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Peltier/TEC Hybrid Water Cooling vs 2.0

33K views 582 replies 18 participants last post by  kkn1 
#1 ·
I had always wanted to get all of my Chilled Water Cooling all housed inside one case, but every large cube case I researched just didn't quite meet all the requirements in one way or another, plus the fact they are so expensive and I would have still had to modify the case for my needs.
So I decided after much measuring that if I got another Azza 1000 case that I could possibly mate it together with the Azza 1000 case I already had, but I was still unsure until I discovered the front and rear removable panels could be swapped, not many cases at all will do that.
I decided to go ahead and order the 2nd Azza 1000 case and see what happened, while I was waiting for the case to arrive I removed the motherboard mounting tray on the case I had, because I needed to create a cube to house all the TEC assemblies.
Mating the 2 cases together has gone much better than I had even anticipated it would, so I now have a cube case that looks great for less than half of what I would have paid for a Mountain mods case.



























I have a lot to share with you all but please bear with me, I have some details to work out and run a leak test before it is back in operation.

Edit: All the insulation is completed and the leak testing is done, no leaks discovered, the chilled system works great had it down to about 7c coolant temperature testing,I reprogrammed the relay to run at 8.9c cut out and 10c cut in so the coolant will never go above 10c and 8.9c does not produce condensation so that's my new target.
 
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#2 ·
The guts are all the components that were involved in the thread Peltier/TEC Hybrid Water Cooling, which was run for 3 years and 4 months before I broke it all down to make this beast.

After the leak test passed I insulated all the remaining areas that needed it, set the cube where it needed to go and connected everything and powered it up.











The Alphacool 180 NexXxos Monsta is cooling the graphics card, I will probably change the graphics cooling back to the Watercool MO-RA3 radiator.

It is nice to be able to once again run my 5ghz overclock on the 3770K, that CPU speed 100% rock solid stable just literally spoils the heck out of you!

Edit: OK I finally have reached the end of everything I wanted to do, I swapped out the Alphacool NexXxos Monsta 180 graphics cooling setup below.



To the Watercool MO-RA3, and that is put a fork in it! It is done!




 
#3 ·
The pictures below are all the original reservoir construction pictures.
I cut a 13" length of 4" PVC pipe which volume wise after the return line and temperature sensor wire holes were bored, held approximately 2 liters, or a little over 1/2 Gallon of coolant.

4" Slip Joint end cap to be glued to one end of the PVC pipe.

4" over-fit PVC commode flange, there are different types of PVC commode flanges you need the style that fits over the 4" pipe.
Note: The flange is round on the outer area I cut off what I did not need to create the dog ears for mounting.

Cut a flat area on the cap so it would be easier to drill and tap the hole for the 1/2" barb fitting.

1/2" barb fitting installed

4" commode flange glued on.

Finished construction.

A look inside.

Another barb fitting view.

Tubing return line and temperature sensor wire holes.

Another View.

Sealed for leak test.

Leak test passed.

Top sealed with a 4" pressure test cap.

Another view.


Important Note: PVC Adhesive Slip Joint pipe bonding is easy with small pipe but gets more difficult the larger the pipe is, so you may need a friend to help you, or clamp it down somehow, but if you are strong enough you can gorilla it yourself.
The key is once you start the gluing process you have no time to waste as the PVC adhesive actually fusion bonds or melts the 2 surfaces together.
Two tips, first of all use the clear cleaner, the purpose of the cleaner is to break down the shiny protective coating that was applied from the manufacturer from the contacting surfaces, many think the cleaner is to remove dirt, which it will do, but that is not the cleaners purpose.
When you apply the PVC cement be generous on the male part and conservative in the female part and quickly push together with a twisting motion until it seats still applying pressure until it won't move, then wipe off any excess glue.

With the commode flange you may need to do some sanding inside of it to be sure it will go far enough down on your 4" PVC pipe to end up where you want it, test that first before you apply the cement, because some of the flanges are extremely tight.

