Check This out - A Homemade Passive Water Cooling System

[Omega65]

Overclockers.com: PC Water Cooling with a Passive Radiator (http://www.overclockers.com/tips1093/index.asp)

http://www.overclockers.com/tips1093/rack.jpg


Even though it is assumed that the concrete floor is conducting the heat from the radiator, the garage ambient temperature seems to have an influence on the water temperature. For most of the year the garage air temperature should be 14-15 degrees C. On rare occasions the garage air temperature will rise to 28 degrees C and above. Therefore on average, it is predicted the CPU temperature will be below 30 degrees C.

In conclusion, it appears both project objectives were achieved. The computer is very quiet with only the power supply fans turning at low RPM, and, on average, the CPU temperature will likely be 30 degrees C or less.

[CCW]

lol, if they got some desk fans blowing over that they could get it even cooelr, i mean its not like theyre gonan ehar the noise, its in their garage.

Craig

[dydx]

You could build something like that, but leave the radiator in the bottom of a swimming pool.

A water cooled water cooler.



mD

[PyobliE]

Thats pretty cool. Can just imagine that guy trying to explain to his wife why he was placing tubing from the garage to his office....

[dydx]

Weve got LANs, weve got SANs, next, its gonna be CANs, cooling area networks.

Pipes running through the house to all the computers, from the 'cooling server' in the garage.

This guy on some site, built something like that to cool 3 computers in some kinda home made rack. Looked pretty impressive.



mD

[CCW]

Originally posted by dydx
You could build something like that, but leave the radiator in the bottom of a swimming pool.

A water cooled water cooler.



mD

good idea, especially if the water in the "swimming pool" is chilled

[dydx]

The radiator would double up as a pool heater, even though a CPU isnt going to heat that much water as fast as the wind is cooling the water.

All I need to test my theory is a swimming pool. Id get pretty good temps here, as its June, and I still have to weat a coat to go outside its so cold.


mD

[CCW]

it would be better of to have the swimming pool chilled instead of ambient

Craig

[DexterHolland911]

That is pretty cool... but pretty useless. As long as you have a decent sized radiator... just turn the fans off. My temps only go up 2 degrees. What would be really cool (literally lol) Is if you had a cooled swimming pool and put the radiator in that. Like a waterchiller. :)

[CCW]

Originally posted by DexterHolland911
What would be really cool (literally lol) Is if you had a cooled swimming pool and put the radiator in that. Like a waterchiller. :)

we are talkinig about a radiator in a chilled water

[DexterHolland911]

good idea, especially if the water in the "swimming pool" is chilled

Sorry, didn't see that. :) In my original post I meant the original setup shown would be pretty useless.

[Geeky1]

Interesting idea, however, if it were me, I'd have buried it under ground, used a bigger pump, and thrown a 226w pelt on the cpu, an 80w pelt on the gfx card, an 80w pelt on the chipst, and hdd water blocks for good measure... :D

[CCW]

Originally posted by Geeky1
and hdd water blocks for good measure... :D

You wouldnt if you had SCSI!

Craig

[Geeky1]

I do have SCSI... 2 10,000rpm IBM Ultrastar LVD-160/SE drives, 36.7 & 18.2GB respectively... (the older, 4mb cache ones)

[DexterHolland911]

Geeky1 - Not that easy to just say: I'd throw some pelts on :D If it was oppainter, he'd throw 6x220watt pelts on the radiator and another 2 more on the CPU. :)

[Mt_Goat]

Originally posted by Geeky1
Interesting idea, however, if it were me, I'd have buried it under ground, used a bigger pump, and thrown a 226w pelt on the cpu, an 80w pelt on the gfx card, an 80w pelt on the chipst, and hdd water blocks for good measure... :D
I was thinking along this line but was thinking that in a cool climate you could just encase it in concrete like the floor of the foundation for your house. I guarantee that in a location of at least 40 Deg N or 44 Deg S you would be in good shape as the ground stays fairly cool and the concrete in contact with the ground under the house would stay very cool. Something like this would work very well for a "Cooling Network".

[stoopid]

Funny, I had ideas about subterranian cooling quite a while back, looks like others are starting to use their noggins too ;)

I was originally concerned with the conduction of the heat away from the PC... the ground or well or whatever will dissipate will be more than enough to absorb and disperse any heat that tiny cpu can generate... but getting the cool in and warm out is another issue... maybe some super coolant (capable of -30C) would do the trick, through 20 feet of 1/2" stainless steel coil/tubing/piping buried 10 feet underground...

