The madness has officially begun.

[Flybye]

Well, I finally got it :D
http://i23.ebayimg.com/02/i/02/10/d6/57_1_b.JPG

I got it from ebay for $50. The $30 shipping kinda killed it, but I think it was worth it considering the condition of it all and the casing that came with it. It's a 1/5hp compressor rated at 1,400 BTUs.

http://bellsouthpwp.net/f/l/flybye/DSC00696-2.jpg
The unit was originally designed as a laser diode cooler. That copper block is basically the evaporator. As you can see, it got down to 8F/-13C after of about 5 minutes.

http://bellsouthpwp.net/f/l/flybye/DSC00697-2.jpg
The beefy fan sucks air through the condensor and pushes it out around the compressor. This is perfect being that I plan on putting my reservoir on that empty spot behind the condensor. That's what I like about the unit's casing. There is plenty of space around the refrigeration unit to install the reservoir, water pump, and possibly a digital thermostat with relay to cycle the compressor on and off. I won't be using a radiator, so I'm unsure how hot the water will get during the day on idle. I'll be using between 2-3 gallons of water, so we will see.

http://bellsouthpwp.net/f/l/flybye/DSC00698-2.jpg
http://bellsouthpwp.net/f/l/flybye/DSC00699-2.jpg
Here, you can see the refrigeration unit is small, tight, and compact.

http://bellsouthpwp.net/f/l/flybye/DSC00700-2.JPG
I slightly took apart the copper block to see the coils. I added about 1/4 of a cup of water to the opening I made and it was full ice in a little over 5 minutes. I know I know....stupid cheesy test :P

My plans are to replace the copper block with about 10-15" of 1/4" copper tubing, and having it sit inside the pool of water in the reservoir. I want to have a well insulated reservoir. I'm planning on trying to find a cooler (just like the ones you go to the beach/picnic with) that will fit perfectly behind the condensor with some room to spare for the water pump. I figured a cooler is perfect since it's allready a nicely constructed tank with insulation around it.

Of course, depending on how well it will cool after the modification, I may have to use antifreeze.

I've been lucky enoungh to know of someone that is throwing away their old perfectly working fridge. I'm tempted on using the probably stronger compressor, but what I like about this kit is that the compressor is less than 4 years old. Depending on the condition and size of that fridge compressor, I might even end up changing the kit's compressor for that one. It's just that the overall condition of the kit is excellent! I was thinking of using the other compressor as a vacuum pump before I recharge the system after modding it. I think my only real gripe with the kit is that it doesnt have high or low pressure valves. I guess they just filled it up at the factory with whatever amount they knew would work and closed up the lines.

Within the next few months, I'll be looking into retrofitting the unit with valves and a new evaporator. I'm even thinking of first installing 10' coil, then a 20' coil to see the temperature differance. Obviously, the more area the evaporator covers, the better :) The casing (with its top on) is actually strong enough to be able to sit the computer right on top of it. It's also about the size of a midtower. So far, everyone is telling me I should paint it black to match my black computer case and monitor.

I'm on a tight budget, so please be patient with my updates :)

[tripodal]

Sweet deal man, I would honestly say that you should get it working first, before you upgrade any of its parts. Lest you get carried away and never finish LOL.

You should also look into finding a way to circulate the water where you plan on soaking the tubes, so that it doesnt stagnate.

[dicki]

i reckon it would be better if you just bought an extra water block and bolted it straight to that copper plate i can see...

it would be the most direct way of transfering the heat and a lower possibility of the water icing *which will happen in a res*.

the system as i can imagine it would be.

water cooling loop:
2 water blocks. one on the cpu and one on the cold plate.
1 pump.
1 flow meter / temp sensor to kill the system incase the waterblock ices up and stops the flow.

all the above must be very well insulated. you will also need to insulate the motherboard. i used conformal coating and a shed load of silicon grease stuff. as well as neoprene pads to fill in all the gaps. swiftech blocks might be good for this because you can buy insulating kits for them.

anyway sounds good! keep us updated :)

[Flybye]

Originally posted by tripodal
....You should also look into finding a way to circulate the water where you plan on soaking the tubes, so that it doesnt stagnate.
Well, the tubes I was referring to would be the new evaporator copper tubing, and that would sit in the reservoir of water which would be circulated with the water pump up to the water blocks.

[Flybye]

Originally posted by dicki
i reckon it would be better if you just bought an extra water block and bolted it straight to that copper plate i can see...
Believe me, I've thought about a lot of lthings to do with that block. The icing won't bother me since I know I might have to use antifreeze, and I found this great tape like material at the local hardware store which is not as bulky as the regular insulation! I have been jumping around about 10 local stores trying to find the almost perfect combination of things to use, and like wise with internet sites.

I want to replace the block to be able to get a larger surface area. As it is, I don't even think the system is working at full capacity. The condensor and compressor feel like water at room temperature when you touch them. They hardly even get hot.

This is why I want to install the needle valves. After I install the new evaporator, I want to be able to fine tune the system by putting in the exact amount of refrigerant needed.

After I disect the block some more, maybe I'll try something :)

[Nettik]

Question: Are you using hot water for you pre-testing?

Because a radiator does not get hot unless hot water is going into the radiator, same for heatcore. I am assuming you used ambient water instead of hot water to test your chiller. It may get quite a bit hotter with a constant flow of 110F - 135F water, like a processor.

:Nettik

[Flybye]

Originally posted by Nettik
Question: Are you using hot water for you pre-testing?

Because a radiator does not get hot unless hot water is going into the radiator, same for heatcore. I am assuming you used ambient water instead of hot water to test your chiller. It may get quite a bit hotter with a constant flow of 110F - 135F water, like a processor.

:Nettik
Yeah, it was only ambient, and it was a quickie test. Hey, I got the damn thing yesterday Give me some more time to experiment with it :D

One of the little tests I'm considering is completly taking the copper block apart, and trying to dunk it in a pot of water maintained at x temperature over a warm stove.

[Flybye]

Oh boy. I just found a nice kit from Aeroquip which allows you to make your own refrigeration hoses.

Must prevent myself from installing copper block on top of CPU since I also want to cool my 9800xt and chipset :cold:

It's kinda interesting to note.....I kinda looked into the Vapochill unit. Judging by the displacement of their compressor, it looks like they might also be using a 1/5hp compressor. Only thing is they use a better refrigerant.

