A Cooling Experiment - Overclock.net

walker450 · 09-29-09

EDIT: First of all, I must give credit where credit is due. This has been done in a similiar manner here. I have thought about doing this before but always told myself it wouldn't work, until I read that thread. So I decided to do it in my own style!

I have been debating this (I don't want to use the horrible words... initials of M.F.) one for a while. There is not much of a reason for me to say anything, because I have a feeling there will be plenty of people chiming in on this one...

I have read many many many posts about doing this, but I have yet to find a well-documented account. So, I will give you one. No matter how poorly this works, no matter how much you may think I wasted my time, I am just going to give the results.

Also, don't forget to laugh a little. This experiment is quite funny and every time I stepped back and looked at what I was actually doing, I would just have to laugh.

Pictures are worth a thousand words.... so lets get started:

Cutting the back plate off:

And its cut...:

The sides had to come off too:

This is how most models are, the condenser is under the side panels:

And there are wires for the thermostat that must be dug from the insulation:

Aaaahhh the chaos!!:

Must cut the back out to pull the ice tray (evaporator):

And then demolish the rest of the back to get everything to come out together:

And finally, about 30 minutes later, seperation!!:

Will make a new post for the testing....

walker450 · 09-29-09

The water was slightly below ambient already because I had ran it for a few hours the night before...

walker450 · 09-29-09

I used well water for the test. I also placed a box fan (not pictured) to blow air onto the compressor case and the condenser piping. The above graph tells it all. This thing can hardly cool down 5 gallons of water. How in the world could it keep a CPU cool? Thats if the compressor even continues to run for more than a few hours before it dies.

All of this will be answered in the next few days. The next time someone wants to do this, they can just check out this thread and will have all of the answers they need.

I will pump the chilled water through my CPU water block and run prime95 for as long as everything will hold up. I will document all temps every few minutes. I plan on starting one test with everything at ambient, and another with the water about 10C below ambient to start.

Greensystemsgo · 09-29-09

ok ill bite what are you attempting to make?

walker450 · 09-29-09

I was finally able to get everything up and running tonight. So far, it has kept core 1 at 36-38C running prime95 at 2.83-3.88 (6 hours small ffts, 2 hours blend).

I put everything up on my desk to make it easy to setup. I made a very crude fan shroud out of cardboard for the compressor and condensor. I then wrapped my five gallon bucket reservior with a blanket to add a little insulation. The pics tell it all. So far the compressor is holding a steady temperature and has not shut off in 8 hours.

I am convinced now that this concept will work, but I am going to have to change some things. I need a better condensor for sure, and I will insulate the bucket better, or possibly just buy a 5 gallon drink cooler. (the big orange round ones with the spouts on bottom)... I am very tired so I am going to bed now... enjoy!

I am somewhat confused about my cpu temps... they hardly varied at all! I will test more tomorrow and see what happens...

tipsycoma · 09-29-09

Condensation might be a problem, but looking forward to some results!

SurfGuruJeff · 10-02-09

This looks familiar

I know this will work, and way to go for showing all the haters that it can be done.

Oh yeah, and condensation will be a problem unless you insulate.

Excited to see your results.

walker450 · 10-03-09

Hello everyone! I have had everything running non-stop for 34 hours now! I have been trying to stabilize my OC but thats another story. (getting very close)

For this entire 34 run, I have been running prime about 90% of the time, the rest linX. Core temps are maxing out at 40C loaded and the water in the reservoir is hovering around 6C.

I quit taking readings because after about 24 hours I am convinced that the temps are going to stay about the same. Now the only factor left is how long the compressor will continue to run non-stop.

I will be swapping out the 5 gallon bucket reservoir for a 5 gallon Igloo beverage cooler, as seen in the pic below.

Here is my most successful prime run so far....
During:

After:

3 of 4 cores made it for 10 hours 45 minutes...

Here is after about an hour of linx:

For some reason my core 0 and 4 temps will not read below 36 and 40.... which is quite frustrating when I am trying to do a test!

88EVGAFTW · 10-03-09

NICE, hope all goes well

walker450 · 10-03-09

Here is what I am using to monitor ambient air temp and the reservoir water temp:

I decided to submerge the pump this time, it is rated at 26W and may add too much heat, but I'm trying it anyways... I can always take it and run it externally if I want.

Here is a look at the new setup for testing:

I had to shut it down for about one hour while swapping out the reservoirs, so that brings us to about 35 hours of total runtime with only one shutdown!

		Overclock.net - Overclocking.net > Cooling > Cooling Experiments
A Cooling Experiment

10-02-09	#7 (permalink)
SurfGuruJeff New to Overclock.net Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 3 Rep: 0 Unique Rep: 0 Trader Rating: 0	This looks familiar I know this will work, and way to go for showing all the haters that it can be done. Oh yeah, and condensation will be a problem unless you insulate. Excited to see your results.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)