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How about a fridge?

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  • Heatsinks
  • Cooling
  • Computer
  • Overclocking
Last response: in Overclocking
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June 16, 2002 7:07:14 AM

I have a extra fridge that I was thinkign of using for cooling. Would it be possible to place my computer inside and then drill holes in the side for the wires?

More about : fridge

a b K Overclocking
June 16, 2002 7:46:23 AM

Yes, but how do you plan on preventing condensation damage?

What's the frequency, Kenneth?
June 16, 2002 1:24:23 PM

I can remeber several discussions in a dutch computer community that talk about the same idea. Basically, if you want to stick to conventional air cooling, you have two options to use your fridge:

- Place all components in the fridge, and isolate everything to prevent condensation from causing short-outs.
The isolation can be done with silicone, adhesive rubber, non-conductive grease e.g. The downside of this is that it will be very difficult to mess around with your system as it is completely covered wit grease and other stuff, it will be hard to ever sell it again, etc.

- Also, you can use the fridge too cool the air that you blow on to the heatsink. You can suck the cold air out of the fridge, guide it to the heatsink with tubes and cool it with the cold air. It is not too difficult to isolate the heatsink from the rest of the computer by building a watertight housing around it that separates it from the rest of your computer. The housing itself and the tubes that transport the air heve to be isolated to prevent condensation.

The second method is much less drastic than the first. Results will also be less with the second method, but it will definately breng the temp down a number of degrees (depending on the enviromental temp.).
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June 16, 2002 7:14:14 PM

Don't know about a fridge but I remember reading about a guy that used a freezer which if kept closed has extremely dry air. It's only when you open the door on a freezer that that moisture gets in. Otherwise, the air is extremely dry. Once sealed, a freezer is a closed air system. Without adding moisture to a system there is no condensation.

<b>I have so many cookies I now have a FAT problem!</b>
June 17, 2002 12:56:54 AM

So I can just use tubing to transfer cold air to my case? How exactly could I pump the air from the fridge into the tubing? The fridge would be about 3 feet from my computer case so the air would need to travel that far.
June 17, 2002 8:13:21 PM

using a freezer in this way will produce lots of condensation, the guy before recomended a closed freezer, never open to the outside air. running a conduit to the open air in a computer would create puddles in your computer.

how do you shoot the devil in the back? what happens if you miss? -verbal
June 18, 2002 12:08:43 PM

You simply suck the air through the tube with a fan. The best way would be to use one at the beginning of the tube for intake and one more near the end for exhaust. As always with lower temeratures, the risk of condensation and moisture is always there. As far as the tubes go for transporting the air, just be sure they are watertight and insulate the outside. some condensation might occur on the inside, but with proper insulation this will only be marginal. You will have to give the construction around the heatsink the most attention. This should really be watertight, and installing a drain to get rid of possible water wouldn't be a bad idea. As long as you insulate the outside properly, you will have no worries of condensation there. The focus should further be on watertight seals between the components and carefull thought about what would happen with the moisture and how to get rid of it.
June 18, 2002 12:13:03 PM

You can probably also buy an old WW2 airplane engine for a couple of dollars, that should be enough to deliver some nice airflow through the case :smile:

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