chilling water

[touser]

hi all i have been watercooling for about a month now and want to take the next step and start using chilled water in my system to lower temps that much more..my question is how would i go about chilling the water as the freezer is all the way downstairs..any ideas on what i could use? is there something i could put in my reservoir? i currently use a 4"x4"x4" reservoir.any help or comments are greatly appreciated!

[Richard]

The biggest problem with chilling water is that generally it requires quite a bit of energy to get water below ambient.

If you want a few degrees below ambient; probably the easiest method is the bong cooler setup.

If you want much lower than that you have to start considering refrigeration.

Peltiers are an option, but you're looking at quite a bit more complication just to chill some water.

Probably the easiest method would be to pick up a miniature freezer unit and pick up a few extra heater cores. (Place them in the freezer unit and voila.)

You'll have to cut the gasket to the size of your hoses, but that shouldn't be a problem. Just use some freezer tape around the gasket to keep things insulated.

Of course, you'll also need to insulate your outgoing line to prevent condensation.

Good luck.

[touser]

thank you richard for the reply, i do not currently have the $$$ to buy a new minifreezer tho :( so now i come to a block in the road it seems..is there any other way to cool the water withought going through a freezer?i was thinking of running tubing all the way down the the freezer but then the water would probably pick up alot of heat going up the wall 3 storys, into the attic and back down to the computer room..and to pump it that far how big of a pump would i need? 1,000gph? its just a thought..

[Richard]

If you want a cheap here's what I would do. :)

Get yourself one of those styrofoam ice chests. Actually, pick up a couple of them and put one inside the other (the thicker the insulation the better). Get some nice big ones. None of those little wimpy things.

Now dig out the yellow pages. (Phone book)

Look for a local ice house. Find somebody that stocks dry ice.

The local place sells dry ice by the pound in little pellets. You just bring the container and they'll fill it. It's real cheap too.

Now put your radiator in the ice chest.

Note: Don't seal it up airtight or you'll make a bomb. :) Leave a little vent-hole.

You'll need to use a 50/50 mixture of water and anti-freeze, because dry ice is very very cold. Also, be careful handling dry ice. Use thick gloves - lest you end up with frostbite.

[touser]

hmm dry ice huh..good idea ideed :) i am still going to investigate to see if there is any other way of doing this but alas if there is not its dry ice or pelt here i come! eheh thanks again richard

[Richard]

My big problem with peltiers is that you're going to end up spending a good deal more just achieve what I feel are meager results.

In the end, you'll have wished you went with the refrigerator method. Believe me, I know. :) Peltiers are great little devices, but they're just too darn inefficient.

[touser]

ok so it looks like it is dry ice then, but how long will a big container of that stuff last until i have to go buy more? a week? a month? a year?and being that cold would it crack the radiator?or the tubing going to and from the radiator? and also would i still need fans on the radiator? sorry about all the questions but i dont like skrewing things up :)

[ken257]

Take a look at the freezer system on my site it may give you a few ideas. You could try looking in the paper and at yard sales I bet you can pick up a unit pretty cheap if you take some time and search around. Dry ice is great for testing but it gets old after a while if you want to run your system cold more then once in a while.

[Richard]

Those are all very good questions.

I think the idea is to stretch it as long as possible.

I wouldn't suggest laying the radiator directly on the dry ice. Place a few layers of towels over the ice and lay the radiator on that. You'll also need to insulate the tubing pretty well.

Silicone rubber tubing seems to have good resistance to extremely cold temperatures. That would be something to look in to.

Dry ice lasts a pretty long time if you store it properly. Keep outside air off of it and it lasts for quite a while. Throw some dessicant packages in the ice chests for good measure.

How often will you need to refill? Depends on the amount of dry ice. If you use a well insulated container you could probably get 20-30 lbs to last about a week.

[touser]

thank you both richard and ken for the replys, ken as to the mini freezer, the main reason i kind of shy away form that is they use alot of power and i live in california and the power bills are getting up there..now if i could find a cheap mini freezer that was very power efficient then i would take it any day over the dry ice, but for now i will look into both, if i cannot find a place that sells dry ice within a 20 minute drive i think i will try and find a very energy efficiant mini freezer, thank you both again for the help it is much appreciated!

[ken257]

If you are worried about your electric bill...don't The freezer I am using is very efficient and I don't even see a change in how much electric I use It is prob not more then $10 a month.

[touser]

ok in that case i found this freezer on the sears website freezer (http://www.sears.com/sr/product/details/productdetails.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0796345854.099 9314969@@@@&BV_EngineID=diallldfjhjkbgfcmgclchm.0&targetPage=%2fproduct%2fdetails%2fproductdetails.j sp&vertical=APPL&fromAuto=YES&prod_id=04611301000)
now it uses 219 Kilowatt Hrs. per Year, does anyone know how i can average that to a monthly bill? because if i go buy an older one on ebay or something it will probably end up costing as much in electricity as a new one would cost to buy..does anybody know a good online store for these things that may be cheaper then sears?

[JigPu]

219 kWh per year huh? Just divide that by 12 to get a mothly kWh value, and when you multiply that number by your electric rates (xxx / kWh) you'll get the increase to your power bill.

Of course, I've never messed with the stuff, but wouldn't putting the resivoir into a freezer make it work harder (cuz of all the heat), and therefore raise the kWh values? If so, how much should be expected?

JigPu