crazy idea?

[rulerbreaker]

Hi

I'm fairly new to this forum and to water cooling in general. I built my first loop just two weeks ago (ford heater core, pond pump and apogee gt).



I'm also doing some research into diy water blocks. I had this crazy idea for a portable, self-contained evaporation cooling system for a near silent PC:

First build a standard open-case frame using 2x4's:



Next, mount your hardware in the typical open-case setup, adding in the evaporation cooling setup:



The picture is fairly self-explanatory. The sideways lines in the tube is to dampen the sound of falling water. It wont be pretty, but will it work? If the tube is tall enough this should provide enough cooling for all the components...no?

I'm still very new at this so any ideas would be welcome.

[ben333]

I like the idea of a PC with a built in bong But yeah, if the pipe is *I think it was* five inches in diameter and a couple feet tall with a fan then it should make for a good evap setup.

Just a few things about evap cooling:
Depending how humid the air around your computer you could have to refill the bong a lot and also depending on the humidity of the room the computer is in the bong could act as a humidifier - could be good or bad. Also only use water, no added antifreeze, dies, water wetter or anything because everything in an evap loop will eventually end up in the air your breathing.

I like the cardboard shroud you made but I think it would work better if the fan sucked air in through the heater core and blow out like an exhaust. This should get you more airflow. If you want to fancy it up a bit heres a guide to making a fiberglass shroud for it
(can't find the thread...)
and a thread of one being made - http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/sho...d.php?p=122162

As for making your own block we can help you

You looking for a design that you can have milled (mill the base on a CNC machine) or something you can make at home?

With a drill press and a thread tap you can make this block which would probably still work well on a north bridge or south bridge.
http://www.procooling.com/index.php?...ticles&disp=26

A better block to make with a drill press for your CPU would be one like #Rotor's blocks: http://www.procooling.com/index.php?...ticles&disp=83
Those are fairly easy to make and work well. If you do a quick search I bet you can find the hole patterns for it. (you print off a sheet of paper and attach it to the bar of copper so that the holes will be in the right places)

This might give you some ideas too - http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=9263


Welcome to Pro and good luck!!

[rulerbreaker]

Thank you for the timely and thorough response.

That shroud is a work in progress, since that pic has been taken i've improved the mount and also switched to pre-mixed anti-freeze solution. I'll be adding a second fan at some point.

I really want to try and build an evap system, even if it is impractical in the long term it would be awesome if i could get it to work properly.

I bought a dremel and workstation (like a drill press mount for the dremel) so hopefull I can make a block that way. Full size drill presses are large and expensive...

[ben333]

Well depending on the metals in your loop you might not need much or any antifreeze at all. If your using a 50% mix then you're using too much If you have an all copper and brass loop then regular distilled water is fine. If you have any aluminum in there you do want to add some antifreeze but I'd say only about 1/10 of your coolant should be antifreeze. (1/5 if its the premixed) You might want to add some algaecide or silver to your loop if you find any bacteria. (by silver I mean putting some silver wire in your reservoir)

I don't think the dremel drill bit is going to be big enough to make #Rotor's block but maybe you can use more smaller holes closer together or better yet cut the copper with the dremel. If you look around I bet you can find a used drill press or a table top drill press pretty cheap if you decide to get one.

Heres an article from OverClockers.com about bong cooling compared to a heater core http://www.overclockers.com/articles389/index.asp

[rulerbreaker]

Not too sure what metals I have in my loop so I'd rather play it safe than sorry. The cooling performance of the current setup really isn't that bad, I was able to OC my E8400 to 4.5gz with idle temps of 34, 57 under stress. I'm using a NVIDIA chipset however so at those clocks the NB fan makes an unholy amount of noise. I run with the system with a very moderate overclock most of the time for that reason. A NB block is one of my priorities right now.

But only after I manage to track down all the materials I need. Copper plumbing supplies I can find in great quantities and varieties but finding solid, workable copper.... that's another story. I found a place that might have it but they operate the same hours i work...

[ben333]

You can look for solid copper bars/plates online also. I can't remember the site people use but I THINK its http://onlinemetals.com if thats not it I'm sure someone here knows it.