Using a compact frig as a case

[MaskedAvenger]

Office Depot has a 4.2 cubic foot unit on sale for $100. I was thinking of buying one and modding it so that:

1) the mobo was in the freezer compartment,
2) the drives were in the frig area, and
3) the power supply was screwed to the back so as not to suck in and blow out the cooled air.

The mobo and drives would be sealed inside, with a medium load 120mm fan blowing over the mobo's heatsink. I could attach additional fans to blow over the exchange coils to improve the frig's performance if need be.

What i'm trying for is a very quiet (the mobo fan's noise would be contained by the frig's insulation) yet very cool enviroment for an oc'd pc.

is this doable?

 

[lobadobadingdong]

1 word = condensation

 

[Kalvin00]

Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong
1 word = condensation

Yeah...good idea, bad execution.

 

[MaskedAvenger]

Thanks for your comments

If I didn't open the frig's door, how would condensation be a problem? I know with peltier (sp?) systems that is a problem, because the cool side will condense the humidity in the air, but that is an open system. but the air inside a frig is extremely dry, and as long as the door remains closed, I'm not sure that condensation would be a problem.

 

[Degrador]

You have to open the door to the fridge to put stuff in there, and therefore the air inside will be the same as outside - what makes you think the air inside will be "extremely dry"?

The best method for using a fridge is to have water cooling and use the fridge as a radiator for your water. However, you may as well just take the radiator from the back of the fridge and use that. Then again, why not just build a good radiator yourself and skip the fridge idea completely?

 

[MaskedAvenger]

I'm going to use the frig as a case, and only as a case, so once its set up the way I want it, I'm not going to be opening and closing the door. I will cut two holes in the door for two DVD drives, so I wouldn't need to open it unless I want to make changes to the set-up. The air would be dry because that's pretty much a side effect of how a frig works. Much like an air conditioner, the cooled air is very dry. I don't want to use water cooling for religious reasons

 

[lobadobadingdong]

the heat from your pc components combined with the low temp of the fridge is what will cause the condensation, same as phase change (technically it is phase change), and peltier cooling.

ever put a hot dish in the fridge? condensation builds up very rapidly on the dish until the temp of the dish reaches the same temp as the fridge.

edit: the cooled air is only as "dry" as your humidity level. the temp has to drop below dew point to create condensation. (ever hear of frost coming from your freezer?)

 

[ToeJam13]

The issue here is how much humidity is removed by the coolant and compressor.

Most air conditioners have a natural side effect of removing humidity from the air. Its why cars with an AC compressor tend to have faster defrost cycles for the windshield than cars without AC, and how homes in places like Florida stay more comfortable when the outdoor humidity is as high as 70%.

Frost in your freezer builds up each time you open the door. The humidity in the fresh air condenses and freezes before it?s decreased by the cooling cycle.

If you were to build an air tight case using a refridge, humidity would be low. However, even with as little as 20% humidity, the dew point is still around 45-50 degrees F. Unless you were to coat your main board with a coating of epoxy and lubed your sockets up with a non-conductive gel, you would still run into moisture problems.

 

[MaskedAvenger]

Thank you very much for your input.

If I kept the door closed, and so kept it as an essentially sealed system, would that eliminate the frost problem, or reduce it to a level that could be managed ? Would I need to seal the case beyond the existing magnetic door seals? Is the moisture from the compressed/expanded air itself, or from the process of opening the door to get at the food that would normally be in there? ToeJam13's comment about a car's use of air conditioning to defog windows was absolutely what I was thinking - I work for Hyundai Motor America and know that when you turn on your defroster the A/C also turns on (although the A/C dash light does not turn on due to complaints/confusion from consumers). In such a small space (4 cubic feet), would desiccant packets be able to absorb the moisture within the frig? You can buy fairly large ones on-line. Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge!

 

[wetcat007]

Wouldn't work. it'd kill the frig motor in no time, a frig is built to keep an area cool, not to cool a area that produces heat. It wouldn't be able to keep up with your computer unless it was like a P1

 

[trexpesto]

Originally posted by: wetcat007
Wouldn't work. it'd kill the frig motor in no time, a frig is built to keep an area cool, not to cool a area that produces heat. It wouldn't be able to keep up with your computer unless it was like a P1

Or less. Possibly a crusoe? One of the ultra portables? Maybe laptop components, keep the power supply outside, but even then it could condense if power went out.

Buy a laptop with a broken screen, they have to be cheap since replacement screens cost almost as much as a new lappy, and put that in the door maybe?

ever put a hot dish in the fridge? condensation builds up very rapidly on the dish until the temp of the dish reaches the same temp as the fridge.

Well that is not exactly right. Hot things evaporate away water. Relative coldness condenses. Condensation occurs when you remove a cold can of soda from the fridge on a hot day, right?
But it's the relative part that will getcha, because the cpu heatsink is very hot, it will drive away water into vapor, but that vapor wiil just condense on the nearest Relatively Cooler Surface, which could include the area of the motherboard directly around the heatsink.

Best idea is to use the fridge as a table or just superglue them together.