Sub-zero cooling thought

Well, this idea may have been brought up before and if so I apologize for not having found it yet. hehe

I've been reading a lot of people's ideas of converting wine chillers or small dorm fridges into computer cases...or using water to cool a peltier etc etc. Well, I was just wondering why not use your appliances for their intended purposes AND to aid your cooling isues?

I realize that in normal circumstances this would be highly impractical due to the length of tubing needed, the amount of insulation you would need etc but for those in just the right situation might be able to do this...and I'm actually thinking about trying it one of these days too.

So what am I talking about? Well, say you have a stand-up or chest freezer in your basement or garage. It's being used for its intended purposes and has a LOT of stored up "cold" in it thereby providing a lot of cooling capacity. Why not drill two holes in the side (away from any vital components in the back) and run the tubes for the radiator of a water cooling system into the freezer? Essentially you will have the capability of a phase change system without the added cost (granted you also don't have the transportability either).

Now, in some cases you would likely be running 20-30 or more feet of tubing (one way) to do this and would also need to insulate all that tubing, not to mention the routing through the house and through walls etc. Plus, you would likely still have to protect the components in the computer from condensation. But I imagine the cooling capacity of that freezer would be WAY more than you would require to keep your entire system at sub-freezing temps even under a load....this is of course if you could keep the coolant from freezing and if the pump could keep up. lol

So what does everyone think? Convenient? No. Practical? Maybe, if you don't ever intend on moving your computer area and own your house so you don't have to worry about the landlord bitching about holes in the walls. Effective? I think it would be but that's also why I'm asking you. I know my stand-up freezer will turn a pound of hanburger into a rock in about an hour and it's not even cranked to the coldest setting...I would imagine it would do well cooling a computer.

Be careful drilling those holes.

When I bought my house, the previous owner thoughtfully left a chest freezer in the basement. It apparently predated some changes in the stairway, such that it would no longer fit through. I had to cut the freezer up to dispose of it. The refrigerant tubes ran up and down all four sides of the chest, and part of the bottom. Only the lid was clear of them.

Aside from that, I would think you would lose a lot of the chilling effect, no matter how well the tubes are insulated, if they go more than a few feet.

Then again, a motorcycle radiator and fan inside the freezer with automotive antifreeze might be interesting. But the heat transfer with ethylene glycol antifreeze isn't nearly as good as pure water. Will the cold of the freezer overcome the heat transfer deficiency of the antifreeze? Try it and tell us .

Ben N1NP

A freezer is designed to take the heat that is in room temperature food and put it in the air through the endothermic process of evaporation. They aren't designed to handle any kind of load, especially the hundreds of watts of heat that an overclocked system can generate. I wouldn't say it would be out of the question for you to end up with a dead freezer and an overheating PC.

Webstar is pretty much correct. Even a large fridge/freezer doesn't have the capacity to hold the kind of load a cpu can put on it, much less trying to cool a whole system via the chiller route.

The size of compressor in a freezer or fridge is smaller than anything we use in single stage phase change systems. Something like a 5000 btu and up window ac unit will work, converted to direct die; or you can "ghetto" it and just stick the evaporator in a large cooler.

It doesn't have to be ghetto

And your use of BTU is misleading. What is important in Direct Die and water chilling is the displacement and horsepower. Its BTU rating will change depending on what temperature range you're talking about. It varies also with condensing temperature. The lower the condensing temperature, the higher the BTUs that will be removed. The higher the evaporator temp (higher pressure) will also yield a greater potential for heat removal so in fact a higher BTU rating.

At the -30 to -40 most extremists like to run, you won't see a 5000BTU system unless you've got a monstrous compressor.

Most people don't go less than 1/3 HP. I'm using a 1/2HP for the unit below. Its a low temp Tecumseh designed to use 404a or 507 refrigerant. I will be using 507, as it is an azeotrope and will charge more easily. Also slightly higher capacity. I haven't yet even tested it; though it is a few electrical controls short of ready.

I can guarantee you that this sucker will perform well.

I stand corrected Maybe I need to do more research.

I'm looking forward to seeing your results with that water cooled condenser setup.

Yeah, me too.... It'll be a while until I can do so. Can't afford to spend money on it just now. I'd like to get it tested to verify its potential.... Then maybe I can build a few for other people for some money