How To H2Ocool Your Power Supply

Highendtoys · Jun 28, 2006

How To H2Ocool Your Power Supply

Charles Gilliatt - 6/27/06

http://www.overclockers.com/tips1240/

STOP!!!!!

Before you do this there is something else that needs to be done. I have worked with other people on submerged PCs before and a very important item was over looked that will destroy your PSU within 6 months.

The capacitors need to be sealed with silicone sealant before placing it in the oil. If not then they will absorb the oil and the unit will no longer work. Like I said, I have experience in this and the unit will not survive if this is not done.

Slayer2003 · Jun 28, 2006

I always shudder when someone mentiones liquid and PSU in the same sentance hehe.

I dunno, just something not right about it.

mdameron · Jun 28, 2006

Highendtoys, if what you say is true, definitely email the writer of the article... it needs to be edited if theres any danger.

LOL, on second thought, theres danger by default.

SirCharles · Jun 28, 2006

Highendtoys said:
STOP!!!!!

Before you do this there is something else that needs to be done. I have worked with other people on submerged PCs before and a very important item was over looked that will destroy your PSU within 6 months.

The capacitors need to be sealed with silicone sealant before placing it in the oil. If not then they will absorb the oil and the unit will no longer work. Like I said, I have experience in this and the unit will not survive if this is not done.

I am the original author of this how to article and there is one correction that is being made to the review, that power supply has run for just over a year now without a problem. However I do agree if there is penetration of of the oil into the capacitors it will cook the PSU.

I would however not "freak out", as you seem to have done about this, remember watercooling your system in general has a great risk of cooking your system and this particular mod is not to be done by the faint of heart.

SirCharles

boris_37 · Jun 28, 2006

I just don't understand the benefit of this... most powersupplies dont run too hot. and do people overclock the power supplies? lol... im just not seeing any relavant point to doing this beyond a big waste of time and an incredible risk.

greenmaji · Jun 28, 2006

boris_37 said:
and do people overclock the power supplies?

you must not have seen what hippro did to his 700W Zippy

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=53424

actually overvolting (pretty close to the equivlent to overclocking) PSU's is pretty common and there are guides out there

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=37574

infinitevalence · Jun 28, 2006

Boris, thats exaclty what some people say about water cooling the rest of your computer.

Elif Tymes · Jun 28, 2006

That's a awesome idea... Totally sweet looking

boris_37 · Jun 28, 2006

greenmaji said:
you must not have seen what hippro did to his 700W Zippy
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=53424

actually overvolting (pretty close to the equivlent to overclocking) PSU's is pretty common and there are guides out there
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=37574

okay thats cool... but how would i ever see that, i dont go there ever... lol

and @Infinite

no but for cpu's and gpu's i understand because everyone wants to push them to their limit. With psu's i had no idea people actually did anything to them beyond tightening the rails. OVerall i do find watercooling awsome for those who need it but i just didnt see any point to this before.

I guess if you were running max power on your PSU then you might wanna do this, but i'd rather just go buy a bigger power supply, its not like it costs much and after buying all the baby oil you could get a darned good PSU. lol

but ya, awsome, k thanks guys. im out of here. lol

greenmaji · Jun 28, 2006

boris.. I don't disagree with you as far as usefullness is conserned, even voltmoded PSU's don't generate enough heat that air cooling wouldnt do an effective job, and there are quiet fans but I'm sure silence has to be the main purpose of this mod.

SirCharles · Jun 28, 2006

boris_37 said:
I just don't understand the benefit of this... most powersupplies dont run too hot. and do people overclock the power supplies? lol... im just not seeing any relavant point to doing this beyond a big waste of time and an incredible risk.

Boris,
Just about everything any of us do is really an increadable waste of time and risk, why not just spend the money on something bigger and faster to begin with?

The point of doing it was to prove you can and to make a really snappy mod at the same time and,as someone later posted, this was done for silence, the machine that this was running in was completly fanless.

SirCharles

JaY_III · Jun 28, 2006

SirCharles said:
The point of doing it was to prove you can and to make a really snappy mod at the same time and,as someone later posted, this was done for silence, the machine that this was running in was completly fanless.

SirCharles

um didnt you leave a Fan in the OIL soaked PSU

Big fan of Silence here and if this works for you, great.
Overclocked and Silent is the way to go IMHO, aka just say no to deltas

Highendtoys · Jun 28, 2006

OK, it would seem that everyone wanted to get off topic.

I have a little experence in this and anyone doing this mod should be using marine sealent where the cap meets the board all the way around. The insides of these things will suck that oil up and cause a failure. Now who really wants their power supply, the one thing in a PC that can cause everything to die with one mistake, to fail.

Also, that system that I just linked to belong to the current Director of Marketing for Connect3D.

Captain Helghas · Jun 29, 2006

JaY_III said:
aka just say no to deltas

Blasphemy! Kill the heretic! Burn him at the stake!
[/mob]

You're right though, Deltas are not built for silence.

So I missed how the PSU is water cooled. You're using the baby oil to transfer the heat to a water block which is connected into your loop? Is the block on the top of the container or is the block actually submerged as well?

Are the caps the only hardware which might be affected? Would the resistors also absorb some of the oil and become more resistive over time? Would you ever have to change the oil?

I'm actually thinking of doing this with a pelt PSU, as my [email protected] kicks off quite a bit of heat, and is the major reason why I don't want to pelt yet.

cV · Jun 30, 2006

I imagine unless contaminants get in the oil, it can be kept much longer than water. It's more viscous and actually KEEPS components clean.

Looks like heat is being transferred from the components i.e. HS, caps, res. etc. and not really a "waterblock" per se. Direct heat transfer because of the nonconductive medium

Pretty sick, and if it ever leaks, it won't ruin the motherboard or anything.

nikita@quebec · Jul 12, 2006

no but powerfailure can ruin your rig

cV · Jul 13, 2006

A decent PSU should automatically cut power if it overheats due to pump failure.

cozmo_d · Jul 13, 2006

cV said:
I imagine unless contaminants get in the oil, it can be kept much longer than water. It's more viscous and actually KEEPS components clean.

Looks like heat is being transferred from the components i.e. HS, caps, res. etc. and not really a "waterblock" per se. Direct heat transfer because of the nonconductive medium

Pretty sick, and if it ever leaks, it won't ruin the motherboard or anything.

Can you Imagine the mess tho yuck !!!

Looks cool but Ill stear clear of this mod

How To H2Ocool Your Power Supply

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