Cooling just ideas about mini fridge

anyone have any ideas i can try with a working kenmore minifridge , i have done my homework and it seems that running the compressor in the minifridge 24/7 will kill it , however i was thinking about maybe using it to make a large insulated resivoir that can handle a small non oc watercool rig that is never on more than 12 hours a day ( i turn it off when i go to work round 11 , turn back on round midnight when i get home ) i was thinking , having the entire minifridge dedicated to chilling resivoir during non use , and somehow make a circut to prevent constant on condidition, and prevent condensation (most common death) , with a decent sized resivoir (size comparable to a passive system 10gal) does anyone think this is feasible , or can people give me ideas to use with this FREE minifridge i have found

the idea im having is something simmilar to this modified fridge

but before i get flamed , i do understand that im not going to get stellar results , or long term performance , im just thinking options that are simmilar to a passive w/c system in performance

has anyone been brave enough to try give any advice , or any better ideas ,
will be appreciated

 

If it's not oc'ed and watercooled you're better off just using it to cool your beer and accept the slight fan hum, but if you must perhaps wire a temperature monitor to control it's on/off state. I dunno how as I don't know how those meters work but it's an idea... Those fridges turn themselves off when they don't need to be cooling, do they not? Perhaps that could control it's on off state for you, and just set the reservoir inside the fridge, then drill two holes in the door. Cool it like you would a milk jug with hoses sticking out, lol

 

i guess i should explain better i have a p4 rated 2.1ghz going 2.5 right now , more worried about ram and hdd , since shuttles are tiny little PAIN IN and have all their components crammed together. i just didnt want someone to think i expected 4ghz performance or something , im not even running a videocard better than a 6800 nvidia bfg , its just my little pet project , (after cooling is down , the case gets a gundam makeover) right now its stable at 2.5 ghz at a normal temp of whatever is ambient that day , im just thinking about ditching the current resivoir (10gal fishtank) next to computer and seeing if insulated (aka in the fridge) resivoir can make it more intresting or if making some elaborate mod that looks funny ,

the kenmore has a temp setting but it might as well not be there since its assuming im chilling something that isint increasing slowly over hours
and i also want it to chill past its original intentions , not dramatically just when pc is not in use ( kinda like a switch that opens when power is removed from another place )

also , i have a keg cooler so im never been thinking about beer in this little kenmore (but did get it from dorm friend who upgraded his fridge for that reason )

 

Fridges are designed to cool stuff but then to keep it cool by insulation. They will not do well with a continuous head load, I'm afraid.

 

well is there any way to combat that , since the computer is not on constantly
by well having it just deep chill the water during the off state? and have it pretty much being a standard watercool while running ?

 

Well to be fair, to fully cool a system, you're putting maybe 250-300W of heat into a brick of water. Here's the issue, though - that brick will heat slowly, but once it passes the fridge's internal temp and starts warming up the joint, the compressor will kick in.

Now, i don't know if you've seen it before, but any idea how long it would take to chill 10 gallons out? Way longer than 12 hours.

 

I think what's being said here is simple: Insulate your PC then duct the fridge over to your intake, or put it inside the fridge. No condensation so long as you make a foam layer around the components then set them inside the fridge

But seriously, I dare you to

 

You can use a mini fridge to cool your reservoir, just not very cool. You have to set its thermostat so that it tries to keep temperatures around ambient, which will avoid condensation and also be a more realistic target. But you are still asking it to remove 200 Watts of heat and I suspect that this maybe a bit ambitious for it.

