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Why a mini fridge won't work.

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I ran a fridge as a chiller for about 6 months with abolutely no problems. My temps averaged around 15-20c.


Only reason I stopped doing it is that I went to college and no longer had the space for the whole setup. Also nealy impossible to move for any reason.

You just need to make sure its a relitively burly one.

Granted, this was back in the day when xp1600 pallys were the ****nit. However, I think the thing actually put out pretty decent wattage at 2.15 volts :D
 
Great post !

Id say add condensation as a problem
 
Misfit138 said:
I'm quite new to the alternative cooling concept, however, from a beginner's standpoint, one of the problems I can foresee is condensation...for instance, with a mini-fridge, opening the door for any reason would allow ambiant air and moisture into the space, which seems like it would invariably condense on the surfaces of the components....am I off base in assuming this?
is condensation an obstacle or consideration in any of these extreme cooling methods? if so, (and i cant see how it would not be,) how is it dealt with?

Also, thanks for this thread....this was an idea I had while brainstorming, you saved me a lot of time. :bang head

Edit* After reading a sticky i see that insulation is the solution...although it is difficult to picture a practical real-world method of insulating for me, having never seen a system utilizing it..
lots to learn..

I agree and for me thats problem no1
you can insulate, all is possible, but it would be a pain and just think of routing the wires through the fridge's walls if you put the whole thing inside or the tubes if you just put the tank in there
IMO might just go with direct die phase change (more playground there anyway) and just insulate the cpu socket (that part is easier - you just use special material around the socket, under it and on top of it)

D
 
gomerpile said:
I went to the barn and got a cup full of lye and sprinkled it around the bottom of the case but not on any componts. Did a moisture test and was in the dry range. Not bad for a rookie.

You used a cup of lye!? Way to be creative, but, since this is a forum I feel obligated to point out that it is both poisonous and corrosive. The dust alone can be hazardous to people who don't know what they're doing. To get rid of condensation I use silica gel. Normally I use it to store my rifle and some ammo, and it won't work as well as lye for abosrbing moisture, but it won't make you blind either. Normally you can get it at a gun shop, or of course online. Once it has filled up with mositure you bake it in the oven as per the instructions, to drive the water off. Presto! Good as new.
 
Anyone know where else you can commonly get silica gel? Canada isn't exactly bursting with gun shops. I was thinking of raiding a shoe store, but a place to actually buy it would be nice.
 
my godfather is a part owner of a appliances store, and ive asked him about this subject, he said theres mini-freezers, and if you wanted to make it airtight, just get some duct tape and make a few small holes in the front for the cables and it should work fine, but for normal people the min-freezers would cost over 200 USD but for me and anyone that knows him its about 100 CDN
 
Amen brother!

I was about to fill and reseal a minifridge and spend like a whole 100 bucks doing it myself (buying the parts and all that other crap)

Why didnt you post in my minifridge post and link me to this!!!! I'm so glad i found this thread to start out with...... shame for you to not point me! shame!!!

J/k. Great thread, I checked to see if it was a sticky, and lo and behold it was, i was about to PM every admin out there to sticky this!!!! =P
 
matttheniceguy said:
Anyone know where else you can commonly get silica gel? Canada isn't exactly bursting with gun shops. I was thinking of raiding a shoe store, but a place to actually buy it would be nice.
In the auto parts section at canadain tire has a good selection of dielectric jelly or stuff like this. LOL
 
oh yes it does work

it works. do NOT listen to anyone who tells you otherwise, i have done it. it just takes A LOT of work.

primarily: socket insulation

secondary: compressor cooling

i may just get back into this, i just got a new chip and it might get me to 4+ gigs.

and if i do, ill be sure to post pic's.

space is also a constraint. and it DOES take up some extra juice in the monthly pg&e bill. but it CAN be done.

what people are missing i guess, is that you can get sort of close to direct die by just using a res that TOUCHES the evap coils inside of the fridge as a sort of water chiller. i constructed a plexiglass box for a res, set it up with the pump inside of that filled with water, and boom. my best was 9C running an old 2 gig celeron OC'ed to 3 gigs. you absolutely HAVE to insulate the socket area though, i almost lost a videocard that way.. and also the waterlines themselves.

take the time to research this, its quite possible, but costly. so maybe you SHOULDNT do it on a cost basis, but it does work.

