Antec-AMD-ATI

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Hey, I thought that was an awesome DIY project. Very innovative!! I have a few questions concerning it tho. One, why didn't you try baby oil? It's cheap, petroleum based and it's clear. The other question is how do you use an optical drive, PS2 connectors or USB connectors? Thanx for any feedback. THG rules for PC Tech!!
 

fishmahn

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I haven't read that article, but here's my thoughts:

Don't know why not baby oil - maybe it conducts electricity or maybe no one thought to try it.

But... For the other stuff: Have your CD/DVD & floppy drives hanging outside the box - on top, beside it, whatever. PS/2 connectors for keyboard and mouse just run the cable out the top. USB - good question - probably a series of extensions or a hub or 3 so the connector ends are outside the oil.

Mike.
 
G

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Submersed electricla connections like USB connectors will work fine, plugging and unplugging will be fine other than the mess.

I'm thinking any device with moving parts which are not in a sealed enclosure will not like the oil bath. Optical drives will surely not like the oil bath.
 

animehawk

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I did the same thing as THG just not in such a clean fashion. After a few weeks the vegetable oil was starting to decompose. As would any oil that is organic. In my next oil cooled pc I plan on using mineral oil. Although it is flammable, flash point isn't reached until 370'F. It is also non-conductive. So it should work well. :)
 

Vascular

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I did the same thing as THG just not in such a clean fashion. After a few weeks the vegetable oil was starting to decompose. As would any oil that is organic. In my next oil cooled pc I plan on using mineral oil. Although it is flammable, flash point isn't reached until 370'F. It is also non-conductive. So it should work well. :)

Post some pics of this when you do it. I would like to see this fire ball, I mean computer.

So how long is it before the scheduled oil change?
 

neruoman-case

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I believe it is possible to use water for a cooling medium. The problem that the THG team encountered was due to the use of standard distilled/deionized water. Most of the deionized water that is available over the counter has too high a conductivity rating.

I worked for many years in the Power Generation industry where low conductivity water was used in the boilers in order to prevent corrosion. The Conductivity of the water was less than .2 uMhos (.2 Micro Mhos). This value was achieved through a series of stepped demineralizers.

A portion of the water that had been processed to the .2 uMho value was siphoned off and run through another stage of demeneralization to acheive a Conductivity of less than .1 uMho. This basically electrical neutral water was then used to cool the stator of the running Generators.

My guess is that water that has been processed to this degree could be used to cool a Silent PC.
 

predatorv125

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What about the Power Supply?
Is this stupid? I want all the fans gone. I want it to be totaly silent. could i pull open the PS to get good flow over it and drop it in too without the fan?
What about the Hard Drive? there sealed arent they? that would muffel HD noise too. that would be sweet. totaly silent box with a few wires coming out.
Comments?
 

predatorv125

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Where can i get this super low conductivity water? will its conductivity increase over time because of contaminents getting to it through the air? or minerals coming off of coponents in the water?
 

Antec-AMD-ATI

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Yeah, that was my basic thinking too about the vegetable based oil. It will break down eventually with heating/cooling cycles. I think babyoil would work great. It is a mineral based oil you know. I didn't know water could be made electrically "neutral". Where can you get this type of water and is it expensive? If it's expensive, I say give the babyoil a shot.
 

fishmahn

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Drop the PSU in the oil too. Same with HDD. You can leave the fan in the PSU - it won't hurt anything and it will move the oil around - and you won't hear it because it's muffled by the oil. :)

Mike.
 

borandi

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100% pure water is meant to be electrically neutral, but its almost impossible to get due to stuff in the air dissolving in it. Like neruoman-case said, getting it below 0.1 Siemens (incidentally the new official SI unit taken over from mho) is quite a feat. Also a computer like this would ideally be silicone sealed in a nitrogen atmosphere or something similar.

What about heavy water D2O? Its used in many chemistry analytical techniques because it behaves differently to normal water H2O on a chemical level.

(PS I'm an inorganic chemist, not an analytical one. I get my computer to do my work for me =D)
 

predatorv125

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Drop the PSU in the oil too. Same with HDD. You can leave the fan in the PSU - it won't hurt anything and it will move the oil around - and you won't hear it because it's muffled by the oil. :)

Mike.

Why didnt Toms submerge the Power Supply?
 

unsmart

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I've been thinking for sometime about using some oil in water cooling and running it right over the die. Am I stupid or would this work, no heat spreader or base to lose contact. Oil or alcohol moving right over the chip.
It seems like you could get same results [or better] running some big tubes from the main parts into an aluminum reservoir on top. No pump, just let the hot oil rise like in a lava lamp. aluminum sides on case would lose heat faster too.

PS. I have the same case they used.
 

derobins

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You might want to be careful using mineral oils in lieu of vegetable oils. Mineral oils are known to severely degrade certain plastics. Though a petroleum-based oil would certainly not degrade like a vegetable oil, you might wreck the cables, etc. in short order. Engine gaskets in cars, for example, are specially formulated so that they don't degrade from contact with motor oil.

