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ac for pc? -4.5C!!!!!

quakefiend420

quakefiend420

Lifer
was thinking about moving a window unit ac into another room to cool my comp...here's the idea...ac sits in window, 12"X3" duct goes from vents on front of ac unit into some kind of case about 4 times the volume of my comp case...ac set on low w/ thermostat control to keep temp inside outer case about 50F...is this a good idea? or will i have condensation problems? or some other problems that i haven't thought about, perhaps? would appreciate your input!
 
I tried to come up with something like this I first started building systems. I wanted a water cooling set up that refrigerated the water. I rigged up a basic setup using a Swiftech water kit and a micro refrigeration unit pulled from a little camping cooling unit. The unit was already enclosed and all that needed to be done was feed it through the system. The water was chilled as it passed through the coolant tubing and chilled the liquid before it passed through the water block. Effectively this allowed more heat to dissipate into the water and as opposed to using just a radiator to re-cool the water you also had the refrigeration unit.

Ultimately this did not work since condensation would from on the water-block and maintenance was needed on the refrigeration unit. Also the speed of the water pump had to be lowered considerably to give the water enough time in the tubes to get fully chilled.


What does all this have to do with your question... I don't know.

Ducting conditioned air would be great but again you need to somehow manage the humidity as well to prevent condensation. If you could somehow balance air/temp ratio then you it could work.
 
Well if there was positive air pressure in the case then there would be no problem. Because the conditioned air is already dry and cannot condense out on the relatively warmer components. If the AC unit failed and then started blowing much warmer humid air over relatively cool components... then that would cause condensation so it could be a bad situation potentially. In addition personal A/C units are very loud.
 
Originally posted by: prometheusxls
Well if there was positive air pressure in the case then there would be no problem. Because the conditioned air is already dry and cannot condense out on the relatively warmer components. If the AC unit failed and then started blowing much warmer humid air over relatively cool components... then that would cause condensation so it could be a bad situation potentially. In addition personal A/C units are very loud.
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i was thinking of running thermostat control, but when the ac kicked into not so cold mode(sorry dont really know what else to call it 😉 would it be putting out the same humid air you are talkinga bout it would exhaust if the compressor, or something else failed?

also the reason i was thinking of the outer cabinet the pc would sit in was to battle condensation...if it occured anywhere it would be on the outside of the cabinet...have this topic going at Hardforums as well...im going to need to make an exit for the air somehow...was thinking of ducting an exhaust back out the window the ac unit sits in...let me know what you guys think!

 
Well the way AC work is that it take heat from inside and relases it outside. So you ahve to have a cold compartment (where the PC is located) and a large warmer compartment (open to the air outside).
 
Originally posted by: quakefiend420
was thinking about moving a window unit ac into another room to cool my comp...here's the idea...ac sits in window, 12"X3" duct goes from vents on front of ac unit into some kind of case about 4 times the volume of my comp case...ac set on low w/ thermostat control to keep temp inside outer case about 50F...is this a good idea? or will i have condensation problems? or some other problems that i haven't thought about, perhaps? would appreciate your input!
Click to expand...

Not a good idea unless you can control it to a VERY fine degree.

 
well i'm going to stick an old p2 400 system in there for a week or so and see how it goes...if after a week of running prime at 100% on blend if it still goes and there isnt condensation anywhere imma try it with my good rig...i'll update when i get it going and post some pics and temps and what not
 
had a new idea ...i picked up a digital thermometer with a external probe...now i want something to check moisture levels inside the inner case...i got a moisture level meter (for plants, hey dont laugh i thought for 5 bucks it was worth a shot!)from wally world thinking it might do the trick but it seems to not be nearly sensitive enough for my needs...anyone got any ideas?

my buddy and i are starting on this project tomorrow...if he can get his dads digicam i'll have some pics and stuff for ya of what we've got so far...i dont think im going to get too cold though...stuck the temp probe in the ac vent and left it there for a couple hours to make sure temp was gonna stay stable...looks to be about 10C in the vent...im guessing i can keep about 13-15C in the outer case...so i might not get any really insane overclocks from this, but i bet i can get higher at least a bit...as long as my CPU stays at the right temp i might give it another tenth or so of a volt...might get me up a little higher, should at least let me get back to where i was before the gf and the heater.....

the basic idea now is to take a table and line the underside of the top and make walls out of that styrofoam insulation board stuff(dunno what its called, exactly, hitting the hardware store tomorrow) to make the outer case...someone suggested getting a mini fridge, taking the door off and just setting it inside the outer case instead of using the ac...anyone got any input on that? also any kind of special prep i should perform on my comp to get it ready for colder temps?

almost got the test box ready to go...300w cheapo psu, p2 400, 128mb pc100, no hdd yet...gonna hit up the local pc shops tomorrow and try to find a 2 or 4 gig for cheap, no optical drives either...would kinda defeat the purpose of this little endeavor if i had to open the case all the time to insert and remove discs...gonna stick my dvd burner in my htpc(gotta love network drives ) gonna run this box in here for about a week under prime torture test and see if it survives...if its still ticking im going to put the good rig in there...wish me luck...

