Refrigerated cooling setup, now something changes?

[charleybot]

Hello everyone,

i've been following posts on using mini-fridges for cooling and I thought I had come up with a good setup. I was lucky enough to get a brand new mini-fridge for $20.00, still packaged up from a friend of mine(Haier HSW02). After modifying it and putting the evaporator in an 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water(total of 2 gallons) I thought things were going pretty good. Over the course of a few days however I can run my system for about 3-4 hours with a cpu voltage of 1.85 and 14x166 for my 2400 cpu, I was getting a higher overclock at almost 2 volts on the cpu at 15x166, however because of something that has changed I cannot run my system for long at all.

I've double checked my insulation, no signs of condensation, no leaks, no lockups. I have a fan cooling the compressor on the fridge as well. The water block is making a good connection to the cpu as well.

If I shut down my system for a while, it takes the fridge about 3-4 hours to get my coolant back to negative temps(which is about -6F to -8F). I have a 265gph pump in my setup with 3/8" rubber hose that is insulated as well.

The water block is BEcooling's black edge waterblock.

About the only thing I can think of is that I maybe have too much flow? Possibly getting a smaller pump?

I have also tried a different coolant mix of 40/60 and 60/40. I would hate to think that it's the fridge.

I would appreciate any ideas, other than buying a vapochill or Prometheia setup, even though I would love to....

 

[nealric]

Im confused- it is that your temps are not staying as low as they used to? Or is that you arent ocing as well?

 

[charleybot]

Im confused- it is that your temps are not staying as low as they used to? Or is that you arent ocing as well?

Sorry, it's the fact that I cannot run my system for long with this setup, basically the less I overclock the longer it will run for, something with the fridge I think....

 

[aenigma]

Sounds like you might have reached the limit of your cpu.If it is unstable at lower clock speeds, you may have an insulation problem.

What are water temps and cpu temps right now compared to what it used to be?

 

[charleybot]

Sounds like you might have reached the limit of your cpu.If it is unstable at lower clock speeds, you may have an insulation problem.

What are water temps and cpu temps right now compared to what it used to be?

Well when I first started running this setup a few days ago, I was getting about 5c at idle and around 7-9c at full load, this was with the cpu running at 2vdc with a setup of 15x166.

Now if I run the same setup, it takes less than a couple of hours before the system gets too warm and starts to get unstable. I don't let the temps get over 32C at this rate.

If I run the system at 1.85v by 14x166 I can get about 4-6 hours out of it before it gets to 32c.

 

[aenigma]

Oh well your minifridge just isn't handling it and your cpu temps are climbing and the higher temps are causing instability.

 

[charleybot]

Oh well your minifridge just isn't handling it and your cpu temps are climbing and the higher temps are causing instability.

Thanks, well I know why the system get's unstable, and I am starting to think that these new mini-fridges just can't do the job, but hey, i'm always looking for a better way

 

[Lt. Max]

exactly what aenigma said, your mini fridge cannot handle the wattage your cpu puts out, to help with this 2 things can be done, put a house fan on the back of the fridge to cool the fins down and/or add a rad b4 the line goes into the fridge to remove a bunch of the watts that are put into the water, try the first method first because with the second u prolly wont get under the ambient temperatures too well.. but possibly close to it.

 

[aenigma]

Yeah putting a rad outside of the fridge is a big no no.If you do that, then don't bother with the fridge....

If your condenser is getting hot then like he said putting a fan on it may help a bit....

 

[tft]

does the compressor cycle on and off? What I did with mine was to take a couple of 12v fans I ripped out of old psu's and put them on the compressor (I had it on an old powersupply outside of the computer). It worked great, the compressor never cycled off, and it never got hot, it was just warm to the touch. Also I had the fridge setting on coldest, and if that doesn't work I saw a mod around where you can set it up so the compressor will never cycle on and off

Good luck

 

[charleybot]

does the compressor cycle on and off? What I did with mine was to take a couple of 12v fans I ripped out of old psu's and put them on the compressor (I had it on an old powersupply outside of the computer). It worked great, the compressor never cycled off, and it never got hot, it was just warm to the touch. Also I had the fridge setting on coldest, and if that doesn't work I saw a mod around where you can set it up so the compressor will never cycle on and off

Good luck

Actually I have a 80CFM fan blowing on the compressor, which get's warm, but not hot. It was cycling on and off, however it's now running all the time with the computer running of course.