[Flybye]

Well, I did another little test today. If anyone believes I should have done it a different way, please DO share your ideas :)

I took apart the block that used to cool down the laser diode, and here's what I got

http://bellsouthpwp.net/f/l/flybye/Chiller/DSC00706-2.JPG

It's kinda interesting to note how it resembles the blocks that these expensive chillers use. I'm almost tempted to just extend the tubing and slap it on my CPU :D

I decided to heat up a pot of water on the stove, and left it there about an hour to stabalize around 90F/32C

http://bellsouthpwp.net/f/l/flybye/Chiller/DSC00703-2.jpg

I got the unit, plugged it in, dunked the evaporator into the pot..........and waited. It took a little under an hour, but it finally got the water temps down to about 36F/2C

http://bellsouthpwp.net/f/l/flybye/Chiller/DSC00704-2.jpg

As you can see, there was icing around the entire block. The inside of it is hollow, which there was more ice than the outside of it. It got me thinking......how about getting 1" or so OD x whatever size length will fit in my reservoir copper tubing and running the 1/4" evaporator coil around it?

[tripodal]

no updates?

[Flybye]

Originally posted by tripodal
no updates?
I'm still trying to figure out what to use as a heat exchanger. Ebay has an occasional Brazed plate there. One guy got lucky enough to get one for only $58. I'm kinda waiting for the right moment. If I get too impatient, then I'll jump into my original idea which is to coil up the evaporator around a alrge diameter copper tube to help distrubute the cold through the water in the res. The res will probably be a RubberMaid cooler.

I got all the PVC piping for the manifold yesterday. I'll put it together in the next few days :)

[Flybye]

One manifold done :D

Other than the PVC piping, here are all the parts for one manifold.
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974man1-med.jpg

Now these Ts are pretty long by themselves, so I will cut them down with a pipecutter
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974man2-med.jpg

http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974man3-med.jpg

http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00710-med.JPG

http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974man4-med.jpg

[Flybye]

After all the cutting and gluing, here is the finished product.
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974man5-med.jpg
No, there's no teflon in there. I forgot to buy some. So I'll pick it up later. As soon as I get the teflon and glue is dried up, I'll pressure test it.

Well, it doesn't look TOO bad! Ok ok, it Is a little fugly. It doesn't matter. The entire thing is going to be insulated anyways, and so will all the hosing. So much for glow in the dark coolant
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974man6-med.jpg

Who's your daddy? WHO's your DADDY!? :D
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974man7-med.jpg

Large versions of these pics are in my gallery.

[Flybye]

Almost forgot to mention, I'll be testing temperatures in series and parrell to finally see if either way makes a differance or not. If there is no differance, then I'll end up tossing these and just plugging in everything in series. No sense in having these in if they won't offer any type of temperature gains.

[tripodal]

besides the possibility of cool factor.

[Flybye]

Here's my current dilema...the Heat Exchanger

Currently, I have 3 options:
1) Brazed plate.
http://www.flatplate.com/images/3unitshome.gif
http://www.flatplate.com/images/closeup.jpg
These boogers are VERY efficient. The waffle design breaks up the water into tiny different little channels making it a lot easier to chill the water. Every other plate the water is channeled through and inbetween the freon would flow.

New they are generally over $200. Ebay has them ususally $50 up. The trick is actually getting them that cheap. I've seen em go well beyond $100

2) Cylindrical-plate heat exchanger witha spiral core
http://www.spirec.com/assets/photo2.jpg
http://www.spirec.com/assets/photo3.gif

Well this looks interesting. Instead of your typical spiral evaporator, this one takes a radiator type of approach and litteraly wraps it around inside the cylinder with room inbetween for the freon.

I'm currently looking into their pricing, but ebay has a nice one up at the moment for cheap :)

3) Everyone's typical setup.
Taking your 1/4" tubing, coiling it, and dumping it inside a pool of water. Actually, I was planning on coiling the tube and wrapping & welding it around a large 2-3" diameter copper tube to help dissipate the cold.

The first 2 will, obviously, cool down the water a lot more efficiently, but can be rather costly. This has been my next step in finishing up the refrigeration unit. I've been combing ebay for the past several months for a deal on one of them. I'm hoping to get lucky one of these days :)

[JENGA!]

I'm confused. WHAT?! This is crazy.

[Flybye]

Originally posted by JENGA!
..... WHAT?! This is crazy.
Yes.
Yes it is.
That's why we do it :D

[Flybye]

WOOHOO!!!
I just won my Heat Exchanger for only $48 :D

http://i13.ebayimg.com/03/i/02/4b/9e/c5_1.JPG

Here are its full specs:
Diameter: 2.75"
Length: 6.25"
Liquid fitting size: 3/4"
Refrigerant fitting size: 1/2"
Pressure drop at 70F & 5GPM: .5

Here's what the inside looks like
http://www.spirec.com/assets/photo4.jpg

Yep yep....basically the water will be spiraling around inside and the refrigerant will be flowing up and in between the tiny crevices between the water passage ways.

Once I get this little bad boy in, I will start figuring out what fittings I will need to hook it up to the compressor and water pump. Speaking of which, the time is almost here to buy the water pump :)

Im still not sure if I'm going to water cool my 9800XT or buy an X800 and water cool that. So, I'm leaving my water block buying for last.

[Flybye]

Well, it finally arrived :)

My Heat Exchanger
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=1918&password=&sort=1&cat=500

Nice sturdy little construction. Will act as a refrigeration evaporator core perfectly.

Tomorrow is hunting season.............fitting hunting season :D

It came with these wierd little compression fittings, though. I'm not sure if I will be able to simply bolt up refrigeration lines up to it and go. I will try to go to the AC shop within the next few days to see what the guy can recommened.

[Flybye]

Heat Exchanger

http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00756-1.jpg

[dicki]

thats looking good, can't wait to see how it performs when its hooked up properly :)

[Flybye]

Originally posted by dicki
thats looking good, can't wait to see how it performs when its hooked up properly :)
Thanks, and I can't wait, either :)

Just got back from one of the AC supply stores. The only thing they didn't have were the fittings for the heat exchanger. I'm gonna have to hunt pretty far for those since they seam to be metric. I'll post pics of what I got tonight.

Since I have the spiral heat exchanger, I can run without a reservoir. This means I'll probably have less than a gallon of water in the entire system. With that, 2 guys at the store told me the hardware I have is overkill, and should be able to maintain temperatures below freezing EASILY. We shall see about that :)

I gotta give credit to this store. The guy was very helpful in letting me know how to properly install the couplings I bought today and how to properly refill the system.

[Flybye]

Goodies purchased for today :)
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00758-1.jpg
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00760-1.jpg

I bought 3 of those couplings. One for the high side of the AC system in order to see the compressed refrigerant pressures, one for the low side of the AC system to see refrigerant pressures before being sucked into the compressor, and the 3rd one is for a 2nd compressor that I have sitting around. This 2nd compressor I am going to convert it into a vacuum pump. Basically, all I am going to do is solder the coupling to the suction side of the compressor. Then I will attach it to the gauges and the gauges over to the low suction side of the compressor. Turn 2nd compressor pump on and air and moisture will be sucked out of the refrigeration unit.

I will have to do this when I open up the system in order to adapt it to use the heat exchanger as an evaporator.

Humidity in a refrigerant system is bad bad bad. It prevents the refrigerant from evaporating and compressing as efficiently as it should.

