Fridge Cooling

[o-clock-547]

I just got my water block and peltier hooked on my cpu. As i turned it on my water got hat fast. so i was thinking of solutions to cooling and i thought of using a fridge. I got a good deal on a nice size fridge. I then thought of storing my hole computer in there. But soon i realized that condensation and ice were going to be a problem. what can i do to eliminate the condensation and ice while keeping low temps? Also are there any other things i should be woried about?

 

[Arkaine23]

fridge

You could stick a radiator, copper coil, or reservoir in the fridge or in its icebox. But you'll have to get the flow/surface area stuff balanced so the water is cool, but not too cold, or else you'll get condensation. Or you could waterproof your socket/motherboard/video card and and insulate you hoses. Run a good anti-freeze mix in the water for some really cold temps.

 

[o-clock-547]

The ice box gets water/ice on it. I want to put my mobo and everything in the fridege. But I'm afraid water will drip on things or frost will be on things. i'm looking for a way to eliminate the condensation, or do somthing that will keep water away from my parts. Without covering everything in dielectric grease

 

[Ocelaris]

read Project X in this forum. Bill

 

[Arkaine23]

fridge

Sorry, I was thinking of a way to run part of your H2O system in the fridge to chill it, but still have your pc on your desk.

Definitely check out Project X...

 

[Ocelaris]

don't apologize for my rudeness... I didn't mean to be abrupt, I just didn't have anything else to say... safe to say it's allergy season again, and fun fun fun it is...

think the best safe simple mod for a fridge, is to try somehow to get the actual evaporator (ice cube tray thingy in small dorm fridges) in some sort of liquid, that way you have a liquid heat transfer, as opposed to a air one... and put a fan on the back of the fridge, blowing across the compressor and condenser, then short through the thermostat so the fridge runs full time, and whala, you have -20*C dorm fridge mod... theoretically... or you can take the fridge apart like I did...

http://www.geocities.com/ocelaris1981/fridge.htm

however, it's personally a real pain in the arse... I haven't gotten it running, need a bigger pump... Best, Bill

 

[Arkaine23]

fridge

That sounds like a good way to get extreme cooling. But yeah, it also sounds like it could be a pain in the arse. I'd like to go sub-ambient, but only by a little bit- like 5C below room temp maybe. Condensation-proofing the hardware that I could barely afford in the first place is just too much of a risk for me.

I was apologizing for changing directions on o-clock-547, who was interested in putting the mobo in the fridge.

 

[o-clock-547]

so i picked u some water proof foam insulation. I'm going to put two layers of it around all my electrical parts. It prevent water from dripping on anything. I figured if i keep the dorr closed all the time, I will have all ive and no dripping. What i'm trying to work out is where to put the cd rom drives and the floppies. I want to acces them without needing to open the door. I also don't want to cut a huge hole in the fridge causing a lot of air loss, possibly causing condensation. Any ideas? I am also going to be running tempatures under 0c. I don't want my water coling system to freeze. I was thinking of using methenol and water. Any ideas?

 

[dream caster]

If temp goes down fast enough you won't have condensation problems even if you do not use any form of barriers: you'll have only ice and not dripping liquid water that could cause problems.
Look at what this guy has been doing for a year.
If you have a sealed enclosure as a fridge less problems, but there is a trick you have to use : when you put down your system you must vent it and let it dry before you use it again.

 

[dream caster]

i think methanol water is your best option though there is one problem: the heat capacity is rather low so your tank may not cool too much after compressor is off. I think you must use a closed system and have some kind of ventilation in the room you have it (at least don't close the door), just to assure yourself. The guys that use it daily do not seem afraid of using it for computer cooling. (personally if i can get it i will use freezium-60 because of heat capacity)

As for the disks you may try to take flat cables out and close the door on them; you may use thick speaker cable to make power cables longer if you need to, you'll have to place motherboard with the disks headers next to the door.

 

[o-clock-547]

if i sealed everything in foam is there still a high chance for condensation or ice on my mobo? Would the insulation even help, or would it not even let the mobo get cool? What can i do to ensure a dry mobo, somthing resonable.? How could i get all the water out of the air? Dehumidifier? i think i might go with the methenol and water for a liquid.

