# oil cooled pc (pic intensive)



## cryption

I've been browsing the forums for a while but didn't want to really register until I had something worth adding.  Here is my project.  On my other car club forums someone was building up a badass watercooled PC.  That got me and my roommate thinking.  Vegetable oil is completely non conductive, and dissipates the heat a computer puts out relatively efficiently.  Especially when it's in the fridge.  The pictures kinda speak for themselves.  We have an Athlon XP 1ghz running at 1.4ghz ... and the temps give us lots more room to go.  It isn't a fast machine by any means, but well .... we got bored.  

Here is what we tested it with first.











and then the actual computer (shuttle XPC)

















































































Yes, we're nerds.


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## thealmightyone

Sweet. What full load temps do you get?


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## The_Other_One

Did you seal the CPU any?  I've heard of some people saying you needed to put some sort of seal to keep the grease away from the pins.  I can't see why it would matter but I've not tried it myself 

And why do you have a fan on the CPU?  For a pump?


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## nffc10

Why put it in a fridge? Wouldn't that keep it cool anyway without doing all that other stuff?


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## Shane

hehe thats cool,

ive seen some clips on yourtube about oil cooling,But on theirs they submerged the Cpu fan too and the fan was spinning realy slowly.
Should the guys of posted this submerged their fan?


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## cryption

well the fan is on it to just push the oil through the heatsink.

it's in the fridge to stay extra cold and it's overclocked about 40% 

at load overclocked 40% it gets to about 40, and I'm unhappy with that so I'm thinking about taking a fishtank pump and pumping the oil out of the computer thing, over the coils for the fridge and then back into the computer to get the oil even colder.  Also maybe a few fans to circulate the oil a bit better just so it cools easier.

Also I didn't seal the CPU or anything, i tore it out of my shuttle XPC and put it right in the oil.


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## g4m3rof1337

So you have a computer...submerged...in oil? 

Lol. 

Neat.


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## cryption

as soon as i can get it cooled off a bit more I plan on overclocking it much more.  For the time being it's staying in the safe zone, but not cool enough for my tastes.  I was just thinking I found a heater core for an old buick for cheap ... so perhaps run the oil through the heater core (looks like a radiator) .. put that in the fridge with fans on it to really cool the oil itself down.


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## PohTayToez

Looks awesome, but don't you think the fan will burn up... it's gotta be hard on it running in oil.


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## cryption

PohTayToez said:


> Looks awesome, but don't you think the fan will burn up... it's gotta be hard on it running in oil.



i might, but they're cheap

I had a fan running in oil in my fridge before I started this project for a month.  Then I added water.  It's funny because the fan mixed the oil and water so efficiently that it caused the oil and water to hydrogenate and create margarine in the bottom of the container it was in.  I assure you that fan was running when removed from the fridge to start the full project.


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## Burgerbob

That is great! i always wondered what it would be like. You should try it with a Core 2 and a really good underwater fan that you could hook up.


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## cryption

yeah I want to get a good fan of some nature.  My budget limited me to using a computer I could sacrifice if it didn't work, I just bought myself a new rig but I don't think I'm willing to risk it ya know.

After all, I'm a poor college student with a Volkswagen that always needs fixing.


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## joeswm8

now that is awesome!! very innovative and cool! great job

how do you get the oil off when you are done though?


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## PohTayToez

Hot water?


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## vonfeldt7

joeswm8 said:


> now that is awesome!! very innovative and cool! great job
> 
> how do you get the oil off when you are done though?



are you kidding me? You Dont!

Also...who knows


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## cryption

i just kinda work around the oil when I need to change something.

update (I'll get pics when it's done)

I'm taking the heater core off an old buick i foudn for cheap at auto zone and a fish tank pump to run the oil through the radiator that will be set on the frozen part of the "freezer" that mini fridges have, and then pump that chilled oil directly onto the CPU.  Also, I'm tossing more case fans into the oil to simply circulate it more.  It still gets too damn hot for my tastes.


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## PohTayToez

What if it starts hydrogenating again?  Then you'll be stuck with a margarine covered mobo.


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## Big "L"

*Sweet*

that is awsome, i was told you can also use liquid nitrogen. is that true?


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## Kornowski

You can, Yeah, But it's got to be under 'controlled' conditions, it's very dangerous otherwise.


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## cryption

hopefully there won't be any water mixing in with the oil enough to make it hydrogenate ... but I'm going to monitor it frequently and change the oil when needed.

As for liquid nitrogen here is a safer option to get temps as cold

http://www2.asetek.com/default.asp?showPage=startside.asp&contentSection=2

I've seen some rediculous things with vapochill


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## subtle

There is a "proper" one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDJ_f7qOBLs
and this
http://www.hwspirit.com/reviews.php?read=16


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## cryption

yeah i've seen those


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## dmw2692004

PohTayToez said:


> What if it starts hydrogenating again?  Then you'll be stuck with a margarine covered mobo.



