hello, I'm planing to build an oil cooled computer and I have some questions. the main hardware is going to be in a sealed "reservoir" of about 12L, I will use an I5 cpu and motherboard, and probably one of nvidias upcoming gpu. the reservoir will be made out of 10mm plexiglass. it must be completely sealed ! in case I have to move it around so I don't have to empty it from the oil. but... I need some help ! 1. how can I get the cables out of the reservoir from the side ? it's submerged in oil, so it must be "oil proof". that means the power for the motherboard and gpu, usb, sound, dvi, sata and lan cable 2. will a 2*240 rad be enough to cool it ? 3. do I need to have some sort of flow in the reservoir ? 4. do I have to change the oil after some time ? and is there anything I need to be extra careful with ? all advises would be appreciated ! thanks !
"how can I get the cables out of the reservoir from the side ? it's submerged in oil, so it must be "oil proof". that means the power for the motherboard and gpu, usb, sound, dvi, sata and lan cable" The easiest way I can think of is to mount the motherboard vertically and have the IO ports coming out of the top As for the rest I'm not sure, but it can't be totally sealed, otherwise how can you fill it?
I have no experience with submerged rigs but some of THIS would probably come in useful maybe you could run the electronics through a gromit then seal it up with that stuff? probably a silly idea but hey
well, there's a pump that moves areound the water from the tank to the radiator to cool down the oil, so filling it won't be a problem. and haveing the IO upwards wouldn't work because of the design. nice idea Editor, I'll do some thinking about that.
you may want to have a read thu this project log as there a few factors to take into account when picking which oil to use and which parts. the oil used in the above project ate away at the plastic under the solid state caps causing the failure of the motherboard and ate some of the seals into the lower compartment.
For the connectors, you could make a custom electrical bulkhead with bare, non-stranded wire sealed in epoxy. That would stop any wicking issues. Maybe even use some modded pci extensions for the connectors. Run a custom card pcb through the bulkhead. (I can't quite explain that one in words. It makes perfect sense in my head.)
I really need help with this, because it's the biggest issue I have with my design. after a lot of thinking I came up with this. to get the cables out of the tank, I would have to make two pcb with the some connectors, and run a lot of pins between them through an opening in the plexiglass and seal it. the red would the opening in the plexiglass filled with silicone to prevent the oil from leaking out do you think this can be done ? and who/what company could I ask to make a pcb like that? because I can't make such stuffs (would it be expensive too ?) help would really be appreciated, thanks
The defining feature of almost every single submerged PC rig I've ever seen is that they don't put ports in the plexi. It weakens it, a lot, and the pressurised oil would try to force it's way out. They just leave it all open at the top. If you have to put ports it, put them at the top they won't be under as much stress from the fluid, perhaps?
if I made the the panel with the holes in some other, harder material, could it work ? because I really can't take the wires out from the top the plexi is 10mm thick btw.
Your PCB idea looks great dude but I know this is totally different but its another crazy idea :S what about drilling and tapping some holes then using blanking plugs, you could drill the centre of the plug out thread the cable through then epoxy the hole. (sorry for the uberfast SU mockup but I hope it gets the idea across)
yeah I see what you mean, the only problem is that I have to get ~130 cables out, might be a bit hard. I thought about using underwater connectors, but that didn't work since they all had max 12pin, and were quite large so I would have to use 11 of those
10mm?! Are you planning on keeping sharks in there, or something? I dunno what the pressure will be like at the bottom of this tank (without knowing the dimensions) but I'd say 10mm should do the trick... As a last resort you could put in a doubler plate or something if you absolutely had to. Anyway, I'd go with blanking plugs; there are sure to be higher-pin-count variants somewhere.
the tank is it's 32.5x17x29cm. it should contain ~12L of oil. and all the walls are 10mm because they need to support some other parts, and I really don't want it to bend because of the oil or the other parts. and any Ideas of where I can search for blanking plugs ? I only find things like these
If you look at the link i sent you earlier from pugetsound computers the power supply can be put in the oil along with all connectors. The oil is "non couductive" they sell a pass through connector on that site so that you dont get the wicking effect from the power connector. Im sure you could use something similar to it so that you can bring the monitor cable out along with the power connector and the sata connector there are a lot of sites that sell plugs so just bring the wires up to the top make a junction box epoxy it up and use home made pass through connectors. Take a look at their project log and see if you can get any ideas from them they have had 1 up and running over 2 years if i remember correctly.
hell, if anything, I'd be worried that if it was fully sealed and full of oil, the contraction or expansion of the oil as the temperature changes would strain the plexi. IMO the smartest way is to extend the container a few inches higher than you plan to fill it with oil, then just make a top panel with a large like 3-4" hole to run all of the cables through. It won't spill unless you completely flip it on its side. Change it every 3,000 miles.
I really can't use the top, it MUST be the side. Otherwise I would have to completly redesign my case. Here it is : Also, I will have a fillpor. At the top so I can open it a bit to regulate the pressure. I won't have the psu in the tank, takes up too much space and looks bad. I looked at that site, but their solution is a bit cheapish.
I like you plan to use a board each side to pass cables through. If you made shure all soldered joints was sound and wouldnt leak you could glue the whole board to the inside of the tank with silicon and bolt it. also if you filled the gaps in all of the pins aswell you should be fine. Maybe if you suported the cut out with a plate from the back it would help. plus its close to the top so it wont have as much pressuer on it as it would have at the bottom. Good luck!