That should cover whatever you need to know regarding the reservoirs construction.

Whatever you choose to insulate the outside with, is up to you.
 
#5 ·
Information brought over from the original thread:

Caution: Peltier cooling will allow you to go below ambient, depending on what your desires and goals are and how many peltiers you run, you can even go below 0c, it is possible using anti-freeze coolant. My initial goal was to be able to run below ambient just above the condensation forming point so motherboard insulation does not come into play. You can safely enjoy about a 13c below ambient without any condensation worries at all, but you take full responsibility with what you do with this information.

I'm sure the first question would be why would anyone be interested in this type of cooling in the first place, and if you're 100% satisfied with your present water cooling setups load temperatures, you won't be. The main why is, it can run load temperatures, lower than the mass majority of your ambient reliant CPU big air coolers, CLC Coolers, Standard and Custom water cooling loop idle temperatures.

Peltier information:

In my own words, The peltier is a simple device, you run electricity through it and the reaction between the two dissimilar metals results in one side getting hot and the other side getting cold, if you do not cool the hot side it gets too hot, overheats, and burns up, simple as that. The Peltiers cold side thermal output can be harnessed and used. In this case the cold side is being used to chill water flowing through a modified water block and storing that chilled water in an insulated reservoir, which is then used to cool a CPU.

The peltier itself is essentially a miniature marvel that has been used in various applications like a freezer or heater or it can also be an electrical generator when hot and cold are artificially applied to the peltier it will actually generate electricity, and with no moving parts to break down, the key is discovering how to use what it can do, to your advantage. presently the hot side exhaust is being used to heat my office and in the winter it does a very good job of it, in the summer I have to run my office AC anyway so it counters the added room heat from the TEC assembly.

In this situation the peltier is being used to generate useable cold output.

When the CPU (overclocking), cooling community first put the peltier into operation it was directly mounted on the CPU usually water cooling the hot side, which brought side effects requiring motherboard insulation to keep from shorting out components from the ice forming around and on the backside of the motherboard socket.

Ice occurs when the surface temperature is cold enough to freeze the moisture in the air, the more humidity in the air the worse it would be.

Comparatively those earlier CPU peltiers were only a small percentage of the size of the peltier being used in this project, which is a Potted Peltier, measuring 50mm x 50mm x 3.10mm, wattage = 226w ~ 245w, amperage = 26a max, voltage = 12vdc ~ 15.4vdc, with a maximum operating temperature of 125c.

However I am undervolting the peltier and using a standard PC power supply, a Silverstone 1000w 80a single 12v rail, the peltiers will be supplied with 12v instead of 15.4v which changes their output specifications to 200w at 20a, this will allow me to use a heat pipe air cooler to cool the hot side of the peltier.

Note: Potted means insulated, some peltiers are not insulated at all and really are not suitable for this type of cooling, you would want to acquire a potted peltier.

Many here at Overclock.net use direct to CPU mounting methods today and if you're interested in that type TEC application you can research further in the Peltier/TEC section.

This thread is totally about using the Peltier/TEC assembly to replace the ambient limited radiator cooling, with a chilled water cooling solution allowing going below ambient room temperature.

Logically it would seem the best solution would be to keep the hot side as cold as possible, but that's not the case, you have to allow the hot side to get hot for the cold side to get cold, but since we're only talking a approximately 1/8th inch thick peltier, that's a very close distance to play the hot/cold balancing act.

Some of what needs to be shared is the peltiers what I call weirdness, I originally thought the cooler I kept the hot side the cooler the cold side would be, however the hot side has to get hot for the cold side to get cold, it is a perfect example of, "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.".

There was quite a bit of testing and fan changing to get the peltier to run at it's optimum cooling side capability, at one point I actually had the hot side too cool and it was not performing as expected, it's been a learning experience that's for sure.

