A couple questions about TEC

[General Septem]

I have a few questions about TEC.

 

1. How do you choose which plate is right for one's processor? I know if the wattage is too high or too low it won't work well.

 

2. Can a TEC be put on a variable resistor such as a fan controller?

 

3. How do you prevent temps from going below ambient and thus creating condensation?

 

4. How common is it for people to use TEC in conjunction with other coolers?

 

Thanks.

[calvintang]

3.I think it has a sensor,lol

4.I have seen(read) people use tec with watercooling if that helps.

[General Septem]

3.I think it has a sensor,lol

4.I have seen(read) people use tec with watercooling if that helps.

 

The Monsoon has a sensor but that's not what I mean, I'm talking about the actual plates you put under watercooling.

[CPDMF]

If I were going to try and stay above ambient I would just go with a monsoon.

 

You would need a pelt in the 80-100 watt range, a way to monitor temps and a way to control voltage to the TEC by the tempature reading.. More hassle than it's worth..

 

At idle even an 80 watt TEC will create condensation unless the voltage is dropped. Not something that can be handled with a pot unless you're up to constantly comparing temps with ambient and adjusting it.

 

I never run a TEC block in a loop with any other component, the hot side of the pelt will normally run 55 -60C or more at load.

[General Septem]

I would get a Monsoon but I've seen too many posts regarding average performance from the unit. If you aren't going to stay above ambient, what do you do about condensation? Is there any safe method of dealing with it?

[Evil_inc]

As for condensation take a look at what the liquid nitrogen ocers do. They cover all the possibly affected area with foam padding and no conductive water proof compounds. I have never heard of a tec being too strong, unless you mean the additional heat produced exceeds the cooling capabilites of the attached system.

 

I would check out what frozencpu.com has on hand.

 

As for the variable resistor, yes and no. The cooling will change but more drasticaly than that of a fan. Though you could technicaly run it through something like a fan controller.

 

Research allways helps

[CPDMF]

Dealing with condensation is a simple enough task. You only need a few supplies, patience and attention to detail is the key. If you want to do something up I can recommend parts and guide you through it, there are a couple of decent tutorials around as well for some reading action.. I'll see if I can find you a link..

 

Here's a link to a step by step using a swiftech kit. Long but worth the read and I do prefer the swiftech block.

 

http://www.mvktech.net/content/view/1978/39/

[General Septem]

If I decide to do TEC I'll definitely look into it further. At this point I want to try watercooling first. I was just wondering what was involved, it was just a question I had on my mind.

[CPDMF]

No problem. I ok with my watercooling. It's not something I would purchase all in one shot because prices seem to be going up quite fast. I just peice my W/C systems together finding deals on parts. Too many other upgrades that will gain more real performance for what it costs to go water and gain 50mhz from the CPU..

[Thasp]

3. How do you prevent temps from going below ambient and thus creating condensation?

 

When it's 20 degrees outside I put my radiator in the window and slam the window down on it while the three intake fans are slammed up against the screen, so it gets stuck there. If I turn the fans on high in this weather my CPU at stock, can idle at 0c, and load at 10c.. obviously much lower than the temperature of my room, and I haven't had any condensation issues yet. I also had it being cooled by the air from the radiators, and the motherboard had no consensation.

 

I think condensation's being overplayed in cooling. Anything basic should do, IMO.

[General Septem]

I'm kind of doing that myself. My watercooling system is a long-term plan including making my own waterblock once I finish the case I'm building. I have a small chunk of money to work with though if I should need breathing room.

[CPDMF]

Thasp, I don't think telling people condensation is not a real issue if you haven't actually used TEC's. You are talking about two different environments, TEC's on a CPU at idle can drop to into the -10 -15 range, the condensation occurs mostly on the CPU pins..