Oil Computer! anyone seen?

I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure that oil works in car engines because car engines actually need to be fairly warm to operate. The metal of the pistons etc needs to be warm to actually move without too much friction. Whereas in a pc there are no moving parts that need the benefits of lubrication and heat dispersal.
 
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You're wrong Jimmy. The pistons don't move more freely when hot, the oil is chosen to be at the right viscosity when the engine is running i.e. when hot. It's hot because of friction, but mainly because of the controlled explosions going on inside. The oil cooling parts of a car engine is there because water would boil rather swiftly, the areas of the car which can be cooled by water, are.

The oil filled computer doesn't make much sense. The only approach to keep hot computers cold with oil is combining it with conventional water cooling, with the radiators (and probably pump) outside the oil. The oil then does a very good job of cooling the motherboard, and can probably deal with the psu. However air does a sufficient job of cooling the motherboard and psu anyway, so there isn't any gain to using the oil. I suppose instead you could immerse it all in oil, run a load of copper pipes through the oil and pump water through the pipes, so using a crude heat exchanger to keep it cool.

If you do try this,
1/don't put hard drives under oil
2/oil will wick along cables, so have the I/O panel at the top, such that your monitor cables aren't exposed to oil
3/fans work fine under oil, they just spin slower
4/mineral oil is a horse laxative, so get it from a vet

Finally, there is potential for peltiers/phase + oil filled computers, basically using the oil to avoid condensation issues. Motherboard in a sealed box, filled with oil, with a couple of tubes and a few cables going in the lid. I've got peltiers on the brain at the moment though.
 
Yes well, your probably right, but I mentioned that water would boil at engine temps and that oil is a mainly a lubricant.

Surely there is another non electricity conducting liquid that could be used?
 
In an engine or in a computer? Budget rules in both cases, though I don't know anything which would work better in engines than (the right) oil. There's a liquid called flourinert which would be excellent for immersing a computer, but sadly costs loads.

Fluorinert is used in situations where air will not carry away enough heat, or where airflow is so restricted that some sort of forced pumping is required anyway.
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It may also be fluid enough to be pumped directly through a radiator, so you could have a tube drawing coolant out of the bath the motherboard is immersed in, pump it through a largish radiator then reject the cooler liquid back into the box. Kind of like putting the motherboard in the reservoir. This solves the issue of getting heat out of the coolant and will help keep the coolant flowing, preventing hot spots forming. If the cpu is too hot, pump through a cpu block and a radiator.

So there's potential, but it would be considered odd by almost anyone.
 
People have used oil PCs for the past 15 years, give or take, and it was used in the industry well before that. If you use a non conductive oil and a pump or 4 to circulate the oil properly it works really well
 
jimmy_lazers said:
Yes well, your probably right, but I mentioned that water would boil at engine temps and that oil is a mainly a lubricant.

Surely there is another non electricity conducting liquid that could be used?
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The biggest problem with contact liquid cooling systems in "normal" PCs they simply arnt designed for submersion cooling. The PCBs are porous and will deteriorate over time. I believe the average submersion system lives for around a week before it starts failing. That said oil cooling electrical devices is done in the real world. Certainly in the states the 25kv -> 110v transformers are normally sitting in a large can of oil at the top of the electricty poles.

The reasons the water doesnt boil in an engine (assuming the cooling system is working properly) are 1) the water is constantly being pumped through the engine blocks cooling channels, so it doesnt have much time to "collect" the heat. 2) Coolant is added to the water to increase its boiling point (and in winter also to lower its freezing point) and 3) Under pressure water doesnt boil until a much higher temperature. The combined result is water that doesnt boil until 160 degrees C, and a short enough time exposed to the engine heat due to the constant flow rate, and a massivly efficient radiator to cool the water back down as quickly as possible.

Oil coolers on cars are often used to cool transmission fluids, or on more powerfull engines where additional cooling is needed to prevent the oil overheating and breaking down.
 
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"believe the average submersion system lives for around a week before it starts failing."

The one in the video had lasted well over a year and apparently is running fine. theres a computer shop near me that have one sitting on the counter, always running no problems.
 
imagine if you lived RIGHT next to a river, you could just use copper piping and a car rad in the river, a basic filter just before it to stop it clogging up

would be awesome temps :)
 
bledd. said:
imagine if you lived RIGHT next to a river, you could just use copper piping and a car rad in the river, a basic filter just before it to stop it clogging up

would be awesome temps :)
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i thought about that. i lived right next to a lake. instead of sucking up the water, was thinking about running pipes though it to help cool it down... then i thought of just running water pipes outside the house. so damn cold and windy out there!
 
you got there first i know someone who had one and saiod temps drop as it is harder for ambient temps to rise so it ran cooler but he had the bubble thingy in there 2 lol
 
Oil computers are a fantastic way of cheap super cooling. But you do need to think about dispersing the heat. So a metal case with fins. Or pump the oil to an external radiator.
 
Oil is a lubricant and may have anti-rust benefits in long term electrical infrastructure installations, space saving benefits for cooling in tight situations when teamed up with a pump. It does look interesting when teamed up with a pump, but I'd be after quiet mostly.
 
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