Simple discovery the hot side can override the cold sides effectiveness but news flash the opposite can also happen, the cold side getting too cold, can override the hot sides effectiveness,

So you're after a balancing act of hot and cold to get what you're after, the true key to this things performance is give it the heat range it operates best within or sweetspot, and it will give you the results you're looking for. It needs to be in the mid range of it's capabilities, so it's hot enough to deliver the cooling performance, but far enough away from it's limitations to keep from burning it out.

The simple key to keep the peltier from stalling out and constantly producing cold for you is removing the cold the peltier is producing as fast as possible so the cold side of the peltier does not get too cold and affect the hot side, that is exactly why this setup works and has been working for over 3 years.

Power Supply Information:

If you decide to use a PC style power supply, a single 12v rail is what you need to use to power a peltiers constant load, and make sure it has the raw amperage handling capability, well on the plus side. (Do not use a multiple rail power supply!)
With a PC capable P/S 12v, you will need to get power from 14g main wires, like from the 8pin or 4pin motherboard connector, or the PCI-E connectors as those are usually 14g.

Danger: Do not use the 18g 4 pin molex connectors as they cannot handle the load, they will burn up and take the power supply out, and more than likely anything else hooked to it.
Additionally do not compromise this power supply selection, to be on the safe side you need amperage capability higher than the peltiers load.

When it comes to powering a peltier you have to get your power from an output area of the power supply that can handle the amperage load. I used 2 yellow positive 14g wires from the 8pin motherboard connection line soldered together, as the positive primary, and 2 black 14g negative wires soldered together as the negative secondary to power mine.

You do not have to use a power supply readily PC available you can find online specific voltage/amperage rated models that will be specifically what your peltier requires, the challenge with those is getting them to power when the PC powers up or down.

The power supply in the TECBOX is jumpered to the power supply in the main computer, when the main computer is Started Up or Shut Down the TECBOX power supply does the same.

The most popularly used power supply that is not a PC power supply is the Meanwell.

Cooling the Hot Side:

Cooling the hot side of the TEC is a challenge in itself, seeing as how it's best performance comes from allowing the hot side to get hot, however the maximum heat range for my TEC is 125c which is 257f, way past the temperature to boil water. I originally thought water cooling the hot side of the peltier was a good idea since in it's earlier days it was water cooled but much smaller peltiers were being used, nowhere near these capabilities.

In my attempt to water cool the hot side, the radiator got so hot I couldn't put my hand on it, the XSPC water pump got so hot I burnt my finger on the metal output spout. At that point the peltiers hot side temperature reading on the outside was 160f, I estimate about 180f in the center of the peltier, cooling that much heat is serious and in itself takes a serious dependable and capable solution.

In my early ignorance I was in my experimental time period of desperation as I only had a thin 240 rad to cool the hot side and that was not enough, so what I am saying is you absolutely can water cool the hot side, but you have to have enough radiator to get the job done.

With water cooling the hot side of this higher amperage peltier seemingly off the possibility table I turned to heat pipe air coolers, the first was a shelved Tuniq Tower (the original model), with only 3 heat pipes, it just could not overcome the heat the CPU was adding to the water.

I had a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme on the shelf and used it to cool the hot side of the peltier, it has 6 heat pipes and is very effective at handling the heat produced by the peltier, also an old Xigmatek S1283 HDT cooler works very well.

I experimented with multiple combinations of fans in push/pull configuration and settled on 110cfm Sanyo Denki San Ace 120mm fans running full out.

A good heat pipe air cooler can and will cool the hot side, however my choice reasoning was to choose coolers that could still handle the heat load if the cooling fans completely failed. A heat pipe cooler that is on the cooling performance level of the TRUE (Thermalright Ultra Extreme), or the Noctua NH-D14, is sufficient remember the TEC will burn up if it is allowed to get too HOT.

However the heat pipe air cooler only works because the peltier is undervolted, it is important that you the reader understands that.

