Cheap supercooling, suggestions?

[f012t12]

As many would agree, I'm interested in operating a cheap supercooling module without paying 500++ on a prometeia mach II or Vapochill system (well, cheap despite the fact that I don't know how much the old, huge refrigerator rotting in the basement would cost).

My mommy told me not to play with the refrigerator (taking it apart. For example, removing the compressor chamber and the circulation tubing within the insulation) because it may use some sort of gas, not sure what, that's potentially very dangerous (cancer causing, capable of damaging respiratory system).

I plan to use this refrigerator to keep frozen a block of ice that I would have metal tubing running through it circulating anti-freeze that would be pumped into the chipset case. Similiar to what you'd see being done on octools.com (submersion, except w/out liquid nitrogen or dry ice).

So my question would be, might you have experience taking apart such a thing, or if there's information I can gather from this refrigerator that may help me understand what it is I'm dealing with, or just not deal with it all for it's not something possible?

 

[sandman001]

It's likely Freon, which can be very harmful, which is why you should research as much as you can about the compressor/condensor that fridge uses.

Or you could turn the freezer all the way up, and stick a radiator in there.

 

[L337 M33P]

The gases used in modern fridges are NOT poisonous. That is precisely the reason why manufacturers switched over to CFCs instead of ammonia. Some guy did a demo where he breathed in a lungful of Cl2CH2 and blew on a candle to put it out - (1930?). The gas will cause suffocation if it is sufficently concentrated to expel the air around the fridge and you sit there breathing it though.

 

[gusgizmo]

cant r-404a cause heart attacks? not that its used in the average refridgerator. if its old, its probably running with r-12 in it. i wouldnt wory about breathing it, though it is quite illegal to release it into the atmosphere. it's like a 15k fine in the US.

in any case, if you think you can downplay the danger to your mom, you can probably build a pretty decent waterchiller. first you will need to remove the phase change loop, so start at the compressor and remove everything without damaging it.

then you will need to take the evaporator (the cold part) and put it in a reseivor (dont make ice, ice will insulate the evaporator and you wont get as good results). you will need to insulate and seal the reservor. next, you shouldnt use anti-freeze, it's only good to about -10 degrees, and even there it is really thick, like goo, so thats out. what you should use is methanol. it wont freeze until you get really low, and even if you have problems you can just increase the purity, and itll get you to -65 degrees. you can get methanol in windshield washer fluid, its only about 90 cents a gallon bottle where i live, and its good. in the reseivor you need barbs for the connections to your watercooling loop, do more research for this.

then you will need to get a water block, pump, and tubing. again, do some more research and ask around about these. the biggest thing is insulation, there is a really good guide on http://phase-change.com about this, you should look into it. if you have anymore questions, feel free to ask!

 

[captaincascade]

most refrigerants wont harm or kill you in small doses. Theres not enough in a fridge to hurt you. If you have specific questions, id be glad to help, but remember this isnt as easy as it looks.

 

[gusgizmo]

a water chiller is pretty easy to make. except for the insulation, that takes a bit more effort and involvement than the rest of the system, i feel. as long as you arent opening the system up, its not excessively involved. of course, the average fridge is set up to remove hundreds of watts of heat, not the under 100 watts put out by a processor, or the other 150 watts or so that might come through the tubing and resevor. so if you want the best out of your system you will have to empty it and change the cap tube and evaporator.

 

[lclark2074]

if using a old fridge first goto hvac tec and have them remove the old refrigerants first then theres no problem

 

[gusgizmo]

instead of paying someone to remove the gases, and charge you for more gas that has worse performance due to the stopping of the manufacture of r-12, why dont you empty the system yourself, and refill it from the same container afterwards?

thats what i did anyway, on the advice of a HVAC technician. i borrowed a bullet valve to puncture the high side, and i used an empty propane canister. i hooked them up to the high side and turned it on. there you go! and you get to keep the r-12, which is so rare today.

i did this with r-22, and i havent refilled my system yet, but i will be doing so soon.

of course, if you are making a liquid chiller, then there is no reason to do this. just skip it, no need to do more work than necessary. my advice above still stands. good luck!

 

[f012t12]

Heheh, maybe this is harder than it seems. I guess I first ought to have a look. I can't quite say how old this thing is.

I appreciate the willingness to help, but I don't have the equipment nor room necessary to begin this any time soon (maybe in the summer)

thanks for the feedback.