[Flybye]

I had to buy these couplings because the unit doesn't have them from the factory. It was simply prefilled with x amount of refrigerant and the tube ends where crimped and soldered shut.

[dicki]

what the hell are those gauges for! this is going to be a monstrous system, it will look like some weird chemistry experiment by the time you've finished!

just for information i have decommisioned my phase change cooler as i'm in the process of moving house i am considering new ways of setting up the system so you might see some new stuff from me soon :)

[Flybye]

Originally posted by dicki
what the hell are those gauges for!.....
:D I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not, but just in case you aren't......
Those gauges will serve 2 purposes:
1) When I hook up the vacuum pump to the main unit, the gauges will tell me the amount of vacuum and if there is a leak before even installing the refrigerant.

The more vacuum there is in the system, the lower the refrigerant will be able to evaporate at. That means it will get colder easier.

2) Making sure I have the right amount of refrigerant in the system will ensure I get the coldest possible evaporator as much as the unit can

Originally posted by dicki
....... i am considering new ways of setting up the system so you might see some new stuff from me soon :)
Cool :)

[Kabooka]

Humidity in a refrigerant system is bad bad bad. It prevents the refrigerant from evaporating and compressing as efficiently as it should.

With some refrigerants, the presence of moisture creates acid - which is BAD.

[safety tip] knowing this reaction, be sure to wear goggles or at least safety glasses when working with refrigerants - there is the possiblity of freezing the eye, but the acid is the real danger [/ safety tip]

Good luck !! keep the posts and pic coming!

[Flybye]

Thanks for the safety tip :)

I didn't know that. This unit uses R-134

Yeah, it would kinda suck if my eyeball froze up :woah:

[Kabooka]

Originally posted by Flybye
Thanks for the safety tip :)

I didn't know that. This unit uses R-134

Yeah, it would kinda suck if my eyeball froze up :woah:

You're welcome - but remember its the moisture in your eyes that will combine with the R-134 that will make acid... real bummer.

[Flybye]

Today, I am irritated.

If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to make everything as clean as possible. I'm a bit anal, but today it costed me.

I picked up the rest of the fittings today. I now have the most difficult fittings I had to obtain. I still have a few more plastic fittings to get, but those are a quick drive to Home Depot.

I went to a rather large refrigeration warehouse and even they didn't have these fittings. The fittings I picked up today were available only at an Aeroquip dealer. If anyone knows Aeroquip, then you know they make some of the best quality fittings on the planet.........................for a price.

http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00766-1-med.jpg

These fittings were only available as stainless steel. And to make things matters worse, they had to be of a special size. What's so special about these fittings is that they will allow me to not have to solder anything to the heat exchanger. This is to my benefit as well. If things don't go as expected, I can always resell the heat exchanger on ebay.

See those stupid stainless steel compression fittings? They were $18 EACH. That's right. Do the math. And for you UK boys out there, that's 10 pounds EACH stainless steel fitting!!

Ok, call me crazy. PLEASE give me a piece of mind and someone tell me it is worth it.

Anyways, here's the heat exchanger with the fittings in place:
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00767-1.jpg

What's left to do?
1) Buy Freon
2) Buy a special $2 (1.1pound) adapter to hook up the freon cans to the gauges.
3) Replace the current evaporator, with the heat exchanger.
4) Install freon refill fittings on the refrigeration unit.
5) Buy a water pump
6) Buy the water blocks
7) Get hoses

Well, here's my problem with the waterblocks...............there is a 90% chance I am going to sell my 9800XT and buy an X800 XT and water cool THAT. So.............I gotta start ebay hunting :D

More than likely, I will install the CPU water block and the NB block first and cap the 3rd fitting on the manifold for the video card till I get the X800.

[dicki]

They were $18 EACH.

thats dedication...

[Kabooka]

they look pretty specialized - but I know that grainger sells aeroquip ..... and yes - it was worth it!

Don't forget to buy the refregerant oil - and if you've had the system open for any period of time - the longer you pull a vacuum the better - when I was doing AC on trucks I'd evacuate for at least two to three hours ( a little overkill but I never had problems with moisture)

[naxos]

Flybye, its looking pretty intense, I cant wait! to see the finished product, youbetter be posting lots of pics ;)

GL on the final steps.

[Flybye]

Haven't I been taking lots of pics so far? :)

Thanks for the support guys, I'm hoping it will seriously be able to keep the liquid temps around 0C or lower and cooling everyone at the same time.

Everytime I take the heat exchanger to a shop, they all end up asking me what my application is, and after I tell them all the details even with the temps, they all tell me it's overkill. I guess that is a plus :thumbsup:

Kabooka, I thought R-134 allready came with the oil premixed?

The unit is currently sealed. This is why I'm getting everything together BEFORE I open it up. I'm gonna experiment some with the torch before installing the refill couplings. But once I'm ready, I'm going to install the refill fittings and the heat exchanger in one shot.

If you missed it, I'm going to be using an old compressor as a vacuum pump.

[DCMan]

Haven't I been taking lots of pics so far?

Yeah - i'm down at my folks and just tried to view the thread on a 56k lol ;)

[Kabooka]

Originally posted by Flybye
Haven't I been taking lots of pics so far? :)

Kabooka, I thought R-134 allready came with the oil premixed?



No - the cans will contain just the refrigerant - and maybe a trace dye.

You probably have seen oil charges that contain R-134 as a propellant - or a means to expell the oil into a system. but that wouldn't be in a correct proportion to what you need.

[Flybye]

Originally posted by Kabooka
No - the cans will contain just the refrigerant - and maybe a trace dye.

You probably have seen oil charges that contain R-134 as a propellant - or a means to expell the oil into a system. but that wouldn't be in a correct proportion to what you need.
So what WOULD be the correct proportion that I will need?

The guy in the AC store saw the unit and he said I probably won't need more than a can.

[Kabooka]

google the cooler or compressor model number - I'd think that you'd be able to come up with the capacity specs for both the oil and r134 capacity - that or check with your ac guy there locally.

[Player0]

Thats some crazy fitting work. I dont know if mcmaster.com sells some of those.

Aren't you going to tape or seal them?

[Flybye]

Originally posted by Player0
Thats some crazy fitting work. I dont know if mcmaster.com sells some of those.

Aren't you going to tape or seal them?

Can you believe the shop told me I don't even need tape thread? I'm not taking any chances, though, and I WILL put tape thread on the fittings. Nothing is tightened as of yet.

As you can see from the pic, the ring on the pipe has a beveled edge which compresses with the larger compression ring. The larger ring then compresses against the beveled edge of the coupling. It actually almost doesn't make any sense to use tape thread here. On the nylon fittings, I WILL most certainly be using tape thread since it does not using any type of compression.

Oh, mcmaster DOES sell them. I just took a little peak through their stuff. Pricing seems to be about the same as what I paid locally.

