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WC condenstaion problems

K

kovermours

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 24, 2003
Messages
287
I've decided my next computer will be water-cooled.

I asked my electronics teacher about it, for some background knowledge. He tried it 2-3 years ago but fried several CPUs due to condensation.

He mentioned that there would have to be sufficient airflow through the case to keep any cold air out - but the number of fans would offset the quiet benefits of WCing.

So...

1. How many fans going in/out in your WC case?
2. Have any condensation prevention deeleys?
3. Is it a problem?
4. Is your rad inside your case?

Any other info on condensation would be very nice...
 
I haven't personally water cooled any systems, so if I'm making any mistakes, someone please point them out :D

From what I've read, condensation isn't a problem, unless you're chilling the cpu to below ambient, such as would happen if you're using a peltier, or refrigeration systems. If you use a water+additive coolant, then you shouldn't experience any condensation.

Fan consideration would always depend on how much air you're trying to move. If you're water cooling your cpu, then you already get rid of a major source of heat, and therefore you reduce the need for airflow. However, other components add to a system's heat, such as the northbridge, and your GPU. Still, you ought to be able to get away with just the PSU fan, and maybe a case fan.

Radiators can be inside the case, or outside it. If you think of a radiator as a sort of heatsink, then you'll realize that having cooler air from outside the case blow over it will increase performance. The easiest way of achieving this is if you mount it outside the case, but that entails modding the case so that you can run the tubing to the outside of the case.

Internal rads usually suffer from one of two drawbacks: they either blow hot air into the case, if you're using a fan to draw outside air into the case, or they have lowered efficiency from using the case's warmer air. I've seen this remedied if you use a system where a fan sucks air in from outside the case, through the radiator, and immediately out the case through the other side, using the case's narrow width.

And, umm.... that's it :). Hope that helps.
 
1. 0
2. no
3. no
4. no

When the computer is off, the water is the same temp as the room. When the computer is on, the water gets hotter. So there is no condensation. Like ^he^ said, you won't get sub-ambient temps with just a basic water/additive system.
 
a regular WC setup will not put out any condinsation unless, like said above, you are using a chiller of some type which drops the water temps below ambient temps. a regular setup will always be warmer than ambiant temps, therefore there will be no condinsation at all. on the other hand, watch for leaks. i bet he fried his gear with leaks.

also i recomend external water cooling setup, for a few reasons.
1: less risk of leaking on gear.
2: better airflow threw rad
3: cooler aim flowing threw rad
4: more room in case for other stuffz
and 5 its easier to work with!


as for your ?'s

1: 2
2: no
3: no
4: no

C
 
1) 3
2) no
3) no
4) yes

Also, sub ambient doesn't quite cut it. Once you go below the dew point is when you have trouble.
 
My system uses an external reservior and radiator. The radiator is an oil cooler which I have mounted inside a window A/C unit. This solves the problem of condensation in that when the AC unit is running, it's lowering the ambient temp of the entire room as well as drying out the air. When it's just the AC's fan running, everything still stays equal. I also have way more than enough airflow through my case to help evaporate any condensation should it ever occur.

1) 4
2) No
3) No
4) No
 
unless ya use pelts or prometia or a [H]efty chiller you wont go below the dew point. thats pretty low, ecpecially in more humid climates.
 
Well, maybe I should clarify then!

I will be using a WC system that goes sub-ambient, either by putting the rad inside a (very very cold) bar fridge or buying it in the ground, several feet down. I haven't decided yet, but I will probably do the ground thing as it requires less work and I won't have to cut up my awesome fridge; it will also cool if my fridge stops working or breaks its seals.

So, sub-ambient = yes, probably 7-12C, depending on where I dig...

And yes, I plan to be totally insane at the time.

(edit) and i don't plan on using a peltier, but hey, who knows.
 
The fridge idea has been discussed in here many times even in the relatively short period of time I have been reading this board :)

Most people seem to agree that it is a bad idea - I can't really guarantee you that I know what I'm talking about, but I've seen wiser people say that using a fridge to cool a rad (or a whole PC) doesn't work for a number of reasons - fridges are not designed to run continuously 24/7 or even to cool things down that are in a constant state of heating up.

You need something designed for the purpose, like a peltier, or one of the other kinds of PC cooling systems out there (etc).

Sticking the equipment underground sounds very interesting though. I wonder how effective that would be. You would of course require a good length of tubing. If you used copper tubes (I've seen one mod that involved a very very long system of copper tubes to serve as passive cooling) I'm not sure how you'd make sure that the copper wouldn't corrode underground but at the same time transfered heat to the ground. I've been told that PVC or similar tubing is an insulator so just sticking plastic in the ground is probably useless.
 
Right, no fridge.

I'll definitely use copper tubing, with a large tank at the bottom. I'd dig a vairly narrow hole down several feet and line it with plastic, then lower the tank + piping down, etc. Seems simple enough.... I doubt it will freeze if I keep a pump on.

Maybe I will go with "normal" cooling, but I really don't like the idea of a ton of 120mm fans blowing all the time...
 
if you are not running your water below ambient air temps then youll have no problems with condensation...none at all

Im running water right now i love it
 
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