Mineral Oil Submersion

[firewolf]

I basically want to redo this project by pudget systems.

http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php

The tank they use seems perfect for the job and I think I'll order that. I want to do this project as cheaply as possible so I need some advice. I think I can find mineral oil for about $40 for 6 gallons at walgreens. Also, I have this system which eats more power than what they used.

Q6600 @ 2.9GHz @ 1.15V (yeah, 1.15)
4GB ram
Asus P5K-E
4850 @ 690/1140

My graphics card eats up exactly twice as much power, the processor is probably about 1.5X. They had the same tank and without any radiator it got up to 85C after 12 hours of full load, I turn my computer off every night but I'm not sure if it would get hotter or not. Currently my processor sits at 60C load and is stable, I wouldn't be ok with 80 but I'm wondering how long it would take to heat up that much or if it would get to 100C because I have more heat in the same amount of liquid. Less than their 12 I'm sure. I don't think I ever game for more than a couple hours straight but I do use it a lot for movies and web browsing. It would always have the night to cool though.

I might get a pump and radiator but I would need those as cheap as possible and I'm not sure where I would put them so it could still look professional.

The only other problem I have is the motherboard tray. I want to use the tray from my current case. It's a simple gray panel as large as an ATX motherboard. I'd like to paint it black and somehow mount that to the side of the tank at the right height (some kind of adhesive? waterproof of course.) I need all the I/O ports to just pop out of the oil under the lid. I have a wireless mouse and keyboard but I do use USB ports often so those need to be accessible.

I'd rather not buy and cut up an acrylic panel like they did but I'm not sure how I could mount the motherboard to the side.

 

[Michael Daly]

In lieu of a radiator, you could try pumping the mineral oil over a shallow-sloped pan - collect the oil at the bottom of the slope and pump it back into the tank. If the pan is attached at the level just below the level of the I/O ports, pumping the oil back in will cause a bit of oil to overflow onto the pan. If you pump the oil into the bottom of the tank, the hottest oil at the top of the tank will flow down the pan. With enough area, the thin oil running over the surface will lose heat quickly. As long as the temps don't cause the oil to evaporate and the oil doesn't get too dirty being exposed, you should be fine. When I say shallow slope, I mean just enough to get the oil to flow. You'd need a really low-flow pump.

It would be interesting to see just how effective this sort of radiator would be compared to a fancy finned-tube arrangement.

 

[firewolf]

The description for that pan is a lot more complicated than it should be, haha. I don't think I'll be able to buy a pump though...they did use that bubble maker and it lowered temps by 4C, I think I'll have two of those and see what happens.

So, I was looking at my old motherboard and I had an idea.

Instead of the acrylic sheet they put, I'll run a thin bar across the top of the tank (still under the lid) and simply tie wires through the mounting holes on the motherboard and to this bar. It'll dangle in the oil. I'll make a stand on the bottom of the tank and clamp the edge of the PCB to it so it won't sway or move at all so it should work. I won't even need a motherboard tray at all.

If I do a well enough job, it should be very sturdy, but if it isn't there's all of a half an inch drop through viscous oil to the bottom, nothing bad could happen.