are there such things as cooling elements? I know that there are heating elements kinda like coils, that you can put in a mug to heat coffee and soup. but do they make things like that that can cool? thanks and this is my first post!
Yes they do. There are two types I have found so far, peltier chips and "cool Chips"(still in development but when they get they in production I am getting one) Peltiers cool by runing a reverse flow of elctrons through an element(I don't remember what it is) but they are limited. They can only create a maximum temperature difference of 70 degrees F (someone check this please) But there aren't very effiecient and thus generate a lot of excess heat, so the problems that arise with it are trying to keep the hot side cool enough such that the cold side is cold enough, and so that you don/'t burn out the chip. I haven't used these in a long time(I had a P200 when I last used one) but I think the main problem with them today is still dissapating the heat generated by them. I think it would be awesome if somewone made a peltier water cooled combo Now for "cool chips", not in production yet, but there are a lot more effiecient thatn peltiers here is the link... http://www.coolchips.gi/ BTW: Welcome
ah I found the effieciency ratings for al these things too on the "cool chips" site Peltiers 5-8% Refrigerators 45% Projected "Cool Chips effeciency" 55%
modtheplanet - These things you speak of are called water chillers. Like Captain_Tal says you can use peltiers to make a waterchiller but as he also said they are extremely inefficient and its much easier just to stick a peltier straight on your CPU. There are other ways to chill water, a popular way is to use a dehumdifier or air conditioner, these consist of a hot coil, a cold coil and a condenser. You submerge the cold coil in your coolant and cool the hot coil with a fan, much like Pug did. Hmmm i ccant for the life of me find the link to his thread about it, wierd.
There is also the "cooling pipe" option, not very efficint but has advantages if you want a passive cooled system.... Here is a good mod example over at Silent PC Review heat pipe..... Matt
you could run pipe to a res in a freezer couldnt you. i know it wouldnt be very effective but i would make a bit of a difference.
Firdge and freezer compressors are actually not that powerful, and are not meant to be run continuously. Have you ever put warm food in a freezer? It defrosts everything. The compressor simply cannot cope. If you must convert a home appliance for use in cooling the cpu, it would have to be a dehimidifier/air conditioner. 8-ball
I always thought one of those watercoolers would work - the big towers with the big bottle at the top? They just have a compressor and such and they're supposed to work continuously ... I have access to one (kinda) ... just need a way to get it home ... then I'm gonna try taking it apart and see if I can run my WC system through it ... Edit: 69!!!