[Player0]

I like mcmaster, they have lots of everything.

[Flybye]

Ya know, you told someone in another thread that if this is their first water project, to start off small.

This is my first water project.
So am I insane? :drinky:

[Flybye]

Today I messed up.

The caps on the refilling nozzles have little rubber o-rings in them to prevent leakage. I was stupid enough to leave the cap on while sodlering the nozzle to the vacuum pump lines :drinky: Needless to say, I destroyed the little rubber o-ring, it melted into the valve, and pretty much made it useless. Now, I have to get another one :P

On a positive note, I fluxed and soldered the nozzle to the suction side of the compressor I will be using as a vacuum pump with no problem.

http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00782-1.jpg


I know you probably won't stop laughing once you see my soldering job, but I don't do this for a living :O

http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00783-1.jpg
All I'm gonna say is.....it works :D

Due to the hurricane, everything in my area is closed. I can't find my damn pipe thread in order to be able to start taking apart the refrigerant system. So I guess I'll have to wait a few days.

[Synthohol]

why is that copper pipe crimped?
also NEVER use teflon tape on a compression fitting ever.
its bad.
when refrigerent is involved, all fittings are installed dry, no tape, no pipe dope, no sealant.
its either gonna leak, or it wont, but pleasze dont use tape. refrigerent oil...maybe, but never anything else.

i do hold an A.S.E. cert in refrigeration so i'm not talking out of my butt:)

[Flybye]

Synthohol is the jack of all trades :)

Well, I crimped it because the tube is like 10 times the size of the tube at the end of the nozzle. First page of this thread, you'll see the nozzles and the little tube at the end of them. I just basically flushed the nozzle over to one side, crimped the black tube and making sure it didn't crimp the nozzle's tube.

Synth, what about tape thread inbetween the individual copper pieces and where the copper fittings screw up with the SS fittings? The R134 is going to be flowing through the ends of the heat exchanger where the copper pipe compression fittings are at.

If you allow me to keep whoring you, then I got another question :D

Do you recommened pulling the vacuum from the system on the low side or high side?

If you tell me right now NOT to use pipe thread anywhere (except where the h20 will be flowing through) then I'm taking this sucker apart now :D

[Player0]

Sorry for mentioning it now, what do I know about refridgeration? LOL

[Flybye]

Originally posted by Player0
Sorry for mentioning it now, what do I know about refridgeration? LOL
It's the thought that counts ;)

[Kabooka]

Synthohol is right on the mark - no tape - no putty - nada - just refrigerant oil on any o-ring fittings. The main reason is that systems run the compressed liquid through a very small orifice (expansion tube or capillary tube) to get the differential from high pressure to low pressure - that differential is what causes the change from liquid to gas, any bit of anything - tape, putty, solder, will clog that orifice and stuff stops working...

As for the vacuum you will be hooking up the gauge set on the high and low side - red gauge red hose high and blue gauge blue hose low - the center hose (yellow) is what you use to hook the vacuum pump to - start the pump and open both red and blue valves - pull a vacuum for about 30 minutes - turn off both valves and note the gauge - let it sit for a half hour and check the gauge - should be the same. That will check for any major leaks in the system. I then personally would pull a vacuum for another 90 minutes. Turn the valves off again - remove the vacuum pump -Then charge the oil and then charge the R134 through the HIGH SIDE if you are charging liquid. Or the LOW SIDE if you are charging gas.

Please don’t take this wrong - but you should really might consider some professional help on the live system for soldering fittings - the fit and finish is imperative to success - not only to prevent high pressure leaks - but any little solder balls inside of that compressor is going to really screw things up.


Chill on!!

[Flybye]

It's kinda funny actuallly. A few of the things you've mentioned I've thought about allready.
Originally posted by Kabooka
As for the vacuum you will be hooking up the gauge set on the high and low side
Some people have told me on the low side. Some people have told me on the high side. I said to myself this morning "Well heck, the gauges have 3 attachments. Why not hook up the low AND the high side together and suck from both at the same time!"
I guess commonsense prevails this time :)
Originally posted by Kabooka
Please don’t take this wrong - but you should really might consider some professional help on the live system for soldering fittings - the fit and finish is imperative to success - not only to prevent high pressure leaks - but any little solder balls inside of that compressor is going to really screw things up.
I won't take it the wrong way, and your help is certainly appreciated.

Just this weekend, while I was soldering my first valve to the vacuum pump, I was thinking "What if a bit of solder gets inside the compressor" I figured, well if it gets in there, it would immediatly harden within the piping.

My job came out a bit crude because I got impatient and began to torch up the solder as opposed to heating the piping and fitting first. I've done electrical soldering in the past, and it has come out quite nicely. Just gotta remember to sit there long enough and ensure the metal gets hot enough to melt the solder itself and not heatup the solder directly with the flame.

You got me even more paranoid with the solder in the compressor thing. If you strongly believe this is a possibility, then I'll just find a shop to do it for me. I can't imagine someone charging more than $20 just to weld on 2 valves onto extremely easily accessible piping.

Originally posted by Kabooka
Synthohol is right on the mark - no tape - no putty - nada - just refrigerant oil on any o-ring fittings.....
Check :thumbsup:
No nada anywhere.
I have no o-rings on the SS fitings cuz they are of compression type, but the brass ones are the ones that worry me, but I guess they shouldn't. The brass fittings, including the side of the SS fittings that attach them to the heat exchanger, all have beveled threads. So I guess the tighter I go the tighter the seal.


Originally posted by Kabooka
...pull a vacuum for about 30 minutes....
OK. In my testing, I noticed the vacuumpump/compressor acting kinda funny when it reached about 10-15 in hg. Eactly HOW much vacuum am I supposed to put into the system?

Originally posted by Kabooka
Chill on!!
I'm trying I'm trying :D

[Flybye]

Ok, since the unit is extremely small, I COULD just put it upside down to solder the valves almost eliminating the possibilty of solder balls!

[Flybye]

Today was VERY frustrating. This is gonna be long. So if ya gonna read it, get some popcorn, a soda pop and sit down.

I decided to do a little bit of hunting for an AC shop, I went to an area populated with various warehouses.

Stop #1 Sorry, but I can't touch it since it doesn't have fittings.

Stop #2 I don't have a torch.

Stop #3 All my guys with torches are out on the road

Stop #4 Well that looks interesting! Let's see what we can do. Stop #4 guy seemed helpful, and he had an ASE certified sign outside his shop. He was mostly a general mechanic which was also equipped with AC equipment. He first looks at my valves with, which looks like 1/8" or less, piping. "How am I supposed to attach these to the 1/4 piping on your unit?" he asks. I told him the store I bought the valves from told me to simply crimp up the hose a bit and use solder around it. The guy started laughing. He sent me over to an AC supply store around the corner to get new valves.

