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Those that know me know I've been dying to get into the subzero range for years now. With any luck, I seem to be getting closer. Scored this air conditioner from the dump. The best part is, absolutely everything seems to be working great, except for the evaporator fan, which I wouldn't use anyways. Took the temp probe and shoved it off to the side. So far so good.
http://home.comcast.net/~gautamb/acevapS.JPG
Gets pretty cold to the touch within seconds.
http://home.comcast.net/~gautamb/accompressorS.JPG
Compressor is an R22 unit. Guess its sort of old and probably around 8000 btu's.
I hear the tubes can break really easily. I know DN alcohol is the coolant of choice, but I think it's far too pricey for me. A bottle of Prestone AF I've got says a 50/50 mix with water is good for -34 F (-37 C). 70/30 good for -84 F (-65 C), so I'm probably going to go with that if I can manage it. I'm going to need all the help I'm going to get from you guys, so keep any suggestions coming.
NinjaZX6R
07-06-05, 12:24 PM
My computer heats up my room and yours makes it colder. It's just not fair :)
Best of luck, get that dothan clocking like it never has before!
-Collin-
speed bump
07-06-05, 12:26 PM
Looks good, so are you building a chiller or a single stage phase change?
I know how you feel about sube zero though, as soon as I finish typing this and go to the Post office i'm going to be lapping and insulating my Dice tube finally.
I won't be doing direct-die just yet. Gotta learn to walk before you can run is my mentality. ;) Hopefully somewhere not too far in the future I'll get into direct-die, and hopefully even cascade. Oops, better not get too far ahead of myself. :p
Good luck with the dry CO2, that sounds like its going to be a helluva lot of fun.
crimedog
07-06-05, 12:46 PM
bout time :)
Sweet. Put it to good use m8 :)
NiTrO bOiE
07-06-05, 05:25 PM
:Gets ready for results:
Good job man, movin' on up!
{PMS}fishy
07-06-05, 05:29 PM
If you need gagues or any other tools, let me know.
Thanks for all the support already guys. :)
The two headaches I've got right now are choosing which type of coolant...it looks I'll be forced to go with DN alcohol after all($15 per gallon for about 10 gallons :( ). That and which resevoir to use...wondering if I can get away with a 5 gallon one or similar.
Found the spec sheet (http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/appliance/pdf/cat2r13s3r126a-6a.pdf) for the compressor. Looks like an 8550 BTU/hr unit. Which is good because I easily could've spent close to $200 retail on this. :D
stockhatch
07-06-05, 06:32 PM
I would recommend building a DD first. Its really not that tough, and eliminates all the plumbing and insulation involved with a chiller. Plus its alot more compact and you dont have to have a pump, blah blah blah... At any rate congrats dude! Good luck with your project. :)
No way I can get the refrigerants, let alone charge and braze, much less machine an evap...I'm just not leet enough. :-/ The insulation might be a pain but it doesn't take any special skill....and you can't dodge that with DD either. Thanks for the kind words. :)
{PMS}fishy
07-06-05, 07:29 PM
No way I can get the refrigerants, let alone charge and braze, much less machine an evap...I'm just not leet enough. :-/ The insulation might be a pain but it doesn't take any special skill....and you can't dodge with DD either.
Propane is easy to get.
Brazzing takes some skill, but I was able to do it after some practice.
stockhatch
07-06-05, 07:59 PM
What he said. Propane is great. No machining involved in an evap if you go with the cap-in-cap design. As for brazing, its actualy very easy IMO. Make the parts hot and touch a rod to them. Viola! theyre brazed :D But we arent trying to pressure you or anything...*cough*DD*cough* :D :D
matttheniceguy
07-06-05, 09:37 PM
I'll second (third?) the DD suggestion. The only remotely tricky part of brazing is getting the right rod. Once you have that, a chimp could do it (seriously, they probably could). You can get a Mapp torch or similar for $25, and your good to go.
Rather than spending $150 on coolant for the water loop, spend $70 on a set of gauges and some cap tube/evap material/flex-suction line. It will be smaller, easier to make, and give much better temps.
err... no pressure here either or anything......achooDDoo..... gazoontite.
Forget it guys, if Fishy says it takes skill, I won't dream of it for another year. :p I don't have very long (only 2 or 3 weeks) and I want something I can actually do. The first time I did watercooling, it in itself was a headache. Sure, you guys might be able to be whip up phase change systems in your sleep, but I'm just a newbie and need to start somewhere. I've read up on this stuff for the past two years, I'm not clueless but I know my own limits. Also, I want to be able to cool the CPU and GPU and possibly even the northbridge all down to subzero temperatures as easily and efficiently as possible. And unless you guys want me to set up a dual-evap system, a chiller makes the most sense by far for me. I don't think I'll be spending any more than $50 on coolant if I can help it.
speed bump
07-06-05, 11:49 PM
It takes skill to make it look perfect but in general all brazing could be done by trained monkeys.
If you had trouble with water I wouldn't do phase yet becuase I know after researching alittle bit water is easy(I won't know that till friday when my pump gets here). However the only hard part about phase is the charge and if you have a cool refrigeration shop the will do it for you. :)
Anyway good for you, knowing your limits. Me I'm just why build a phase change when I could build a Cascade, why run water when if I buy my parts used I could also buy a pelt setup to put on it. Why have this simple Dice tube when I figured out a better core than the chilly1 block and need to build a Dice tube around it.:)
Good luck have fun. Also i'm just curious becuase this is driving me crazy looking for it is where do you buy your insulation.
Nah, I've built plenty of watercooled systems...I was talking about my very first experience two years ago. Everything is hard the first time around...even building a stock computer. So I just want to take it slow. It's less exciting this way, but oh well.
I've got some precut neoprene on its way from Turbo from xtwerkz and xtremeresources. The silicone and foam can be found in a hardware store pretty easy, and dielectric grease from an auto store.
Awsom..I cant wait to see how it performs and how far ya can take the system on it.
{PMS}fishy
07-07-05, 07:59 PM
Nah, I've built plenty of watercooled systems...I was talking about my very first experience two years ago. Everything is hard the first time around...even building a stock computer. So I just want to take it slow. It's less exciting this way, but oh well.
I've got some precut neoprene on its way from Turbo from xtwerkz and xtremeresources. The silicone and foam can be found in a hardware store pretty easy, and dielectric grease from an auto store.
McMaster is your god for anything. Seeing as they are in NJ we can get stuff in under a day.
I placed an order at 8pm on Monday and had the parts on Tuesday at 10am. Shipping was $8.
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