my kinda crazy cheapo cooling rig...

**milkshakes** · 03-09-2012, 08:52 PM

i coulnt decide whether this belonged in project logs or here...so if its in the wrong place,please notify me.
let me start by explaining how this got started...i was in a friends garage the other day when i saw a dusty old air conditioner,i asked him what it was doing in there and he said it was gathering dust.by the end of the day,it was mine, provided i moved it (i should mention that its bloody heavy...).im broke,and i love old junk,so i fell in love with the thing,i was busy thinking about what to do with it,i have some experience with chilled water loops,so i decided that i could make a very nice chilled loop out of this thing rather than try to make a phase change cooler.so whild digging through the web i found a nice article about doing exactly that (which i cannot seem to find...)but basically the guy took the cold radiator and dunked it a tub of antifreeze and pumped the antifreeze through a water loop at -30c.sounded like fun,so i got started removing all the unnecessary parts: the thermostat,the other control switches,the manky old housing and what not.then i moved the good bits onto a conveniently sized piece of wood.
pics:
the specs plate thingy:

the good bits on the piece of wood:

the modified wiring setup:

the extra bits that i may decide to use:

the dust (i hope):

i was going to only post this when i was done,but i have too much free time...

**SilvRav** · 03-09-2012, 08:59 PM

remember, at -30'C your tubes will actually cause condensation and this will cause damage in your PC, you wont be able to drop the temps to low.

**milkshakes** · 03-09-2012, 09:01 PM

been there,done that (at 5c),know how to insulate pipe the cheap way,or the proper way.

**milkshakes** · 03-09-2012, 09:02 PM

bear in mind that this will only be used for short benching runs.

**Oj0** · 03-09-2012, 10:09 PM

Why only short runs? I used to run phase-change 24/7, it was awesome

**milkshakes** · 03-09-2012, 10:52 PM

yeah,but i dont want to have to insulate my entire mother board and graphics card,also its an old compressor,i dont want it dying on me...but hell,if it works well enough,and after enough tweaks who knows what i may end up doing with it...

**Oj0** · 03-09-2012, 11:15 PM

I've never really heard of compressors dying unless you run them dry. Seriously, they soldier on forever.

**DeviousOrange** · 04-09-2012, 07:27 AM

All things seem like a good idea, until proven otherwise. I had thought a similar thing but the amount of hassle and grief a refrigerators compressors give....it was one of those pass the buck on to another to try first.

**Oj0** · 04-09-2012, 08:20 AM

And you think commercial or custom built phase-change units use compressors which aren't made for refrigerators? There's nothing wrong with them. Just don't run them dry and they'll last 25 years with ease.

**DeviousOrange** · 04-09-2012, 09:05 AM

But they are built for that purpose, a refrigerator can work not denying it we had stripped a old unit and spent time figuring out how to issolate it just to see if it works....never got further though due to time and chicks.