Mini Fridge TEC Cooler

[phpdog]

Hi ,

I found this little fridge in the bins outside my house 1 day , and dismantled it to find what looks like a TEC ( Thermoelectric Cooler )Cooler plate .

I was wondering if anyone else had modded anything like this , or if they know if it could be modded to cool a CPU or something ?

I put links to 2 pics of the mechanism below , i didnt know if you can post pics in here .

You can see the White silicon goop thats the same as CPU paste.

That little square plat just attched to the bottom of the fridge floor.

Pic 1 ----> http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/markuk23/TEC1a.jpg

Pic 2 ----> http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/markuk23/TEC2a.jpg

 

[JMWarren]

How would you overcome the condensation problems?

Mike

 

[phpdog]

The TEC Plate on this mini fridge is 4cm² an AMD CPU is about 3½cm² .

I know there are ways to overcome the condensation there are anti condensarion materials available and ive seen the Thermaltake SubZero4G has overcome it .

Anyway, i was even thinking about somthing i seen else where , which was to make a chiller tank for a watercooling setup , so i could use the TEC to cool the water.

Im trying to find the specs for the mini fridge just now to see what kind of TEC it packs , and how much power it consumes, wattage etc.

The TEC Plate itself contains code :-

LN.C12706A
HL08/19/01

I dont know if that means anything to anybody , looks like a date and a model number i was thinking

 

[arcas]

I'd be very wary of trying an unknown TEC on a CPU until you at least know the TEC's specs. Its size gives us some clues. By "4cm²", I assume you really mean that it's 2cm x 2cm. That's pretty small and probably places it in the 30-40watt range. If you really meant 4cm x 4cm, that puts you somewhere in the 50-70 watt range. (Yes, yes, I know you can get higher-performance peltiers in a 40mm x 40mm form factor but remember this came from a mini-fridge so the manufacturer no doubt picked the smallest/cheapest peltier that still does the job.)

 

[phpdog]

Oh sorry i thought 4cm² was 4 by 4 , its 4cm Length & 4cm width.

Just a little bigger than an AMD64 CPU.

Yeah ive got an old Duron CPU with a motherboard to test it on , and if its ok on that , i'll try it on my old 8RDA+ with a 1700+ @ 2550MHz that should give it a good testing to see if its up to the job.

Thinking again of the waterchilling setup , the little 1ft tall mini fridge would be a good shell for a water chilling tank , as its insulated and air tight.

 

[NokiaDude]

If you were me, I'd just ditch that idea. Sure, it's cool, but something that cold produces condensation if not properly insulated. A watercooling setup is alot more less hassle.

 

[phpdog]

Yeah , im leaning more towards a watercooling setup now , it will be a lot less hassle when upgrading CPU and motherboard, and proberlly more fun to make.

 

[sparkyclarky]

If you go the TEC route you have to be positive that the TEC can handle the watts your cpu puts out, otherwise some rather bad things can result....

A minifridge TEC most likely won't work

and TEC cooling in general is a fairly dangerous thing to do to your computer, as I'd imagine it is more difficult to maintain a properly functioning TEC setup than water

if you really want temps that cold, go with a good phase change setup (but be prepared to spend the dough)

 

[mercanucaribe]

Wow. Everyone says not to do it. I remember when half of all watercoolers also used TECs, but that was back in like 2001 when I used to read Hardforum.

 

[sparkyclarky]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Wow. Everyone says not to do it. I remember when half of all watercoolers also used TECs, but that was back in like 2001 when I used to read Hardforum.

Yeah, but since then phase change has made sub-ambient cooling much less dangerous to a system (as condensation can be wicked with TECs, and at the price of a good TEC/water cooling system you're already at least half way to phase change).

Essentially, TECs were for the truly hardcore overclockers, and I'd venture a guess that the guys going for those systems have moved on to better alternatives.

 

[phpdog]

If i did try it , it would be on a system worth no more £50/$90 .

I may just save up my money and buy a Vapochill or Prometia , thanks for the input.