# Refrigerated Computer?



## JDV28 (May 10, 2009)

Would it be possible to take a small rerigeration unit from some sort of cooling device, and put it into a computer?


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## hpvista (May 10, 2009)

Umm, thats a good question.  My guess is that it would be, but you would need quite a bit of power and some way to connect it to the motherboard.

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## Aziek (May 10, 2009)

hpvista said:


> and some way to connect it to the motherboard.


Why would you need to connect it too the motherboard??

And I think you mean something like this PAC400


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## bomberboysk (May 10, 2009)

Well, it would need to be the compressor from an a/c unit as the compressor in a refridgerator isnt meant to run 24/7. Then you would need to make yourself a coldplate and whatnot, i know there are some guides somewhere out on the internet.


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## funkysnair (May 10, 2009)

Aziek said:


> Why would you need to connect it too the motherboard??
> 
> And I think you mean something like this PAC400



did you read the review? it says there was no noticable difference using that unit, however there are better versions now (that one was from 2005)


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## just a noob (May 10, 2009)

you couldn't really do the whole computer, just a cpu with a phase change unit, or everything that could be watercooled with a waterchiller, and a refridgerator wouldn't work, as it would just burn out the compressor, people have tried it with a freezer, and it has caused the freezer to fail, for more information regarding this subject, look here


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## leopardforest (May 10, 2009)

wont you also run into condensation problems if you bring the temperature below the ambient temperature?


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## BigSteve702 (May 11, 2009)

you'd definitely run into condensation problems. i think the most logical way would be to grab a mini fridge, drill a couple holes at the top and route lines through it, put a radiator in it or get some copper tubes to run through a bowl of water, and have your computer watercooled. basically just run the radiator into the mini fridge and have everything else normal. id try and get insulation tubing of some sort around your tubes in the computer so you wouldnt hit any condensation issues too. might help the compressor in it a bit if you completely stocked the fridge with water bottles to keep the temp in there cold for longer, i think that'd run the compressor less


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## bomberboysk (May 11, 2009)

BigSteve702 said:


> you'd definitely run into condensation problems. i think the most logical way would be to grab a mini fridge, drill a couple holes at the top and route lines through it, put a radiator in it or get some copper tubes to run through a bowl of water, and have your computer watercooled. basically just run the radiator into the mini fridge and have everything else normal. id try and get insulation tubing of some sort around your tubes in the computer so you wouldnt hit any condensation issues too. might help the compressor in it a bit if you completely stocked the fridge with water bottles to keep the temp in there cold for longer, i think that'd run the compressor less



No, because then if its a cheap one its only like a 50watt TEC, and if its a compressor based one you will end up overheating the compressor as its not meant to run 24/7. Plus there will still be condensation problems.


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## laznz1 (May 11, 2009)

bomberboysk said:


> No, because then if its a cheap one its only like a 50watt TEC, and if its a compressor based one you will end up overheating the compressor as its not meant to run 24/7. Plus there will still be condensation problems.



why would you run it 24/7 ...

if the computer parts into a air tight container with only the cords coming out then the fridge would only run if the thermostat went to high so it wouldn't be on all the time


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## just a noob (May 11, 2009)

you're forgetting that computers are constantly putting out heat, unlike food, which doesn't, if you don't beleive me, go ahead and try it for yourself, there's also a way of insulating your motherboard to prevent condensation


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## bomberboysk (May 11, 2009)

laznz1 said:


> why would you run it 24/7 ...
> 
> if the computer parts into a air tight container with only the cords coming out then the fridge would only run if the thermostat went to high so it wouldn't be on all the time



Because the computer is 24/7 producing heat, and second the heat load would probably be much too high for a refridgerator anyhow, not to mention how much warmer your room will get and then of course the condensation.


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## El DJ (May 11, 2009)

With all this controversy, someone should test it.
Get an old junker and stick it in a mini fridge.


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## laznz1 (May 11, 2009)

all you'd do is put a thermostat into the fridge so when its hit certain temp turn off and when it gets to a certain temp turns back on it would cause fluctuation in temp in the computer but its possible


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## bomberboysk (May 11, 2009)

laznz1 said:


> all you'd do is put a thermostat into the fridge so when its hit certain temp turn off and when it gets to a certain temp turns back on it would cause fluctuation in temp in the computer but its possible



In a sealed environment the "refridgerator" would get warm within 1-2minutes, and the pump would keep cycling. The cycle time of a compressor is 3min or so, so you would kill the pump pretty soon. Another thing is that if you use a tec you are getting almost no cooling(50w tec is about the largest TEC they use in a minifridge).


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## laznz1 (May 11, 2009)

well maybe not so good with a normal refrigerator but if you were to modify the compressor aka add a bigger tank


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## bomberboysk (May 11, 2009)

laznz1 said:


> well maybe not so good with a normal refrigerator but if you were to modify the compressor aka add a bigger tank



Still, you are just asking for failure when you keep modifiying. The best stable temps would be achieved via a case that has a vapochill cpu cooler built in for sub-ambient, or just getting a high end watercooling setup for ambient temperature cooling.


