Watercooling Idea

[philbrown23]

I would test it before the warz to see if it will work, if not, then bench outside or near an open window, thats what I did for the winter warz, I left my heat off all dfay one day, and when I got home it was 3c in the house, perfect benching temps!

[Crazy_Nate]

I would test it before the warz to see if it will work, if not, then bench outside or near an open window, thats what I did for the winter warz, I left my heat off all dfay one day, and when I got home it was 3c in the house, perfect benching temps!

 

I got single digit idle temperatures with the open window technique (<20 full load on a 4400+ x2)...but damn it was cold in my room. On air!

 

Here's some information on the dew point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_point

 

Basically, the dryer the air (colder, too), the colder the waterblock must be to get condensation on it.

[DLS2008]

As for the condensation, it should not be an issue as it will be pure water. Condensation is essentially distilled water. It only differs in the method by which it is made. Distilled water is made by evaporation water and condensing it somewhere else. Condensation is just evaporated by air and condenses on stuff. So it'll be distilled water which is actually non-conductive. This means it won't short circuit anything. Many people think water is conductive, but it is actually only the particles dissolved in the water that makes it conductive. Theoretically any condensation will not harm your components.

 

I have to disagree with DLS2008 on his point about the conductivity of condensed water. First of all, the water that condenses on your tubing will not be pure water. The water that condenses is the water in the air that has mixed with dust particles, bacteria and even dirt on the outside of the tubes themselves. This obviously results in additives being present which increase the conductivity of the water. If allowed to drip, it WILL damage your system. If you do go ahead with that plan it wouldn't be a bad idea to hit your components with a spray-on sealant like those used for phase change cooling setups.

 

Yes, I should have mentioned that. In a perfectly clean environment, such as a clean room at a CPU factory, condensation would be pure water. However, in a normal house, it will collect dust, dirt, bacteria, hair, etc. So it will then be conductive which = BAD! I did say "theoretically" it won't harm anything, but I didn't elaborate on it. You could insulate your tubing, but that will only cover the tubing, not on the water blocks and around the edges of the water block. A spray-on sealant my work if you would like to try.

 

Yeah I measured the water temperature, it is about 16 to 17 degrees Celcius in july. Should be a bit colder in september.

 

Sorry but what's the dew point temperature ?

 

Actually, the water temperature won't change all that much. The pipes are buried deep enough that the ground will only fluctuate a degree or two, if that. Ground temperature is pretty constant at about 60F-65F (don't want to do C conversions since I live in US) around 10 feet down. Don't bet on much colder than maybe 15C by September.

 

As for the dew point, get a detailed forecast, it will be included in there. It'll say "Dew Point: ??C" That is the temperature at which a surface must be for condensation to form on it. To reduce the risk on condensation if you run it off the sink, put a dehumidifier in the room and drop the humidity as low as possible. Less humidity= less water in the air= less chance of condensation.

[The Smith]

Actually, the water temperature won't change all that much. The pipes are buried deep enough that the ground will only fluctuate a degree or two, if that. Ground temperature is pretty constant at about 60F-65F (don't want to do C conversions since I live in US) around 10 feet down. Don't bet on much colder than maybe 15C by September.

 

Err... Maybe... <_<

 

I would test it before the warz to see if it will work, if not, then bench outside or near an open window, thats what I did for the winter warz, I left my heat off all dfay one day, and when I got home it was 3c in the house, perfect benching temps!

In that case I should maybe go for a benching session outside... And that wouldn't be too much of a pain... Everything fits on my tech station, including the monitor, keyboard and mouse because I designed it so that it can carry up to two BTX motherboards, but now I only have one ATX. I will provide pics when it will be fully functionnal.

 

Edit: Anyways, I retain my WC idea. Thanks to all of you for the advices.

Edited July 14, 2008 by The Smith

[Branjo]

Sounds very interesting, I'll be looking forward to the results.

[Andrewr05]

Its been done before and it has worked.

 

The only problem being the condensation (like everyone has been saying) that the water will cause because the ground water is a lower temperature than the air...

 

It is definitely doable, you just need a good way to stop condensation or sine it will be sort term for forum wars maybe you can just set up a drip catch system..

[Zertz]

That's nice and all but... huge waste of water

[The Smith]

That's nice and all but... huge waste of water

 

Well, you also live in Quebec and you know that water here is not much of a concern... Anyways it would only be for the forum wars.

 

 

But I don't know really... Would it be better to bench outside at night when the air is maybe 5C or using WC with water at approximately 15C you think ?

[Comp Dude2]

To reduce the risk on condensation if you run it off the sink, put a dehumidifier in the room and drop the humidity as low as possible. Less humidity= less water in the air= less chance of condensation.

 

 

Sounds like a good idea, though i think you would be fighting a losing battle since a good deal of water would be evaporating from the sink, though you could avoid that by firing it straight down the plug, and not spraying it over the large surface area of the metal and stuff.

[airman]

Also, It's not so much the temps but the amount of heat you can carry away in a given time period, 15C water will move much more heat than 5c air.

 

why is that?

[Crazy_Nate]

why is that?

 

Water has a larger heat capacity...which usually translates to a larger heat transfer coefficient (convection). Ultimately heat transfer is temperature driven, so the 5C air could get the temperatures lower than the 15C water...but nobody has a heatsink that good.

 

Go for the water cooling...The best I've done on air was at like -20F ambient.

[DLS2008]

Water has 4 times the specific heat of air. In plain English/non-scientific terms, that means it takes 4 times as much energy to heat water to a certain temperature than it does to heat the same weight of air to the same temperature. Water is 4.1855 Joules/gram*degree Kelvin and air is the standard at 1.012 Joule/gram*degree Kelvin. So water can carry 4 times the heat that air can. So raising the water temp 1 degree would raise the air 4 degrees. Water can absorb more heat as it passes through the water block, that's why water cooled systems run cooler than air cooled systems. You can use the formula Q=mcT where Q is the energy in Joules, m is the mass of your air or water used for cooling, c is the sepcific heat constant of you air or water, and T is the change in temperature of your air or water. You can play with that formula to calculate which method would be best.