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Unread 03-12-2009, 02:24 AM   #1
AkkerKid
Cooling Neophyte
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: East Boca Raton, FL, USA
Posts: 6
Default Fairly Large Project: Oil+TEC Tank PC

This'll be my first post. I'm half way through my project and just found this site today. I'll get you up to speed.
The Idea:
Put the entire PC (everything but the CD drive) into a custom built oil tank cooled by an outdoor radiator and Peltiers (TECs).
Basically I'm building everything from scratch. I've already built a tank, motherboard tray, radiator and blocks for the TECs. The basic idea is like this: The entire PC will be submerged into 5 gallons of the thinnest technical grade mineral oil I can find. The back of the mobo will be facing upwards. All connections will have short extentions going from the mobo to a top plate so that capilary action will not pull oil through the cables beyond that point. When the tank is filled, the warmest oil will flow towards the top where is will pour out of the side of the main tank into an attached reservoir. This oil will go first through the pump and into the hot side block of the TECs. It will be further heated by the TECs and flow outside through 3/8" pipe to my radiator. It will come back in and into the cold side of the TECs and directly into the tank and through the CPU block. From there it will either go through my GFX block or it will vent out to the rest of the case. Some stock fans will remain IE. northbridge, raid card.
The Tank:
The tank is 7 by 14 by 14 on the interior with a slot cut out of a side near the top where the top most oil will fall out into the reservoir on the side measuring 2 by 6 by 6 (all measurements in inches) The tank is completely made of lexan. The mobo tray slide into the case and will have a top plate where all of the external connections will be terminated above the oil. It may also have a handle so the entire PC can be pulled out of the oil whenever necessary.
The Loop:
When the oil heats it'll rise to the top where it pours into the side reservoir. The pump will be submerged in this oil pumping it out of the case and into the custom made blocks surrounding my TECs. (TEC aka Peltier Thermo Electric Cooler is a solid state heat pump. When powered with a fairly large direct current (DC) it will pull heat from one side (depending on the polarity of the current) and put it out onto the other.) I have a pair of 70 watt TECs between a pair of custom made aluminum oil blocks. The warmer oil passes through the hot side of the TECs and outside to the radiator. The radiator is what's left of a broken window air-conditioning unit. The coils in the condenser and the fan still worked so I removed it all and rebuilt it to have four oil paths and hung it from the overhang just outside my window. It has a three speed fan and plenty of other circuitry I can interface with to control various other parts of the system. The oil will cool to ambient outdoor temperature there and go back in the window to the cold side of the TECs and then to the CPU.
What's Done:
The tank, tubing, radiator, pump, TECs, fittings and bought the oil.
What's Left:
I must Seal the hard drives, build better TEC blocks, build the top plate with all of the connections, transfer the components, build circuitry to control the TECs and fan from the signal of the CPU fan header, mount everything. Get more/bigger power supplies for the TECs.

Tell me what you think!
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