Modified Flow CPU Water Block

The Swiftech Apogee XTL is the best water block for flow modifying to use with a 50mm x 50mm size peltier, I'm recommending it over the XSPC Rasa, the Rasa will still work, but not as well as the Apogee XTL.

Due to the XTLs larger copper base plate the entire 50mm x 50mm peltier fits in solid contact fully covering the contacting face, whereas the Rasa base plate is exactly the same size as the peltier, requiring filling the screw indents with thermal compound.

The Apogee XTL is exactly the same design of the original Apogee XT, but the top is machined from black delrin, which is much easier to cut and modify, and is also cheaper, the copper base is wider allowing further coverage and cold pickup of a 50mm x 50mm peltier.

Pictures are posted in the above post as to the water blocks flow modifications.

Insulated Reservoir:

After many trial and error experiments I settled on an insulated reservoir I made from 4" PVC schedule 40 pipe, insulated with aluminum faced foam duct seal, as the best solution to arrive at the proper balance of water mass vs peltier cooling capabilities. From the beginnings of this testing (Referenced in the Below Ambient Thread), using a 54qt 13.5 gallon down to the present ½ gallon or 2 litre capacity. Using a lower volume of water reducing the thermal mass, allows faster cooling transfer to the water.

The insulated reservoir becomes a cold water storage tank which becomes the buffer the TEC cooling needs, allowing the peltier/TEC assembly to counter, and lower, the heat generated by the overclocked CPU. Additionally all the tubing runs are insulated to retain as little cold loss to the ambient room temperature and heated operational elements inside the machine.

Performance Variables :

Water Flow Rate :

Water flow rate affects the cold conduction of the peltier to the water flowing through the water block, too fast and the water does not get cold fast enough, too slow and the block can freeze, presently set on level 2 of 5 settings using a Swiftech MCP655 pump. Flow rate is also a consideration when balancing out the system, regarding taking into consideration the CPUs water block flow restriction. The perfect balance is having the peltier water block able to completely counter the heat the CPU is adding to the water.)

Peltier clamping pressure:

I started with about approximately 25psi ~ 35psi estimated which is basically a standard heat sink clamping pressure, then increased to approximately 50psi+ then after discovering on the net even higher pressure was needed, increased to approximately 100psi.

I'm saying approximately 100psi because I have no actual way to gauge the actual pressure it is wrench tight though, way past any spring clamping.

Addressing Condensation :

Where you live has everything to do with at what water temperature condensation begins to form on the CPU water block, regarding relative humidity, and dew point. Where I live condensation begins forming as a frosty look at 8c water temperature which is 15c below ambient and 16c ~ 18c below the best water cooling radiator loops and as long as I stay above an 8c water temperature condensation is a non issue.

I have an AC unit in my office, that tends to keep humidity levels down quite a bit and allows lower non-condensation freedom. Additionally you can use positioned cooling fans to evaporate the condensation if you need to go lower but by the time you drop down to about the 3c range of water temperature the condensation builds too fast even for fan drying. The fans can actually blow drops of water from the block, and of course that is bad!

Juggling the Hot and Cold:

The cooler/reservoir also allows running the TEC at a cooler hot side operating temperature, and that is controlled by the fan speed on the heat pipe cooler, I know that sounds weird, none the less it's 100% true. Getting what you want from the TEC is a balancing act, you have to let the hot side get hot, for the cold side to get cold.

That is a testament as to how good the Thermalright TRUE actually is, that it can make such a cooling difference and control the hot side temperature with no voltage adjustment to the TEC just controlling the fan speed air flow.

Radiators and Peltiers in the Same Loop:

Many had suggested that would be a good idea which turned out to be a bad idea, the bottom line is the radiator raises the temperature of the chilled water, why go to the trouble and expense to chill the water then allow a radiator to undo it. It seemed like a good idea at first, the radiator could add some stabilization to the loop when actually, it did quite the opposite.

