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(chiller build) Use a heat exchanger, or share coolant?

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sir_pyro

Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2005
Location
Chattanooga, TN
Alright, I'm still working on my chiller, and last weekend's building didn’t not go too well. Lot's of things arnt working, I almost got shocked, and there are some leaks, and I cant get the pump to prime... But I think I can fix all of those. What I cant fix it my hear exchanger, because it ended up being too bit to fit in the tiny place I had for it.

So, now I have a decision to make: Go I build another smaller heat exchanger hoping it will perform OK or just make the system have one loop when it's connected? A diagram with each option can be seen below.

waterloop_both_png.PNG


The heat exchanger that I've already build did OK, but was far from astounding. I was able to run 110-120f water through the shell (from a hose going to the tap), and the water that was being pumped through the heat exchanger was probably 10f to 15f warmer then the water being pumped in from the sink. I'd at least say that would be on par with a 80mm radiator, as it provided that much of a temperature increase in a single pass. That one was in a 7" x 1.5" pipe with 6 1/4" copper tubes for the water to flow in. If I build another, it's going to be 4 or 5 1/4" tubes inside of a 6" x 1" pipe, and thus probably have a bit less cooling ability.

Now the other option is to put a valve and two t-fittings into my computer's loop, and run the same coolant inside the computer and the chiller. There would be a few problems with this though... First off, all the stuff that would be in a SINGLE loop; res1, Swiftech 360, 80mm rad, Apogee, 120mm rad (might be able to turn it off when on the chiller, I know the fan will be!), quick connect, res2, Mag3, chilled res, quick connect, MCW55, then repeat... That's a lot of stuff! Next is corrosion, as the chilling res in the water cooler is made out of Al, while the rest of my loop is Cu.

Then there is the problem with the coolant... The chiller drinks about half a gallon of it by it's self, and the computer drinks another 1/8 (I think) of a gallon of coolant... That's over two bottles of non conductive stuff! $45 on coolant is not my idea of a good time. I need non conductive liquid because I transport my rig 100% filled, and don’t really even have the option of draining and refilling it each time. It gets taken places every week or two, and I don’t have time when I get there or get back to fiddle with refilling and purging the loop of air. This, if I go one huge loop, I'd have to just run antifreeze in the entire thing risking PC death in transportation.

So, what's everyone's opinion on this?

Oh, and just for fun, this is the comp...
 
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