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Stupid Idea or Crazy enough to work????

S

Singuy

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 16, 2005
Messages
270
OKay I am thinking about buying
http://www.petrastechshop.com/pecoba.html

Also I am going to buy

http://www.petrastechshop.com/swmcbreref51.html

Okay here is the crazy idea.

I will be having my computer next to a dorm fridge with freezing abilities.

I will first add perhaps 30% anti freeze and 70% water.

Have the radiator submerged in water but not deep enough to hit the fans.
I'll have perhaps the enter reservoir submerged in water using some kind of bucket.

Let both sit overnight.

I will expect the water to freeze but the liquid inside the radiator and reservoir not to(if they freeze, then I'll add more anti-freeze..they are good for -37 C.

So when I turn on the computer, freezing water will be circulating in my computer(or close to) while the ice around the radiator and reservoir melts. The rate of them melting I suspect will be slow because
1 -flow rate is high thanks to this kit
2 -water is still being frozen inside the fridges.
3- radiator has two 120mm fans blowing to give the fridge a windchill factor.

Couple of worries:
1 -tubes will crack due to expansion
2- antifreeze maybe too viscous
3- Radiator may break overtime
4. Condensation on the gpu block?

What do you guys think?

Right now I am running a trial with my piece of junk Kingwin system...seems to be working all right...dropped my temp by 3c...but this is without a fancy radiator(actually the radiator broke so I am using a gpu block..hahaha..without a fan!)
 
You'll be killing thelonger term efficiency of the radiator by freezing it in a block. Initially you'll get a high rate of thermak conduction due to all the ice right on the fins' surface, but once that first layer melts, it'll all be trapped in there by the big block of ice.

What you'd be better off doing is just drilling some holes throught the side of the fridge, putting the radiator and fans in the freezer, and filling the whole thing with MCT-40. But even that's not really the best arrangement.

Also, this idea is not that crazy. You might be better off looking in the extreme cooling section for more info on options, or suggested tweaks. This kind of project is really more their bag anyways.
 
Seems like condensation would be an issue so if you go this route be sure to fully prep the system.
 
danks said:
Seems like condensation would be an issue so if you go this route be sure to fully prep the system.
Click to expand...

QFT.

Condensation is defiitely going to be an issue. There's a lot of other caveats like that, which are why I think it's really best to take this project to the extreme cooling section. There will be a lot more experience to draw on over there.
 
I think I took care of the condensation problem( in my trial anyways).,

I have a pretty powerful cpu fan (72cf) blowing in my computer which seems to dry all the condensation as it forms....maybe this won't fly in the long run..
 
Not sure if i completely understand your idea (skimmed). But ask any chilled liquid/phase guy and they will say fridges arent meant for a 100watt ++ load and will die from it. They are meant to keep stuff cool that generates no heat, and are insulated from their environment, the duty cycle for them is very low.
 
Singuy said:
I think I took care of the condensation problem( in my trial anyways).,

I have a pretty powerful cpu fan (72cf) blowing in my computer which seems to dry all the condensation as it forms....maybe this won't fly in the long run..
Click to expand...

I'd be scared of counting on raw airflow to keep things dry. Remember that the air that fan is blowing is the source of the condensation problem. The colder your waterblock gets, the more likely it is that your fan will actually make the problem worse.

If you live in a very dry place, you can probably get away with that setup for slightly (a couple degrees) sub-ambient cooling, but if you want to go really cold, there won't be a fan big enough to stop the condensation; you'll have to get some insulation and sealant.
 
Too much hassle for not enough benefit. You will want to actually put frozen food in your freezer at the dorm. If you really want to go sub ambient make a proper water chiller.
 
i say go with the two holes in the fridge like mentioned above.

extra foodstamp for doing it red green style.
 
Singuy said:
I think I took care of the condensation problem( in my trial anyways).,

I have a pretty powerful cpu fan (72cf) blowing in my computer which seems to dry all the condensation as it forms....maybe this won't fly in the long run..
Click to expand...


