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Passive water cooling

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Oroka Sempai

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Location
Port Elgin, Canada
I hate noise in my computer, and OCing is not really a big issue for me, I do OC, but I would run stock if I could quiet my system.

There is a review of a homemade passive water cooling system, using a huge Tupperware container as the res. I don't like that idea.

So here is my idea.

cooling.jpg


This would be 4-5 inches wide, 18 inch high, and 14 inch long. It would be made of clear plexiglass. The angled parts will have some holes in them to allow some of the water to drip though, allowing some heat dissipation. The water would drop a few inches on the end for more heat dissipation. The bottom would have more holes, dripping the water into the Reservoir.

I have never built a water cooling system, but i am liking this idea. Still no idea about pumps and waterblocks.
 
creative idea, but how would the water cool off without any air circulation?
 
What you've got there is an evaporation system without the airflow to carry the heat away. It might work OK if it was made of aluminum and acted as a massive convection cooler. Plus if you think all that water dripping would help you sound issues, well, maybe if you like the sound of running water or rain. Good idea though, just needs to be refined.
 
It is a very interesting idea, although like stated you need to have it open so that the water can evaporate, otherwise the only means it has of cooling down is any heat that gets transfered through the tupperware container. And I'd rather listen to falling water than a fan anyday.
 
making a bong cooler, or using a large radiator would be the easiest solutions.

basically a bong is a shower head pouring spraying water down an open piece of pvc pipe. They are actually quite simple and cheap, but most people dont have the room for them and/or doesnt like having the open pipe.
 
I have heard about bongs. I was thinking about a vent, but I am not sure if I really need it. I am not trying to disipate the heat through evapouration, but to more through moving the water around. I dont think I would want that humidity either. I choose plexiglass because I figured it would be cool to see the water in action, and with a closed system, the water would be muffled.
 
moving water around does not reduce the heat its holding. That setup without any ventaltion will mearly sound cool, look cool, but otherwise be pointless.
 
hmm..that would be kinda cool. Made me think of something crazy though...what if you made something like that, but integrated it into one of those waterfall things that people put in their offices to look at and relax. It would probably provide some evaporative cooling, and you could have bragging rights.

like this maybe?

I know, I know, I'm crazy....just a random thought i had.

EDIT: or this
 
scott d said:
hmm..that would be kinda cool. Made me think of something crazy though...what if you made something like that, but integrated it into one of those waterfall things that people put in their offices to look at and relax. It would probably provide some evaporative cooling, and you could have bragging rights.

like this maybe?

I know, I know, I'm crazy....just a random thought i had.

EDIT: or this


I've got one of those things, similar to the first one you linked, but larger and with more surface area, that is just sitting in a box. You've got me thinking now that I might be able to put it to better use. :D
 
I did think of something like that, but in a clear box, the outlet pointing straight up, splashing water all over the place. Why should your res be boring?

I really cant see doing that to water not dissapate heat at all. If you can put it in a big bucket and get good temps, but move it around and get nothing? It should be basic physics. If you move air over a surface, the heat radiation should be blown off. That much air and surface area would allow for a fair bit of heat dissipation.
 
i still think it will sound like a fountain isnt this what the zillman system is like or watever that blue big tube is?
 
Reefa_Madness said:
I've got one of those things, similar to the first one you linked, but larger and with more surface area, that is just sitting in a box. You've got me thinking now that I might be able to put it to better use. :D

If you do it, I wanna see pics. I'm not crazy enough to try it, but surely someone around here is.

Oroka Sempai said:
I did think of something like that, but in a clear box, the outlet pointing straight up, splashing water all over the place. Why should your res be boring?

I really cant see doing that to water not dissapate heat at all. If you can put it in a big bucket and get good temps, but move it around and get nothing? It should be basic physics. If you move air over a surface, the heat radiation should be blown off. That much air and surface area would allow for a fair bit of heat dissipation.

Yeah, that's the concept behind evaporative cooling. The warm water evaporates, drawing heat out of the water that is left behind. The same way sweat works on your body. The only thing, you have to refill it from time to time. and would that make your room awfully humid?

I guess as long as it's an open top, it may work. The evaporated water has to go somewhere, it can't stay trapped in a closed system.
 
Oroka Sempai said:
I really cant see doing that to water not dissapate heat at all. If you can put it in a big bucket and get good temps, but move it around and get nothing? It should be basic physics. If you move air over a surface, the heat radiation should be blown off. That much air and surface area would allow for a fair bit of heat dissipation.
It’s not basic physics, it is basic thermodynamics. The heat has to go somewhere. Your proposed device would do a good job in getting the heat from the water to the air but if the unit is closed then the only heat that would escape would be whatever could through the Plexiglas. If copper has a transfer rating of 200 (or whatever) then I’m sure Plexiglas is somewhere in the low double digits.
 
Oroka Sempai said:
I really cant see doing that to water not dissapate heat at all. If you can put it in a big bucket and get good temps, but move it around and get nothing? It should be basic physics. If you move air over a surface, the heat radiation should be blown off. That much air and surface area would allow for a fair bit of heat dissipation.

The reason the bucket cooling method works is because the water is exposed to fresh, cool air. The water is hotter than the air it is exposed to, so it gives off its heat to the air. That hot air is replaced by cool air from natural convection in the room, and the cycle continues.

Inside an enclosed box like your method, the water would fall through the same air eternally. The air inside the box would heat up rapidly, reaching the same temperature of the water, and the exchange of heat would stop.

The reason a radiator works is that they are made out of metal. The water is in contact with the metal. So the heat is transferred through the metal to the air outside of the radiator. Your design wouldn't work as a radiator either because the plexiglass would actually act as an insulator, not a conductor.

These are basic laws of thermodynamics. Google them, and you will learn a lot.

Also in your design, the majority of the water would flow down the ramps. Only small amounts would drip through because water will take the path of least resistance.

Research bong coolers, and you will see how evaporitive cooling works.
 
what about going to your local auto parts store and buying a transmission cooler(with small fitting, you can get kit that are ment for upgrading auto transmissions) or rad off a civic or geo metro. It would provide huge surface area and comes with a warrenty.
And for my second idea draws inspriation from physics class, go with me on this.
vver_reactor.jpg
Basiclly your cpu and gpu act as the reactor. You take your water and pump it to an heat exchanger to create steam while cooling of the water you than take the steam and either use it to run a turbine to generate some power and make your rig that much more efficeint or make some cappicino
 
Last edited:
Using a the tower in a nuclear power plant as a bong for a WC setup is on the list of things I plan on doing when/if I get rich. Along with opening a store that only takes Canadian dollars.
 
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