FREEZER extension WHAT!?!!!

IT HIT ME HARD!!! ok, so someone tell me why this isn't the perfect idea. (i tried to look through threds, it's late, don't wanna forget this idea)

i plan on setting up one or two custom watercooling loops for my new build. one for my processor, NB and possibly memory and another for my 4 gpu's.
so yeah, 2 pumps, 2 res, 2 radiators, lots of fun

MY IDEA IS(talking about one loop at a time, though i plan on doing this with both.... maybe): picture this, a 3/8" tube runs out the back of my case and into a radiator. then the 3/8" tube runs from the radiator INTO A HOLE IN A FREEZER(or fridge). the tube would be about 10 feet long and coil around the bottom or sides of the freezer. the tube would exit the freezer through another small hole and enter my case

my hope here is to get my liquid around 68' F or a little cooler, cooler than room temp, before entering my loop again to cool my cpu or gpu's

i know this idea is too good not to have been had before, let's just talk about it one more time

i'll have quick disconnect nozzles on everything so i can easily not use the freezer or fridge if i choose. and was thinking i could just open the freezer or fridge and unplug it when i shut my computer down

prolly a bad idea. if things get cooler than ambient, you get condensation. not good unless you're expecting it and being careful about it.

The reason refrigerators and freezers arent used as water chillers is because the compressors in them are designed to run for short bursts rather than a constant load. Dumping the heat of a pc into a non commercial unit (i.e. anything that is going to cost hundreds of dollars, rather that tens of thousands) will burn out the compressor.

If you want a reasonably low cost water chiller, your best bet is with a portable/window ac unit, for a few hundred dollars (or less, if you can source something used) you are looking at being able to rig up a chiller that will bring you well below 0c, that is willing to hold a constant load.

Also, slight nitpick, you do not get condensation when you go below ambient. You get condensation when you go below the dew point, which varies based on humidity. If you live in an arid climate you can get water a few degrees below ambient with a bong cooler.

Supaduck said:

prolly a bad idea. if things get cooler than ambient, you get condensation. not good unless you're expecting it and being careful about it.

Click to expand...

i feel you! but i left it open to freezer or fridge for that very reason.. also i can shorten or lengthen the tubing in the freezer or fridge to get cooler or warmer temps maybe? i dont want condensation AT ALL, but i think i'll be fine with the temp of my loop being around 68' F.

also, i dont expect my method to cool THAT much, just enough to make a noticeable difference for my 24/7 overclocking adventures

i dont want to be restricted to being by a window, and i think an AC unit would be too loud... CRAP! so youre saying i would burn the fridge or freezer compressor out???

you think the load would be too much on the fridge or freezer, even though it's AFTER the radiator in the loop???

you will get lots of moist arround the tubes and radiators. cold pressured liquid generally produces moist while calm water can disperse heat properly without generating moist.

Well, you dont have to be by a window for the ac unit, you take them apart, mod up a bucket/cooler and make a standalone water chiller. Yes it will be loud, and suck down power, but its about the best you can go without going to a dedicated phase change unit.

As for the fridge/freezer, it really depends on how much heat you throw at it. But 4 gpus is a ton of heat for them to cope with. If you arent trying to go sub zero, i would say you are better off just massively over radding with some nice quiet fans.

Depending on where you live, there is also the option of geothermal cooling. A few people on these forums have dozens of feet of copper tubing about 36" down in their back yards, leeching heat out into the ground.

The freezer or fridge is designed to cool down things that don't heat up by themselves. Add a constant load, and the fridge dies.

As Supertrucker said, your best bet would be a water chiller (get ready to prepare for condensation and/or isolate your board), or a bong cooler, but those buggers are super inefficient and require a lot of water every day. I mean, they work evaporating water.

On average, a refrigerator uses 488 Btu/h, but can do about 1,250 with the door left open for an hour (and the contents still thaw).
A 95W CPU plus 2 150 watt video cards produces 1346 Btu/h.
1 watt is 3.41 btu per hour.

BTW, keep in mind a fridge isn't just cooling the stuff packed inside, it's also fighting the heat from it's own close-quarters compressor and the room heat seeking to get inside too.
The 488 Btu/h is already consumed without the added loop, so that leaves ~762 Btu/h extra load that it's capable of, plus your food is thawed so you know it's losing ground.
In short, you can't get there from here.

** Note: That's a full sized 21 Cuft fridge....mini fridge? Forgetaboutit.
***Note2: Having your computer near the fridge raises the 488 number too, cause it's airborne Btu's are trying to get in the fridge too.

