Fridge for a cooler? please read!!

[robthatguyx]

so im just wondering,i see many many on youtube using 4-500$ watercooling setups that dnt supercool there proseccors so why not get 3 120mm by 500 mm by 25mm raditaors and a stronger pump and run them into a minifridge with the resevoir in the ice chestpart and keep the fridge on coolest settings . this way you can run 2 radiators to the cpu and 1 to the gpus and ram? i mean you have a mini freidge thats 200 max some modding here there 50$ into glues and such for tubing and watercooling starter kit over all itd be a bit more but would this owrk way way better than the enclosed pc case watercoolers?

 

[aaron88_7]

You would destroy the PC doing that. This would create condensation throughout the PC. You don't want your PC to get that cold.

 

[robthatguyx]

only the radiators would be in the fridge the pc itself would be sitting inside a case how would it get condinsated?

 

[tlmck]

I've heard this discussed for at least 30 years, if you find an answer, I am sure you will be world famous.

 

[robthatguyx]

well one day when i get good amounts of money a shall make a youtube video lol

 

[slhpss]

depending on the mini fridge it will do one of 2 things... if it's a little fridge that holds a 6 pack or so that thing is peltier powered and isn't much of a fridge and the results would be nothing... it may end up burning out... if you used a real fridge that's still the smaller kind you will burn out the compressor on the fridge... either way your PC isn't going to get any cooler... I'm pretty sure there is a sticky thread about this somewhere and I will edit when I find it.


http://www.overclock.net/faqs/105345-info-fridge-pc-cooler.html <-- from the water cooling sticky thread info/faq/etc

 

[Max Collodi]

well one day when i get good amounts of money a shall make a youtube video lol

When you get good amounts of money you could just buy a "Phase Change" cooler and save yourself a lot of time and trouble and get much lower temps.

 

[rubix_1011]

slhpss is exactly correct. In fact, I have that exact same link in the watercooling sticky as it gets asked in the watercooling forum at least a couple times a month.

You could modify a fridge, freezer or A/C unit but you'd be working your way into phase change or water chiller territory...different properties at work. A common house hold fridge or freezer (even a deep freezer) are only designed to remove heat from the case using on/off cycles of the compressor. Once the desired thermostat temp is reached, the cycling only continues as-needed to maintain those temps. If you run a PC inside, it is CONSTANTLY producing heat watts, which forces the compressor to run non-stop...which will cause it to fail as they aren't designed for this kind of constant load. Also, they are only designed to remove small amounts of heat, where a common PC can easily generate 300 watts of heat (usually much more in a high-end PC) of heat at full load.

The 'can I cool my PC in a mini-fridge' question gets asked over and over through the years...the answer is still the same...'No' to how you are asking the question; 'Yes/Possibly' to questions you aren't asking.

 

[RetiredChief]

A slight diff than most post on this. Most ask about sticking the PC in the fridge - Not a good idea. You are asking about just using the fidge to cool the coolant. As others have pointed out, you can only dissipate so much heat before overworking the fridge.

If you want to try, one suggestion is that you use one raidiator outsid to first cool the coolant down to room temp, thena rad in the fridge to cool down to sub-ambient temp. Set the fidge setpoint to warmer than normal and take down slowly to find a good point where the fridge is not on 100%. On condensation - You do NOT want this to take place on the pipes going into the computer so need to insulate them. Should not have a condensation problem on the HSF itself. Condensation is more a problem when dewpoint and ambient temperature delta is low.

Just a comment on Relative Humidity. It is a function on Ambient temp, dewpoint and barametric pressure and is a calculated value. Home use RH displays are not really accurate and very by as much as 5% from unit to unit and varies more at the end points..

 

[robthatguyx]

well so much for that idea lol , what would happen if you were to run the radiators infront of a airconditioner , myne runs 24hours a day more than half the year keeping rthe house at 65f degrees

 

[4Ryan6]

well so much for that idea lol , what would happen if you were to run the radiators infront of a airconditioner , myne runs 24hours a day more than half the year keeping rthe house at 65f degrees

I actually tried using an air conditioner, the problem is the air conditioner compressor cuts on and off to bring the entire room to a set temperature then cycles on and off continuously going from super cold to barely ambient.

It's a slow process to get the entire room cooled down to the set temperature range and then the compressor shuts off and the air is flowing through the cooling coil until it's heat rises enough to cut the compressor back on.

That on off action is not noticeable in a large room but when it comes to the cooling coils warming up to the point of kicking the compressor back on, that super cold is gone and the airflow is not cool enough to keep the entire cooling sufficient, you would have to override the compressors cut in, and probably freeze the coils and ruin the AC.

From my own experience it seemed like a great idea, but was not a sufficient cooling solution at all.

When it comes to overclocking purposes you need a steady temperature to depend on, your overclocked settings may work at one temp and not work 5c higher, so you need as consistent a temp as possible.

 

[rubix_1011]

You might want to open a similar thread in the watercooling forum if this is the route your are going- we've had this question asked a lot as well.

Your best bet for a cheap, good option is a slush box- a radiator or heat exchanger inside a cooler full of ice water. You'd also want a more reasonable 24/7 operation option in addition to this, as well.

Edit- 4ryan6 has an excellent write up on a slush box type of project...go check that out.

 

[RetiredChief]

On sticking the rad so that the ac blows on it. A 2nd ary probllem is the delta between on/off cycles in terms of expansion/contraction of parts. would probably see a good 10 c delta.

 

[slhpss]

The real solution is to move to the artic and run your radiators below the ice... just make sure you use some high grade anti-freeze as the coolant... then you will get awesome temps

this gives me an idea for my next build....

 

[4Ryan6]

:lol: If he lived in the Artic he could just stick his PC outside the window with a stock air cooler.

 

[tlmck]

On a somewhat related note, I found this old gem.

http://revision3.com/systm/cool

 

[truegenius]

i think it will work nicely

you can try this thing too
that is
1. addition of some common salt in freezer's iceing tray and alow it to go below 0'c
2. Put your radiator in this tray and close the fridge (will need to make some hole in door for pipes)
3. You are good to go.

Only thing required is a very good quality fridge.
You can add common salt to your setup too (i.e, in reservoir)

 

[robthatguyx]

LOL

 

[robthatguyx]

would a normal minifridge even cooldown below 0?

 

[robthatguyx]

fail 0'c no f

 

[mouse24]

Would it work if he used a SWAMP cooler instead of an AC unit? I personally run (used to run) my swamp cooler all the time in the summer...

Also are you asking this because you are living in a desert like me (Vegas)

 

[4745454b]

I could work, but only if you cycle your PC with the pump....

Ryan, I think its you who has that water setup with the gallon jugs? Still got those pics handy?

 

[truegenius]

would a normal minifridge even cooldown below 0?

hello!
seems like you have bunked your chemistry classes.
a normal fridge can freeze water to ice. right
adding salt to that ice will result in melt down of ice but keeping temp below 0'c

 

[4745454b]

You can freeze salt water. I believe it's freezing point is around 28F? Might be 25F.

 

[truegenius]

no, i am not talking about freezing salt water, it is only to get more cooling from liquid state of water which is movable