What liquids would it be safe to submerge PC Hardware in ? :)

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D

Dazed and Confused

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May 30, 2007
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The winning fluid for this hunt is Mineral Oil as shown by Puget.

Hehe, I know peanut oil works but what other fluids can PC hardware be submerged in safely? I wanna build a water tight box and refrigerate the liquid :)

So far we have the following choices in order of performance ( I believe ) :

#1. Flourinert @ $600 for 14lbs worth o_O

#2. Transformer oil ( which we have yet to find a price on )

#3. Castor oil ( to be found at any health shop )

#4. Mineral oil ( A.K.A. baby oil : )

#5. Tactical Nukes $5.33 US ( kinda scary when u think about it ). Blame Denithor for this ending up in this thread, somehow.
 
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Acanthus

Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
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Castor Oil.

Transformer Oil.

If you want to get creative and use research, look for something with high thermal conductivity and low electrical conductivity (lower conductivity than pure water is safe).

The best (and most expensive) route is Flourinert.

Ive done extensive research on this and found it to not be worth the cost over standard watercooling. You would also need pumps and a heatsink of some kind still to pull the thermal energy out of the hot chips.
 
nerp

nerp

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Dec 31, 2005
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And the hard drives would need to be out of the case along with their cabling.

And do you really want a huge vat of castor oil in your room? Over time, that's going to reek.
 
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bharatwaja

Senior member
Dec 20, 2007
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oh, i see acanthus has already suggested flourinert....
Fluorinert is the trademarked brand name for the line of electronics coolant liquids sold commercially by 3M. It is an electrically insulating, inert perfluorocarbon fluid which is used in various cooling applications but is mainly for cooling electronics. (source: Wikipedia)
 
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coolpurplefan

Golden Member
Mar 2, 2006
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lol, it's a question by a clown. (just kidding)

I know this is kind of "off-topic" but I read once about someone's experiences with different setups. And this person said even a water pump makes some amount of noise so you never win.

Then I had my own experiences with some heatipipes without fans for example and decided the fanless solution to me is just not worth it. I mean the temperatures are often unacceptable and can even result in visual artifacts for example for a video card.

I find the "happy medium" (the point where you're not ticked off over temperatures and can stand the amount of noise produced) is having heatpipes with relatively quiet fans (even if you have to put them on a fan controller).

Like I have one desktop for example where I have six 80mm Scythe Kama Flex 1500RPM fans on 3 y-splitters on a fan controller with one on a Scythe mini Ninja (for CPU) and one on a Thermalright V2 (for video card).

However, I find the Scythe Ninja and Mini Ninja too difficult to install and take off. I just built a machine that has almost all 120mm fans. One is on a Coolermaster GeminiII S (for the CPU). But, once I installed it, I realized it's the kind of model that once you put on, you won't be able to very easilly take it off (without tearing off the CPU because of suction of the thermal grease, I mean it won't budge because of the 4 screws that bolt on).

My next goal will be to find some coolers with heatpipes that...
#1. can also be used with a fan that you CAN replace (if it becomes defective)
#2. can be relatively easy to install and won't ruin your CPU if you take it off
(#3. optional: can be light weight enough to transport)

I have the intention of applying for a job in the financial markets in the next couple of months. If I get the job, I might build a computer for my family members just for the fun of it. One of the things I was considering though is a heatsink that can accomodate a 92mm fan (I would probably choose Nexus fans). I might consider models that take an 80mm fan anyway like the Asus CPU coolers or Thermalright V2. The Thermalright HR-03 takes a 92mm though and so does the Coolermaster Vortex 752.

Anyway, those are random thoughts. But, I kind of like the direction I've taken because fans on GPUs that sound like vaccum cleaners are unpleasant and the passive coolers sometimes just don't cool enough.
 
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nyker96

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2005
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I remember a web site last year built a oil tank with the PC parts inside it. actually worked. I wonder how oil dissipates heat.
 
daw123

daw123

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Aug 30, 2008
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Can you use Flourinert in a liquid cooling set up? Is it 'runny' enough to be pumped? Or is there anything else you can suggest which is electrically non conductive?

I'm just a bit concerned about having water in my PC with all those electronics to short if it the system leaks.
 
