Project: Air conditioned case

[jctusmc03]

First of all, I'm probably not going to start this for several months as I need to get some money saved up to pay for the materials, I'm still toying around in the planning stages with different ideas, and I’m trying to do a little research into different things as well.

I want to have my full plan laid out and thought up before I start so I don’t end up with an ugly POS that wasn’t worth the time, energy, and money I put into it. I’m not ghetto, and don’t want my final product to look or work that way either.

I'm going to go ahead and post what I plan to do in here so I can get some feedback and maybe even some better ideas I’d like to add into the final plan as well. This way I'll have sort of a guide for myself, and maybe even others to follow if they want to attempt this in the future.

I'll eventually add in pictures, performance tests, and other things like that as well. Maybe even further improvements to the design as time goes on.

Idea: I want to build a custom case with an air conditioner hooked directly onto it to cool my components much better than water cooling or fans alone could do.

As far as condensation I don't think that will happen and as the actual AC unit will be on the bottom I'm not really worried about it. However I'm open to ideas to make sure I don't fry all of my hardware. Maybe I can dehumidify the air somehow or should just look for a small AC unit that automagically does this?

I'm eyeing this air conditioner currently as it's cheap, not super heavy, and also small. I do however plan to disassemble whatever unit I finally end up getting once I receive it and I make sure it works for a week or so.

Size, noise, and performance are all very important to me in this project. I want it to have been worth it, not huge, not annoying, and something that was actually worth my time. I’d like it to be easy on the eyes and not fry all of my hardware as well because those are usually good ideas also.

I want to have the air conditioning unit under the final product blowing cold air up into the case because as some of us know, heat rises. I plan to have at least one or two small fan’s on the top to allow heat to escape and the air to circulate. But, I’d like the rest of it to be pretty closed up otherwise to allow it to work better and so I don't have to worry about blowing cold air all over myself when I'm on the computer having to wear a parka and face mask or something. I doubt I’ll really have to have the air conditioner on high as it will just be being used to cool one case, however jacking it up for overclocking fun could be cool also.

I’m probably going to find an old Lian Li or something on eBay and butcher it to allow the AC components to fit inside. Although, I may just be using my current case and buying a new one as I’m out of hard drive space in this one anyways. Either way, I’m going to have to modify at least two cases and an air conditioning unit during the time this project is going on.

In the end I'd like a total package, case with my components included, to be not a whole lot larger than a regular computer case. Maybe just double the size or so if everything works out the way I want it to. I want it to be quiet, and to look like it belongs or is just a normal set up. I’d also like the air conditioner component to be removable from the regular case so it’s easier to transport if I need to go mobile with it in the future as I’ll be moving, etc.

I plan to keep my H50 for CPU cooling probably although when I finally end up upgrading to something newer and better in the future I may end up getting a H100 or something along those lines. The radiator will either be moved to directly over the incoming cold air, or on the top of the case where the exhaust ports will be, I haven't decided for sure on this yet.

Input?

Ideas?

Questions?

Concerns?

Go!

 

[sortableturnip]

To prevent condensation you would need to make the case airtight and use a NEMA 12 type enclosure cooler IIRC.

 

[crazzyxjoex]

My opinion is that an air conditioning will not be as effective alone than say a water cooling unit, yes the environment will be cooler but the components will make the air conditioner work harder in order to equalize the temperature and you will begin to have a steadily warmer unit, it may be good in the short run but i believe the air conditioning alone wont last if you plan to run your computer for an extended period of time with overclocking. Plus imagine the amount of energy you will consume! it is a great idea to have the air cooler than usual, but if you wanted to go all out why not try making a phase changing cooler? that would by far be more effective as you can literally have your computer running below zero and would probably run the same amount of energy.

 

[tunatime]

Frist a 6kbtu system would have no keeping a case at 60f
i ues an 8kbtu window unit for my chiller and i used to run a 955be at 4.2ghz and 2 4870 and the water temperature would hold —15f full load and whit a 6k btu system I would thinkou could get your air down to about 45f before you have to worry about your coil freezing soild.

As for condsetion you shouldn't get any inside the case but you will get some on the outside

Now its going to be noisy if you go whit a window uint if you want it to be quite get a mini splitshoot system it will have to be installed by a professional ac man though and will cost you about $1000 installed but will last a lot longer and be super quite as the compreser is outside and all you have inside is a litle air handler.

What kind of case temps are you trying to get btw? If you want more then 60 your going to have get new controls for what ever ac you get

And lose all case fans and just try to have the case as air tight as you can get it as to keep the RH down

 

[jctusmc03]

I'm wanting to keep the temperature around 50 inside the case.

 

[jctusmc03]

Would somehow submerging the components inside a 99% alcohol cooled mixture work out better? I would just have to find out how to make some tubes that circulated the alcohol over the cooling area of the air conditioner.