Using 'Mains' H2o for cooling?...

MadDogMe · 12-02-2002, 05:35 AM

Most people who've asked about mains water cooling have been shot down because of the waste it would cause, but how about using the coldwater tank as the reservoir?, do most/all houses have a coldwater tank in their attics?, mine does, it's used to act as a 'buffer' for the 'mains', for when you use large amounts of cold water (baths, ect...), and incase of water outage?...

anyone considered this before?. it'd take a pump and a half to get the lift required though

, I'd leave the pump near the tank as well for the extra 'quiet', this could be an idea for people going for a 'totaly silent' solution...

mrbingley · 12-02-2002, 07:26 AM

My computer is right up against the wall of the bathroom and right next to the toilet.
I was thinking of running the water from the lavatory cistern, gets a good few changes during the day

and should be nice and cool, you'd have to make sure that the pump inlet pipe was low enough in the cistern to always have water when the toilet was flushed..
But the missus isn't having any of it, played hell when I cut a hole through into the wall cavity for a bit of cooler air.

Cheers
Chris.

crane · 12-02-2002, 07:42 AM

It would be a bad deal if the toilet backed up and a turd got stuck in your waterblock or radiator....

mrbingley · 12-02-2002, 07:52 AM

I've never seen a turd jump from the pan into the cistern, but you never know

Cheers
Chris.

utabintarbo · 12-02-2002, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MadDogMe
Most people who've asked about mains water cooling have been shot down because of the waste it would cause, but how about using the coldwater tank as the reservoir?, do most/all houses have a coldwater tank in their attics?, mine does, it's used to act as a 'buffer' for the 'mains', for when you use large amounts of cold water (baths, ect...), and incase of water outage?...

I think this would only apply in Europe, as I have never seen a coldwater tank on this side of the Atlantic. Possibly in some of the older towns....

Bob

myv65 · 12-02-2002, 08:36 AM

I think it depends on whether you have "city water" or your own well. I actually have both. On my well, I have a small pressure tank in the basement next to the well. It's nothing more than an accumulator to maintain (relatively) steady flow without continuously running the pump. For those on city water, all you get is a line coming into your house that eventually connects back to the nearest water tower.

You wouldn't really need a big pump for this task. You'd just want fairly good sized lines running down and back. Look at it this way. If you ran a line down to the computer and through a couple of blocks, then just hanged the hose out the case, you'd get a lot of flow due to the head between the tank and computer. Gradually start raising the elevation of the outlet and flow would begin to decrease, but you'd still have some flow right up until you had the outlet higher than the water level in the tank. The pump doesn't need to overcome much of the elevation. It just needs to provide a boost to the system flow. Provided you keep the lines outside the case to the 1" (25mm) range, head loss to friction in them will be miniscule. Any normal watercooling pump would do fine.

Another question, however. Does the tank also provide your drinking water? If so, you may want to give your materials list a careful inspection. Some tubing is not meant for use with drinking water. You also won't generally find aluminum in a drinking water system, though I'm not positive on this count.

airspirit · 12-02-2002, 10:30 AM

I could see a picture in a "WC gone BAAAAD!" topic of a turd stuck in Tygon hose.

*shudders*

I heard of a guy using his swimming pool in the winter as a giant res. I think it would work, though I agree with the above poster than it could cause water contamination issues. Not only that, but you have to think of the galvanic corrosion issue (not to mention hard water), since it is doubtful your tank is inert.

Mikey Boo · 12-02-2002, 10:44 AM

Well if a turd did get stuck... there is always Liquid Plumber

MadDogMe · 12-02-2002, 11:05 AM

LoL!, MrBingley, I'm not sure if you're 'taking the p#$$', or just 'talking Xr@p', butt!, if you're not, you could use Assitone, or isoP(r)oophole alcoHole if you want to use a chiller

, maybe even methanehole water?

...
LoL! you 'crack' me up!...

It should work, though I'm not sure how much water you need for it to maintane a good steady temp while giving up enough heat?. to small an amount and the temp will rise quite high before it reaches equalibrium...

The tank is for the bathroom only (maybe hot water tank/boiler as well),they have been know to contain dead 'sparrows' and 'mice' and all sorts of other lovely things!, one of the reasons I never drink water from the bathroom, it does taste funny, not surprising considering the house is 50 years old and the tanks original!!, thank God the kitchen sink is on the mains

...
I can understand appartments being without them for space saving, but what about houses?...
*********************************

Quote:

Well if a turd did get stuck... there is always Liquid Plumber

Is that the same as 'Syrup of Figs' but with Plumbs instead of Figs?...

Enough of this Toilet Humour!!... it's enough to drive you 'round the bend!!

...

KnightElite · 12-02-2002, 11:40 AM

In general, in North America, we don't seem to have tanks like that in most houses, at least not the ones where I live. But I don't see why your idea wouldn't work.

Can O' Beans · 12-02-2002, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mrbingley
I've never seen a turd jump from the pan into the cistern, but you never know

Cheers
Chris.

Mr. Hankey

ezlid · 12-03-2002, 02:01 PM

As several posts have stated, this water set-up isn't used on this side of the Atlantic. But my concern is year-round useage. In the winter the tank will have cool , maybe even cold water. However, in the summer the water is most likely pretty warm and not a good source for a W/C'ed PC. I can't even go into my attic during the hottest parts of a sunny day because it is at least 110F - 120F, maybe even hotter! And it's not until late into the evening before it is even bearable.

babyeater · 12-03-2002, 03:09 PM

Would be good for us Europeans with our tanks you could put a mad big pump up there and not worry about noise as it is in the attic and get some good flowrates through your block.Attic temps wouldn't effect me as it is cold all year round . Sounds like a cool idea to me.