If there is a fishtank pump in the oil, wount it be constantly be circulating the oil so it doesnt stand still thus making it pretty hard to hydrogenate again?


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## PohTayToez

Inside a refrigerator, there is bound to be some condensation, and not every part of the oil is going always moving, so I imagine if he keeps it running long enough, margarine will start to form in all the little crevices.


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## subtle

> margarine will start to form in all the little crevices.


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## TheOrteganator

I think this is a very cool idea, and a great project. For everyday use, though, not so sure. I just think that this is bound to eventually cause some kind of problems. And even if it didn't, a fridge dosen't fit under my desk as well as the computer case.

18* C... that's incredible. Mine idles at like 35.


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## The_Beast

very nice setup, and great temps


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## kof2000

grad project


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## CharmPeddler

looking goood so far. keep it up.


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## cryption

i still haven't gotten around to hooking up a radiator .. has some exams during the week.  Hopefully this weekend I can get it running even cooler and what not


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## lee101

Very nice little PC, well, big including the fridge. Have you throught of taking ot out of the fridge, and trying to cook chips in the oil.
Now that would be energy efficiency


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## Risingtide93

Nice oily rig.... 

I just hope that it won't get PHAT and obese  
which will make yer rig "slower" if you know what I mean...


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## cryption

yeah i should use low calorie oil so she doesn't gain weight


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## PohTayToez

lee101 said:


> Very nice little PC, well, big including the fridge. Have you throught of taking ot out of the fridge, and trying to cook chips in the oil.
> Now that would be energy efficiency



I think if he took it out of the fridge, he might end up cooking some chips regardless.


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## X24

very nice! i didn't know that about vegitable oil, probably not much in power because of the low end cpu, but very VERY nice OC


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## haha

wow this...is amazing....i was shocked when i saw the monitor on...i never new u could do something like this....haha who else would try something as interesting as this? the temps look so amazing

im just wondering...so the oil doesnt...for a lack of a better word....mess up the parts?


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## PohTayToez

Why would it?  It doesn't conduct electricity.  The only thing it could hurt is drives... and maybe the powersupply.

Why does everyone keep the powersupply out of it... how can it be hurt?


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## NeedComputerFast

yea but could the oil rust or wear down the parts?


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## PohTayToez

Are you kidding?  Oil prevents rust.


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## zaroba

and oil is a lubricant, so it woulden't wear down anything thats moving.

upgrading would be a huge pain with that.
but, coulden't you have pretty much the same resaults by just having the pc in the frige without the oil?  it'd basicly be a temperature controlled environment like net centers use for the racked PCs.


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## INTELCRAZY

that's cool, I might build a case out of wood and plexiglass(however u spell that) and use a type of freon cooling. I will be working in a heating/cooling biz's office this summer so, I could learn some thermal tricks. The wooden case would look awesome, though, sanded down and stained like mahogany.


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## ducis

wow Ive wanted to use freon ever since i heard of it when you do do that tell me


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## INTELCRAZY

sure thing, look for it, maybe, August.

I am hyped about the solid wood case


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## haha

zaroba said:


> and oil is a lubricant, so it woulden't wear down anything thats moving.
> 
> upgrading would be a huge pain with that.
> but, coulden't you have pretty much the same resaults by just having the pc in the frige without the oil?  it'd basicly be a temperature controlled environment like net centers use for the racked PCs.



ya i was thinking the same thing about a fridge...i think the oil adds extra cooling...correct me if im wrong somebody...n the creator still isnt satisfied w/ the temperature..so ya thats y i think it is


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## ezefosure

I am really curious as to how much extra cooling the oil adds as oposed to simply sitting in the fridge.


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## tlarkin

yeah okay so you got your PC in a tub of oil, but can you deep try tacos and jalapeño poppers in it?  That would be a cool trick!


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## nexolus

lol way to dig up a post. i wonder what happened with it.


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## cryption

nexolus said:


> lol way to dig up a post. i wonder what happened with it.



It ran like that for months, but then I decided to move and didn't take it with me.  A shame, I know, but it was a fun project while it lasted.  

And no I couldn't fry things in it, but when my friend mistakenly set his beer in it he got a nice stain on his pants an hour later.  That's even better.


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## Campo

So you threw it out?


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## Matt_91

this thread has been reawakened once more. Shame about getting rid of it.


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## cryption

yeah had to get rid of it when I moved.  Since this, I made a couple other little oil cooled projects ... but I have been playing around with peltiers lately.


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## lovely?

wow i remember watching this thread months ago, it was really interesting and for the most part still is.

while i'm here i wanted to ask if you could post some pictures of your latest project involving those peltiers, mby ill do the same thing later on


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## magichater

that's really cool m8 good luck with it


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