Anyone ever DIY a W/C system?

[MadSkillzMan]

yea thats kinda what i meant what moos3d is talkin about..i just odnt understand how a radiator with the water going thru it anda fan on it removes the heat better than putting the resivoir in the fridge...what if u ran it thru a rad then fridge? like if u didnt have a fan though

Im lookin and its gonna def cheaper/more fun to WC my system. u guys are the experts so ill take ur word for it..ive been lookin at rads....could i use a small rad from a dehumidfyer/fridge/ac unit? these W/C ones arent that big

EDIT: now i know why i dont understand lol...those nuts over in phase change take apart mini fridges and ac units to cool their PC's...i understand the compresor isnt intended to work 24/7...but how do those guys do it? I mean is it that the water would be so warm, that the fridges thermostat would think theres something wrong and make it run harder?

the fridge i use, if u put cans just under the freezer they get frozen solid..wouldnt i be able to get a big flat container, that streatchess from under the freezer to the otherside, let 1 half become ice, and hte other would stay liquid (we put bottled wter in it, and bottles somehow come out half frozen and such) let the intake be right near where it freezes, and the exhaust water come in on the "warmer" end

sorry for my not getting this guys... i usually try to exercise all possibilites of an idea before i just flatout give up on it. i surprise myself many times that way.

 

[socket7]

Why can't you just setup a watercooling setup with the reservoir in the fridge? I'm sure a mini-fridge would be able to cool something of such little thermal demand. It's not like the water would be 100 degrees. Once it gets started the water temperature would drop making it even easier to cool. I could understand it not being able to directly cool a processor but not being able to cool water that is cooling the processor just seems exaggerated.

Fridges are not designed to cool things that are producing heat. They are designed to keep things that do not produce heat cold. If you have something producing heat inside a fridge, the compressor will have to start up more frequently or remain on all the time to maintain a low temperature inside. Aside from using lots of electricity, it will cause the compressor to overheat and/or burn out.

 

[Diggrr]

It's not that a mini fridge doesn't get cold enough, it's that it can't cope with a constant input of heat from your running processors (something a bottle of water doesn't do is continue adding heat to the fridge).

There was an article the front page where someone put a reservior in a mini fridge, but he had to modify it by removing the evaporator plate from the top of the cabinet and submerge it into the reservior for effective heat transfer. They also had to add extra insulation around it, because the cabinet insulation of the fridge wasn't efficient enough.
Even then it was only for a single processor computer, you have two, requiring twice the fridge power.
There's also the matter of the costs of supplies to waterproof your sockets and processors, because whenever you get your waterblock below room temp, it can condensate like a glass of icewater on a hot day.

Radiators are nice to use, because it doesn't require as much work to run, doesn't need as much electric, and the parts are easy to find. It's much like a normal heatsink except you use water to move the heat to a much much larger heatsink (the radiator).
With the heat on the move, you can pump it out of the case more easily just by where you place the radiator (mine's usually in the cool basement).

Small steps man, watercool first. Get comfortable with what's required. Then someday you'll run into a nice A/C unit you'd like to make your own

 

[sandman001]

Alot of the problem is also that fridges usually use passive condensors, whcih can't cope with the added heat.

 

[MadSkillzMan]

ok guys taht makes sense now. yea the condenscation would SUCK.

Would 1 radiator be enough?

Right now i have a 120mm fan on my window, and 2 80s on the back..its dong OK my temps are lower now...then i got the 2 monster PSU's up above...would i be able to do anything with that? Has anyone ever mounted the radiator above the vga card? i think bleeding mite be a problem then. i was thinkin just mount it there, then let the air thats traveling thru my case exhaust it...plus its have 2 80s on it..altho id 7V mod them for no noise...i dnk just an idea.

I can see ill probably make up my own little metal box to sit underneith the comp.

 

[sunrunner20]

You could probally run it w/ 1 rad. But it would have to be a rather large one. I know a 2-302 will work fine w/ my 3.0E P4 (presscott) w/ not super high airflow. I would be suprised if a fully mod'd 2-302 w/ two high flow(and thus higher noise) fans would not suffice.

Then again, I am only a noob.

 

[Alacritan]

Nikhsub has 2 P4 3.2E's at 3.9ghz in his rig. Now his watercooling setup is considerably more powerful than most, what with 3 MCP650's in series, but a dual AMD 1.2ghz rig puts out a fraction of the heat Nikhsub's does. A single 120mm rad will get the job done, but it won't leave much room for overclocking and temps will be marginally better than good aircooling. A dual 120mm radiator is generally the best for any single processor rig, and pretty much a given if you want to overclock with a dual processor rig. You might want to consider adding another 120mm radiator to the loop if you're going overclock heavily.

 

[Dukemurmur]

no way one proc only raises the water about 1 deg (athlon) like a 3200 barton so his TWO will only put out slightly more...so one rad with a 7v 120mm fan will work fine....