So been there done that, with that idea, and if you're thinking it at this point, forget it.

There's no need to go into any in depth explanation of the whys and wherefores, it is just counter productive to a chilled water cooling period!

Most of this was learned the hard way and I hope it helps you.
 
#6 ·
Very cool, it will be a lot more practical and asthetically pleasing as one unit.

You are correct that the MM cube cases are one of the few pre made cases that are favorable for multiple loops and chiller setups. I was lucky to find mine for sale used for half price but it was still a big chunk of change.

One word of caution, that plug top does not seal totally no matter how tight you crank it. It vents through the threads so if you use a quick evaporating coolant for sub ambient you will have to refill often. I had an ethanol+distilled mix and would have to refill every 2 months to top it off.

Interested to see it all done!
 
#7 ·
you made a cube case, you are awesome.
thumb.gif
that case looks great, and has lots of room inside. I see you updating that chiller system, I will defiantly be watching this thread, because I have always liked your water chiller.
applaud.gif
 
#9 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Puck View Post

You are correct that the MM cube cases are one of the few pre made cases that are favorable for multiple loops and chiller setups. I was lucky to find mine for sale used for half price but it was still a big chunk of change.
That was a fantastic find on your part, which Mountain Mods model did you get?

I had been drooling over either the Ascension or the Extended Ascension.
 
#10 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by OCAddict View Post

That was a fantastic find on your part, which Mountain Mods model did you get?

I had been drooling over either the Ascension or the Extended Ascension.
It is a custom Extended Ascension Horizon, which is actually a few inches wider then the already massive Extended Ascension. Fits 2x horizontal 480 rads in the front, one horizontal 480 in the rear, 2x360s on the side on the bottom, then the top section has a 120mm exhaust and 2x120mm intakes. The top section is completely seperate from the bottom, so all my rads, pumps, and PSUs stay in the bottom leaving only the hardware on top.

I had planned to get a second Chenming server tower to run them attached like you are when i saw it pop up on another forum.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Puck View Post

It is a custom Extended Ascension Horizon, which is actually a few inches wider then the already massive Extended Ascension. Fits 2x horizontal 480 rads in the front, one horizontal 480 in the rear, 2x360s on the side on the bottom, then the top section has a 120mm exhaust and 2x120mm intakes. The top section is completely seperate from the bottom, so all my rads, pumps, and PSUs stay in the bottom leaving only the hardware on top.

I had planned to get a second Chenming server tower to run them attached like you are when i saw it pop up on another forum.
You were definitely in the right place at the right time for that one, congratulations Puck!
 
#12 ·
looks really good, a fair amount of modification when into building the TEC assemblies in to the case. it looks like the front two TEC assemblies are venting out the front of the PC case, how is the rear TEC assembly, the one behind the reservoir going to vent the hot air out of the case?
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by toolmaker03 View Post

looks really good, a fair amount of modification when into building the TEC assemblies in to the case. it looks like the front two TEC assemblies are venting out the front of the PC case, how is the rear TEC assembly, the one behind the reservoir going to vent the hot air out of the case?
It is venting out the side of the case one of the pictures shows how it was setup, I cut a hole into the side panel for it to vent out through.

The great thing about the case is the front and rear panels would interchange with each other so that gave th the option of modding the panel to suit my needs.

The front side panel has a 200mm fan in it and as most side panel pre-moddified cases it was in the wrong place for my needs, plus it sticks into the case an inch and a quarter right where I needed to mount the reservoir.

Being able to use the flat rear panel on the front of the case solved a multitude of problems.
 
#14 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by OCAddict View Post

It is venting out the side of the case one of the pictures shows how it was setup, I cut a hole into the side panel for it to vent out through.

The great thing about the case is the front and rear panels would interchange with each other so that gave th the option of modding the panel to suit my needs.