The biggest problems with using vegetable oil would likely be oxidation and impurities. The impurities you could probably fix by purchasing reagent grade organics from a company like Sigma-Aldrich. Oxidation could probably be controlled for a while if you degassed the oil and kept a layer of inert gas over the oil bath. Argon would probably work better than nitrogen since it's heavier and would stick around longer. You can get it for cheap from a welding supply company.
 

Human1

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Hey unsmart,
Are you talking about putting oil in a water pump? That won't work for lots of reasons. First, the oil would wear through your tubing really quickly. Second, there is no advantage to using oil. Water's heat capacity (it's ability to absorb heat) is as high as most oils, but it is much less viscous and easier to pump.
Most cheap alcohols have a heat capacity that's too low to be used as a coolant.
Anyway, just FYI.
 

fishmahn

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Drop the PSU in the oil too. Same with HDD. You can leave the fan in the PSU - it won't hurt anything and it will move the oil around - and you won't hear it because it's muffled by the oil. :)

Mike.

Why didnt Toms submerge the Power Supply?
Don't know - possibly because the PSU would be hard as heck to clean afterwards? :D

Mike.
 

Sidler

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Drop the PSU in the oil too. Same with HDD. You can leave the fan in the PSU - it won't hurt anything and it will move the oil around - and you won't hear it because it's muffled by the oil. :)

Mike.

Why didnt Toms submerge the Power Supply?

I don't know that it would actually make a difference in oil, but 120 volts will overcome a lot more Resistance than 12 volts... as for the cooling fan, Toms tried a slot cooler and said the fans stopped working, so they took it out. I'm sure the PSU fan would do the same, not that you'd need it... Any moving parts are likely to get gummed up unless you use a really viscous oil, and I'd be afraid of any viscous oil degrading the plastics.

I would love to see one with brake fluid or transmission oil, or some other brightly coloured oil though. Put a couple of LED's in with it and it would glow beautifully! As an added bonus, I think most synthetic auto oils are formulated to prevent gasket wear (and thus other plastic wear).

Got a couple of thoughts about the wiring too. I don't see any reason you couldn't seal the front and flip the case onto its front. Any removable media drives are going to be outside the oil anyways, so just have all the connectors poke a cm or two out the top of the oil. It might need more dusting, but well worth it to avoid the mess.
 

mr_fnord

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Having the connectors exit the top (tilting case onto its 'front') seems like the way to manage leaks, especially if you ever want any additional connectors or cards.

Worse than just chemical oxidation, it seems like vegetable oil would be a viable growth medium for molds or bacteria or the like, so I'd think a mineral oil of some kind would be better. Of course, there are very few oils that can be purchased for $4/gallon like vegetable oil.

If you could get the primary heat sources (P/S, proc, etc.) to the bottom of the case, you should be able to make a hellacious lava lamp. A lot of little ones run on 20 or 30 watts, so 400 should be plenty for an 8 gallon version. Red transmission fluid with a white or dark purple parafin 'lava' would be pretty spectacular. I bet perchloroethylene is hard on plastics and might increase conductivity though...
 

unsmart

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Thanx for the info Human1, I thought lower bioling piont meant better heat transfer, I'm not to bright you know.
To get back to the original post. like I said. I own the case they used and it's not that sturdy. I think it would'nt last to long at the high temps and wieght. I did buy some plexiglass to mod it with, 18" by 24" and .22" thick for $13. I may have too much fiath in you guys, but I think most people here could do a better job making it from scratch. It would be built for the task and you would'nt have all the wasted space in front. If your going to do this custom is the way to go imo. It would have to look cleaner then all that junk they used to cover the holes and cheaper.
 

Human1

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I also wondered why they didn't turn the case on it's front, but oh well.
Can the hard disks be submerged? I thought they had a little hole on top that says Do Not Cover, but maybe I'm just imagining things.
To avoid problems with the PSU you should probably just leave the cover off to allow for more fluid flow across it. I don't know if 120V is enough to overcome the oil resistence, are there any EE's reading this with us?
Water really is the best cheap coolant, too bad it conducts so well with minimal impurities...
Anyway, could you just use a good fishtank? More sturdy than plexiglass and then scratches and buffs wouldn't be a big problem.
 

shinigamiX

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I don't know anything about this at all, but would it be cool if it was suspended in a vacuum? Or would it just overheat and explode...
at least it'd do it quietly :?
 

Rabidpeanut

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If only mercury wasn't conductive and bromine wasn't a carcinogen, that would look sweet. You should keep the fans in, just cause it is liquid does not mean it must not move. If you truly want a silent fanless cas look on google you can find a 25kg (I think) biiig case the needs no fans, it is basically a big heat sink.
 

Snale

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Hasn't anyone thought of Car Coolant, that radioactive green anti-freezing, anti-bacteria, anti-algae and low conductivity?
I use that in my watercooling and it is defeniteley better than water...