Liquid cooling with mineral oil?

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mancream

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Instead of water, would that work? Incase of leaks etc I'm safe. People submerge rigs in mineral oil so would this work out? I don't see people doing this, just water and a killcoil and that some other liquid
 
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PsyKhiqZero

PsyKhiqZero

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You would need a special pump. The increased resistance would be more then most pumps normal liquid cooling pumps could handle. Keep in mind that it not only has to move throught eh tubing it also has to go through the radiator. The increased pressure will also strain the fittings.

Not saying it couldn't be done, but it is largely unnecessary. There are plenty of non-conductive liquids you can buy that have anti corrosive and anti microbe properties mixed in. These fluids would probably be cheaper then mineral oil of the same amount, and the added equip to run mineral oil.
 
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utroz

utroz

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Mineral Oil has been used before but has serious drawbacks. If oil gets too warm it burns, if too cold it is too thick to pump through a radiator and also after time it tends to break down and get thicker and globby. The pump, tubing, blocks, radiators, ect would all need to be made special and the oil it self would have to meet a tight spec. It is way more of a pain in the butt than just making sure a water cooling system is leak free. Fluorinert (made by 3M) would be a better plan, it has been used for fully submerging computers (minus the hard drive, but an SSD would be safe) but it cost way more than water to use. So basically water is the most cost effective liquid cooling system currently available.
 
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mancream

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Aren't non conductive coolants just Biocide, distilled water and dye?> Non specify what the liquid are made of.
 
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rubix_1011

rubix_1011

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In reading the comments below the video it would seem this is potentially very expensive stuff, and by doing a little Googling on Florinert and Perfluorotripentylamine by 3M, it's crazy expensive stuff.

We're talking in the hundreds of dollars per liter.
 
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utroz

utroz

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Yeah that fluorinert stuff by 3M is what I was thinking of but miss named it. People put the whole motherboard in a tank of it and just have the hard drive out of it. It is a cool project if you are rich and want to do something rare, far more rare than LN2, Dry Ice, or Phase Change cooling.
 
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rubix_1011

rubix_1011

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Back to the subject of mineral oil submersion - you can 'do it', but there really aren't many positives to be had from it. We've had this topic discussed on the forum dozens of times because people come across the Puget systems fish tank project. It's more of a novelty than a long-term viable cooling solution.

Plus, the oil completely soaks the PCB of the components rendering them unable to be re-sold. It also has been noted on some systems that it dissolves thermal paste and has caused issues with o-rings and grommets on some occasions.
 
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4Ryan6

4Ryan6

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Of course it will work many have done it!

Personally I see it as a novelty or a great conversation piece, (Is that a computer in your aquarium or are you just glad to see me?). :lol:

However for raw cooling performance especially of overclocked components, Not so much!

Most going this route are not overclocking anyway, so disregard that.

The things you may be unaware of are:

Hardware component warranty loss of everything you submerge in the oil.

The oil cannot be static and the PC just left running because the oil will be heated by the motherboard, the CPU, and GPU and system memory, the oil mass will gradually continue to heat, so you have to have a way to cool the oil.

That is usually accomplished with some type of radiator and pump to circulate the oil through, and the radiator will require cooling fans to use the ambient room temperature as the cooling target with no actual oil DeltaT to compare to, AFAIK.

The oil will wick up through the keyboard and mouse wiring, because of the fiber reinforcement in the wiring, the same wicking action of a kerosene lantern, until it is wicking all over your desktop.

So are you still interested in that type of setup?

Keep in mind to do it right, you will end up buying a good amount of what you need to simply water cool the computer, (Pump, Radiator, and Cooling Fans), without risking a warranty loss of all the submerged components.

 
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GlomGubben

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First thank you for many well written and informative threads on TEC cooling! I think I've read them all ^^

now on to business ^^ From what I've read from your threads and your comments involving TEC cooling you're the forums TEC master.

Have you seen or heard of anyone successfully cooling the mineral oil with TEC's? with that I mean gotten the mineral oil temperature down to 10-15c?

After I decided to super cool my computer I've been reading forums for the last 3-4 days(don't remember anymore^^) about submerged computers and TEC cooling. At first my plan was to make a custom water loop with TEC's for added cooling, but then I got stuck on that condensation problem since I want temps from 10c and downward.

Then I remembered reading something about submerging the computer in mineral oil would make condensation difficult or even impossible. Luck would have it that we just got rid of our last fish so there is a empty aquarium calling my name x)

I know the power requirements probably will make my wife give me the stare of death, but I'll just have to risk it ^^

I'll appreciate all the input I can get that puts me closer to starting the project :)

 
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