I had left the fridge running for over 24 hours without the computer or pump running, and so far from what I can tell today, since it has been on for about an hour now, is that the fridge is just too small to do the job, I think that these newer mini-fridges just can't handle it.

I think at this point, I have two choices, go back to water cooling, which allows me to overclock to about 2324MHz, or I have to start making a direct-die type setup with a bigger compressor.

I wish I had a mill to make the cpu block, that's the biggest problem I have with making a direct-die setup as the water block I am using now would definately not do the job(BE Cooling waterblock).

 

[aenigma]

Ok, putting a fan on the compressor won't help anything.In fact it can lower performance.Putting a fan on the condenser on the other hand, will help.

I know how to make a direct die evap without a mill, but I am having computer problems so I won't be online much.Go ahead and contact me on AIM(only program on this computer).

 

[charleybot]

Ok, putting a fan on the compressor won't help anything.In fact it can lower performance.Putting a fan on the condenser on the other hand, will help.

I know how to make a direct die evap without a mill, but I am having computer problems so I won't be online much.Go ahead and contact me on AIM(only program on this computer).

Hi,

Well I think that I am going back to just water cooling for the time being, at somepoint last night one of my cats decided to see what they could do with my system, when I got up we had antifreeze all over the system inside, on the oustide, as well as chewed up hoses on the outside, to make things worse the computer ended up turned on somehow , nothing but beeps and blips. My heart dropped.....

Needless to say I have taken everything apart, used a solution to wash everything, dried out everything and if you can believe it, the CPU,MBoard,Memory,Video, all of it still works. I love animals, but I want to kill the damn cat, actually if he didn't drink the antifreeze I want to kill that damn cat!!!

I am on-line with AIM for a while, so I will try to get ahold of you....

 

[aenigma]

Hi,

Well I think that I am going back to just water cooling for the time being, at somepoint last night one of my cats decided to see what they could do with my system, when I got up we had antifreeze all over the system inside, on the oustide, as well as chewed up hoses on the outside, to make things worse the computer ended up turned on somehow , nothing but beeps and blips. My heart dropped.....

Needless to say I have taken everything apart, used a solution to wash everything, dried out everything and if you can believe it, the CPU,MBoard,Memory,Video, all of it still works. I love animals, but I want to kill the damn cat, actually if he didn't drink the antifreeze I want to kill that damn cat!!!

I am on-line with AIM for a while, so I will try to get ahold of you....

I would set that furball on fire!Luckily it still works, now you need to make the cat pay for any damages!

 

[charleybot]

I would set that furball on fire!Luckily it still works, now you need to make the cat pay for any damages!

LOL! That's what I have been plotting all night. Everything is working with no problems, everything cleaned up nicely. Now to just get everything put back into my case

 

[Diggrr]

Glad to hear your setup is living still.
One thing to consider, maybe your reservior inside the fridge isn't letting the heat out into the fridge effectively. Is the evaporator tray inside the fridge lowered into the liquid? It would also help to insulate the water container from the air in the fridge (with the cold tray in the water) as you would no longer need to chill the air in the fridge, just the water. This makes the unit more efficient by lessening the units' loss to outside heat through the sides.
If you're just using a big tub o' water in it, the temps will slowly increase, as there's nothing to transfer the chill from the fridge's air to the water.

And cats are fine, if you get the gravy just right. With winter here, the fur is nice to line the toes of your snow boots, too.
Handy little animals to have around.

 

[aenigma]

hahaha
That was a perfect reply, good info and humor

I forgot about the evaporator/air/water transfer, I didn't even think of what he was doing D'oh.If it is just a tub of water like you say, that very well could be the problem.

 

[Snuffleuppigus]

you might want to look for an older fridge.... I use an older fridge in my set up and i do fairly well, as long as it is not extremely warm in the room, I can go all day before I note serious increases in water temp. I doubt flow should be too much of an issue, I use a 500gph pump. if you are hitting sub feezing temps, you also might want to check your clamping method. I had to clamp mine down better as condensed ice was pulling my water block away from the processor die.

 

[aenigma]

Yeah an older refrigerator will work better than a minifridge, especially if it is a new minifridge.
You shouldn't be getting ice if you insulate well....

 

[charleybot]

Damn!

I've been without power for almost 2 days now! Just finally got it back, and I was about 2 minutes from going to get a generator too :O .

Okay, my evaporator is totally submerged, no ice buildup. I've been reading up on the newer mini-fridges and I think that it's just too small to keep up, the compressor is pretty small.