another question i had was should i try to run this on thermostat control? the reason i ask is when the compressor kicks off it sitll blows, just not nearly as cold...im wondering if i should do this or have it running constantly due to warmer air entering the outer case might cause condensation to form...if i did this i would have to run my exit duct back to the intake on the ac unit...someone had suggested i do that anyway for thermostat control but i'm kind of leary......................on another topic, though somewhat related, what do you guys think about taking silica packs (you know, that stuff they put in shoes and beef jerky) all over the place and maybe line the vent with it...just to further reduce the risk of moisture...time to go rob my local shoestore also how long do those things last? well i guess it would depend on the amount of moisture in the enviroment to begin with, huh? scratch that last ?

another thing i was thinking was the dust filter in the ac's intake might cut down on the amount of dust entering my case....kind of a nifty bonus! ok enough with the long winded post...i apoligize for making you read all that, lol

thanks for all you guys' thoughts and opinions on this...makes me a little more secure doing this with my pc, should have an update for ya tomorrow!
 
ok we have it built...changed the design a bit from the original...there is a celeron 633 running in the case right now...got it under prime load...temps at idle were 17.7, we are at 18.9 under load right now...not getting the temps we expected...we think the problem is airflow...right now we are just using case pressure to drive the air out of the same window the ac sits in...the exhaust vent is about 2" by 12"...we have been taking video and a few stills throughout the construction this evening...we are gonna make use of my isp webspace and put up a site...we are amateur web designers so not a whole lotta critique on that, please 😀 if you want the whole story though, watch the video...it has a lot more info about our construction process, since we kinda neglected the still cam in favor of the camcorder......so i am open to suggestions again...do you guys think that the lack of forced exhaust is what is hurting me? another thing we were contemplating was the thermostat sensor...but the way the heat is rising...i don't think that is the problem at the moment...btw the ac is on medium right now...going to bump it up to high tomorrow probably...gonna let this run all night and see if its still alive tomorrow...also anyone who understands how a thermostat sensor in an ac works please pm me, i have some questions about maybe putting a variable resistor inline with it to fool the ac into thinking its warmer than it is...just in case we get to the point where it is limiting what i can do i can have a variable temp at a lower level...any feedback is much appreciated!
 
exhaust is my problem...just opened the top of my door for a little while and temps dropped from 20.8 to 18.8 in about 10 mins...now its time for forced exhaust...think i should strive for negative pressure in there?
 
ok my problem isn't exhaust its the thermostat...wrapped it in a heating pad and got the box down to 4C...can't keep it there though...gets back up to about 18 before the thermostat kicks the compressor back on...got some temp screens though!

Text

if i could keep my temp in the outer case steady i know i could get better than this...

Text

need thermostat ideas!!!!
 
ok ripped the thermostat off the ac and got my box down to a freezing -4.5C with my comp under full load...temps were 0C case, 25C cpu...after killing prime torture blend i was at 0C case 22C cpu...hell yeah! now this is what im talking about...o yeah XP-M 2500@2.2ghz with 1.8v im lovin it...will post a screenie soon...just shut down a min ago...letting things warm back up before i open the case to avoid condensation...this rocks! now its time to really start overclocking! we'll have a how to on this in a few days...need to get the video edited down and what not...i think this is a success! still need to do more testing though...

i want to extend my thanks to drewmeister over at extremeoverclocking for helping me with the final stages of this project...you rock man!

-2 Case, 20C cpu loaded prime blend
 
Would it not be possible to rig up a system whereby the AC system was controlled by the air temp in and around the case?

Because condensation is formed by the water in the air cooling down on a cold part... the easiest way would be to keep the temperature changes controlled whereby no part heats up/gets cold too much to make condensation form.

Id bet it'd take a lot of patience but Id guess a system like that would work. My science is very rusty so details arent sharp but it seems right.
 
Originally posted by: Elcs
Would it not be possible to rig up a system whereby the AC system was controlled by the air temp in and around the case?

Because condensation is formed by the water in the air cooling down on a cold part... the easiest way would be to keep the temperature changes controlled whereby no part heats up/gets cold too much to make condensation form.

Id bet it'd take a lot of patience but Id guess a system like that would work. My science is very rusty so details arent sharp but it seems right.
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yes but the trouble is that when the compressor kicks off the ac is blowing warmer air...im afraid it will make something condense...and the thermostat i have is only good down to 64F lol

i suppose i could get a new one...but its seems to be alright the way it is

btw i got it down to -3 case, 10CPU, want to break single digits...just not getting quite cold enough...still pretty fockin cold though...especially for a project that cost me a total of about 80 bucks...had the ac already

 
ok got it down to -8C motherboard temp, 8C CPU...w00t finally in the single digits...outer case temp was -10.9!

this rules...i'll have some pics and stuff for ya soon, i promise!
 
as for getting rid of condensation, couldnt you have a light bulb running inside of your case to dry out the moisture? This is what my bro does (like a 7 watt energy saver bulb) to get excess moisture off of his guns. You could also try running a small fan...or both...
 
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