(dorm room fridge btw, is what im talking about)
 
Spade the whole argument of this thread is that a mini fridge can't cope with the heat load of a modern processor or system. how efficient you make the transfer does not matter, it's the heat load you're placing on the system..
 
crimedog said:
Spade the whole argument of this thread is that a mini fridge can't cope with the heat load of a modern processor or system. how efficient you make the transfer does not matter, it's the heat load you're placing on the system..

then why did it work for me?
apparently it DOES

check out compressor specs before you jump in here man
 
let's see.... your cpu doesn't produce much heat and you have terrible temps?

i have no idea why you're talking about compressor specs?

if i was going to try to use a mini-fridge (more trouble than it's worth imo) i'd make sure to have a room fan on the condensor, too.
 
The compressor of a mini fridge is generally enough to cope with a modern cpu (for a while, it will die pretty fast) but the condensor of a mini fridge doesn't have a chance. The only way to really make a mini fridge work on a modern procesor is to convert it to a Direct Die and improve the effectivness of the condensor greatly. This is pretty much just making a single stage DD system, which isn't exactly a mini fridge.

Most people who bring up the Mini fridge idea are just planning on putting a resevoir on the evap in the fridge and running it like a water chiller. This wont work on a medern processor because the heatload will be too much. The refrigerant will get to hot to consense fully and will just flow through to the evap as a gas. The effectiveness of the system will fall off, and the temps will turn to garbage.
 
apparently it DOES

If you would, please define working.
Is it A: the fridge gets the res cold enough to do a few benchmarks and then I shut down so I can do it again later.
Or B: I can run the computer on a game and the water stays subambient for a while.
Or C: the fridge keeps my water freezing cold 24/7 under a dual prime load.

You can see where "working" can lead to a lot of misinderstanding.


Did you do any mods to affect the cooling ability of the fridge, or did you just put a res in a unmodded fridge?

What size is your 'mini' fridge.

And lets not forget: What is your water cooling? (heat load)
 
crimedog said:
let's see.... your cpu doesn't produce much heat and you have terrible temps?

(uh, 9c is terrible temps? put crack pipe DOWN. NOW.)

i have no idea why you're talking about compressor specs?

(because it's a direct way to tell how much heat it can dissipate? duh?)

if i was going to try to use a mini-fridge (more trouble than it's worth imo) i'd make sure to have a room fan on the condensor, too.
(this is completely accurate, i agree.)


ok. i DID THIS.
and while 9c was my BEST at IDLE, the norm was 22 for operating a few progs
have any of you that are trying to say i'm stupid and don't know what i'm talking about done it? please, before you make me give up the burden of proof, why don't you show some screen shots of it NOT working?

If you would, please define working.
(running few app's w/o gaming. 24/7 yes, 24 g/damn 7)
Is it A: the fridge gets the res cold enough to do a few benchmarks and then I shut down so I can do it again later. (no)
Or B: I can run the computer on a game and the water stays subambient for a while. (no, i dont game that much, i WILL graph that if i do it in the future.)
Or C: the fridge keeps my water freezing cold 24/7 under a dual prime load.
(no. i did not stress test it to the max, i was happy with my oc and stable operation of: IE, morpheus, media player, 4 instant messengers, and ONE prime95. northwood celeron 2 gig, not dual core, nor hyperthreaded. old school. averaging 22-24c)
You can see where "working" can lead to a lot of misinderstanding.

(Yes. clarified. you begin to see where its also easy to bash and be negative towards people you dont agree with without having tried it yourself. or offering any of your own proof of doing so.)


