Oil Cooled PC Help

[Krenrai]

I'm attempting to transform my current PC into a mineral oiled PC. I've read into doing it and am going to attempt to make my own solution for it.
However one thing I'm currently debating is whether I'll need to get a pump and radiator immediately.
I plan on having some bubbles in the system which I understand slightly cools the oil and I do eventually plan on having the oil go through a radiator to cool, but currently am unable to afford the solution I want.

Do you guys think that running without the radiator cooling will be okay?

 

[gasaraki]

Wow, I haven't seen an oil cooled PC in years because it's more trouble than it's worth.

 

[USAFRet]

You will need a radiator outside the case. Otherwise, you just end up with a tank full of hot oil.

 

[grimfox]

You'll still need some circulation to keep the oil flowing. Without a radiator you'll be relying on convection and the thermal mass of the oil to keep the PC cool. It'll work but prolonged sessions may see the temperature of the oil become a problem as it wont have a great ability to shed heat. It'll also take a long time for the oil to cool after the gaming session.

Edit: how long a "prolonged session" is defined is relative to the performance of the completed PC. It may be a few minutes or a few hours.

 

[mcnumpty23]

i guess you would need a degree in fluid thermodynamics to answer your question

it kind of comes down to

volume of oil

how many watts of heat going into it--and for how long

how much heat escapes through convection

at some point the volume of oil would over come the ability of x amount of watts of heat to where it would stop at a certain temperature and not rise higher

though since i dont have a degree in thermodynamics how high a volume of oil you would need i have no clue

and springing a leak with gallons of oil in there doesnt bear thinking about the mess it would make

 

[mcnumpty23]

amazing what you can find out online

if you have 50 litres/11 gallons of oil

to heat it to 40c above ambient in one hour

ie if your ambient was 25c--to heat it to 65c

would take approximately

1.15kW per hour

 

[Krenrai]

Wow, I haven't seen an oil cooled PC in years because it's more trouble than it's worth.

I work in IT, and it's just something we've been talking about as being an interesting project. I've been wanting to do it to my personal rig for a while through curiosity as much as anything else.

but thanks for all the replies. I've been trying to figure out a different way of cooling the oil through a separated dry part of the case that I'm planning on making, but do intend to use external radiators at some point.

 

[aldan]

calling it a project doesnt make it any less of an excercise in futility.it sounds like you know the direction you are going in but havent the resources to do it that way.as was stated you need both a pump and a radiator.unless you have some kind of super computer i cant think of a single reason to go beyond simple air cooling.not dissing you here,i have similar flights of fancy myself.lol

 

[mcnumpty23]

as i said earlier most of the ones i have seen use around 50 litres/11 gallons of oil

since they are all using a pump and radiators i guess 50 litres/11 gallons isnt enough oil to over come the heat being produced

ie--convection cant get rid of the heat fast enough

if you were using a larger tank/case

then it might be possible to not need a pump and radiator

but how much oil/large a tank it would need to do so is beyond my ability to work out

 

[USAFRet]

As a test of thermal dissipation, before screwing up a whole PC...

Suspend 3 or 4 100 watt incandescent lightbulbs in the oil tank. Turn them on.

At what temp does it stabilize, if ever? How long does this take?

 

[mcnumpty23]

out of curiosity i did some reading

for water but oil will heat up in roughly half the time of water due to density/viscosity

Watts = 3.1 x Gallons x ΔT (in °F) / Heat-Up Time (in hrs)

this assumes 100% efficiency so is worst case scenario since you would be losing heat due to convection

but if you know the heat out put in watts of the components--and say the pc would be on full load for x amount of hours a day

then this would work to tell you how hot the oil would get in a given time--again that would be without heat escaping so wouldnt actually get that hot


obviously this would give a rough guide not an exact one as you dont know how much heat lost or the exact amount of watts being put into the oil

 

[grimfox]

You'd get better cooling if you could increase the the surface area and thermal conductivity of the enclosure. If you are using a glass or acrylic case you could replace the back sides and bottom with a metal sheet and install some large extruded heatsinks (link below) That would help get some of the heat out. For that cost, you'd be better off getting a pump and rad.

https://www.ebay.com/i/172494786862?chn=ps&dispItem=1