 

[wizard james]

sounds right, as for somethings that i will tell you ..that are mostly knowin people dont say them..

you always (or most do anyways) add water wetter or somekind of anti frez ..usely about 5% if the totel water.

some people put dye in too. ..as for me i learned the hard way. i was told just toss in a few drops of dye in..i pourd 1/5 of the small bottle from criticool in ..the uv dont work its soo thick. ..i also got about 20% water wetter.

as for fridges and stuff like that.. i knowsomeone in calgary here that has triple rad in his large fridge..it has the fans in it and all..works vert good too.. also cost him 600 dollers candain for his whole rig.. the fool got 40 feet of tygon for a stright line from his computer to the fridge lol.

theres also a member who has his rad outside .. he said it was 40/60 anti-frezz/water
because it was 12F outside.. thats about -5~-10

all u need relly is 2 water blocks, a rad ..i think a single would work fine .but 2 120 ran works good too. and a pump. i would get the Eheim pump..quite and powerful

also theres the idea of building a outside rad box ..usely from wood they hold the ran and have the fans on them. they can be on the outside of the case ..just sayin this because as you say your a DIY person

theres lots i missed..lots i didnt completely tell about.. guys help me out..

 

[9mmCensor]

Look for a Dehumidifier or a window AC instead, they will seriously cool things down, just add in ethanol instead of "fluidXP'.

 

[MadSkillzMan]

what other htings other than a window ac or dehumidifier would have a good radiator?

car radiators are huge...and i dont think id be able to use onea those to cool both CPUs (altho i dont care if it sits outside bolted to the side of my case)

 

[9mmCensor]

what other htings other than a window ac or dehumidifier would have a good radiator?

dont use them for their radiator, use them to actually chill the water.

 

[Alacritan]

I think this guy should forget phase change and chilling his coolant for a while. He's never done watercooling before so I think he should stick to the basics. Get a decent pump, a couple decent blocks (for your dualie rig, right?), a radiator, a couple fans and some tubing.

Since you're just starting, I'd go with proven stuff, like an Eheim 1250 pump, a couple MCW6002 blocks, a double heatercore from Danger Den with the shroud, a couple 120mm Sanyo Denki fans and about 6-8ft of 1/2" ID Tygon. It'll be quiet and give good results for not too much money. Figure about $240 shipped for all the parts. You could go with cheaper stuff, like a Mag 3 pump, TC-4 blocks, buy the heatercore from Autozone and build a shroud and use Clearflex or even Home Depot tubing if you wanted to save your money (probably close to $100), but performance won't be as good and neither will reliability. Everything has it's tradeoffs.

 

[Alacritan]

what other htings other than a window ac or dehumidifier would have a good radiator?

car radiators are huge...and i dont think id be able to use onea those to cool both CPUs (altho i dont care if it sits outside bolted to the side of my case)

You don't use a car radiator, you use a heater core off a car, which is not the same thing. While it is a heater core, they are also referred to as radiators for our purposes because we aren't heating our cars with them. We're using them as radiators. Though my room does get pretty warm.

 

[MadSkillzMan]

after reading more and more im seeing this ....

i figured DIY cause itd be cheaper than the kits...i know now what a heater core is...my gfs dad is a mechanic and a parts manager..wonder if he could hook me up...ive also hear people using pumps for fountains/fishtanks etc..

So far i think im gonna buy the actual WBs, pump, home depot the tubbing and possibly garbage pick the heater core

 

[Alacritan]

You want a copper or brass heatercore so you don't get galvanic corrosion. You COULD use an aluminum one if you had to but you'd have to have more additives in your coolant to prevent corrosion. Better off keeping it all copper if possible. But I wouldn't get a used one. They're usually really dirty. Just go to Autozone and pick one up for $20. A 77 Bonneville is the one to get.

Keep in mind Home Depot tubing is crap. At the very least get Clearflex. It's only $2/ft at most sites. www.mcmaster.com has Masterkleer for even less, which is almost exactly the same thing.

Fishtank pumps include Danner Mag pumps, Eheim pumps, and Via Aqua pumps. Eheims are the only reliable pumps of the bunch and cost a bit more, but they are much quieter and they'll never die. My Mag 3 is quite powerful but you will have to replace the o-ring with silicone RTV sealant (also available at Autozone - get the blue stuff) and make sure you use nylon barbs so you don't crack the pump housing. It's $38 at Big Al's online shop. An Eheim 1250 isn't as powerful but it is much quieter and will run forever. It's about $50 online. Via Aqua's are really cheap, fairly powerful and highly unreliable. Most of them die pretty quickly.

As for fans, either get Panaflo M1A's, or if you have a fan controller, get Sanyo Denki's off ebay for $5 a fan. They're the best fans you'll ever own, they're cheap and they push 102cfm at full blast, but are very quiet when turned down. But if you don't have a fan controller, keep in mind that 102cfm (204cfm really with 2 fans on a sizable heatercore) is a lot of air and will be rather loud when pushed through a radiator.

Read up as much as possible, read reviews on waterblocks and shop around for the best price. Don't just go out tomorrow and buy stuff. If you do it right the first time it costs less and you'll get better results.