Ok no biggie. I went around the corner and got the new valves. The valves had 1/4" piping. Problem is, they were EXACTLY 1/4" piping and were the same size as the piping on the unit. Hows that gonna hook up if one needs to be at least slightly bigger than the other in order to be able to weld the two together!

So I take the new valves back to the mecahnic. He looks at it with a puzzled face and says "Well, I'm gonna have to try something to make em fit." Expanding it didn't really work. He then procedded to remove the pipe from the actual valve itself in order to attach the valve directly to the 1/4" piping on the unit.

It seemed to have fit rather well. Then I see him whip out thin solder which looks like the type commonly used on electrical components. "That looks a bit thin" I say. "Well, don't worry. It's silver solder. It will hold up well when cooled down" Ok, who am I to question an ASE mechanic, right?

He gets a propane torch and begins to barbeque the metal away. The solder is so thing, that it instantly melts just touching the blue of the flame. He begins to melt the solder and applys it to the valve, which is currently right side up. It looks a bit thin, and I asked him "You sure this won't leave solder balls? I'm paranoid about them getting in the system." He assured me it won't.

He pressure tested it, and was loosing a little vacuum, so back to the work bench we went. This time, we held the unit upside down in order to get more solder around the edges of the valve. He soldered away some more. Then we moved the unit right side up again.

"Oh look, a little solder ball" he says. I look into the valve stem and sure enough, a little solder ball :aargh!: I asked him "I thought you said it wasn't going to leave any solder balls." He told me the only reason why it developed there was because the valve was upside down, and the solder was able to wedge itself in.

I wasted nearly an hour there. I had just taken a shower and was completly sweaty again. I hate sweating. I told the guy forget it, that I will attempt to get the proper valves once AGAIN for the 3rd time. I had previously asked him what he was going to charge so that I can go to the ATM and get the cash out. He knew I had almost no cash on me, and so I offered him $5 for his time and trouble. All I actually had on me was $7.

I was reluctant to give him anything since the possibility now exists that he messed up my system by allowing solder to get into it.

Anyways, I wanted to try something. I got one valve with a 1/4" pipe attached to it. I went to Home Depot and picked up a compression pipe coupling. Got home, and attached the valve to the one cut pipe on the unit. Took it down to 10in HG vacuum. After about 1/2 an hour, it leaked a hair. I tightened the fittings a bit more, and now took the vacuum down to 15in HG.

Let's see what happens now after a half an hour....

[tripodal]

dude it sounds like you will have solved ur problem as you speak. Give the guy a little credit. At least he tried, when the other dudes all blew you off right?

[tripodal]

Oh yea, he also verified several ways to NOT do it :)

[Flybye]

Originally posted by tripodal
dude it sounds like you will have solved ur problem as you speak. Give the guy a little credit. At least he tried, when the other dudes all blew you off right?
I'd rather have someone tell me they can't do it as opposed to trying and making a mess.

I appreciate his help, but not at the expense of my hardware.

I guess I'm just irritated by all the running around I've been having to do. It would be nice to go to one shop, and have them give me everything I need.

It's so difficult finding a good shop these days :rolleyes:

So far, the best shop has been the Aeroquip distributor. Within 5 minutes, the guy had measured all my fittings, hunted down the parts in his warehouse, and came back with everything I needed which consisted of 12 individual little pieces.

[Flybye]

:)

Does this look normal? Maybe the vacuum stabalizing itself from one side the other since I'm currently only pulling vacuum from the high side as a test, or is it a leak?

I'm leaving it connected all day, too.

[Flybye]

Here's the compression coupling I was talkig about. Perhaps I should just dump solder all around it?

[nitan]

This is looking sweeeeeet.

Will be keeping an eye on this for sure.:)

[Synthohol]

the ultimate "vacumme" is 29.5 inches of negative pressure (vacumme) then add refrig to the low side, also unless there is a label, you add to the low side while the comperssor is on the min/max pressures should be on a label somewhere. when it is fully working, count on 2-300 pound of pressure on the high side about 30-90 on the low (rough est) ideally is when your evaporator is at the lowest temp, stop adding refrigerant. pretty simple mostly.
if you cant get 29" of vacumme, there may be a leak or your device that sucks down the system.

i gotta go to work or i would explain further:)

[Flybye]

The compressor kept sucking vacuum. I just stopped at 20in hg as a reference to see what would happen.

Tonight I'll see if it will go down to 29in hg.

Today, I also picked up the CORRECT fittings to attach the 1/4" piped valves to the 1/4" piping on the unit. Of course, I'll post pics tonight :)

Synth, I've heard simply get the pressure up to about 35psi on the low side. This other guy told me "Just had freon till it gets cold. If you add too much, it will start warming up then simply bleed some out"

Like you said, it's pretty simple mostly. just wait till it get's its coldest. I'll just attach my thermometer to the evap when I'm filling er up.

[Flybye]

Today..............has been a good day. Well most of it :)

Store #1: Remeber the first valves that I got? They had 1/8" pipe attached to them. The guy at the shop saw my unit, and I didn't question him as to why they had such a small pipe. He told me "Just crimp your pipe and fill it up with solder" Okee dokey....

Store #2: I exchange the 1/8" pipe valves for some valves with 1/4" piping. Great! Same size, now how am I going to attach them to my unit...

They sell the valves with 1/4" piping but don't sell the 1/4" coupligs. Go figure :rolleyes:

Store #3: They have the couplings!!
http://bellsouthpwp.net/f/l/flybye/Chiller/DSC00798-1.jpg
Out of curiousity, I ask them if they sell the valves with 1/4" piping, and they tell me no. Good thing I allready have them :D

Got home today and started fitting everything together. I think my welds came out 500% better than before :)
http://bellsouthpwp.net/f/l/flybye/Chiller/DSC00803-1.jpg

Personally, it looks like that coupling could use a little more solder, but couplings all around the unit have similiar amounts of solder, so I guess I won't worry :)

So far, so good :)
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00802-1.jpg

After a few hours, I was only able to pull this much vacuum:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/f/l/flybye/Chiller/DSC00799-1.jpg

Synth, ya told me 30, but my compressor can't pull anymore. If it's critical that I reach 30, then I'll go to a shop and have them vacuum it out. Otherwise, you know what's next ;)

I'm sleepy. I have to wake up in 3 hours to go to work. I was anxious to finally put the heat exchanger on. I may endup putting the r134 now just to see how low it will go. I gotta make sure I have no leaks, though...

[unacceptable_risk]

wicked project FB, following with interest:cool3:

[Flybye]

Originally posted by unacceptable_risk
wicked project FB, following with interest:cool3:
It would be even more wicked if I didn't keep going into speed bumps :mad:

Well, it has a leak. I know it's not my solder jobs because I had vacuum tested those before I put the heat exchanger on. So it has to be one of the fittings, but they are all nice and tight. I didn't trust the fittings from the moment I installed the first test compression fittigs and realized it leaked.

