External Rad at Window

@VKleita I agree it doesn't appear to make sense but maybe we're missing something?

Actually, rather than put the rad in the garage, I'm now toying with the idea of putting the entire PC in the garage and bringing the cables through to the cave. That way the risk of condensation is gone and I am guaranteed not only low temperatures but absolute silence!
 
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Progress has been made (eventually):


First, it's some hammer action with the battery drill. I decided to forget the blank plates and just route from inside the right hand storage cupboard. I routed 2 hoses and also a signal cable for the PWM control of the fans.
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Next, I bought some shelves from Homebase, a bargain at £20 IMO.
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Now I've set the PC up so that I can remove the external rad and link the flow and return, so that I've got a stand alone PC should I need to move it to another room. I've also set the top rad in the case to ramp it's fans up should the rad in the garage fail to cool for any reason (PSU trip or whatever).

I then stuck some swivel 90 fittings on and connected up the external hoses.
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Now, I hook the hoses up to the external radiator. I've made it so that I can easily disconnect at the radiator and drain if I need to, and I've stuck a 600w EVGA PSU in there to power the 4 fans.
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All up and running, so on to some tweaking for temperature etc.. :)
 
You seem the practical sort, bit of soldering okay with you?

Something like (but DO read the fan labels and check the amps plus some overhead - eg double it!):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/JOYLAND-Ad...=1508965755&sr=8-11&keywords=12v+power+supply

Then get the matching 'socket' and solder the fan cables do it or a molex header and split from there.. Very useful for testing pumps etc. :)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/sourcingmap®-Female-Socket-Adapter-Connector/dp/B0159JJMVO/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1508965817&sr=1-2&keywords=socket+2.1mm+X+5.5mm
 
You don't even need to do that. Just make up some extra long power cables for the fans. That's the way I have done it and I control them from a fan controller in my pc room with no problems. If I remember right the cables I made are around 3m long and are all nicely braided.
 
pastymuncher said:
You don't even need to do that. Just make up some extra long power cables for the fans. That's the way I have done it and I control them from a fan controller in my pc room with no problems. If I remember right the cables I made are around 3m long and are all nicely braided.
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Yup, that would work. Or get a pwm fan splitter (one 4 pin pwm and a molex at one end, 4 pwm fan headers at the other end), then you simply run a single PWM fan wire AND a molex power through the wall.

:)
 
This is what I've used: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-cable-splitter-4-fan-pwm-extended-wc-9cq-ek.html

...although I've had to daisy chain a couple of 4-pin extensions from the motherboard fan header. This lets me control the fans according to the water temperature. I think this will help with any risk of condensation as I can have the fans go to minimum speed if the fluid goes under 20C which effectively has the components heating the water back up. I've also set the internal rad fans to be off until the fluid temperature hits 40C, which obviously it should never do (it's just a fail safe).

Having the internal rad fans off not only contributes to a silent system, but I found last night that the internal rad was working like a little fridge by blowing the cold air from the fluid into the room! Essentially, the internal rad is a backup that under normal circumstances acts as a passive cooler.

Air temp in garage right now is 10C, and the fluid temperature is 19C, so my little system appears to be working. When the fluid reaches 25C the external fans ramp up to 100% and this results in a max GPU temperature of around 35C.

So far, so good :cool:
 
Perfect, I use those.

With solder and heatshrink you can can one very long 4 pin extension that goes through the wall. From memory that cable only actually uses the PWM signal from the mobo so in theory 1 wire through the wall.

Wall wart to molex 12v to power it garage side. Job done.

As its in the garage you could run the fan profile starting at 50% and ramping up quite quickly. Mine is controlled by water temp as cpu/gpu temp can be quite transient depending on loads.
 
samcat said:
As its in the garage you could run the fan profile starting at 50% and ramping up quite quickly.
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I've got it starting at 20% right up until 20C, and then it ramps up to 100% at 25C which is the biggest step available. I want it at minimum speed as I don't want the fluid getting too cold. It's pretty much a passive cooling system until the GPU starts to work.

Hope that makes sense.
 
String said:
I've got it starting at 20% right up until 20C, and then it ramps up to 100% at 25C which is the biggest step available. I want it at minimum speed as I don't want the fluid getting too cold. It's pretty much a passive cooling system until the GPU starts to work.

Hope that makes sense.
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Perfect sense.

Whatever works for you.

Does the garage ever get below zero?
 
String said:
I'm pretty sure it will during winter as I'm in Central Scotland. It can get as low as -20 in these parts.
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Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr, chilly!

Make sure your fluid is suitable and has some antifreeze properties down to the temperature... And it might be worth learning about dew points.
 
Ah! I didn't think about that. I only use Mayhem's Ultra Pure with a silver kill coil. What would you recommend for an additive? I can't use XT1 as it creates a cloudy substance due to the EK hard-line PET-G.
 
String said:
Ah! I didn't think about that. I only use Mayhem's Ultra Pure with a silver kill coil. What would you recommend for an additive? I can't use XT1 as it creates a cloudy substance due to the EK hard-line PET-G.
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No idea. Previously when doing some sub zero watercooling I ran tap water with 20% car antifreeze, but that was very short term and using cheap PVC hoses and a heatermatrix from an old car and a block we knocked up on the lathe (for an Athlon xp 2600+ cpu). No idea on what to suggest for your setup. Maybe drop Mayhems or EK a line and see what they suggest?

You cannot rely on heat from the rig solving it, as what if there is a power cut or you shut the pc down.. On the flip side in that sort of cold weather I think the rad would be back inside heating the house and the holes in the wall plugged until the warmer weather returns. My other half loves sitting in line with my rad fans, nice and warm breeze!
 
samcat said:
You cannot rely on heat from the rig solving it, as what if there is a power cut or you shut the pc down..
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Just thinking about this too, could I install a second pump in the garage that is set to run constantly off the dedicated PSU? This would mean when the PC is shut down the water is still flowing? What would be the result if the internal pump was running at minimum speed and the external pump was running at maximum speed, would they adversely affect each other?
 
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