[dydx]

Great minds think alike.

My swimming pool idea is better tho :P


mD

[DexterHolland911]

The grounds is not a very efficient conductor of heat. :) Personally I like the swimming pool idea better. :P

[stoopid]

Originally posted by DexterHolland911
The grounds is not a very efficient conductor of heat. :) Personally I like the swimming pool idea better. :P

10 feet under the ground is so 'compacted' and moist that it should not be a problem.

Swimming pools tend to be a little too warm for cooling, I'll take 15C year-round temps over 30+C summer temps anyday ;)

[dydx]

It aint a problem where i live.

It would be nicely chilled allyear round.


mD

[DexterHolland911]

stoopid - It won't be a problem... but it will hamper performance. I would love to see it actually done. You'll need a big ass pump.

[Geeky1]

Dex, as you said, the ground is a very poor conductor of heat, however, they use subterranean cooling for houses in some places. If you go down more than ~10', the temperature is pretty much universally something like 55*F anywhere in the world, give or take a few * either way. You could compensate for the ground's poor thermal conductivity with more surface area...

[Omega65]

Actually some guy did do the underground cooling thing. The Link died with the old ICF though.

He buried a tank underground and pumped water between it and his computer. It worked quite well....

[stoopid]

Originally posted by Omega65
Actually some guy did do the underground cooling thing. The Link died with the old ICF though.

He buried a tank underground and pumped water between it and his computer. It worked quite well....

I'd consider something like this, but the potential maintenance on the tank would be too much for me to justify it... so I was figuring on cutting some performance corners and just used a closed loop system and have the actual length of piping and depth of the coil be the secret ingredient to compensate for the lack of surface area/heat transfer...

Now to see if my landlord agrees to me digging up his yard and driveway to run tubing and piping to my 3rd floor apartment :p

And, yes, it would have to be one big arse pump.

[Geeky1]

Use a high-quality industrial pump... that is, if you can handle 100 gallons of water per minute or more....

[stoopid]

Originally posted by Geeky1
Use a high-quality industrial pump... that is, if you can handle 100 gallons of water per minute or more....

Then again, you don't want it moving TOO fast, as it will pull the water through the piping in the ground TOO fast and not allow for enough time for heat transfer/absorption... you'd actually have to fugure out the time it takes a particle to move through the system, how long the heat exchange needs to take while the particle is beneath ground in the piping, then offset that time by the amount of cooling lost spend going back above ground (into warmer air) until it returns to the waterblock... :rolleyes:

BTW, I'm highly caffeinated today :D

[Geeky1]

no such thing as too fast :D just too little surface area. If the water's moving too fast, the pipes are obviously too small :D

[Mt_Goat]

Originally posted by Geeky1
no such thing as too fast :D just too little surface area. If the water's moving too fast, the pipes are obviously too small :D
I agree! Not too mention you will have too much head loss too. So it would only figure that the longer the lines the larger diameter tubing you will need. Once you go bigger than 3/4" I think it would be better to taper up and down in steps so as to eliminate backup in one spot. A good possibility would be to use !/2" lines to connect to the wall connection where you would have 3/4" tubing in the walls to the coils which would be 1" or 1 1/4". Just think if you built a house that way and had the coil just make one loop undr the perimiter of the foundation for your house??? Less elbows and more length to disapate heat and pick up extra cooling from the ground. MMMMM And to think I will be building a house in a few more years too!

[DexterHolland911]

For fixed piping there is such a thing as too fast, obviously. But I gotta love your thinking :D Just make it bigger, larger more complicated heatsink, bigger tubing. Go all out. :D

[Geeky1]

all out means one of those diesel-powered well pump things that does like 1000gpm w/6" intake and discharge tubes... you'll have to glue the water block to the cpu and the cpu to the mb and then bolt the case to the floor to keep it from moving :D

[stoopid]

Originally posted by Geeky1
all out means one of those diesel-powered well pump things that does like 1000gpm w/6" intake and discharge tubes... you'll have to glue the water block to the cpu and the cpu to the mb and then bolt the case to the floor to keep it from moving :D

Damn, I was going to patent that!! :p

[Mt_Goat]

Maybe we need waterblocks with 4" fire hose sized connections pumped by a centrifugal PTO pump powered by a 600HP Caterpillar engine. :D