I only got down to a lil over 25in hg, and then it took a lilttle over 2 hours for air to get back in.

Do you guys know if the r134 with the stop leak would affect the r134's efficiency? I DID find this special paste you apply to threads in a refrigerant system which is supposed to prevent leaks, but taking every little fitting back off will be a PITA.

[Synthohol]

then it took a lilttle over 2 hours for air to get back in. never let the air back in, you add the refrigerant while its under vacumme, never let air back in:) it defeats the purpose

[Kabooka]

OK - my thoughts are that the compression fittings may be the problem, but you may want to pressure test the heat exchanger as well - just to rule it out.

Then you may want to go to a flare fitting on the copper instead of the compression fitting.

One step at a time - slow and easy!

[Flybye]

Originally posted by Synthohol
never let the air back in, you add the refrigerant while its under vacumme, never let air back in:) it defeats the purpose
Well DUHH LOL
I guess you misunderstood me. I let it sit to see if it had a leak, and being that the vacuum was gone in 2 hours, it DOES have a leak.

I'm dumb but not stupid :P Don't worry, once I know there is no more leak, I will vacuum it and IMMEDIATLEY there after load it up with r134 :)

[Flybye]

Originally posted by Kabooka
OK - my thoughts are that the compression fittings may be the problem, but you may want to pressure test the heat exchanger as well - just to rule it out.

Then you may want to go to a flare fitting on the copper instead of the compression fitting.

One step at a time - slow and easy!
I'm gonna buy the UV r134 with dye tonight and the little UV light.

I want to see EXACTLY where it's leaking from. No sense in going from one fitting to another when all it could be is the coupling where the pipe is attached to the compression ring.

I gotta admit though, I'm getting a little impatient.

You guys didn't comment on my improved solder job, so I guess it must be really crappy :O

[Kabooka]

You guys didn't comment on my improved solder job, so I guess it must be really crappy

Your pics aren't showing up. I tired to go directly and got this


Access Denied. Bandwidth limit exceeded.

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Choose the Plan That's Right For You

[Flybye]

Couplings

[Flybye]

Solder joints

[Player0]

Remind me to beat the next person who comes here and says how easy phase change is. ;)

[Kabooka]

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! lots more better solder joint :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:

[Flybye]

Originally posted by Kabooka
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! lots more better solder joint :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:
Thanks :)

Here's my first R134 refill test
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00805-1.jpg
Fluctuating between 1 & 2F/-16.67 & -17.2C
Low Side: 3psi
High Side: 130psi
Compressor feels kinda warm to the touch.

I can actually hear the leak, and it's coming from one of the top brass couplings. Tomorrow, I will try to pick up the UV light to see exactly the points of leak.

Ok you AC guys, gimme your opinions about something........................Propane :)
Would you suggest the switch?
Why or why not?

[Flybye]

And yes, I know I'll have to tweak the system again once I have it attached to running water :)

[Flybye]

Well, I finally found that stupid little leak.
Sorry for the poor picture quality. It wasn't easy holding the UV light in one hand and focusing and manually light adjusting the camera with the other.

It's good to know my preschool solder job held up :D

[Flybye]

Was able to get a vacuum of about 28.5-29in HG. I guess compressor couldn't pull anymore. I let it sit for a couple of hours and no more leaks :D

Charged it back up, and after a little tweaking, I got the evap down to -2F/-18.9C.
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00813-1.jpg

The Low side has a pressure between 0-2psi. Load with hair drier it goes up to about 4-5psi. High side is between 100-110psi. I have no clue what will happen once water is attached to it. I guess we will wait and see :)

I keep wondering.......how long will a compressor last if it is kept on 24/7? I WOULD like to have it cycle on and off, but currently I have no idea how quickly would the water temp rise once everything is put together. The compressor get's pretty warm. I'll probably end up installing some heat sinks on it.

Hey AC guys, tell me what you think about the pressures and possible compressor life. It's a 1/5hp.

Man I keep thinking about how easy it would be to change out the compressor for a better unit....

[WesM63]

I don't have a clue about designing a phase system. I would suggest PMing baker18 or bowman1964 at Xtreme Resources to see what they have to say about it.

[Flybye]

Danger Den goodies recieved today :)
1)Eheim 1260 600gph Pump
2)iNTEL TDX CPU copper block
3)Chipset block. Shown with Lucite top, but DD is sending me the copper top to use.
4)Filler port
5) Arctic Silver stuff

Now about the missing GPU block.......

DD told me they are working on an X800 block that will cover GPU & RAM. ETA is not known at this time. I'll wait on it.

So what's left?
I want to tweak the refrigeration unit a bit more, and am currently searching for the best possible pressures, and what I might be able to do to my capillary tube, I gotta pick up some neoprene and pick up the tubing and any missing adapters.

Synthohol & Kabooka, if you guys can answer these questions, I'd appreciate it :)


With pressures of 100psi on high side and 0-2 on the low side, I will get a fluctuating temperature on the evaporator between 0 and -5. When I add more r134, the temp on the evap goes up, of course pressure on high and low side go up, but I always notice once pressure on the low side goes down again, the evap gets colder.

From what I understand, you want higher pressure on the high side to further liquify the r134, and you want a lower pressure on the low side. Right or wrong?

1) If I add more r134 raising my temps to may maybe 5F or 10F, will my heat load increase?

2) What if I were to slightly BEND the cap tube causing a bit more restriction? In my own little theorized world, this would restrict the r134 causing a higher pressure on the high side and causing a lower pressure on the low side. Of course, if I bend it TOO much, there is no going back, and I'll have to replace the damn thing making me start from square one. What do you guys think?

[Flybye]

http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00835-1.jpg

[tripodal]

It looks awesome man.

I do know that ive seen the pressures of "properly working" ac on cars at 110psi low side and 360 high side

Other than the more different they are the better i cant tell you.

The higher the tems get inside the system the more the pressure will go up.

[Flybye]

Thing about AC car systems is that they can NOT freeze. Otherwise air won't flow through the evaporator. Thus they need to have a higher low side pressure.

From all my little experimentation, and from what I have read on the net, the lower the low side pressure is, the colder it will get. Now I just simply need to have these guys answer my little question about the cap tube.

I've just about had it actually. I found a $65 book that explains the entire refrigeration process, and also even explains how to properly size your cap tube.

You know, this is NOT the end :D I'll have this running for a couple of years or so, and in the meantime I'll be looking out for another project which will consist of everything in one box. Maybe a server box. Not sure yet.

[Kabooka]

Originally posted by Flybye

Synthohol & Kabooka, if you guys can answer these questions, I'd appreciate it :)


With pressures of 100psi on high side and 0-2 on the low side, I will get a fluctuating temperature on the evaporator between 0 and -5. When I add more r134, the temp on the evap goes up, of course pressure on high and low side go up, but I always notice once pressure on the low side goes down again, the evap gets colder.

