Submerged PC

tsmcckarl

tsmcckarl

tsmcckarl

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12 Sep 2013
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4
Hi,

Before I get into my actual question I will give a little context, I saw this video a few days ago http://youtu.be/PtufuXLvOok (for those who do not want to view this, it is a PC submerged in mineral oil housed in a fish tank).

It got me thinking, what would be the benefit (if any) if I was to do pretty much the same thing but also have a submersible pump in there to pump the water through a rad/s?
Obviously there is a decent volume of oil in there so would my idea even have an effect?

If I am to attempt anything like this it would simply be for fun with an old system.

Thank you in advance

-Karl
 
Do you mean to submerge the system, and have a watercooling pump in there too?
Submerged systems still need a way of pulling heat out of the mineral oil as it heats up with use.
 
Not necessarily if the tank was large enough the surface area alone will keep the system cool.
If you needed a rad and pump you may as well just use traditional water cooling.
 
robj20 said:
Not necessarily if the tank was large enough the surface area alone will keep the system cool.
If you needed a rad and pump you may as well just use traditional water cooling.
Click to expand...

I was thinking of similar size as the one in the video I showed. I am more intrigued as to whether someone has done what I am suggesting and whether they noticed a difference?

Sounds to me like it may be too much though.

Thanks.

-Karl
 
I don't mean for this go sound as arsey as it will but worth isn't really an issue as if I do get time and funds to do something like this it would only really be for fun.
I suppose if I do have a chance to carry it out I could always run tests with rads on and off and answer the question myself. Thank you for your thoughts though :-)

-karl
 
It was an interesting project and well thought out.

Adding a radiator to this project in my personal opinion would not really change anything performance wise as someone has already stated that the whole of the tank would just be one Massive heat sink. Not to mention that this substance is more viscouse than water and a normal pump may not be able to cope with the extra strain
 
First time I have come across this. Madness LOL

However the last post set me thinking (Not that I'm about to try it).
The big problem with Freon or chilled water is condensation. What would happen if the computer was in this oil? If the Motherboard was in the oil and you pumped Freon or Very cold water in tubes to the CPU which was in the oil would condensation become a non issue?
 
I once used my haier water chiller for the loop. Trust me, it just dun justify for the cost. It's something like 150 quid a month for the electricity.....terrible....
 
keikeimok said:
I once used my haier water chiller for the loop. Trust me, it just dun justify for the cost. It's something like 150 quid a month for the electricity.....terrible....
Click to expand...

How many watts was the chilling unit? What kind of water temp's were you getting?

What about using mains water using copper tubing to withstand the pressure or running an external loop to a reservoir/copper piping buried deep underground? I've read about various attempts at both.
 
Best idea i ever saw was someone pumping the toilet tank water around the loop in a busy house you would have a constant supply of cold water, without any waste.
 
PanMaster said:
How many watts was the chilling unit? What kind of water temp's were you getting?

What about using mains water using copper tubing to withstand the pressure or running an external loop to a reservoir/copper piping buried deep underground? I've read about various attempts at both.
Click to expand...

He must have that chiller on <10c all the time 24 hours a day with a dual GPU+CPU loop for it to use that much electricity! :D

My chiller is the HC500A and it uses 350w whilst on, and spends most the time off. Takes roughly 60 seconds to chill the loop by 1c and that 1c lasts roughly 5 mins to heat back up (just browsing net also depends on ambient temps and what temp you set the chiller to!) and about 30-40seconds whilst gaming.

I game a few hours on the weekend and my computer is normally only on for 3-4 hours a night after i get home from work, i've used 200KW/H worth of electricity in 5 months with the chiller, so that works out around £6 a month, so not something i would call breaking the bank!
 
Now I'm only saying this for fun but....For using something such as the toilet water as described you could avoid worrying about the quality of the water by running your system through a plate style heat exchanger. The toilet water never actually goes to the computer its only to remove heat from your lovely DI water.
Something such as this... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_heat_exchanger

Of course this would be absolutely crazy setup for a pc, these are used on the ship I work on and we use sea water as our medium which of course is limitless.

You could find one in an old Combi boiler I suppose that would be small enough for using with a PC but then you need a source of cold water to pump round ! Anyone with running water in the garden would be fine :D !

Crazy but strangely doable :D

Just google "small plate heat exchanger" and start planning ! :D
 
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I'm pretty sure a radiator sat in a toilet cistern would work just as well as a "real" heat exchanger. Bonus points would be routing the cold water supply for the house through a heat exchanger, with the computer cooling loop on the other side - any time the washing machine, shower, toilet, sink are used, heat is dumped from the cpu loop. If it's just upstream of the boiler / shower than you'll reduce heating bills. I really should get around to testing that.

The other angle to submersing in oil is blocking condensation. If one sets up a "traditional" water cooling loop connected to a phase change or thermoelectric device, the computer tends to fill with water and then with ice. Which is bad, though not usually immediately fatal. One unusual approach to blocking condensation is to put the computer in an airtight box and fill it with carbon dioxide. Another would be to put the computer in a watertight box and fill it with oil.

There is an advantage to be found in submersible computing, but only in unusual corner cases. I'd like to fill a router with oil, in an airtight box, to leave outside in a garden. The oil would keep out condensation & rain, and transfer the little heat generated to the casing.
 
I did one long time ago just for fun...
I used mineral 10W40 engine oil in a plastic container :D
It is good to keep the fans so they move the oil around...

I couldn't bother to remove the oil afterwards because I did this with old parts and I was going to throw them away.

But once I had a computer that was submerged in a flood (if this count as submerged pc :D), I washed it with water and neutral soap then I used an air compressor to dry it then isopropyl alcohol and the computer survived, to only thing that died in the flood was the speaker's power adapter.
 
I would absolutely love to try this... but it goes against everything I have ever thought I knew about electrical components lol.

Might be on lookout for some old kit I can try it with. As much to amaze myself than any other reason.
 
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