ac unit chiller

I'd like to know this too. ^^ I hear phase change cooling is expensive...but if you can just take an old air conditioner and run some copper to your cpu or to chill some water that would be easy. And I'm not talking sub zero either. If i could just open the air conditioner case and bend something to touch my cpu and get at all below ambient temperature that would be sweet.

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...d.php?t=101902

PROPS .... to Drewmeister . Thanks Man !


This should cover it A to Z

Worst part is bending the copper to get the evap to go in the res. DON'T snap them or "game over"

Try to pick the AC unit he recommends . They seem to be the easiest to mod.

Of course , you would need to condensate proof your mother board .

If you use this set up , your entire water loop(except block) goes away . Water rads are not made for chillers.

Good Luck

A project like this can be as simple as you want, or as complicated as you want, it all depends on what you want to do.

At the simplest, you simply move the evap so that it sits in a container of fluid. There are two types of evaps, one that looks like a radiator like you pictured in your first pic, and a coil type, which is what you appear to be talking about. It all depends on the AC unit, as to which design it implements.

I built a chiller a while ago now, but have since moved on to LN2 benching, it can be quite fun and is a good introduction into the world of subzero. I could idle at -20c and load at -14c, until I really started pushing things.

Here is how my unit looks:


It used to be a portable a/c unit, which I stripped down. Inside that esky is the evap, which just sat ontop of the fam that my thermometer is sitting on. Under that is sitting the condensor, which is warm. I didn't have to cut any tubes or anything like that, I just carefuly bent the copper tubes so that I could dump the evap into the liquid. You have to be very careful with this, if you kink or snap the tube, then you'll need to get it brazed and regassed. Copper tube is quite easy to bend, you just have to be careful and take your time.

Here you can get a better look at my evap:


Basically, if you can't figure out what you need submerge into liquid, just look for what get's coldest when you open the a/c unit and give it a run. If it has a two fan setup or if you can remove the airflow from what you suspect is the evap (condensor needs aircooling) then you'll see the evap considerably frost up, that's what you need to submerge.

(btw, my bottom pic is a bad example of it running, you shouldn't get any icing up, I moved to a pure form of alcohol after that and got -26c in the liquid)
Edited by jjjc_93 - 9/25/11 at 4:28am

If you guys want better cooling may I suggest covering the entire coil in coolant, ice is only at the best 0 degree's. The coil itself should get below 0 degrees. But only by 1 or 2 degrees.

How you guy's dont crimp the pipe's over so much they stop refrigerant flow I am impressed.

Great answers!!! I searched and searched and couldn't find that info. My gosh it really is that simple. Just plop an air conditioners evaporator in water. My last question is can you take water out of the equation and just have the evaporator come in contact with the cpu somehow?

Almost any size A/C will do what you want. Considering the computer will not be producing no more then say 1.1-1.3Kw of heat at max. But the true means of figuring it out would be calculate your heat load, ie. how much power the computer will be using then add 10%.