Ideas to build WC system with this...
I was wandering around a local electronic hobbyist store the other day and I found something very interesting. When I found out what it was, I was quick to pick it up for $20US.
It turns out it is the cooling element out of one of the Igloo electric coolers. It is comprised of a 12V, 4amp peltier element surrounded by insulation with a large heat sink on both sides. The hot side has a 4”x4.5” heat sink and the cold side has a 5”x5” heat sink. The whole thing is a little less then 4” tall and ignoring the warning, does NOT come apart at all! I would say it weighs around 5lbs, although I haven’t put it on a scale.
This can easily lower tap water below ambient. The cold-sink gets cold enough to condensate and the hot side gets HOT! without a fan but with a 90mm fan it stays more then cool enough. Here is a little jerry riged experiment I have running right now.
In the container, I put hot tap water and then submerged the cold-sink. Within about 10 minutes the water was cold and within about 20 minutes the container was forming condensation.
My idea is to submerge the cold side in a reservoir and use it as the heat pump in a water cooling system. Since it does not cool the water very quickly, at least not to start off with, I think I will need a second reserve reservoir. I don’t intend to make my own water blocks, only to use this heat pump instead of a radiator. My other idea is to use this in conjunction with a radiator (radiator->heatpump). It's obvious it will require mounting outside of the case so system size really isn't an issue but i would like to minimize the amount of fans to 1 or 2.
I am looking for ideas on a design for a system like this. If you are interested and prove to produce a good design and I end up using it, I could be convinced to mail you one of these things for free. If you can’t come up with a design and are interested in obtaining one of these things, I could be convinced to mail it inside the US for the price of the heat pump and shipping.
Saytinex
It turns out it is the cooling element out of one of the Igloo electric coolers. It is comprised of a 12V, 4amp peltier element surrounded by insulation with a large heat sink on both sides. The hot side has a 4”x4.5” heat sink and the cold side has a 5”x5” heat sink. The whole thing is a little less then 4” tall and ignoring the warning, does NOT come apart at all! I would say it weighs around 5lbs, although I haven’t put it on a scale.
This can easily lower tap water below ambient. The cold-sink gets cold enough to condensate and the hot side gets HOT! without a fan but with a 90mm fan it stays more then cool enough. Here is a little jerry riged experiment I have running right now.
In the container, I put hot tap water and then submerged the cold-sink. Within about 10 minutes the water was cold and within about 20 minutes the container was forming condensation.
My idea is to submerge the cold side in a reservoir and use it as the heat pump in a water cooling system. Since it does not cool the water very quickly, at least not to start off with, I think I will need a second reserve reservoir. I don’t intend to make my own water blocks, only to use this heat pump instead of a radiator. My other idea is to use this in conjunction with a radiator (radiator->heatpump). It's obvious it will require mounting outside of the case so system size really isn't an issue but i would like to minimize the amount of fans to 1 or 2.
I am looking for ideas on a design for a system like this. If you are interested and prove to produce a good design and I end up using it, I could be convinced to mail you one of these things for free. If you can’t come up with a design and are interested in obtaining one of these things, I could be convinced to mail it inside the US for the price of the heat pump and shipping.
Saytinex
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Comments
I'm sorry to say it but it won't give you much actually. Remember, you need to cool off ANOTHER 100 watts+ from the cpu. When that hot cpu heats up that water, that peltier won't be enough, plain and simple.
Try it the other way: Use cold tap water on the hot side. Have a temp-probe on the cold side and see. You should see ice, not condensation.
From what i understand, that tec of yours is about 50 watts or so, so add those 50 watts to what your cpu puts out. Those watts combined needs to be cooled down with a very powerful radiator or 2 that uses as cold air as possible from the fans.
For those of you unaware of what he was referring to.
A peltier’s power rating in watts is directly proportional (with a performance curve) to it’s ability to move heat.
Watts = Volts * Amps so 12V*4A = 48 Watts and the average CPU produces 60-80Watts of excess heat. For peltiers to work in cooling, they have to have a power rating that is higher then your CPU’s excess heat, which mine does not.