fridge pics, and some ?'s

[SpaceRangerJoe]

i havent had much time to work on it recently. this coming week, i should have everything except the pump and water blocks. i got some stuff at home depot the other night to make the valves so i can disconnect the computer from the fridge to move it without leaking everywhere. however, i had to go with brass fittings, and it cost a whole lot. plus i dont know how thats going to react with the copper in the water blocks. so im gonna go back and just get some pvc, and glue together what i want. should be a lot cheaper (and lighter) too. ill get back again soon, hope fully with some new pics and such.

 

[thorilan]

you basically got what i was saying.

by having the coils submerged you give your system added cooling power by having more of a medium to store heat and disipate it . you are right that the fridge will still have to disipate the heat but if your fridge has extra cold stored ( the cooling medium of water anti freeze that you submerge coils in) then it will take longer for the fridge compressor to kick in because it starts with a lager amount of cold in the system .
its not required but it will save the fridge from overload

note the solution that the coils sit in is not really a loop, its just a large tub of cooling solution that will store more cold and also take the heat from the coils more eficiently . so the benifit is that the compressor wont have to be on all the time and that once you turn off your system or when its heat load drops cause you arnt using 100% cpu it can recharge its cold

 

[SpaceRangerJoe]

oh, mad 3D paint time here. please see attached.

*edit* it seems i didnt upload the last version of the pic (whoops). the pump will connect to the blue line that feeds the computer with cold water. the res is the green part, and the evap is the black "L" shaped deal. the evap will be sitting in the res, with the entry point on the top right corner of the res.

ok, thats about as good as paint gets with me (and i must say, i am rather impressed with myself. now, as you can see from this picture, the hot(er) water (when i say water, i mean water + antifreeze, whatever the coolant happens to be) from the cpu/gpu blocks is run through the wall of the fridge, and is deposited directly back into the reservoir. the heat from this water, will be spread throughout the whole mass of the coolant. the pump will then draw in water (most likely from the side opposite of where the the heated water is deposited). this will give the cpu the coldest possible water. remember, water (and everything else for that matter) does not store "cold." there is no such thing as cold. only heat. "cold" is simply used to describe the absence of heat. when the water from the computer is deposited into the reservoir, its heat is spread out through all of the coolants mass. the larger the mass of the coolant (the bigger the res) the smaller the net raise in temperature will be. by putting copper coils in the res, less heat from the computer would make it into the res. this would, as you said, help prevent the fridge from running a little bit. however, the computer temps would be higher. and in the end, since this is a computer cooling project, i opt for the lower computer temps over possible saving a small amount of wear and tear on the compressor.

general update:
i got the 120V outlet wired up yesterday. it works well, and the voltage was good (this was my first time wiring something other than 12V dc, so i was pleased). i need to make an order for all the tubing in the next day or two (as soon as some checks clear). then ill have everything except the pump and water blocks. im going to redo the valves and quick disconnects with pvc, cause the ones i have now are just to heavy (brass i think), and i dont want to worry about another metal in the system, and the increased risk of corrosion and such. the last holes in the fridge and valves should be done by the middle of this week, depending on how much free time i have. i have the final for a math class (really easy) im taking this summer on thursday, i might need to study a little bit. ill go steal my dads digicam and try to have some more pics of progress soon.

 

[SpaceRangerJoe]

this afternoon, i returned all the brass fittings i had, and got pvc ones instead. im just gonna glue together all the pieces. after buying the pvc, i still got a new tape measure, level, reinforced cutting disks for my dremel, and a 1 1/4" tungston carbide hole saw, and the bill was still $15 less than what i returned the other stuff for. wicked deal.

i also drilled the holes in the side of the fridge tonight (and now i with i had them somewhere else, figures). anyway, im having a little problem. it wasnt until relatively recently (little over a week ago) that i realized that the whole white metal thing is part of the evap. i had always kinda hoped to be cutting away a little of that, but it isnt going to happen now. im not sure how im going to get the evaporator inside the res, and still seal a lid on it. anyone have pics of the inside of their minifridge? i really want (and need) to have a lid on this thing, cause i cant just have water sloshing around the inside of the fridge, since i have a 120V outlet in there and all. im gonna think about this tonight while i clean all the plastic and metal bits off my carpet (). maybe ill think of something good while i sleep. but as always, suggestions are welcome.

 

[Warshed]

hmmm a lid. Lets see why not buy a nice tuperware (not sure of the spelling) reservoir which comes with a lid and then modify the lid to fit around the evaporator and of course use some sort of sealant because you will have to cut the lid. The bad thing is that the lid will become a fixture of the evaporator and so you will have to attach the tupaware reservoir to the lid/evaporator. I know this is weird but it is the only thing I could think of in 2 minutes time. Maybe this will give you some food for thought anyhow.