MadDogMe · 12-04-2002, 03:59 AM

Quote:

However, in the summer the water is most likely pretty warm and not a good source for a W/C'ed PC.

Attics are heat traps, but there's allways a way, even if it was'nt funny the first time... http://www.bbspot.com/News/2002/08/house.html

12-02-2002, 05:35 AM	#1
MadDogMe Thermophile Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Just shut up ;) ... Posts: 1,068	Using 'Mains' H2o for cooling?... Most people who've asked about mains water cooling have been shot down because of the waste it would cause, but how about using the coldwater tank as the reservoir?, do most/all houses have a coldwater tank in their attics?, mine does, it's used to act as a 'buffer' for the 'mains', for when you use large amounts of cold water (baths, ect...), and incase of water outage?... anyone considered this before?. it'd take a pump and a half to get the lift required though , I'd leave the pump near the tank as well for the extra 'quiet', this could be an idea for people going for a 'totaly silent' solution...

12-02-2002, 07:26 AM	#2
mrbingley Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: West Yorkshire. UK. Posts: 39	My computer is right up against the wall of the bathroom and right next to the toilet. I was thinking of running the water from the lavatory cistern, gets a good few changes during the day and should be nice and cool, you'd have to make sure that the pump inlet pipe was low enough in the cistern to always have water when the toilet was flushed.. But the missus isn't having any of it, played hell when I cut a hole through into the wall cavity for a bit of cooler air. Cheers Chris. __________________ Epox 8K3A+ Athlon XP 2000+ 256 MB generic RAM GF2 MX twinview Home made water cooling setup

12-02-2002, 07:42 AM	#3
crane Cooling Neophyte Join Date: May 2002 Location: so cal Posts: 82	It would be a bad deal if the toilet backed up and a turd got stuck in your waterblock or radiator.... __________________ dirt rules

12-02-2002, 07:52 AM	#4
mrbingley Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: West Yorkshire. UK. Posts: 39	I've never seen a turd jump from the pan into the cistern, but you never know Cheers Chris. __________________ Epox 8K3A+ Athlon XP 2000+ 256 MB generic RAM GF2 MX twinview Home made water cooling setup

12-02-2002, 10:30 AM	#7
airspirit Been /.'d... have you? Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Moscow, ID Posts: 1,986	I could see a picture in a "WC gone BAAAAD!" topic of a turd stuck in Tygon hose. shudders I heard of a guy using his swimming pool in the winter as a giant res. I think it would work, though I agree with the above poster than it could cause water contamination issues. Not only that, but you have to think of the galvanic corrosion issue (not to mention hard water), since it is doubtful your tank is inert. __________________ #!/bin/sh {who;} {last;} {pause;} {grep;} {touch;} {unzip;} mount /dev/girl -t {wet;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} echo yes yes yes {yes;} umount {/dev/girl;zip;} rm -rf {wet.spot;} {sleep;} finger: permission denied

12-02-2002, 08:36 AM	#6
myv65 Cooling Savant Join Date: May 2002 Location: home Posts: 365	I think it depends on whether you have "city water" or your own well. I actually have both. On my well, I have a small pressure tank in the basement next to the well. It's nothing more than an accumulator to maintain (relatively) steady flow without continuously running the pump. For those on city water, all you get is a line coming into your house that eventually connects back to the nearest water tower. You wouldn't really need a big pump for this task. You'd just want fairly good sized lines running down and back. Look at it this way. If you ran a line down to the computer and through a couple of blocks, then just hanged the hose out the case, you'd get a lot of flow due to the head between the tank and computer. Gradually start raising the elevation of the outlet and flow would begin to decrease, but you'd still have some flow right up until you had the outlet higher than the water level in the tank. The pump doesn't need to overcome much of the elevation. It just needs to provide a boost to the system flow. Provided you keep the lines outside the case to the 1" (25mm) range, head loss to friction in them will be miniscule. Any normal watercooling pump would do fine. Another question, however. Does the tank also provide your drinking water? If so, you may want to give your materials list a careful inspection. Some tubing is not meant for use with drinking water. You also won't generally find aluminum in a drinking water system, though I'm not positive on this count.

12-02-2002, 10:44 AM	#8
Mikey Boo Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 78	Well if a turd did get stuck... there is always Liquid Plumber __________________ Watercoolin + a leak = a wet floor

12-02-2002, 11:40 AM	#10
KnightElite Cooling Savant Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Posts: 294	In general, in North America, we don't seem to have tanks like that in most houses, at least not the ones where I live. But I don't see why your idea wouldn't work. __________________ Can anyone else here say that they have a watercooled monster that's 45" tall?

12-03-2002, 02:01 PM	#12
ezlid Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 55	As several posts have stated, this water set-up isn't used on this side of the Atlantic. But my concern is year-round useage. In the winter the tank will have cool , maybe even cold water. However, in the summer the water is most likely pretty warm and not a good source for a W/C'ed PC. I can't even go into my attic during the hottest parts of a sunny day because it is at least 110F - 120F, maybe even hotter! And it's not until late into the evening before it is even bearable.

12-03-2002, 03:09 PM	#13
babyeater Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ireland Posts: 42	Would be good for us Europeans with our tanks you could put a mad big pump up there and not worry about noise as it is in the attic and get some good flowrates through your block.Attic temps wouldn't effect me as it is cold all year round . Sounds like a cool idea to me.

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