ben333 Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 (edited) Already posted on ProCooling and OC Forums but I figure I should share some stuff here again so here goes: I came across a water dispenser / heater / cooler the other day (being thrown out). It was pretty dirty and missing the stand but I figured it had some good cooling parts in it. From the plastic shell and lack of stand I assumed a peltier but when I picked it up I was pleased to find a condencer behind it. This is NOT my pic but my cooler looked exactly like this plus some scratches and looking beat up: http://www.obenaufauctions.com/Dec1,2007-S...erDispenser.JPG I took the unit home, fired it up and IT WORKS :evilaugh: So I proceeded to taking it apart. I think I figured out why it was in the trash, one of the hoses slipped off something and made a nasty wet mess in the bottom of the unit causing it to get a bit moldy. Eventually I was left with a piston compressor, evaporator coil and a mini fridge like condencer. I mounted the cooler to a board and bought a container to fit the evaporator inside, I think the one I found was a perfect fit for it. Now filled with water and antifreeze with a towel around it its getting pretty chilly in there and even some ice on the outside of the bucket. Some ice on the coil from before when I added the antifreeze. For those wondering why I did not just keep the existing water chilling container it is because the coil only went around it. By putting the coil in the water I make full contact between the coolant and the cooler so I should have some better results Pics after the mod: Also the thing is silent. Not louder than a mini fridge and not warmer than the top of a computer. (the condenser and compressor) For those wondering, I have no specs on this. The rear label was very dirty and the compressor label only told me it was charged with R134a. Also please make note that I'm not going to be cooling a quad core with this or anything like that so please hold back the flames. A low wattage CPU or maybe a GPU will be cooled. Frosty pics coming soon! (This has been on for a couple hours since those pics) Edited October 17, 2008 by ben333 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrewr05 Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Ghetto mods FTW! Awesome score there Ben, just goes to show that one mans junk is another mans treasure... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben333 Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Aparently that is true... A shot of the insulation: (lol) Some nice frost here... Even on the lid some ice Lets look inside... Damn! Guess I need more antifreeze? hehe... More coming soon!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_bowtie Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Dude thats pretty sweet....good idea... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
airman Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 dang...for something like that to freeze antifreeze must be getting it pretty cold - any ideas on temps? what's wrong with cooling a quad-core with that? also - be sure to be condensation-proof... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sYstEmATiC Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 just make sure NOT to use 100% pure ethylene glycol antifreeze because for some WEIRD reason...100% ethylene glycol (the green kind) has a freezing point of around 5-10F on its own. (weird i know) it only really works as an "anti-freeze" if the mixture is between 40/60 or 60/40 percent mixture. not sure if that was 100% or not that you were using, but i would try about 35-40% water and about 60-65% antifreeze. here is proof to back what i have said... http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF6/680.html i had a friend do this (he knows crap about cars) to his old 1986 transam and when he came out the next morning ( around 0F) he got a loud belt squeak because his waterpump had frozen solid... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Compxpert Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Dude I totally had thought of finding a mini fridge and doing that. I could even use one that's in need of recharging.. How do you plan to hook this into a comp? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerm Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Nice ghetto work there ben. Even with a r134a and what looks like a 1/4hp you could still hold a quad load lower than just straight water. Why not just get an evap head, drain it, regas, and have a ghetto phase unit? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Smith Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 That is awesome!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben333 Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 (edited) Even with a r134a and what looks like a 1/4hp you could still hold a quad load lower than just straight water. Why not just get an evap head, drain it, regas, and have a ghetto phase unit? Well I guess its possible but I'd probably also need a bigger condenser etc... If this works well as a free chiller + $5 of parts I get to have that nice feeling of ghetto satisfaction Might mod it later, who knows. Stay tuned for more... @ Compxpert, Here is some info on why a mini fridge won't work In a stock configuration, a mini-fridge cannot adequately cool a high-end computer system. A normal mini-fridge might use a 1/6th horsepower compressor capable of displacing around 600 to 800 BTU/hr and an AMD Thunderbird CPU emits around 340 BTU/hr. It should be fine, right? No. http://www.procooling.com/index.php?func=a...isp=32&pg=2 - Brian (ProCooling) Thats about putting a whole TBird system inside a fridge which I know you're not looking to do but those BTU figures must be somewhat relevant today. I'd guess the fridge handles about the same and that the CPU puts off more heat. So even cooling just the CPU is a bad idea. MAYBE a dorm fridge with a big . condenser (size of mine or bigger) with all the cold gas line (evaporator) in your water tank it could live but on forums I always hear it can't be done. Some time I'd like to test it but for now I'll keep on this water fountain chiller Edited October 17, 2008 by ben333 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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