Home-made Liquid Cooling

LiquidSnak · 26 Jul 2011

My question: Has anyone done a home-made liquid or oil cooled pump transfer system? I'm pondering taking a CPU heatsink, removing the fan, and creating an oil or stable liquid cooled system...

seekermeister · 26 Jul 2011

I hope that you have a bit of ingenuity, because while to concept is simple, creating a reliably leak-proof system may not be so easy.

LiquidSnak · 26 Jul 2011

I have in mind a system with fiberglass and polyvinyl tubing. I have extensive fiberglass experience, so that shouldn't be a problem, and I'm considering a dyed mineral oil system in case of leakage... I have a pump, so it should be no biggie. It will just depend on whether an impeller pump will be able to drive mineral oil

Lordbob75 · 26 Jul 2011

You are going to need pump, reservoir, radiator, tubing, and the heatsinks to make a full system.
The hardest part would probably be making the heatsinks (they are rather complex and small), as well as getting watertight seals.

~Lordbob

carwiz · 26 Jul 2011

Any particular reason for using a mineral oil? It has a very poor heat transfer coefficient. In other words, it's slow to pick up heat and slow to release it. The very best is plain distilled water. What every you add to it such as boiling point enhancers (anti-freeze) will also lower the coefficient but it's still better than mineral oil. Combining a high transfer coefficient fluid with a high thermal conductive base and radiator, such as copper, will provide the best cooling.

LiquidSnak · 26 Jul 2011

Leaks will not be my friend, and if I can get a proofed system, I would probably switch to a more potentially harmful liquid. Until then, I think an inert liquid would be wise. Does anyone know if radiators take a standard thread size?

carwiz · 27 Jul 2011

LOL... Hopefully it would be engineered not to leak.

You'll want to be selective in your liquid--Hazardous or not, you can't allow it to boil. Vapors are hard to pump with an impeller. It will just cavitate and the temperature will run away. On top of that, when a liquid vaporizes it expands. That expansion can mean very high pressures and an explosion potential. But it sounds like you have your mind made up. Good luck but remember, science has been there already.

Everlong · 27 Jul 2011

LiquidSnak said:

I have in mind a system with fiberglass and polyvinyl tubing. I have extensive fiberglass experience, so that shouldn't be a problem, and I'm considering a dyed mineral oil system in case of leakage... I have a pump, so it should be no biggie. It will just depend on whether an impeller pump will be able to drive mineral oil

I wouldn't use mineral oil inside a cooling loop. Cooling fluid is non-condicutive, so if there was leaks you wouldn't short your computer out. And with oil having a higher viscosity than ordinary cooling fluid, your pump is gonna be working a lot harder to try pump it around.

sygnus21 · 27 Jul 2011

Sounds like he's doing this more as an experiment than anything else. If that's the case it'd be interesting to see the results

Luckystar · 27 Jul 2011

Hey LiquidSnak,

Probably out the question and not what your looking for but maybe this could enlighten you

DIY Computers: Mineral Oil Aquarium PC - Kits Available

Not much of a suggestion but just ideas.

Lucky