New chiller setup

[Mustanley]

I decided to work with this water fountain chiller I found ($FREE:D) which you can see in this thread (http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=231131). I've got two 1/4" copper pipes feeding the cpu 8C water and a single 3/8" return line to the res. I have not modified the chiller unit at all because I wanted to see what it would accomplish in stock form. The flow rate is pretty bad, but the water temp seems to help make up for the reduced flow rate. Before temps from my bong cooling tower (measured with internal cpu diode) were 38C under load. Now with the chilled water I'm seeing 24C under load. I was only able to test for an hour or so becuase I forgot to pick up pipe insulation and started getting a great deal of condensation.
I'll try to post a pic or two of the ghetto fab job I did on this thing to make it work.

Here's it is before connecting to my computer.

http://virginstudent.com/fileserver/upload/237/732/959/cooler1.jpg

[n3xu5]

how cold does the water temps get? shouldnt a water chiller get your temp under load around 15-20C?

[Mustanley]

Water temp is about 8C. Actually that is the temp I measured from one of the brass fittings, so it should be pretty close.

[n3xu5]

pretty nice for a free water chiller :D good job!

[Mustanley]

Here are more pics. These first two were taken during testing before I insulated the lines. Check out all the hose clamps. I was a little suprised after all was said and done when I counted 12 hose clamps in all being used.

http://virginstudent.com/fileserver/upload/876/676/442/cooler_no_insul1.jpg

http://virginstudent.com/fileserver/upload/023/319/962/cooler_noinsul2.jpg

Here I have insulated everything. Seems to be running great.

http://virginstudent.com/fileserver/upload/657/724/887/cooler7.jpg

http://virginstudent.com/fileserver/upload/992/216/988/cooler8.jpg

[vonkaar]

You are a freak. In a good way, of course =p.

That's a very sweet setup, especially considering it was free. You should be able to get some crazy overclocks with that.

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Is that 6C with the system on or off? Also are you going to insulate the top of the block?

[Mustanley]

The water fluctuates between about 6.5 and 8.5C. Once it hits 8.5 or so the, compressor kicks in for about 45 seconds and cools it back down. This cycles about every 3 minutes.
Right now I have no plans to insulate the top of the block. It's really thick acrylic and I'm not getting any condensation thus far.

I've been toying with the idea of pulling out the temp sensor tube so that the compressor will continue running and seeing how cold the fluid will get. I need to add antifreeze first.

[unreal]

lool nice thing to recieve and test for free..

[Surreal]

nice work.... time for a custom case!

[Mustanley]

Originally posted by Surreal
nice work.... time for a custom case!

I'm thinking about making a table out of it. I've still got the side panels, just need to reattach them and then find a suitable top.

[vonkaar]

For some reason, I'm picturing one of those old Mrs Pac-Man table arcades...

[lclark2074]

Originally posted by Mustanley
The water fluctuates between about 6.5 and 8.5C. Once it hits 8.5 or so the, compressor kicks in for about 45 seconds and cools it back down. This cycles about every 3 minutes.
Right now I have no plans to insulate the top of the block. It's really thick acrylic and I'm not getting any condensation thus far.

I've been toying with the idea of pulling out the temp sensor tube so that the compressor will continue running and seeing how cold the fluid will get. I need to add antifreeze first.
just jumper it out so the compressor will run all the time and put antefreze in about 20% AND WATCH THE TEMPS!!! :)

[nunez1980]

nice work:D

[dr_anthony]

i have something similar to your chiller, but i don't know where to splice the copper so i can feed my water into it. Can i just pick anyone i want, or is there a particular one to cut?

[ToolBox]

Looks good, your lucky you got one for free. Good jobs on the chiller btw, good temps. Lenghten the cap tube for better temps though...

[Mustanley]

Originally posted by dr_anthony
i have something similar to your chiller, but i don't know where to splice the copper so i can feed my water into it. Can i just pick anyone i want, or is there a particular one to cut?

I didn't cut into it. I picked up some flare adapters from Lowes and used the existing fittings.

[lclark2074]

have you though about clening up the water cooler case making it look cleaner

[skinart]

Looks awesome Mustan;y good work champ :)

carnt wait to see temps once you mod the chilla :)

Chad

[Mustanley]

Originally posted by lclark2074
have you though about clening up the water cooler case making it look cleaner

I put the side panels on and flat white board on top to make a table. I'll post a pic when I get a chance.

Thanks for the compliment skinart, I've been having problems with the coolant freezing up while trying to lower temps. I need to find a better solution. The fact that there are two outlets and one inlet, plus probably 4' of coiled cooper tubing make this thing a bisnitch to drain. So far I've only been successful in getting out about 1/2 the coolant. I end up draining what I can, adding distilled water back to it to dilute the solution, let it circulate, drain again and repeat. It's very time consuming and I'll never be able to completely get rid of the old additives.

[lclark2074]

how i change my h2o is i get two buckets brake the inlet to the pump and put a bucket there with h20 and put a another bucket to drane the waste. in this way i didnt lose the prime and still change all the water.