Radiator question???

[Toysrme]

What about just sticking one in a fridge? heh... I got the "drink" cooler near-by...
(no setup here, but still planning on it one day...)

[Yodums]

Originally posted by Toysrme
What about just sticking one in a fridge? heh... I got the "drink" cooler near-by...
(no setup here, but still planning on it one day...)

No water cooling expert here but. I think those thing wouldn't even cool it in time as the water goes in and out very fast.

You stick a ice cube maker in there with the cold water and put it in the freezer for 3 seconds and take it out. I bet it'll feel the same as when you put it in.

[Boilerhead]

I don't know about "just" sticking one in a fridge, but I'm thinking more along the lines of doing a heat exchanger deal with a freezer plate from a cube fridge.

If you can maximize the heat transfer between the wc coolant and the freezer plate of say a 191 btu/hr cube fridge then it seems to me that you'd be able to get temps quite a bit below ambient.

Just using the interior air of the fridge might require a huge radiator to get any decent returns.

I have a little fridge here which doesn't do much useful as a fridge, I figured why not see if I can't get it to chill the coolant from a Koolance case.

It should be an interesting experiment even if it doesn't bear much fruit.

Henry

[ButcherUK]

191BTU/hr is about 56W, for anything other than a p3 you're going to need a bigger fridge :)

[SeigeAkicksass]

i thin k jsut sticking it in the frge woould halp i but but only a couple deg. proble th equivilant of having a duct to you'r hsf from a fridge:eh?:

[Boilerhead]

For me that would be 191 btu/hr on top of the ambient fan cooled radiator in a Koolance II, so it is not fighting the whole battle on its own.

It's a helper cooler rather than a primary cooler. I wouldn't rely on something that small for the whole job.

Henry

[Diggrr]

Well then, go for it!

I just piped my radiator through the floor, and hung my radiator in the basement. The temp is swinging between 23C and 24C right now. It was at 33-34 running in my case. The booster cooling idea should help similarly. Admittedly though the basement is a huge heat sink area, and it's unfinished/unheated.

To make a trial run setup, just close the door on the hoses. Hold it closed with some duct tape. You don't want to ruin the fridge with holes in the cabinet until you're sure it'll work the way you want. Just make sure not to kink the hoses shut.

Good luck, and post back.

[Boilerhead]

Good mod Diggrr, and you can put serious fannage on the rad without killing the db's at the keyboard :)

I was planning on cheating the tubes through the door with some tape over the resulting crack before punching holes in the fridge case. If it works the good oc, if not then no big deal!

I just need to haquerneer an effective heat exchanger for the freezer plate to coolant interface. Maybe a labrynth box of some sort which zigzags the coolant over the top of the plate and then back through the other way on the bottom all covered with 1' closed cell foam so I'm not wasting BTUs on the rest of the fridge interior.

Done well I think the fridge could even be returned to six-pack service when interest wanes or better cooler comes along.

Anyone every part out a window A/C unit to try making a CPU cooler?

Henry