Did you do any mods to affect the cooling ability of the fridge, or did you just put a res in a unmodded fridge? (no. i put the "res" TOUCHING the evap)

What size is your 'mini' fridge. (http://www.gadgetbargains.com/leh-hse02wnaww.html)

And lets not forget: What is your water cooling? (heat load)
(whatever a northwood celeron 2 gig OC'ed to 3.2-3.0 is on an is7e. sorry, i didnt get technical on this one)

let's just say im fricking tired of people trying to bash on things that i have done and talk about without contributing anything worthwhile themselves, i imagine it's why some people leave this forum over time.

in the end, using a dorm room fridge is probably not very economic as far as pg&e bills, but i was hot to try it for awhile and got it going , with success to boot.

i only used it to chill water in a res that was physically touching the evaporator, and then only through a waterblock to the CPU. once i got condensation and nearly lost a videocard due to insufficient insulation, i stopped until such a time as i could do a proper job of it.

If i ever do take it up again, i have a camera now to document it with.
stop and think one time before you naysay something. If you do a search of my posts, you will find very little "bashing" or negative posts. there is at least one i know of, not much more, i'd like to keep this place positive.
can't we all do that? i'd like to think so.
 
Last edited:
Spade said:
(this is completely accurate, i agree.)you say you lost a vcard from condensation, well bud, dielectric jelly is something you didn't use because that would have saved you the trouble of getting a new one. With your experience you should have known this I have been water for 3 years and chilled to the bone picks are in this topic.

ok. i DID THIS.
and while 9c was my BEST at IDLE, the norm was 22 for operating a few progs
have any of you that are trying to say i'm stupid and don't know what i'm talking about done it? please, before you make me give up the burden of proof, why don't you show some screen shots of it NOT working?

If you would, please define working.
(running few app's w/o gaming. 24/7 yes, 24 g/damn 7)
Is it A: the fridge gets the res cold enough to do a few benchmarks and then I shut down so I can do it again later. (no)
Or B: I can run the computer on a game and the water stays subambient for a while. (no, i dont game that much, i WILL graph that if i do it in the future.)
Or C: the fridge keeps my water freezing cold 24/7 under a dual prime load.
(no. i did not stress test it to the max, i was happy with my oc and stable operation of: IE, morpheus, media player, 4 instant messengers, and ONE prime95. northwood celeron 2 gig, not dual core, nor hyperthreaded. old school. averaging 22-24c)
You can see where "working" can lead to a lot of misinderstanding.

(Yes. clarified. you begin to see where its also easy to bash and be negative towards people you dont agree with without having tried it yourself. or offering any of your own proof of doing so.)


Did you do any mods to affect the cooling ability of the fridge, or did you just put a res in a unmodded fridge? (no. i put the "res" TOUCHING the evap)

What size is your 'mini' fridge. (http://www.gadgetbargains.com/leh-hse02wnaww.html)

And lets not forget: What is your water cooling? (heat load)
(whatever a northwood celeron 2 gig OC'ed to 3.2-3.0 is on an is7e. sorry, i didnt get technical on this one)

let's just say im fricking tired of people trying to bash on things that i have done and talk about without contributing anything worthwhile themselves, i imagine it's why some people leave this forum over time.

in the end, using a dorm room fridge is probably not very economic as far as pg&e bills, but i was hot to try it for awhile and got it going , with success to boot.

i only used it to chill water in a res that was physically touching the evaporator, and then only through a waterblock to the CPU. once i got condensation and nearly lost a videocard due to insufficient insulation, i stopped until such a time as i could do a proper job of it.

If i ever do take it up again, i have a camera now to document it with.
stop and think one time before you naysay something. If you do a search of my posts, you will find very little "bashing" or negative posts. there is at least one i know of, not much more, i'd like to keep this place positive.
can't we all do that? i'd like to think so.
 
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