a/c unit as my new case side cover?

[Al010101]

howdy.

ok i live in arizona...so when you wake up in the morning it's...100, when you go to bed it's...120. lovely right? my house was originally 1100sqft when built. they then added on a large 900sqft addition, but did not run the a/c vents properly. this addition happens to be my computer room, so i have 4 120mm fans mounted to the a/c vent to bring in SOME air (it helps), but it's still around 80 degree's in here. directly behind where my pc sits, is a computer room...closet, heres where my idea comes in:

could i mount an a/c unit (say a 5500btu), to my case, and feed the other side (which will expell the heat) into that closet area through the wall? the a/c unit is built to REMOVE moisture, so i would assume, this would be a pretty good way of cooling it. any thoughts?

 

[Zepper]

Use the A/C unit as intended to cool the room instead. Using it the way you suggest could cause condensation - and that is not good for confusers...

.bh.

 

[Al010101]

i always thought air conditioning worked by removing the moisture in the air. this room is 900sqft...it'd cost $100/mo or more to cool it, but putting it on the case to cool the pc would cost about 5$ a month or less.

 

[starams5]

I am journeyman level HVAC, 17 yrs now and I'm still not sure what you're talking about. Why don't you just get a room AC? If you don't feel a residential room AC is sufficient then get a commercial room AC.

 

[Al010101]

not sure what is difficult to understand?

i want my computer temps to drop. the add-on's large main room is hot, so i want to mount a window a/c unit to the side of my computer, and the exhaust side through the wall into a different room which remains closed off at all times...unused (so it wouldn't matter than it was hot in there?)

 

[starams5]

Originally posted by: Al010101
not sure what is difficult to understand?

i want my computer temps to drop. the add-on's large main room is hot, so i want to mount a window a/c unit to the side of my computer, and the exhaust side through the wall into a different room which remains closed off at all times...unused (so it wouldn't matter than it was hot in there?)

Then you should have it all figured out.

 

[Al010101]

i was asking if there would be any adverse effects from the a/c unit blowing on my pc components directly, and looking to see if anyone has done this sort of thing before, for some advice.

i thought that was pretty simply laid out.

 

[Zepper]

A/C does remove humidity as a byproduct of the cooling (it condenses on the coils and is supposed to drain outdoors, but the humidity is there in the air (generally higher indoors than out in dry climates like the southwest). If the parts of the PC get cool enough, then it will condense on the parts as well as the coil. Where will the condensate drain if the A/C is operated entirely indoors - another thing to think about? There are (maybe "used to be" as I haven't heard much of them lately) special PC cases with refrigeration units built in. Supposed to be designed to reduce the possibility of condensation, but I'm thinking that they are designed to operate in an air-conditioned environment anyway. So most of the humidity has already been dealt with.

Besides, room A/C units are designed to deal with large spaces and volumes of air. Not really designed to throttle back for small volumes.

.bh.

 

[starams5]

I would take Zepper's advice and do it the right way, a simple liquid cooling system would be another option: XPRESSAR RCS 1000-series chassis (refrigerated chassis)
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=15541&page=1

 

[Al010101]

Originally posted by: Zepper
A/C does remove humidity as a byproduct of the cooling (it condenses on the coils and is supposed to drain outdoors, but the humidity is there in the air (generally higher indoors than out in dry climates like the southwest). If the parts of the PC get cool enough, then it will condense on the parts as well as the coil. Where will the condensate drain if the A/C is operated entirely indoors - another thing to think about? There are (maybe "used to be" as I haven't heard much of them lately) special PC cases with refrigeration units built in. Supposed to be designed to reduce the possibility of condensation, but I'm thinking that they are designed to operate in an air-conditioned environment anyway. So most of the humidity has already been dealt with.

Besides, room A/C units are designed to deal with large spaces and volumes of air. Not really designed to throttle back for small volumes.

.bh.

this is only a 5000btu unit. granted still made to cool a.... 10x10 room efficiently, true. i figured "low cool", about midway on the thermostat.

i would have the a/c drain into a container in that room.

my pc was running 38-40C at idle, then i had to shut down this room's a/c unit (ended up costing me $182 for one month to cool just this room...my electric bill was over $500 last month!), so i shut that a/c down, and my pc went to 47-49C at idle (for about 4hrs then i shut it down), i got a better flowing case and a bigger heatsink, and now it runs 40-42C at idle. i'd really prefer it around 30C at idle and 40C at full load.

