Peltier-cooled water tank

[TDV]

So when I get my new i7 PC through in a few weeks I shall be taking the plunge into custom water cooling solutions as I want decent cooling and I've came up with an idea I can't seem to find discussion on anywhere else.

Basically it involves attaching a Peltier to the water-tank with an attached microcontroller that turns the peltier on when the water hits 20o and turns it off again at 15o. May also include a... stirrer? for lack of a better word - to keep the water temperature more even and try to prevent any icing that may occur. Also attaching a heatsink to the hot side to blast the heat straight out the case instead of through it (case modding ahoy!)

I've seen peltiers can draw about 30A at 12V (400W) but I'll be using a Corsair 1200W PSU and it can easily accomodate this!

Anyone done anything similar?

 

[cyansnow]

whats going to cool down the side of the peltier that gets extremely hot?
and honestly peltiers are better when making contact to the cpu (inside the block)

 

[TDV]

The heatsink I mentioned should have probably said heatsink+fan, blast it into my room instead of into the case. Plus, it wouldn't be on all the time

 

[vrumor]

Probably cant find any info on it cause it isnt a very viable solution to cooling a PC or anything else for that matter.

 

[TDV]

Why not? peltier gets cold, water gets cold, cold water takes away more heat, more efficient water cooling...

Or am I missing something?

It's simply a smaller mod to the res than this guy:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/275185-11-exploring-ambient-water-cooling

 

[NatureTM]

I don't see why it wouldn't work, but there are reasons why something else might be better. First, peltiers are very inefficient. They will use a lot of power per degree of cooling. Next, if the peltiers can't move as much heat as the pc generates, you may find you needed a more expensive TEC or multiple. In the previous undercooled case, you might find that you have a cooler that can get colder than a fan on idle, but when things get hot under load -- when cooling really matters -- it may perform worse than you expect. I'd be looking a lot at the balance between max heat dissipated by the pc vs the cooling you plan and scale the cooler(s) appropriately. You're planing on using a uC to control the temp, which is good, but just a reminder that if the blocks fall below the dew point you could generate moisture that could get on your hw.

All this said, with proper planning and a good design it will work, albeit inefficiently, and it will be a neat project.

 

[TDV]

I should also add that I'll still be using the standard radiator setup, the peltier would just be an addendum to a full water cooling system!

I'm still trying to work out how to implement it all without getting condensation either but still have it so it works! I may have to look up how inefficient these things are though...

 

[rubix_1011]

Here's the issue:

If you do manage to run enough TEC's to get sub-ambient water temps, the radiators will add heat to the loop by not removing heat, but by adding it as a heat exchanger in addition to your loop components being cooled. It's a neat idea, don't get me wrong, but if you are going to go this route, if you cool the water enough, radiators are going to have the opposite impact that you think...or there will be very little difference of having the TEC cooler in the first place.

What you are thinking of is basically a water chiller, and can be had for a few hundred bucks if you look around the web. They would be far more efficient and likely most cost-saving in the end (when you factor in the cost of all the TEC's, cooling for each TEC, power source, and the work/odds and ends needed to complete the project).

 

[wolfram23]

Or just do the old Use A Beer Cooler As A Resevoir And Drop A Frozen Jug Of Water Inside trick.

Orrrrr use a small air conditioner for sub zero temps (as in, put the evaporation chamber inside a resevoir). The nice part about this is you can run tubing to the compressor and keep that outside.

 

[tdrake2406]

I have done peltier cooling before. I would recommend it right on the cpu if you are going to do it. you would have to have a quite large peltier to actually cool the water to the temp you want. once you start running your pc the water will get to a certain temp and stay there. if you try to peltier cool the water it will not get that much cooler once everything has warmed up. I would just do it the proper way and put it on the cpu itself. some people have even done peltier cooling with a regular fan and heatsink.

 

[4Ryan6]

Why not? peltier gets cold, water gets cold, cold water takes away more heat, more efficient water cooling...

Or am I missing something?

It's simply a smaller mod to the res than this guy:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/275185-11-exploring-ambient-water-cooling

TDV,

My cooling solution you linked has been in operation now over a year, and it's very successful, it's not a proposal or far off dream it's 100% operational and actually used most every single day.

I can control my cooling temperature from ambient room temperature down to 1c actual water temperature, just above freezing and as a general rule I run 8c below ambient room temperature every day, the cooling possibilities in those temperature ranges should be self evident.

Why don't you actually carry through your idea, test it out and share it, when you actually have something to share, and tell us what actually happens?

Some come here with these ideas and never do anything but talk.

If you think you have a viable cooling solution, do it, put it in operation!

You don't need permission or approval, just do it!

Because until you actually do it, it's just an idea, and a bunch of talk!

Ryan

 

[Motopsychojdn]

I'm sure folks told Ryan it was a stupid idea at some point, I know folks look at me in stupefaction when they see my loop, and Rubix and Lutfij can probably say the same,
We ignore naysayers (unless they are actually correct ) and go for it because ideas are great, but bringing them to reality is awesome,
go for it and feedback to the rest of us
Moto

 

[rubix_1011]

Peltiers/TECs are notably inefficient in converting large amounts of power into subambient cooling and the results they achieve. This is why you don't see them around much anymore...TDP of components has risen over the past several years and your average 75w or 120w TEC isn't going to cool much these days. You'd have to find more powerful TEC coolers, which will require much more power in order to operate...and then you need to design and implement a cooling solution to keep the TEC hot side from getting too hot.

It's a neat idea, but realistically I don't see how it would be very effective without many, many TEC's in-use drawing huge amounts of power for the small gain they would provide. The heat output of the TEC system would far surpass the power consumption and heat output of the original system they were designed to cool in the first place.

 

[correon]

I would say cooling down to 20 is enough or even 25 degrees since trying to cool

the water under ambient temp will be almost impossible - but trying to

keep water 1-5 degrees over ambient is more realistic - or else you have to have a

freezer like thing to keep water cold and insulate the water resovoir.

 

[mikefix]

I have a 4 or 5 gal cooler from Canadian tire and really impressed how cold it keeps things, so I’m thinking maybe I could cool flowing water. While searching out info on the Pelteir cooler I ended up here.
I want to cool the water in my boats live well down to about 40 degrees or less from about 70 degree lake water. It holds about 4 gal of water and I have 30 amps at 12 volts to play with from my outboards charging system. I can cool the hot side with lake water, insulate the tank and run lake water through the cold side into the fish tank. Cool fresh lake water running into the live well would be just awesome.
There are some discouraging opinions here. Is this idea worth trying out?

Thanx much
Mikey
Mikey@fishingmikeystyle.ca

 

[Motopsychojdn]

**I would say cooling down to 20 is enough or even 25 degrees since trying to cool

the water under ambient temp will be almost impossible **
My loop says different
Ryans loop is constantly S.a. and I'm adding a chiller to my loop to get a similar result, 7-8'c below ambient steady
the freezer type thing is the peltier plate or TEC,
freezers themselves are a bad plan, condensation happens and Pc go bang,
Check out Ryans thread and watch my chiller mod evolve, I think you'll be educated in Exteme W/c (Aka Pc stupidity 101)
@Mikey, run a pipe with a pump through the cooler and check temps along the length of it, that should indicate if the coolers capable of cooling a large flowing mass, and please remove your email add from your posts, you don't want spam or a Moderator warning
Moto