 

[Godemiche]

ahhh,, now i gotta go get me a fridge now,,,

 

[thorilan]

you can also make the power plug area enclosed in a seperate container and seal it so that no water can get in using tuperware

 

[SpaceRangerJoe]

i considered the tupperware idea, and that seems to be the best. i havent gotten a whole lot of work done recently. ive been busy, and i bought a digital camera (oh yeah, and my 2 new hard drives. see sig) instead of getting the rest of the water cooling stuff. after this next paycheck im gonna get the pump i think, and probably a cpu block too. im gonna hold off on the pelted gpu block for a little while. also, i decided that the spot where i drilled the holes is not going to work. i did finish glueing the ball valves and stuff the other day, and they turned out to be a lot bigger than i had hoped. this was really making it difficult to find a res the size i wanted. so, what i think im going to do, is just fill in the 2 holes i have now with foam, and put stickers over them . then im going to move the holes to the other side and bottom of the fridge. i might have to move the electrical box too... basically, redo all the work ive done so far. ill try to get some work done soon, and ill have more pics for you guys too (of course. i know everyone loves pretty pictures ). till next time.

 

[altec]

Looking forward to see how this thing is going to go. I want to try something like this, but I have no modding skills what-so-ever, so I am trying to learn with you.

come back with some more pics...looks like you have the right ideas so far.

 

[Warshed]

Me too. I have a minifridge that I am just acking to take apart.

 

[SpaceRangerJoe]

progress on the fridge was delayed again tonight. i just spend the last several hours playing freelancer (rockin game). im supposed to be at work in 6 hours to, hehe. ill try to actually do some work someday soon.

 

[SpaceRangerJoe]

insulation question

alright, im ordering the pump, water block, and insulation begining of next week. i was wondering what thickness of insulation i should get to go in, and around the socket. i guess for around, i might as well get the thickest neoprene i can, cause i will have to build it up all the way around. but how thick can i put in the socket, without interfering with the chip and such. also, as i build up the insulation around the chip, should i use any adhesive to hold it together, and help prevent air from getting in there, or will it be tight enough if i cut it right? what about on the back of the mobo? cover with dielectric grease, and slap a piece of neoprene over it. will it just stick there on its own, or do i need to attach that with something as well?

advice is welcome.

ps: my new camera should be here monday, so ill take pictures for you guys to laugh at when i mess something up .

 

[Warshed]

I got this link compliments of camel. Who is a member here? He gave it to me because I had the same questions as you. This is about insulating a peltier but I think it is easily convertable.

Insulation

 

[SpaceRangerJoe]

alright, im going to order the pump, water block, and few other misc. things on monday or tuesday. then ill get the rest of the insulation this week. so i should have everything by the end of this week. so i should at least have it ready for leak testing, if not the final install by the end of next weekend.

i was going to redrilling the holes and stuff on the fridge today, but i ended up helping a friend with his eagle scout project. this consisted of moving a few tons of gravel around a 2 mile trail, and a whole lot of sunburn. i should make good progress this week though, so ill keep you updated.

 

[SpaceRangerJoe]

i ordered the pump, waterblock, and a few other little things this morning. everything else i will need i can get in town. hopefully the stuff will get here this week.

ps- my new camera is out for shipping, so i have another new toy to play with . we'll see how good the pictures are.

 

[[OC]This]

i ordered the pump, waterblock, and a few other little things this morning. everything else i will need i can get in town. hopefully the stuff will get here this week.

ps- my new camera is out for shipping, so i have another new toy to play with . we'll see how good the pictures are.

good for you.. you getting new parts and the digital camera.. Give me one. I don't have it.


I can't wait to see your result with the chilled setup.

 

[SpaceRangerJoe]

the pump is on its way. no word from danger den yet. any know how long it usually takes them to get stuff shipped out? i didnt get any real work done yesterday. i felt bad and went to sleep at like 8:30, so i got about 13 hours of sleep. i feel much better now. my plan is to go to walmart to and if i need to, the hardware store to get the rest of the junk.

sorry im posting basically the sam thing over and over. im just trying to keep this in my mind. if i get to distracted and start working on something else, then this will be like most of my other projects and never get done. moral support is welcome .

 

[[OC]This]

moral support is welcome .

if your chilling power is strong enough, it will generate huge amount of condensation. i know you'll be doing all the insulation for the blocks, tubes, etc, but apply *plenty* amount of dielectric grease in the socket pin holes and put a lot inside the socket too.. and around the socket. Do it on the back too. More you put, the better. If you don't put enough and any amount of air trapped in and will cause condensation.

 

[SpaceRangerJoe]

i got 5 5gram tubes of the stuff from dangerden. it said each one should do 2 sockets, so i should have more then plenty. i figured since they are only $0.89 each, i might as well have some extra. also, i got 1/16 inch neoprene for in the socket. i figured i could cut it up and layer it. its ok if the neoprene is sticking slightly above socket level, right? when i put the cpu in there, it shouldnt it be able to compress it a little? im not sure exactly how i want to insulate the block itself yet. i got a fair amount of 1/2 inch neoprene for that. i dont know if i want to cut out the middle of each square in the shape of the block, and stack it up. or should i try to adhere it directly to the side of the block.

also, i read that article that warshed linked to (thanks. i know i have read that before, but i got me thinking again). that box idea is kinda neat. i have a sheet of plexi laying around. maybe i could cut that up and use it to cover the cpu block, with neoprene lining the inside. maybe after i get the block, i can look into doing that.

 

[[OC]This]

its ok if the neoprene is sticking slightly above socket level, right? when i put the cpu in there, it shouldnt it be able to compress it a little?

yeah, that's fine. applying the mounting block can be tricky sometimes.. but once you get it in there right, making nice even contact, then you're good to go.