This will increase the condensation rate. Your going to have to deal with condsation by using neoprene. Having a dehumidifier running 24 hours prior wouldn't hear either.
 
reguarding fridge/freezer:

It wouldn't work as well as you think really.. Ever try cooling an object in the freezer that has its own heat source? The heat just keeps coming and coming, and the freezer never gets a chance to cool it down. You may get sub room air temps for your coolant, but not for long.
 
spint3 said:
i say go with the two holes in the fridge like mentioned above.

extra foodstamp for doing it red green style.
Click to expand...

I only suggested it for shits 'n' giggles. If he's got a fridge to trash and nothing better to do for a couple degrees, then have fun. But the more important recommendation I mad ewas go to the extreme cooling section, and start reading/asking questions there.
 
Do you guys have problems with the water being warmer as you run the pump longer? This has been my problem since day one with the kingwin AWC-1.

Will a good quality liquid cooler stop this from happening?
 
Okay the trial is up and running.

So far I am getting 24c idle, 34c load from "ice cooling". Case temp is 36c. My temp before this mod was 41c idle, 58c load, case temp of 40c. Condensation seems to accumulate very little on the tubing 3 inches away from the frigde( going into the comp) but not yet inside the computer.

More mod I am thinking about doing:
Change the 90mm 74cf fan blowing at the motherboard/computer to a 120mm high power 134cf fan. Put a 74cf fan inside the freezer compartment, keeping the ice from melting too fast.

This is a HUGE deal guys..the fact that I can get ambient temp on my CPU is HUGE with the kingwin system. Remember that the pump is like 60lph, and the tubing is like 5/16 ID 1/3 OD. Not to mention that the cpu block is poorly mounted(I believe). AND on top of that, I am not even using a reservoir or a radiator! My "radiator" is pretty much 2ft of tubing and a small GPU block submerged in ice. This is the most beat up water cooling system setup I can think of...and it's still providing ambient cooling!

I'm going to do more mod to the thing to improve it...hopefully to reduce condensation and increase the time before the ice melts.
 
Singuy said:
Okay the trial is up and running.

So far I am getting 24c idle, 34c load from "ice cooling". Case temp is 36c. My temp before this mod was 41c idle, 58c load, case temp of 40c. Condensation seems to accumulate very little on the tubing 3 inches away from the frigde( going into the comp) but not yet inside the computer.

More mod I am thinking about doing:
Change the 90mm 74cf fan blowing at the motherboard/computer to a 120mm high power 134cf fan. Put a 74cf fan inside the freezer compartment, keeping the ice from melting too fast.

This is a HUGE deal guys..the fact that I can get ambient temp on my CPU is HUGE with the kingwin system. Remember that the pump is like 60lph, and the tubing is like 5/16 ID 1/3 OD. Not to mention that the cpu block is poorly mounted(I believe). AND on top of that, I am not even using a reservoir or a radiator! My "radiator" is pretty much 2ft of tubing and a small GPU block submerged in ice. This is the most beat up water cooling system setup I can think of...and it's still providing ambient cooling!

I'm going to do more mod to the thing to improve it...hopefully to reduce condensation and increase the time before the ice melts.
Click to expand...

I'm actually kind of surprised it's working as well as it is. If the radiator is encased in ice, then the ice will melt near the radiators fins but stay trapped within the block of ice. As we all know, convection only works if the fluid is mobile, otherwise it's actually conduction that happens.

I think you'd probably have better results if you just had ice-cold water passing through the fins rather than trapping the whole radiator in ice. I know some fans are advertised as being submersible - maybe you should get some of those and attach them to the rad normally, and see if you can get some waterflow through the rad that way.

EDIT: I just re-read your post. If you're using a waterblock as your 'radiator' then my idea changes somewhat. Still, circulating the cold water around the block will probably help.

Then again I am just speaking from what I know of heat transfer, not actual experience.

As for preventing condensation you should really wrap your tubing in insulating foam. Having better airflow will help, but insulation will help more.
 
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