 

[starams5]

I thought you were in dire straits, your temps aren't that bad. Slap a liquid cooling kit in there and you're good to go, you'll forget all about evaporators, condensers, and BTU's.
http://www.swiftnets.com/products/h20-220-compact.asp
http://www.swiftnets.com/produ...20-220-APEX-ULTIMA.asp
http://www.swiftnets.com/produ...0-APEX-ULTIMA-plus.asp

 

[Al010101]

my primary reasoning behind something like...an a/c unit on it (or something else of the nature) is because it's:
Cheap
and would cool All the components, hd's, video, etc...

i see where you're coming from regarding the condensation....but i wonder if theres any way to make it work. whats the difference between running a a/c directly at it, vs having your pc in a 40 degree house in the winter?

how about if i did something like ran vent tubes off the a/c's output vents, up to the side of the case (thus blowing cool air in it)?

because it'd be Quite expensive for a watercooling system to cool the video cards, cpu, hard drives, etc..

 

[Al010101]

oh and it shoots up to the 50's if i try to play games.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Al010101
i was asking if there would be any adverse effects from the a/c unit blowing on my pc components directly, and looking to see if anyone has done this sort of thing before, for some advice.

i thought that was pretty simply laid out.

as your components get cold, and yes it will get very cold, your metal will undergo whats known as condensation.

This is when your outside air condenses to water on your metal.

A perfect example would be get a cup full of ice and water, and then watch as the sides of your glass start getting moisture.

Or another example.. why does an AC always have a drip line, or why does it drip water?

So no, your idea is kinda reckless, and is not a smart thing to do.

Use the AC for the more important computer, your brain!
And cool the room along with your body.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: Al010101
oh and it shoots up to the 50's if i try to play games.

So what? 50 C is high????? Even 70 C is low enough for that quad core of yours. As long as you're not braking 75 C, you're good to go.

These enthusiastic temperature values that you are trying to obtain, will not give you anything in return. Maybe the cpu will live 8 years instead of its 5 years, but will you keep the cpu that long? I don't think so. Just keep it in the safe zone and nothing bad will ever happen to it.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: aigomorla


This is when your outside air condenses to water on your metal.

More correctly would be " This is when your water vapors within the room's air, condenses on your metal". Air doesn't condenses, only the water kept in it does.

 

[yh125d]

Quit fretting, your temps are fine. Get better case airflow/better heatsinks

 

[ZanatosFox]

Originally posted by: Al010101
my primary reasoning behind something like...an a/c unit on it (or something else of the nature) is because it's:
Cheap
and would cool All the components, hd's, video, etc...

i see where you're coming from regarding the condensation....but i wonder if theres any way to make it work. whats the difference between running a a/c directly at it, vs having your pc in a 40 degree house in the winter?

how about if i did something like ran vent tubes off the a/c's output vents, up to the side of the case (thus blowing cool air in it)?

because it'd be Quite expensive for a watercooling system to cool the video cards, cpu, hard drives, etc..

The difference is that the computer would be the same temperature as the surrounding air. (or, at least much closer to the same) Condensation tends to happen when the object is colder than the environment it's in, if there's any moisture in the surrounding air, it will condense onto the object. Like the glass of ice water example. That's why the glass sweats (technical terms here lol) much more on a really hot day, and even more so if it's humid. So if your room is blazing and your PC is chillin' way down, you'll absolutely get condensation. Just how much will depend on the temperature difference and the humidity in the room.

:beer:

 

[Modelworks]

Another approach if the temps really bother you, under load 50C is not high, is to relocate the pc.
Place the pc in another room that has AC and run cable(s) to the room where you want to have the monitor/keyboard or whatever else. That would be cheaper than an AC unit . It has been done many times for HTPC setups. What you would need:

DVI cable 50ft - http://www.monoprice.com/produ...id=2185&seq=1&format=2 - $38
audio cable 50ft - http://www.monoprice.com/produ..._id=651&seq=1&format=2 - $4
USB extender, allows usb over cat5 up to 150ft - http://www.frys.com/product/51...sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG -$40
Cat5 cable - however many feet you need

Total = under $100

You could even run the cables through the AC duct so it wouldn't require drilling holes.

Guaranteed to work.

 

[Gillbot]

Al, just water cool the CPU or air condition the entire room. A/C as a side to the PC = disaster from moisture.

 

[arkcom]

Once your closet gets hot enough the a/c won't even do anything other than waste electricity.

 

[IEC]

This has much potential for fail.

Sure you could do a good job cooling, but $200 on water cooling components would probably run you about the same as a month of running that AC in Phoenix... and $200 in air cooling parts would be ridiculous. For reference my GTX260c216 runs F@H 24/7 and gets up to 75C load. No problems yet, and I have a BFG lifetime warranty to fall back on.