Mineral Oil Submerged Computer
- Thread starter thecoldone06
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hondablaster
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Wow this was cool. I think I might try it eventually. Minus the dirty ass bubble maker.
@cue
You could use completely pure deionized water and it would work for a while. Even if your mother board was clean. etc The slow corrosion process that all things experience would eventually put molecules that could conduct a current. Probably if you were to have a pump constantly deionizing and distilling all the water.
@ the youtube video.
The fans probably would not burn out any faster. The slow moving fan if anything would cause it to last longer. Plus with the lubrication maybe last longer than that. You should not relate a human slogging through mud = equal exhaustion as the same concept as an electrical component slogging through oil. Friction and heat kills components. The oils density makes it a better heat conductor then air probably x10 fold. Air is a very poor heat conductor. That why it needs to be rapidly circulated. If anything air is good only because its near infinite. Everything on land is cooled by air. Even Nuclear reactors. IE water vapor evaporation. The only exception is things at sea or near large lakes. Boats submarines. Long as you have an infinite amounts of material virtually anything can be a cooler. In the case of the fans they would probably use more electricity to spin even less RPM. But because they spin slower, have less friction due to that and the oil, they will also have less heat!
Density = heat conductivity Diamonds are supposed to be the best conductor they are also one of the hardest minerals.
Airless Vacuum would probably be the worst heat conductor.
Eventually the tank would be charged with heat. The surface area of the tank itself combined with the bubbles would be a cooler itself. If that was not fast enough to equalize the temperature to a nominal level. You could take a submerge able aquarium pump and simply place the entry and exits over or near the hot spots and circulate it into a 15 dollar transmission cooler. Outside of the tank.
The mineral oil is a better heat conductor but it would eventually reach its capacitive state. And MIGHT need to be externally cooled by air at some point.
@cue
You could use completely pure deionized water and it would work for a while. Even if your mother board was clean. etc The slow corrosion process that all things experience would eventually put molecules that could conduct a current. Probably if you were to have a pump constantly deionizing and distilling all the water.
@ the youtube video.
The fans probably would not burn out any faster. The slow moving fan if anything would cause it to last longer. Plus with the lubrication maybe last longer than that. You should not relate a human slogging through mud = equal exhaustion as the same concept as an electrical component slogging through oil. Friction and heat kills components. The oils density makes it a better heat conductor then air probably x10 fold. Air is a very poor heat conductor. That why it needs to be rapidly circulated. If anything air is good only because its near infinite. Everything on land is cooled by air. Even Nuclear reactors. IE water vapor evaporation. The only exception is things at sea or near large lakes. Boats submarines. Long as you have an infinite amounts of material virtually anything can be a cooler. In the case of the fans they would probably use more electricity to spin even less RPM. But because they spin slower, have less friction due to that and the oil, they will also have less heat!
Density = heat conductivity Diamonds are supposed to be the best conductor they are also one of the hardest minerals.
Airless Vacuum would probably be the worst heat conductor.
Eventually the tank would be charged with heat. The surface area of the tank itself combined with the bubbles would be a cooler itself. If that was not fast enough to equalize the temperature to a nominal level. You could take a submerge able aquarium pump and simply place the entry and exits over or near the hot spots and circulate it into a 15 dollar transmission cooler. Outside of the tank.
The mineral oil is a better heat conductor but it would eventually reach its capacitive state. And MIGHT need to be externally cooled by air at some point.
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hondablaster
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Dang there has been two post while I was typing that stupid thing above.
Thanks for Sharing your pics. THAT IS AWESOME!
Thanks for Sharing your pics. THAT IS AWESOME!
ProTech Support
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Okay, first to address a couple of issues. The fans do run slow, but have not worn out in over a year of use. I left them in because it looks cool to see them turning in oil. Heat is not really an issue as long as you don't try to overclock or run a high end system. I had two old machines, took parts from each to make one good machine, and had a nice computer for the reception desk. CPU temp after 24 hours is around 55c. I have the little skeleton hooked up to an air pump to provide a little circulation. To use this method for premium cooling, you need to install a radiator and circulate the oil. This works very well, and you can see it on the Puget site. Never submerge a hdd! They may run for a little while, but will die a tragic and early death. I still can't figure out why that guy did it on youtube. Distilled water is non-conductive for about 10 minutes. Even impurities in the air will render it conductive very quickly. It also doesn't move heat as well. Mineral oil is the same stuff used to fill electrical transformers hanging on the poles outside your house. I cleaned out Wal-Mart of all their mineral oil in one pint bottles. It's kept in the pharmacy department labeled as natural laxative. Make sure to get the pure oil. It's about $1.50/pint, a lot cheaper than our neighborhood horse doctor. You should have seen the cashier's face when I wheeled that cart up.It makes a great display unit, and gets a lot of attention from everyone who walks in the office. The number 1 question asked is "Where are the fish?"
Duh! I can't tell you how many times I have to explain that fish don't do well swimming in oil. Anyway, here are the pics:
That looks great! Better then the ones I have seen so far. After seeing that one I am definitely giving this project a shot...time to put my list together
P.S. - Do you have anymore pics of your shop? Always like to see what others places look like.
usacvlr
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If an electric motor has a load applied to it, it draws more current and more current means more heat.
hondablaster
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While this is true, The thermal transfer ability of the oil will negate any extra heat generated by the slight increase of current. The extra load will be to small to be a factor. Remember it is a 5 watt fan. It probably uses about 3-5 watts. So a 20% power draw equals 6 watt.... This is mostly speculation on the numbers but its probably close enough.
Fans in oil are protected from, natural friction, friction caused by dust accumulation, and heat.
They will probably out last the PC.
angry_geek
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You are correct. However, after over a year of constant daily use, the fans run just as they did on day one. The puget systems site states the same thing. I don't know for sure if the fans will ever fail. It doesn't really matter whether they do or not. I think, though, that the fans will run just fine for the life of the machine.