From what I understand, you want higher pressure on the high side to further liquify the r134, and you want a lower pressure on the low side. Right or wrong?

1) If I add more r134 raising my temps to may maybe 5F or 10F, will my heat load increase?

2) What if I were to slightly BEND the cap tube causing a bit more restriction? In my own little theorized world, this would restrict the r134 causing a higher pressure on the high side and causing a lower pressure on the low side. Of course, if I bend it TOO much, there is no going back, and I'll have to replace the damn thing making me start from square one. What do you guys think?

It's kind of convoluted but basically it all acts together.

A system is designed to hold so much refrigerant for the purpose it is designed to do.

So say you fill it up with that designed amount - for the sake of argument 1 pound.

The design of the system will determine the high and low pressures at the ideal charge. Say 100 and 10.

Lowering the amount of charge will reduce the low side - and the resultant temperature - but at the risk of starving the pump of gas to compress and supply the high side for evaporation (resulting in bubbles in the high side) which will increase your temperature.

Conversely adding refrigerant will increase the high side, - adding too much will also increase the low side beyond ideal and increase temperature.

So what’s the answer? The expansion point (Cap tube) in your application - you want to find the sweet spot between charge - high pressure - low pressure and correct cap tube size that optimizes your system....

Enough liquid in the system that will balance liquid / gas with a gate ( cap tube ) that lets enough refrigerant through to effectively cool your application (Remove the Heat) at the temperature you desire....

Here is a link with some temp guidelines at different pressures and vacuum that may help


LINKY (http://www.glacierbay.com/ptchart134a.asp)

And yes... I'd advise against kinking the cap tube makes for a hell of a mess when it cracks ... :D

[Flybye]

Wow, so judging by that chart, if I am able to develop 10in HG on the low side,and also having a high enough pressure on the high side, the r134 will evaporate at -30.60 :eek:

Ok, so in order to do that, I would need a longer and/or smaller cap tube to create a higher restriction, right?

And for the magical question of the day.....
How the HECK do I calculate the cap tube size!!! I frekin can't find the answer to that anywhere!!

[Flybye]

Kinda risky but I have an idea.....

Take a small u-clamp that I have that has a screw adjustable end, and in small increments press on the cap tube.

What ya think?

[Da-key]

MY setup sports a mini fridge!
I am closely watching your process as I am embarking on a simialr pursuit at the moment.
THe minifirdge was my first undertaking and needs some improvement. I get temps of 9C at boot up but they SOuth after a few hours.


NICE !!




http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/AeroSquid/JuicedPC.jpg

[Kabooka]

Originally posted by Flybye
Kinda risky but I have an idea.....

Take a small u-clamp that I have that has a screw adjustable end, and in small increments press on the cap tube.

What ya think?

I think that the kink would be permanent... but if you are ok with replacing an oops .... ya never know till you try :eek:

[Da-key]

I cant believe it. I had a major brainfart. I took a few parts from around the house and made a 4 gallon block of ice in 12 minutes.
Plus I have a nice chassis to house my pump and whatever else. I am sure anyone could do it IT is SO simple. The whole process took me about 1hr from the time i invented it to the time it made the 4gallon ice block. Trust me I havent even thought of this before I posted last. I guess you could say i got over that hump and will be replacing DA RIG with DA RIG II after testing 48 hours.
Ill put a pic on here later tonight and see what ya think fly by. Seeing everything in action in your thread sent my synapses into motion. Much appreciated and I will be sure to repay you in kindness. Keep up the hard work!!!

1 more thing Hella nice forum!:321:

[Drake]

:D:DWELCOME:D:D to Liquid Ninjas, Da-key!

[Flybye]

Originally posted by Kabooka
I think that the kink would be permanent... but if you are ok with replacing an oops .... ya never know till you try :eek:
Well yeah...of course it would be permanent :P

But if I was able to kink it enough without closing it..........Would it POSSIBLY work?

[Flybye]

Originally posted by Da-key
...... Seeing everything in action in your thread sent my synapses into motion. Much appreciated and I will be sure to repay you in kindness. Keep up the hard work!!......
Nice to be inspiration. Thanks for the comments :D

Your rig looks great :thumbsup:

Mine doesn't do pretty.....only funtional :P I just have a black case. Nothing special about it. The case the entire refrigeration system will be in is even more plain than that.

Oh and Welcome :D

[Flybye]

Originally posted by Player0
I like mcmaster, they have lots of everything.
Yes. Yes they do, and they are about to become my new best friend for fittings :)

The eheim has 3/4 female NPT.
The heat exchanger has 1/2 female NPT

They acually don't have a 1/2" male NPT 45 degree elbow. It starts at 3/4" So....I'm gonna have to buy a 1/2" male
NPT to 3/4" male NPT adapter, get the 3/4" female NPT to 3/4" male NPT adapter, and then use a barbed 1" with a 3/4" female NPT

The pump is gonna have a 3/4" ID hose connecting it to the heat exchanger.

I'm trying to stay away from 90 degree bends, so we will see how it works out :)

[Flybye]

Just a few more Home Depot Supplies

http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00836-1.jpg

http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00838-1.jpg

The thicker the better to prevent Kinkage!!
Is Kinkage even a real word :P

[dicki]

i've decided you can add the suffix -age to nearly any word... try it and see! even "cabbageage" works...

[illmatik]

Yeah, any Descendants fan already knows that.

coolage cameage bikeage

[Flybye]

Well, it looks like the lowest I'll be able to get with this thing is 0F.

I tried crimping the cap tube, and DAMN that booger is tough!! I even bent the rod at the end of my clamp trying to crimp it down. Oh well, so much for that idea.

I guess the reason I got -5f before was because of the damn leak I had on the low side :rolleyes: It makes perfect sense to me now.

I guess 0f/-17.8C is a good starting point for this little project, right? :)

I can actually buy a direct replacement 1/4hp compressor that will bring down the R134 to about -40F/-40C, BUT it's only got a BTU rating of 1020. Kinda a big iffy there. If this heat exchanger works as efficiently has its supposed to, then that may be my next upgrade idea. And when I upgrade the compressor, I'll will certainly play around with the idea of installing a precision needle valve.

[Kabooka]

I'd say that's pretty respectable - the real test is how cold and how fast the water will chill - It'd be neat to hook up a pump and resi to the chiller and see how long it takes to bring hot coolant (water and anti freeze mix) to sub freezing....

Great work!!

[Flybye]

Originally posted by Kabooka
....Great work!!
Thanks :)

As a test, I'm thinking of buying a cheapo pot, mixing the antiifreeze & water, warming up to 80F, hooking it up to the unit while still on the stove and letting her rip.

[Flybye]

Slightly proper insulation helped a bit. Slightly in the sense that it DID help out, but the heat exchanger is still sweating. I used mutliple layers of 1/8" Neoprene. I might have to step up to 1/2" inch. I'll play around with it some more to see if I can get it at a satisfactory level.