D

Dazed and Confused

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May 30, 2007
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WHolly crap, looks like a winner :) And no smell ;) Whats better is mineral oil is so thin it'll flow easy thru any cooling setup I use :)

I think I'll go with mineral oil and to eliminate the chance for any form of condensation should I install the CPU after the system is filled with oil so there is no air trapped under the CPU or anything?
 
taltamir

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
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it is not just a matter of conductivity, but also solubility. distilled water is not conductive, but the distilled water will absorb minerals from the hardware and become conductive. it must also be non corrosive to the materials, etc, etc.

I looked up Fluorinert...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorinert
cool stuff, interesting that due to high gas solubility a rat can survive submerged it in for long period of time (getting the oxygen through the liquid), but they die as soon as they are taken out from lung trauma.
 
D

Dazed and Confused

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May 30, 2007
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@ $100 for 25ml ( not even 1/10 of a gallon ) I think the flourinert is outta my budget by a few thousand dollars.

And with the mineral oil I can use a filtration system as long as I use a high pressure pump that can pull the oil thru the filter and still have the pressure to keep the chilled oil flowing thru the system.
 
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bharatwaja

Senior member
Dec 20, 2007
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Originally posted by: daw123
Can you use Flourinert in a liquid cooling set up? Is it 'runny' enough to be pumped? Or is there anything else you can suggest which is electrically non conductive?

I'm just a bit concerned about having water in my PC with all those electronics to short if it the system leaks.
Click to expand...

Fluorinert is the best for electronics cooling... But it is very highly cost prohibitive....
Fluorinert Page
There are different fluorinert series liquids, you should take a look at the product information sheet, look at the properties and determine what would be best for you and then decide. AFAIK Fluorinert FC-77 is the costliest of the lot, but I am not sure.....
 
Denithor

Denithor

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2004
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That's kinda scary, industrial chemicals available on eBay...

What's next, tactical nukes?
 
daw123

daw123

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Aug 30, 2008
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I spoke to my dad re. your question (he is a chartered controls engineer for subsea installations) and he recommended:
  • Silicon oil
    Transformer oil

Both are non electrically conductive, and the transformer oil has a higher thermal conductance.

The oil companies use these oils for submerging their controls systems in when they are in the sea.

He also stated that one of the oils (I can't remember which one) has the added benefit that it can be diluted with up to 5% water (i.e. it will help prevent problems with moisture) by volume, without loosing its non electrically conductive properties. He did say however that it would have to be in a sealed vessel otherwise the oil would just continually absorb the moisture in the air until it became ineffective.

It also does not react with rubbers and metals (i.e. inert)

Both oils have been rigorously tested for the last 25 years.

They can also be pumped (i.e. they have a low viscosity)
 
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Acanthus

Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
19,915
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ostif.org
Originally posted by: Denithor
That's kinda scary, industrial chemicals available on eBay...

What's next, tactical nukes?
Click to expand...

Honestly it is a totally inert substance though.

Its not like your buying nitro-glycerine or something.
 
A

Acanthus

Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
19,915
2
76
ostif.org
Originally posted by: daw123
I spoke to my dad re. your question (he is a chartered controls engineer for subsea installations) and he recommended:
  • Silicon oil
    Transformer oil

Both are non electrically conductive, and the transformer oil has a higher thermal conductance.

The oil companies use these oils for submerging their controls systems in when they are in the sea.

He also stated that one of the oils (I can't remember which one) has the added benefit that it can be diluted with up to 5% water (i.e. it will help prevent problems with moisture) by volume, without loosing its non electrically conductive properties. He did say however that it would have to be in a sealed vessel otherwise the oil would just continually absorb the moisture in the air until it became ineffective.

It also does not react with rubbers and metals (i.e. inert)

Both oils have been rigorously tested for the last 25 years.

They can also be pumped (i.e. they have a low viscosity)
Click to expand...

I had a lot of touble finding transformer oil, unless it has an alternate/chmical name that it is generally sold by.
 
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nyker96

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2005
5,630
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Originally posted by: Denithor
That's kinda scary, industrial chemicals available on eBay...

What's next, tactical nukes?
Click to expand...

well that would be scary but imagine people start selling 'extra' babies ...
 
D

Dazed and Confused

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May 30, 2007
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That seriously is the best price I've seen on flourinert but price/performance I doubt it'd perform that much better to justify the price premium. I might try to locate some of that transformer oil but if the price is higher or it has a color to it I'ma go with the mineral oil :)
 
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