 

well did a little more research and that 200-300w should be able to be dissipated during the pc off cycle since this computer is a media center pc it is only on when i am watching hd video and verry little gaming ( 37inch tv connected 1080p) ( considering if effective applying cooling to screen) to address tulatian an opto isolator can be connected to the powersupply to turn off the minifridge during use ( essentially do not try to cool while temperature is rising ) and a solenoid valve connected to same circut can connect to a standard watercool circut to deal with the taking too long to diiapate the heat , a simple circulation coil to increase surface area can lower the resivoir temps faster than attempting to cool the resivoir in a single container ( can of coke cools faster than 2 litre bottle due to volume , surface area and insulation ) simple copper pipes , inside the insulated area has sucsessfully dissapated heat back to room temp for me in as few as 9 hours (delta 20 deg c ) essentially the 10 gallons is broken down into coils that contain 1-2 gallons in circulation in copper tubing id .2" od .25" ( about 2 feet if i rember math correctly) for each coil , and based on space , in the mini fridge , i probably can fit 4-5 so rougly half the water is constantly circulating and only trying to cool something that is cooling down anyway


since i was thinking about having the pump pull from resivoir , it can be attached directly to the input of the solenoid valve , and the 2 outputs can be directed into 2 systems mini fridge , and standard active system .
a simple timer can make sure that the active system is on during use of pc , and to prevent burnout of the valves and fans to the active side during reboots and short off states have the active system continue cooling for at least 5 min after shutdown and then switch to fridge cooling

on the fridge side , effecency must be calculated before i determine a cycle i want to use but considering this wont look anything like a minifridge when im done , requires me to build the coils , remove the door completely ( cause of internal condensation , and maybe using nitrogen to replace the air inside the container after everything is sealed up ( double pane glass to be able to verify system and look cool )
then when the best ammount of time for an on off cycle is found , scrap the thermostat thats built in ( since it is thinking one section is a freezer and the larger area is closer to a lowerd room temp ) and replace with a circut that is only trying to prevent compressor burnout using water temp for its samples

i doubt kenmore put a thermostat that is assuming its cooling a liquid rather than a gas

since this is a lot of info , and still in the idea phase here is a chart that might shed light into what im doing

 

ok , upgraded computer (new mobo , new case shuttle sb61g2v4) to be able to handle this , and found out how much is needed , i have a solenoid valve from an icemaker , but no idea how to controll it , have a feeling it needs a current to open ,

also , tested sumberged system , ( threw minifrige tru the racetrack , by filling it with non conductive liquid fluid xp+, and only having motherboard and videocard in fridge ) lasted for 15 hours before i decided to stop due to the fact the compressor was running for 45 min straight , so im getting closer , i know this wont help peltier systems , but i think for a meager 478 p4 , i think this could work


also , what kind of heatsink can someone recomend for a bfg nvidia 6800 gt oc , (agp) ,

i know its not going to get stellar , but that was the only part of the computer that neeeeeds watercooling over any other component

 

i was contemplating this idea also, however condensation problems won me over.. ive heard there is a liquid kind of thing that u can put on ur parts that is non conducting and non condensating.. ill try and find it but i cant remember if i saw it in a mag or on the net..

 

sounds like you are thinking Neoprene ,Conformal coating , RTV silicon adhesive sealant , Dielectric grease

thats just what i like using when i do condensation proofing, then again , i go overkill

im actually just thinking more of using mini fridge as a weak water chiller dont want to burn it out , but dont care about it either (free) and i know junkyards that let me rip apart freezers and other appliances

 

If you want to keep that 478 cool, get the Thermaltake Big Typhoon, I had plans on w/c'ing my 478, then it got too complicated/expensive, bought the Big Typhoon, keeps it nice and cool, and I can't even hear it whizzing away.

 

well , im planning on converting back over to watercool , ( maybe small pelt ,but nothing that needs more than 50w) , and its a shuttle sb61g2 v4, so its already on a heatpipe based cooler looks just like typhoon except heatpipes are at a 90deg from mobo, and its a 92mm area , its a little noisy , but speedfan has that barely churning ( fyi looking for PWM 120 or larger fan ) , and the other shuttle i have , im not ready yet to make a new case , but i belive i was going to put a massssssive passive cooler but thats only because its so much older , im currently researching oil cooling for it ( big passive = more area for oil ) more for looks than performance ,
i mean my 3dmark is barely considered middle of the road