Kids remember..........Insulation is a must :thumbsup:

-8F/-22.2C

http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=500/2974DSC00860-2.jpg

[EQarigon]

Hey dont leave me hangin, whats going on! :D

[Flybye]

Hehe sorry :D

Been really busy with school lately. I'm taking a Calculus 8 week course and a Calculus2 8 week course. I'll have a little bit more time this weekend.

But here is what has happened the past couple of weeks:
1)I've reinsulated the heat exchanger with 1/2" insulation.
2)I painted the cabinet that will house the compressor unit and heat exchanger.
3)I installed wheels at the bottom of the cabinet to make it easily slidable across the floor.
4)I just received a nice little dual sensor thermometer from ebay that will be reading my before and after freon temps on the heat exchanger.
5)Installed an OCZ 520w PSU. Which I will also be doing a nice review on :)

This weekend I'm going to try to find some time to splice up the sensors on the thermometer so that I can easily disconnect it if need be, and maybe finally install the compressor in the case with the eheim.

I also had to create a small pan to hold the heat exchanger to prevent it from wiggling around.

Some pics this weekend hopefully :)

[Flybye]

I shall be throwing a major fit pretty soon.
Here's what has happened:

The compression joints are VERY sensitive. While insulating it, I accidentally moved the heat exchanger a bit TOO much causing a leak at the compression fitting. I had to take the entire thing apart, buy new fittings, vacuum, repressurize it, the whole fun. I had to find a plate to attach to the unit to hold up the heat exchanger, and I will also have to contruct some type of vertical holder to prevent it from wiggling back and forth. If another leak springs, I am going to have to solder the compression points. More fun :(

Now the damn electric fan isn't working :mad: I have to take half the unit apart, yank the motor out, and take it to the AC warehouse around my house and hope they have an equivalent replacement. More money.

Well on a positive note, I got an A in my 8 week Calculus coarse :D Not that anyone cares, but school is the reason why I've slowed down on the project. I have EVERYTHING I need to complete this. Now it comes down to finding the time to replace the fan motor and getting it all together.

Well............lmost have everything. I still need the Danger Den X800 GPU and RAM water block that is still in development.

[Cobra]

More pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Flybye]

Sorry for anyone who has been waiting for an update.
Life has gotten really complicated lately and haven't even been able to touch the project.

But here's a small update :D
I now have my P4 3.4EE running at 3.6 on air (for now ;) )
I got myself a Lian Li case as a late personal Christmas gift.

I'm itching to get everything in the case, and at the same time, I'll be insulating my MB............now that I finally have the CPU I've been wanting :D. If things go well, I might be able to see speeds of 4ghz+

So yeah, things are finally starting to slowly roll again.

[Synthohol]

btw, after re-reading this i want to point out is that the reason auto AC doesent freeze is because of the refridgerant oil in the system keeping the freon or r-134 from sticking to the sides of anything causing a blockage:)

[Flybye]

Well that's good to know :)
I thought it was just simply because of the selected pressures it had.

[Flybye]

Well....where do I start :D

Things have been pretty crazy lately, and I'm sorry or not updating this, but here goes :)

After finally putting everything together, I was getting CPU idle temps of about 7C. This was using DangerDen plate #4 (the one with the little holes). At CPU usage of 100%, my CPU was reaching temps of around 17C. Not exactly the temps I was looking for, so I decided to change out to the plate #2 (the one with the largest single hole), and my CPU temp was <10C at full load!

On air, I was only able to get the 3.4EE up to 3.6. On the cooled water, I was only able to get up to 3.8. For all this hardwork, this was obviously unacceptable results. I started reading around the internet for possible reasons.

Apparently, the P4P800 gives an unstable amount of Vcore at 100% load. I decided to inspect my Vcore and sure enough, the vcore was fluctuating by almost .10v. I then decided to do the Vdrop mod. This little mod consisted of soldering an adjustable voltage regulator between 2 points on the motherboard. The points were EXTREMELY small!! I had to end up buying a new soldering iron and shaving the tip down.

The mod worked and certainly made a differance. I was able to slowly take the 3.4 up to a 4.35ghz. I probably would have been able to make a gain of 1000mhz if I would have played around with the memory settings a bit more. But it was good enough for a Super Pi of 30s :D

It would have been nice to benchmark the system a bit more and actually be able to play games with it but the worst came........ my NB block ran a leak. I was dumb enough to not tighten enough the fittings on it. It sprung a leak, water fell into the AGP slot, and completly toasted the AGP slot and my X800XT PE. In the process, my OCZ 520w also got toasted. Everything just came crashing down at once.

With a fried AGP slot and fried video card, I figured I'd use this chance to upgrade. I ended up selling the 3.4EE and getting an FX-53. My Gigabyte X800 was sent in to Gigabyte, and they will soon be sending me my replacement card. I also ended up getting a BFG 6800 Ultra OC OCed to 450mhz.

All these nice new items found a new home in a DFI LanParty NF4 SLI motherboard.

Now I'm deciding to do the same with the FX-53 or not. Condesating proof the hoses and the blocks was a real nightmare. Doing the same to the GPU would be a mission because of the limited spacing for the insulation around the block and fittings. I was hitting less than 10C, and that was enough to cause major condensation. Enough to cause small leaks around the hoses that were not insulated.

But for now, I'll be on air on the new system :) If I wouldn't have had that little leak, I'd probably be playing my UT with my 4.4ghz EE :D I'm certainly happy with the results I got out of the cooling system. A drop of almost 50C was certainly enough to be able to push the Northwood 3.4 (allready at its limits) all the way to almost a 4.4ghz. Who knows maybe if a vdimm mod and more tweaking, I may have been able to get it up to 4.5ghz

I'm hoping a drop in temperature would give me at least another 500mhz with the FX-53. I'm allready using it on air at 2.5 (stock 2.4) but my temps are currently at 50-55 at full load. I'll probably end up doing it again.

Condensation is nothing to play around with. Thankfully, the damage was not caused by condensation, but by a leak I was careless enough to not tighten.

[Flybye]

Here is the last screen shot I have. The Meltdown] occured as I reached some of my higher numbers. Oh well. No pain no game LOL

http://www.liquidninjas.com/bbs/attachment.php?attachmentid=1981&stc=1

http://www.liquidninjas.com/bbs/attachment.php?attachmentid=1980&stc=1

[Synthohol]

thank you for the update:)

[nitan]

damn dude, thats unlucky. Sounds like you had a good time tho!!

Good luck with the new setup.

[Flybye]

Should have mentioned something else....
The Home Depot Tubing gets as hard as a rock when close to 0C!!!

The Tygon tubing is rated to stay flexible down to about -45c.

[Kopfschuss88]

thats crazy lol. i like the fact that all your temps said 0 :P