circuit with the pc in the middle. Picture it, the intake pulls the warm air out of the case, cools it, and then injects it back in. The only way to really make this work would be to wire the thermal probe for the A/C to the inside of the case so you could adjust the temp of the case with a turn of the dial on the A/C.
Click to expand...

You guys are a bunch of nut bags... in a good way though.. yeah that sounds pretty good actually.. why don't you just stick your computer in an icebox?? :) :D
 
blackrino9 said:
I doubt it. It's called an air conditioner because it cools the air. Not because it removed humidity. The drainage you see is from humidity in the atmosphere condensing on the unit itself. If this were the case, no one would ever need coasters in their house because all the air would be "dry".
................
Click to expand...

No. Air conditioners cool the air, yes, but they also remove humidity, or moisture from the inside air. That moisture condenses inside the AC unit, and drains out. That is why when you install a window AC unit, it must be mounted on a window sill a specific way, with the outside end tilted slightly down, so the water will run out. I've installed a few myself, and the manuals always point this out as very important.

Here's a blurp from a Trane AC manual:

"How to help reduce summer humidity.

In summer, your air conditioner does
more than cool the air — it helps
remove the excess moisture, that can
make the inside of your home feel muggy."

http://www.trane.com/Residential/Downloads/Manuals/AirConditioners/xl16iAir.pdf

***************************
The only way to really make this work would be to wire the thermal probe for the A/C to the inside of the case so you could adjust the temp of the case with a turn of the dial on the A/C.
Click to expand...
^^ I thought about the thermal probe on my AC also. When I got the AC new back in May, I have to half take it apart (as per the instructions) to pull out packing foam that was inside. I saw the thermal probe on the front, just behind the big intake grill. Now, I think I could pull the 4 inches of wire that runs to the end of the probe outside the front of the AC, then splice some 2 foot wire extensions onto it, so the probe could be mounted inside my PC case. That way it would turn itself off and on as needed based on how much heat my components are putting off.
 
Badger_sly said:
No. Air conditioners cool the air, yes, but they also remove humidity, or moisture from the inside air. That moisture condenses inside the AC unit, and drains out. That is why when you install a window AC unit, it must be mounted on a window sill a specific way, with the outside end tilted slightly down, so the water will run out.
Click to expand...

Most of the time the fan picks up the water and flings it into the condensor to help cool it.
 
If you've ever been in a heavily AC'd house, it's quite easy to get dry skin. As has happened to me this summer since I have free AC. lol. It does remove a considerable amount of moisture from the air.
 
my lips were all blistered and my hands were all scaily when i woke up from a 5hr flight with heavy a/c.
 
i have a window ac unit in my room and i have to keep the door open becasue if i close it my bed becomes a huge sponge for humidity
 
If the duct is blowing just into the side of the case, the whole inside of the case should be approximately the same temperature, and therefore there should be no condensation on the inside. Probably will be some on teh outside tho..
 
man that is a great idea! if you use it in conjunction with chilled watercooling you could really cut down on condensation problems
 
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