The front side panel has a 200mm fan in it and as most side panel pre-moddified cases it was in the wrong place for my needs, plus it sticks into the case an inch and a quarter right where I needed to mount the reservoir.

Being able to use the flat rear panel on the front of the case solved a multitude of problems.
ok, so the picture with the fan on the side of the case. the ablility to change what side the the panels go on, well if it was like a case i had, when i did that, the reversed panel would slide from the front of the PC case rather than the back. i think with your PC case, what you are saying that your side panels can slide into place even if there upside down?
 
#15 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by toolmaker03 View Post

ok, so the picture with the fan on the side of the case. the ablility to change what side the the panels go on, well if it was like a case i had, when i did that, the reversed panel would slide from the front of the PC case rather than the back. i think with your PC case, what you are saying that your side panels can slide into place even if there upside down?
Yes that is correct!
 
#16 ·
Starting this post with a cheese eating grin!
biggrin.gif


The difference between the old setup and this one is the 3rd TEC assembly was mounted outside on the output line going to the CPU, with this new setup the 3rd TEC assembly is setup before the reservoir.

Previously only 2 of the TEC assemblies were actually dumping cold directly into the insulated reservoir.

Meaning now all the TECs dump their cold into the reservoir in series flow, the reservoir feeds the pump and the output from the pump goes straight to the CPU then returns through the chain of TECs back to the insulated reservoir.

This morning I ran some stress tests on the 3770K at 5ghz, Intel Burn Test with Hyper Threading enabled highest core reached 75c, with Hyper Threading disabled the highest core reached 72c.

Here comes the cheese eating grin:

I ran P95 vs 26.6 and started running P95 at a 9.2c coolant temperature which means the 3rd TEC assembly was not powered up, it's relay is set to power the TEC at 10c and shut off at 8.9c.

Eventually P95 warmed the coolant to reach 10c and the 3rd TEC powered up, it actually dropped the coolant temperature back to 8.9c and shut off with P95 running!

Highest P95 core temperature was 61c.
 
#17 ·
The second difference is twice the reservoirs insulation from the previous setup, same exact reservoir just twice the insulation.

Previously when I shut down the system and it set overnight when I powered it up in the morning the coolant temperature was the same as the ambient room temperature.

Now the coolant temperature is about 4c lower than ambient over the same time period of being powered down, so when I boot up the system now it is actually booting below ambient.

I am considering adding another 1/2" layer of the foam insulation kinda like wearing a jacket around the reservoir and see what that does, just out of curiosity.
 
#19 ·
so, is that little 120 radiator cooling the GTX1080 video card?
if so, what kind of temps does it provide, i know the 1080's dont get all that hot, but still i am curious.
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by toolmaker03 View Post

so, is that little 120 radiator cooling the GTX1080 video card?
if so, what kind of temps does it provide, i know the 1080's dont get all that hot, but still i am curious.
That's not a 120 radiator that's a single 180 Monsta, and the highest load temperature of the GTX 1080 so far was 34c.
 
#23 ·
After 3 years and 4 months of successful operation this cooling is on it's second life I truly wonder just how long it will actually run before the first peltier failure occurs?

Does anyone know what the life expectancy of an under volted peltier actually is or for that matter what the MTBF is for any peltier?

No moving parts, constant supplied voltage, what is there to wear out, how could electromigration come into play on something with no circuits?

The pump that failed about a year ago now was not on the peltier loop, it was on the radiator graphics loop so I don't really know if temperature had anything to do with a pumps failure or its longevity.

Its failure was because the plastic cup in the impeller wore enough to allow the impeller to loose its spacing gap between the impeller and the motor bell housing, allowing the rear of the impeller to rub the inner bell housing wall.

The ceramic bearing on the end of the support spindle was fine, there was no apparent wear at all, actually if I could acquire one of those simple plastic cup replacements for the impeller, the pump could actually be restored to service.
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by OCAddict View Post

After 3 years and 4 months of successful operation this cooling is on it's second life I truly wonder just how long it will actually run before the first peltier failure occurs?