 

[dream caster]

you must have cooling next to parts wich you are cooling, and foam covering both of them, not just the cooled parts.
If you dont plan to put off your system frequently you may just put motherboard inside frig with no protection: that is what i plan to do in my own project (though I will build my cooling system specially for this).

 

[Ocelaris]

Methanol may make a great substance for heat transfer, but it is very toxic. Methanol is basically high grade gasoline, they use it in race cars. It stinks royally... I personally have never heard of anyone actually using it, liking it, and sticking with it. The one person I've heard of using it got sick off the smell. A better option is just water, ethylene glycol (regular antifreeze) and isopropyl alcohol to dilute it. you'll need a big pump to run the whole system, the liquids get very dense below 0*c.

If you want to dehydrate your system, get some desicant. I beleive they sell it as cigarette ash tray stuff? since it absorbs the water and odor. Look around but if you're going to seal it, you should be looking for some desicant, just put a cup of it in your fridge, and it will absorb all the moisture. However, I would reccomend getting some conformal coating. Read project X, I have some good links there for where to locate it... otherwise look under MG chemicals, they make an acrylic conformal coating, the MG chemicals webpage has a listing of the stores that sell their stuff, just call those places up and find one close. It was like 11$ for a big can of it. the conformal coating should NOT be sprayed on your PCI/AGP/memory connections, it's basically like spray clear nail polish, makes everything impermeable to water. great stuff... and then just use lots of rubatex foam from home depot or the likes... Hope these help some ideas... Project X has covered this issues... not to beat a dead horse... Best, Bill

 

[ol' man]

Methanol is basically high grade gasoline, they use it in race cars. It stinks royally... I personally have never heard of anyone actually using it, liking it, and sticking with it.

I think you mean nitromethane.

 

[Ocelaris]

whooops, yes, well, I don't know what it is called, but you're probably right. I just heard the only cheap source of pure "methanol" as people called it was from race track stores. And that I can't imagine race car fuel being too good for you to inhale...

CH4O - Methyl Alcohol (METHANOL) according to
http://www.flexwareinc.com/gasprop.htm

Hazardous information about Methanol (Material Saftey Data Sheet)

http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/m2015.htm

I don't know what nitro methane, but I guess, it is used in conjunction with nitrious oxide? I don't know much about cars... Best, Bill

 

[ol' man]

Ingested/ihaled methanol forms formaldehyde in the human body.

 

[Frodo Baggins]

I thought about fridge cooling at one point, but it was just more expensive then regular water cooling, and my parents would freak at the elec bill lol

 

[o-clock-547]

i am now reconsidering the fridge cooling. Condernsation seems like it's going to be real hard to control. Plus i'm risking a lot by doing this. If any one has any good condensation fighting i deas please post them. I'm thinking of using a glycol water mixture. Methenol sounds dangerous. I think i will put my resivour in the freezer. Any ideas for what i can do to cool my pc using the fridge? The resivour sounds the safest. The condensation doesn't sound to good.

 

[Ocelaris]

I think that many people are successful with below ambient temp setups, you just have to be extra careful. I'll just tell you what I did, and my mistakes:

Conformal coated Everything, (protected the contact points (slots etc...) with tape, and then sprayed a generous amount of acrylic conformal coating. Look for MG chemicals website, they have dealer listings...

Rubatex (foam tape) on MOBO, Graphics card etc... all piping was wrapped.

My problem was the hose clamps, and the CPU bracket that holds on the water block... and the same for the Northbridge. When I do it again, I will fill those holes with Petroleum jelly, and just make that anything that might get cold, has rubatex on it.
And I think a real easy solution is to just make sort of "drip shrouds" so anywhere you might eventually have some leakage, you put like plastic cardboard to catch the run off (mine was near the hoses, so it wasn't hard to catch the run off, I just didnt' think of it then). you can actually get your board wet with the acrylic conformal coating, and it'll be just fine, you just need to make sure the condensation doesn't drip into any PCI/AGP slots. That's what happened to me, water dripped into the AGP slot, and shorted it, but only temporarily, I cleaned it out with a toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol, and it works just fine now.

Also remember, if you're refrigerating below freezing, the condensation will freeze... Jazzmon doesn't insulate at all, so his -50*C system just freezes anywhere... I think it's alot of work and preperation, but very possible, and I was more successful than I thought I'd be. As long as you have the right planning, you should be ok, I think there's quite a few people who have successfully done this. GL, Bill