It's a much better idea, if you just wanna drop a few degrees, to turn the A/C down in your computer room.
An A/C unit is capable of many-fold more Btu's than a fridge, and you have control over condensation...with any ammount of copper in your fridge, it's darned difficult to judge exactly how much you can expose to the fridge air without causing condensation problems in your computer.

This idea has been brought up quite a bit in the past... here is the standard response.

1. A fridge/freezer isnt made to cool off a constant heat load and run constantly so the unit would tend to burn out quickly.
2. If it gets cold enough, below the dew point, you will get condensation.

u need insulating foam on your tubing and res, after the water enter the CPU and GPU it should be hotter than ambient already, so ok.. I think.

Condensation is what you should worry about most, a dripping tube onto your wires is precursor to some fire !

Its hotter than ambient, sure, but loop temps do not differ but 1-2C within a properly functioning loop.

From experience, I can tell you that a window AC probably makes the best quick and dirty water chiller. If you want to be classy, but still cheap, find yourself a dehumidifier with a piston compressor. Piston compressors are the shorter, oval shaped ones that are quieter. They're used in the nicer phase change units, water cooler / bubbles like in offices, fridges, freezers, you get the idea. Some phase change units are built with loud *** rotary compressors though, and all window ACs have them that I've ever seen. (Because they work fine, and are cheaper)

I'd have to imagine a portable AC would be the best solution, capable and quiet. Whatever you do, keep the condenser and compressor cool if you actually do it.

Well look at that, same link, different thread. http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=373263

If you're going this route, have you considered TECs? There was a time when you could buy a prepackaged TEC/Waterblock for your CPU. You need enough radiator to handle cooling the heat from your heat sources plus the heat from the TEC but it is feasible. And A LOT quieter than a compressor (only fan noise from your rad). If you have your loop cool the CPU and GPUs then the hot side of a TEC then to your rad to be cooled; on to the cold side of the TEC and back to your CPU/GPUs you might accomplish the couple degrees of delta you're seeking. (Insert pump in that loop wherever.) I assume this is for sustained computing, and not like a bench drag.

Also, I haven't actually done the requisite research into the practicality of this approach (since you need some sort of block for the hot side and then another on the cold side of the TEC to transfer the heat into and out of the water and fabbing this up may or may not be easy or fun- i dunno) but if you're willing to hack a window unit for a water chiller, you may be willing to take a stab at something like this... and post pics too!

I forgot to add: there was a time when I thought REALLY hard about running a hose out to my pool to cool my computer... no rad so no fans. WIN. It never happened because things like sleep and college got in the way (and a job) but it would have been interesting to see how well that worked... minus the effect of chlorinated water running amok in my cooling loop anyways...

No said go for it yet? If you have a fridge or AC unit you found on the side of the road you don't mind killing then totally go for it, it'll be a fun experience. Is a minifridge gonna work? No, but maybe it can handle a dedicated hose from your northbridge..

my cool suite is cooled by pumping iced water from a cooler into tubes sewn into a vest, why not just use a cooler?

Diggrr said:

On average, a refrigerator uses 488 Btu/h, but can do about 1,250 with the door left open for an hour (and the contents still thaw).
A 95W CPU plus 2 150 watt video cards produces 1346 Btu/h.
1 watt is 3.41 btu per hour.

BTW, keep in mind a fridge isn't just cooling the stuff packed inside, it's also fighting the heat from it's own close-quarters compressor and the room heat seeking to get inside too.
The 488 Btu/h is already consumed without the added loop, so that leaves ~762 Btu/h extra load that it's capable of, plus your food is thawed so you know it's losing ground.
In short, you can't get there from here.

** Note: That's a full sized 21 Cuft fridge....mini fridge? Forgetaboutit.
***Note2: Having your computer near the fridge raises the 488 number too, cause it's airborne Btu's are trying to get in the fridge too.

Click to expand...

i guess this is kinda the best response... just need to figure out the max 24-7 load the fridge or freezer unit can handle, then make sure i have less energy output from the tube running inside it...

AND the radiator or radiators would be JUST before the fridge or freezer in the loop...

im sure i can make this work to my advantage somehow. enough to matter? or cheap enough for the difference? i guess those are the important questions now

looks like from the post above, i can shave off 400 BTu/h no problem with a big fridge... im sure it only gets better when i look at freezers

also, i dont plan on getting the liquid much cooler than 70' F... so no dew to worry about here

sounds like once i found the sweet spot, it would only be good for one load type, being FULL LOAD. if it wasnt running full load, the temp of the loop would go down and i'd get dew. this is perfect for the quick disconnect nozzels im gonna buy. i can just take the tube running through the freezer out of the loop when im not running FULL LOADS and unplug the freezer