My new toy: full submersion oil cooled PC

It's finally done, nearly $100 later on non-computer supplies alone, fortunately this solution did save me the cost of a SATA HDD and optical required for the small form factor case the mobo was removed from. I have a fish-tank, 4 gallons of mineral oil (got it from a vet supply shop, it was intended as horse laxative), an air pump, a bubble rock, and 25 pounds of coated gravel. The motherboard sits almost flush with the top of the aquarium on top of the significant quantity of gravel, with the primary and a 2ndary heat sink submerged in the mineral oil, the PSU is almost fully submerged including its large fan that reaches across nearly its whole diameter, the CPU fan is also submerged spinning fast enough not to be able to see the blades while the PSU fan is going quite slowly but reliably. The HDD has been eliminated in exchange for a flash drive running a live copy of Ubuntu and the optical drive has also been forgone. The stock motherboard has no hardware monitoring I can find in the BIOS so the reliability of the cooling will be examined later, but the parts were quite capable of running out of the oil so it should just be an improvement.

I scattered dead computer chips and old processors over the bottom of the aquarium including a mouse with its ball separated from the rest of the unit. The mouse floats. I'm going to buy a rubber ducky to float on the surface. Hope it doesn't melt.

Eventually I want to cut off a molex head and solder a small incandescent light to it. I know that will negatively impact heat but it will improve its value as a novelty item, and really, that's the point.

I'll try and post pictures later. This is so much fun

 

so is this what you are doing:

Submerged PC

 

Yes, they were the first ones I found who suggested mineral oil.

 

Cooling this way is awesome for about six hours (more if I had more oil) of heavy use but unless there is a good way to cool the oil eventually it will start to run hot. This tank is glass instead of the usual acrylic so it should dissipate heat a little better, but only four gallons of oil won't take too long to heat up.

My concerns were in the following order

1. Conversation piece (or "wow" as you put it^-^)
2. Aesthetics
3. Performance (assuming performance was at or better than stock air cooling).

If I was really worried about it a proper lid with an intake/outtake system would help cool the oil (and probably cause it to evaporate too quickly and get dusty) or an external radiator would be a better solution. As of yet the oil has never gotten even properly warm but it has only been run a couple hours at a time max.

So, the benefits to performance can be great, but were an afterthought in this build. A good water cooling system will usually rival or exceed this method.

If you want to try it yourself vegetable oil will also work (problem is it goes bad) and I'm pretty sure automatic transmission fluid will work. I hope it's not too abrasive for the rubber seals on the capacitors, but I think it would be OK. I want to put the ATF in the current build and see if it bands but I cannot find enough information to know for sure if it would work.

Probably shouldn't it would take away from the fish tank look and the subsequent shock and awe people have when they first see it and come to grips with what it is!

 

Many of the systems I used to work on were cryogenically cooled. I miss those days.....

 

Wow! That would be something else, if I could just build one of THOSE!

 

start here:

Dry Ice and Oil


Liquid Nitrogen

If you don't post back I'll look for the explosion cloud.

 

Nice, unfortunately, my wife will probably murder me (or worse, retaliate by spending money on stuff she doesn't need) if I try to implement more crazy ideas

 

Crazy? A destroyed house is a small price for innovation. Tell her Bill Gates started in his garage. Actually, you can pick up dry ice at Wal-Mart pretty inexpensively. I use it for a bunch of things, including taking small dents out of my cars. And I've used fire extinguishers for cooling PCs (and beer).

Enjoy your hobby and don't forget the pictures.

And don't forget the last thing a Redneck says before he dies: "Y'all watch this....."

 

LOL! That's a good one

Actually I do computer repair for a living, so it's not a hobby... although I suppose oil cooled computers specifically could be a hobby; however, first thing one of my friends asked when I told him I was going to build it was if I was going to start selling it, and I believe he wanted me to sell it to him.

I think after this thing runs a few months smoothly I may try selling a couple to friends or on craigslist.

I'm still trying to find out if I need to worry about dust or evaporation. I have a make-shift dust cover over the top, but it's not air tight or anything, just a loose cover.

I wonder if there are enough enthusiasts on craigslist who would buy something like this? I'm not sure because half the fun is building it and holding your breath as you turn it on wondering if you and the computer are about to catch fire

 

Anything that can lead to impurities can be bad, especially if conductive. I don't think evaporation is an issue short term unless you get some higher temperatures.

 

I want one..................

 

I just bought some lights for it, was only $10, I was disappointed (and felt kind of stupid) when they floated. I've come to peace with the fact that they float, they look incredible. I cannot wait to get pictures of this and show you guys!

B4, making one is easy! You may want to wait a month or two and ask how mine is doing, assuming everything is normal cobble together $100 and I'll tell you how I made it Basically there's nothing to it, just throw computer parts into the oil! It looks just like water and will puzzle and astound your friends.

 

??????????

 

Okay!!!!!!

 

Some of my components were not as clean as I hoped. I've noticed several cat hairs and a small dust blob floating around. I wonder what would be a good way to strain something as thick as mineral oil? Perhaps those little nets for catching fish in an aquarium? The holes are designed to strain water and will allow mineral oil and small particles through...but perhaps it would catch larger particles/hair (way 2,367 my cat makes my life slightly more complicated).

 

Coming to you live via oil-filled high-tech fishtank newly upgraded to include a wireless card, it's ME! *cheers*