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WC rad in a mini fridge

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Postal Dude

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 15, 2005
Messages
428
Have had a kinda funky idea to put the rad for my wc system in a mini fridge. I would drill 2 holes in the front and silicon seal it, or put some rubber gromits in to form a decent seal. The fridges im looking at can cool to 20C below ambient. So being as it doesnt go much over 20C in the uk in the peak of summer. Thats 0C average. With water flowing thru my wc system and constantly being heated and cooled. Im guessing the coolant temp wont go so low as to start condensing. But enough to drag my temps down a smidge. The fridge im looking at is like £18 including delivery. Thats what? $30 or sumthin. Is this worth it to get a few more Mhz out of my A64? currently idles at about 25C with maximum fan speed, 29C on lowest setting. Idea's, suggestions welcome.
 
then you would kill your computer in pretty short order if you stuck your rad in there.

do you have a plan B?
 
why would i kill my computer? Would the fact it only dissipates 48W of heat mean that putting 80W of heat in it, would warm it up and turn it into an oven? hmmm i never thought of it like that... what rating of fridge would be ideal? 100W or somethin?
 
just recieved this message on another thread.
My recommendation would be to place the radiator just outside the mini fridge(to remove as much heat as possible) and use the fridge as a giant reservoir to cool the water. You would have to make your own leak proof container to fit inside the fridge, but I believe that would be the best option.
What dya think DFI Daishi
 
Postal Dude said:
why would i kill my computer? Would the fact it only dissipates 48W of heat mean that putting 80W of heat in it, would warm it up and turn it into an oven? hmmm i never thought of it like that... what rating of fridge would be ideal? 100W or somethin?
Click to expand...
yeah, the fridge is an insulated box. if you dump more heat into it than it can pump out, the balance of the heat goes towards heating up the air inside of the fridge.

for the wattage of the pelt: remember that it only pumps that wattage when the temperature difference across the two sides is zero. in other words, that 100 watt pelt can only pump a hundred watts when both the hot side and the cold side are at 20C.

to get things usefully cool, you want a pelt with almost double the wattage of what you are trying to cool., so that if can pump all of the heat and still maintain a temperature difference across the two sides.

i think that the big water has a relatively low rate of flow, so you might be able to make what you are proposing work.......it wouldn't give you a whole lot of gain, though.

rather than using those whole mini friges, you might want to see what you can find at electronic supply stores, army surplus stores etc in terms of bare peltier modules. use some old heatsinks on the hot sides and see what you can do on a shoestring budget.
 
The shoe string budget is exactly what i am working with. i can get UBER high power tec's for VERY cheap from suppliers over here. Not bothered how my system looks, im not afraid of being the ghetto king. PC dont really need to be cooler either. runs fine as it is. More a case of i wanna play around and work my way upto phaze change ;)
i can get this..

Massive 62 x 62mm Peltier Element
Size 62 x 62 x 3.8mm
Technical Data
Used as a Peltier element for cooling/heating:
Maximum cold performance 270W
Maximum temperature difference 67*
Maximum output 15V
Maximum current 30A
Maximum working temperature (constant) 125* (peak 175)
Resistance 0.27 Ohms.

for £27, they also have heat sinks and the like for removing heat. and cold plates.

How would i mod a res to incorporate this?
 
you make a res with at least one side made of metal and all others insulated. you mount the pelt with the cold side pressed against the metal wall of the res, on the outside, and you do "something" to get rid of the heat on the hot side.

two big problems:
1) powering the peltier module.
2) getting rid of something like 250 watts of heat, from the processor and the peltier together.

for the cheapness factor, i think that you might be better getting a few lower powered pelts, and a used computer powersupply to run each of them. you would have to re-wire the supplies a touch, but it shouldn't be too bad. that way, you could build a decently powerfull chiller for a reasonable price. a big aluminium heatsink and fan might be enough for each 80 watt pelt.

using a cold plate and watercooling loop would likely perform better, but then you are back with a single high-powered pelt and an expensive industrial 12V PSU to feed the pelt, a bigger rad, bigger pump, custom or rare waterblock and so on.

i have other ideas, but i really don't know enough about how handy you are and what kinds of tools you have access to.

edit: kind of like having a bunch of these mounted with the cold sides pressed against a metal res. http://www.bigfootcomputers.com/Mer...en=PROD&Product_Code=1360&Category_Code=510.6
 
I have a secondary 460W PSU with 30A on the 12V rail. Not using it on my system because the power isnt very clean so not for use with sensitive equipment. But powering a Pelt will be fiiiinnneee. Found an anodized aluminium aqua computer rez. Looks pretty smart. still... thats deviating from my ghetto budget. You kno anywhere to get a half decent rez with at least one metal side?
Not got a vast access to tools, but am quite competent. Jus not the time or money to fabricate my own stuff.
Think i will start with getting the new res and installing it into loop. Then it can be modded afterwards.
 
i still reccomend multiple eighty watt pelts for hotside cooling reasons. much higher output than that, and you pretty much have to watercool the hotsides.

i mean, if you are willing to get a pair of chunks of aluminium and use a drill and tap to make a pair of blocks (one for the hot side and one for the cold) then you would be golden with that high powered pelt. maybe do a waterbong piped out of the window to keep the hot side cool, in that case.

for a res, maybe use a cheap aluminium pot, hammer one area relatively flat for the pelt to press against, and pipe into and out of holes in the lid. attach some insulation to the areas of the pot that are not being used for the pelt and off you go. just make sure that you are using an anti-corrosive coolant additive.
 
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