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## laznz1 (May 11, 2009)

modifying a Compressor is easy as anything i probably fix one once or twice a week for work it wouldn't take much to swap out the tank to say a 9KG LPG gas tank i think they can take 250PSI which would be more the sufficient it could be done for 100 or so NZD


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## bomberboysk (May 11, 2009)

laznz1 said:


> modifying a Compressor is easy as anything i probably fix one once or twice a week for work it wouldn't take much to swap out the tank to say a 9KG LPG gas tank i think they can take 250PSI which would be more the sufficient it could be done for 100 or so NZD



I think we are talking about two different things here... its not an air compressor, its a refrigerant compressor...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigeration


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## laznz1 (May 11, 2009)

bomberboysk said:


> I think we are talking about two different things here... its not an air compressor, its a refrigerant compressor...
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigeration



lol i know what it is and more importantly i know how they work and have played with them before and i think this is entirely possible sure it wouldn't be as simple as tossing a comp into the fridge you need some heavy modification if i had the time id look at building one


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## bomberboysk (May 11, 2009)

laznz1 said:


> lol i know what it is and more importantly i know how they work and have played with them before and i think this is entirely possible sure it wouldn't be as simple as tossing a comp into the fridge you need some heavy modification if i had the time id look at building one



Yeah, but still, anybody who would put that much work and cost(refridgerant is expensive) into something, when you can get a vapochill that would be more reliable and better. The idea is sound, but as mythbusters would say:
"Plausible but insane"


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## laznz1 (May 11, 2009)

bomberboysk said:


> Yeah, but still, anybody who would put that much work and cost(refridgerant is expensive) into something, when you can get a vapochill that would be more reliable and better. The idea is sound, but as mythbusters would say:
> "Plausible but insane"



i must disagree again logically
(price in NZD)
2nd Hand Fridge - $70 
LPG Gas Tank 9KG - $20  (through work)

i have the rest of the tools so i reckon if i got $150  (50 for trouble shotting) i could be done


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## bomberboysk (May 11, 2009)

laznz1 said:


> i must disagree again logically
> (price in NZD)
> 2nd Hand Fridge - $70
> LPG Gas Tank 9KG - $20  (through work)
> ...



Im talking about the refrigerant for it... Around here unless you get large quantity R-134 its pretty expensive...


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## laznz1 (May 11, 2009)

bomberboysk said:


> Im talking about the refrigerant for it... Around here unless you get large quantity R-134 its pretty expensive...



again i could possible get that at a cheaper price through work or Dad's work 

but i must agree to the fact to most people it would be improbable but still possible


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## bomberboysk (May 11, 2009)

laznz1 said:


> again i could possible get that at a cheaper price through work or Dad's work
> 
> but i must agree to the fact to most people it would be improbable but still possible



Yeah, i dont wanna get a T sized(i think thats what it is) cylinder of R-134, true it would be plausible... but i wouldnt see it being worth it, and i think im prolly feeling the same opinion you are here, it would be cool if it worked, but it would just be too much work for too little return.


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## laznz1 (May 11, 2009)

bomberboysk said:


> Yeah, i dont wanna get a T sized(i think thats what it is) cylinder of R-134, true it would be plausible... but i wouldnt see it being worth it, and i think im prolly feeling the same opinion you are here, it would be cool if it worked, but it would just be too much work for too little return.



agreed *MYTHBUSTERS we gotta myth for you lol
*


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## ScOuT (May 11, 2009)

You can do anything if you have the right tools and get everything together.

It would be a pain with the condensation. I can almost garentee you that will be an issue.

I saw a guy who had a 240mm radiator for his liquid cooling mounted on the back of his case. When he was overclocking the rig he would un bolt it and drop it into a bucket of icewater. His temps would drop like 30c in seconds! very easy to do and cost effective


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## tlarkin (May 11, 2009)

I would almost say seal the case completely, make it air tight.  Remove all fans, and you may have to build a separate area for drives with movable parts.  However, if you can find a non conductive thick liquid, which has a very high freezing point, and fill up an air tight computer case with it, along with some insulation to keep it cold, you may be able cost effectively keep it cold with a smaller refrigeration unit.

Of course then you have a case filled with liquid, which depending on what liquid you use could be very expensive, and then on top of that it would weigh a freaking ton.

Not really that plausible, but I would say not impossible.  However, you would have to be doing some serious over clocking to go to that extent.

The servers that run Google Earth don't even run that hot and those things crunch all that 3D data in real time.


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## laznz1 (May 11, 2009)

ScOuT said:


> You can do anything if you have the right tools and get everything together.
> 
> It would be a pain with the condensation. I can almost garentee you that will be an issue.
> 
> I saw a guy who had a 240mm radiator for his liquid cooling mounted on the back of his case. When he was overclocking the rig he would un bolt it and drop it into a bucket of icewater. His temps would drop like 30c in seconds! very easy to do and cost effective



was that on you tube?


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## just a noob (May 11, 2009)

here's a guide on how to prevent condensation, and here's why a refridgerator won't work


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## laznz1 (May 11, 2009)

just a noob said:


> here's a guide on how to prevent condensation, and here's why a refridgerator won't work



no that was a link one guys view on why it wouldn't work and even he says



> without considerable modification to the fridge



now if you read the convo me and bomberboy had we go over many of these points and i think it would be easily plausible


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## Yeti (May 11, 2009)

laznz1 said:
			
		

> well maybe not so good with a normal refrigerator but if you were to modify the compressor aka add a bigger tank


What exactly will this tank accomplish?


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