Does anyone know what the life expectancy of an under volted peltier actually is or for that matter what the MTBF is for any peltier?

No moving parts, constant supplied voltage, what is there to wear out, how could electromigration come into play on something with no circuits?

The pump that failed about a year ago now was not on the peltier loop, it was on the radiator graphics loop so I don't really know if temperature had anything to do with a pumps failure or its longevity.

Its failure was because the plastic cup in the impeller wore enough to allow the impeller to loose its spacing gap between the impeller and the motor bell housing, allowing the rear of the impeller to rub the inner bell housing wall.

The ceramic bearing on the end of the support spindle was fine, there was no apparent wear at all, actually if I could acquire one of those simple plastic cup replacements for the impeller, the pump could actually be restored to service.
I was actually just thinking the same thing a few days back, which lead to me doing a bit of research.

From what I gather, the most common cause of death on a TEC is overheating the hot side. Within normal use constraints, their lifespan is rated in decades of constant use. To put it in perspective, the much vaunted D5/655 pump is rated at 50,000 hours and most of us are getting 5-6 years out of them before bushing wear rattles the impeller to death. The agreed upon average life expectancy of a quality TEC is claimed to be 200,000 hours. That is nearly 23 YEARS of being powered up. Like you said - no moving parts, no circuits.

Safe to say most of us would replace our TECs with newer more powerful/efficient models well before their reliability becomes an issue
thumb.gif
. I have seen zero degradation or reduction in performance in the same CTE400 TEC that I have been running for over 4 years, basically 24/7, and often well above its rated maximum right up to its stall point. I am getting ready to replace it with the massive TN-19940, so I guess my clock is restarting for another 20 years
biggrin.gif
.
 
#25 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Puck View Post

I was actually just thinking the same thing a few days back, which lead to me doing a bit of research.

From what I gather, the most common cause of death on a TEC is overheating the hot side. Within normal use constraints, their lifespan is rated in decades of constant use. To put it in perspective, the much vaunted D5/655 pump is rated at 50,000 hours and most of us are getting 5-6 years out of them before bushing wear rattles the impeller to death. The agreed upon average life expectancy of a quality TEC is claimed to be 200,000 hours. That is nearly 23 YEARS of being powered up. Like you said - no moving parts, no circuits.

Safe to say most of us would replace our TECs with newer more powerful/efficient models well before their reliability becomes an issue
thumb.gif
. I have seen zero degradation or reduction in performance in the same CTE400 TEC that I have been running for over 4 years, basically 24/7, and often well above its rated maximum right up to its stall point. I am getting ready to replace it with the massive TN-19940, so I guess my clock is restarting for another 20 years
biggrin.gif
.
I agree overheating the hot side is definitely going to kill it!

Weren't you trying to find replacement bushings for the D5 pump impeller?

That would seem like such a simple fix to put a D5 back in business and surely they could be acquired somewhere, but I've found nothing, not even a whole impeller.

I'm wondering if since the impeller is suspended in the magnetic field does the impeller have to be specifically matched to the housing?
 
#26 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by OCAddict View Post

I agree overheating the hot side is definitely going to kill it!

Weren't you trying to find replacement bushings for the D5 pump impeller?

That would seem like such a simple fix to put a D5 back in business and surely they could be acquired somewhere, but I've found nothing, not even a whole impeller.

I'm wondering if since the impeller is suspended in the magnetic field does the impeller have to be specifically matched to the housing?
Yea, Swiftech refuses to sell just the impeller (of course, becuase they'd never sell another D5 lol!), and I tried real hard to find the manufacturer of the bushing to try to sourse a replacement. No luck...

In a perfect world we'd be able to hit up the manufacturer directly through alibaba or something and snatch up 10 of them for like $5 lol.
 
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