Dehumidifier chiller project (56k, consider yourself warned)

[Pro*Banshee]

As some of you might know, Pwnt by Pat has been working on a dehumidifier chiller project, this is that project.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Pro*Banshee/Chillerbox.jpg

Here's the nice wooden 'shipping crate' I built for it, it stands up nicely to the 210-pound-kid-sitting-on-it test, so I guess it'll hold the chiller just fine.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Pro*Banshee/Caster.jpg

one of the four casters used to help this beast move around, fully loaded or not.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Pro*Banshee/DehumidifierFR.jpg
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Pro*Banshee/DehumidifierBK.jpg

The dehumidifer, a 40 pint unit. I expect at least -20c coolant temp from this unit

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Pro*Banshee/Foambox.jpg

Here are the 4" brass threaded tubes and their prequisite fittings, which are going to penetrate the foam box, the outside wall, and the interior space. They are going to be insulated with plenty of spray on foam, since that's what cool kids use.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Pro*Banshee/WholeFR.jpg

Here is the unit as a whole from the front 3/4 view. As you can see, the foam box is big enough for the entire computer to fit inside the unit, which I think I might do, I'm not sure yet.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Pro*Banshee/WholeBK.jpg

And the rear, nothing much to see here

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Some cool things about it:
well, just one. So far, when the pink box is filled to the brim with water, it freezes solid in under three hours.



This is an ongoing project, Keep watching, I promise temps when I'm finished!

 

[qualhiveldorf]

what kind of collant are you going to use then, if water freezes so easily. I really like the look of it. what material is the pink stuff? GOOD LUCK

 

[Pro*Banshee]

winsheild wiper fluid. The stuff we have up here is slated to reach -20c no problems, although be might have to just run it on pure alcohol.

The pink stuff is your standard 1" house insulation foam, I hope it's enough to prevent condensation from forming on the outside of the box

 

[Zork]

Looks really nice and very promsing, good work. You dont thing the windshield washer fluid or alchohol is going to have some sort of chemical affect on that foam and cause it to break down over time? Do you know the actual make up of the foam, is it pure styrofoam?

 

[Pro*Banshee]

Polystyrene.

The only thing I know of that melts this, is the isobutane in spray paint, or deodorant.
I figure if it can stand up well to the fuel oil mixture in my dads air planes (60% nitromethane/40% castor oil), then some simple alcohol should be no problem

Rubbing alcohol doesnt melt it either

 

[Aphex_Tom_9]

how much has this costed so far? looks like fun

 

[pwnt by pat]

Well, the dehumidifer was 145 from Walmart. You can get 'em cheaper but this was the most powerful local one we could find. The lumber and siding for the case was about 10. The foam was laying around the house from model airplanes. If you factor in 60 for a pump, 15 for coolant, 10 for tubing, and 40 for a waterblock then that'll be roughly 280. It's not done yet. Insulation for the blocks, tubing, and motherboard hasn't even been priced yet but shouldn't run more than $20. In case you couldn't tell from my posts a month or so ago, I was also working on this.

 

[Viper2004]

Looks nice so far, i can't wait for the benchmarking results.

 

[pwnt by pat]

We got another update coming tonight or tomorrow with about 5-7 more pics.

 

[pwnt by pat]

Oop, here it is:

The mobo was sealed up nice and tight. It's not done yet as petrolium jelly is yet to be added. The block is a maze 3 with the plastic top and mounting hardware. The whole thing has been completely sealed.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Pro*Banshee/mobosealed.jpg

The foam box is gone. It leaked and was destroyed. Off we went to Walmart and while looking for a res we came across a nice bucket. There are no pics of it before modification though.

What we did was use a 1/2" pvc tube 1/2" hose male/female cobo to get the tubing in and out of the res. We were one fitting short so we used one of the extenders from before and it's working good.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Pro*Banshee/res.jpg

The cable will be epoxied soon enough. Yes, it leaks.

The new res is smaller than the old one so less time will be needed to get down to opperating temperature. It's such a perfect fit it's like it was made for this. A notch was cut out to get the cap tube and evap tube into the res. As you can see, water enters the rad on the opposite side of the evap. This should allow for better heat transfer as the water will be forced through the evap. Oh yes, siding was added to three sides.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Pro*Banshee/overall.jpg
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Pro*Banshee/overallside.jpg

It was decided what will be done with the mobo. It's going to be hung from the roof of the crate. The block will be facing the res. The total amount of tubing this way will be about 2' total.

The pump and power supply will be mounted on the same molex connection in the back of the chiller. They will be combined using the molex plugs that come in powersupplys and in pump relay kits. The powersupply will be mounted behind the compressor. Since there's such a long way for the power cables to go, they are getting extended.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Pro*Banshee/ExtendedATX.jpg

One or two more day's work and she should be ready to fly.

 

[BioTuned]

i cant wait to see more of this...this is getting very interesting....

 

[anwar1337]

Very cool looking idea keep up the good work

 

[lclark2074]

good luck have you though off water and antifrees