running a mining rig inside a mini fridge

[ondratra]

O.M.G. I want his aquarium :D looks amazing

[Kluge]

Forget cooling the air unless you live on or in the sun. It's much more cost-efficient to just blow more air (or liquid) in from outside over the heat sinks. You want heatsinks with lots of fins made of a material very able to conduct heat, you want effective thermal paste (I hear mayonnaise outperforms a fair number of proprietary pastes...), and you want a lot of air moving over the heat sink. You want to move heat, not create cold -- no reason to snub the fine ambient-temperature air you already have (again - unless you live on or in the sun).

The absolute last thing you want to do is restrict airflow to the device, even if the air which is still able to move over the device is colder.

[cryptopi]

#4: yes, I believe it would be saner

[johnniewalker]

Wow! so much good stuff here I don't know where to begin...so I guess I'll begin in the 24th and a half century:

Kryoniks?  Really? I think those guys really think the world is full of Homer Simpsons Peter Griffins cause basically those are the only people that would fall for that load of crap!  Mine bitcoins AND litecoins at the SAME HASHRATE with the SAME HARDWARE while MAKING NITROGEN?!?!?  How about a holodeck too while you're at it?

(2 minute pause while I laugh my ass off)


01BTC10:
Thanks for the feedback and I think you're right...but what's with the diagram of the refrigeration system?


Everyone else who said the compressor would burn out
Thanks, I thought as much, but having a consensus removes any doubt...


pekv2
Great link...thanks...That example with the room temp coke bottle illustrates the point beautifully.  
So why don't you like linking over there?  Article seems well written and thought out...


pand70

Condensation it's not a problem as long as your motherboard works while submerged into oil.

Not even the same thing...Mineral oil is not electrically conductive (as water is) so it doesn't short out circuits...just makes them all greasy ...case in point, all electrical transformers like the ones hanging on utility poles use Mineral oil for coooling.

This is how you really do it though if you're interested:




RichG
I'm assuming that is a sketch of an enclosure?...what are the dimmensions? Can't get a good mental picture from your sketch...



So the bottom line definitely the custom built enclosure would be the way to go.  With adequate airflow as was mentioned.  I already have a crazy design idea in mind for the cabinet...just a matter of building it...

Thanks all for the feedback.

LMFAO you should put a couple fish in there!

[raze]

LMFAO you should put a couple fish in there!

You can find the cooling performance and everything else for this beast here. It's a pretty good read

EDIT: "Under full load with Prime 95 (16 threads) and FurMark (multi-GPU mode), our test system pulls a staggering 820W from the wall! That is a lot of heat to dissipate. We used Antec tri-cool fans on the radiator, and we tested the system with the fans on low speed (very quiet), and on high speed (no so quiet). Even with the fans on low, the system maxes out at just over 60C." Jealous yet? I know I am!

[mprep]

LMFAO you should put a couple fish in there!

You can find the cooling performance and everything else for this beast here. It's a pretty good read

EDIT: "Under full load with Prime 95 (16 threads) and FurMark (multi-GPU mode), our test system pulls a staggering 820W from the wall! That is a lot of heat to dissipate. We used Antec tri-cool fans on the radiator, and we tested the system with the fans on low speed (very quiet), and on high speed (no so quiet). Even with the fans on low, the system maxes out at just over 60C." Jealous yet? I know I am!

So is it possible to put fish in there or not? 

[raze]

LMFAO you should put a couple fish in there!

You can find the cooling performance and everything else for this beast here. It's a pretty good read

EDIT: "Under full load with Prime 95 (16 threads) and FurMark (multi-GPU mode), our test system pulls a staggering 820W from the wall! That is a lot of heat to dissipate. We used Antec tri-cool fans on the radiator, and we tested the system with the fans on low speed (very quiet), and on high speed (no so quiet). Even with the fans on low, the system maxes out at just over 60C." Jealous yet? I know I am!

So is it possible to put fish in there or not? 

I'm going to say no, 60C is quite warm.

[mprep]

LMFAO you should put a couple fish in there!

You can find the cooling performance and everything else for this beast here. It's a pretty good read

EDIT: "Under full load with Prime 95 (16 threads) and FurMark (multi-GPU mode), our test system pulls a staggering 820W from the wall! That is a lot of heat to dissipate. We used Antec tri-cool fans on the radiator, and we tested the system with the fans on low speed (very quiet), and on high speed (no so quiet). Even with the fans on low, the system maxes out at just over 60C." Jealous yet? I know I am!

So is it possible to put fish in there or not? 

I'm going to say no, 60C is quite warm.

Ohhhh...

[brooklynite]

LMFAO you should put a couple fish in there!

You can find the cooling performance and everything else for this beast here. It's a pretty good read

EDIT: "Under full load with Prime 95 (16 threads) and FurMark (multi-GPU mode), our test system pulls a staggering 820W from the wall! That is a lot of heat to dissipate. We used Antec tri-cool fans on the radiator, and we tested the system with the fans on low speed (very quiet), and on high speed (no so quiet). Even with the fans on low, the system maxes out at just over 60C." Jealous yet? I know I am!

So is it possible to put fish in there or not? 

I'm going to say no, 60C is quite warm.

Hey its been over 8 months already, is the oil BOILING yet?

[gogxmagog]

I think the BTCminifridge is a great idea. I have similar technology for making soup with the radiator in my apt.
first get a can of campell's cheese soup
remove lid
place on radiator
wait half hour
voila

[compro01]

It will not work.

4.  Would it just be saner to build a 6foot x 3foot x 3foot insulated cabinet and use a small window A/C to pump cold air in or is this just as crazy?

This is a much better idea.

Most minifridges I've seen don't use phase-change for cooling like full-size fridges.  They use a peltier effect system.

Put your rig in this:



Sorry, forgot to crop image!  

I'd recommend sticking a furnace filter between the box fan and the case, otherwise that much airflow is going to make for dust problems.  Conveniently, a 20x16" filter is almost exactly the size of the side panel of most ATX midtowers and a 25x20" is about right for a full tower.

[apsvinet]

I support the mini fridge idea to 1000%. Please provide us with pictures of your progress, or perhaps a video blog.
I need them for…research..

[cookiemonsterwhat]

Wow! so much good stuff here I don't know where to begin...so I guess I'll begin in the 24th and a half century:

Kryoniks?  Really? I think those guys really think the world is full of Homer Simpsons Peter Griffins cause basically those are the only people that would fall for that load of crap!  Mine bitcoins AND litecoins at the SAME HASHRATE with the SAME HARDWARE while MAKING NITROGEN?!?!?  How about a holodeck too while you're at it?

(2 minute pause while I laugh my ass off)


01BTC10:
Thanks for the feedback and I think you're right...but what's with the diagram of the refrigeration system?


Everyone else who said the compressor would burn out
Thanks, I thought as much, but having a consensus removes any doubt...


pekv2
Great link...thanks...That example with the room temp coke bottle illustrates the point beautifully.  
So why don't you like linking over there?  Article seems well written and thought out...


pand70

Condensation it's not a problem as long as your motherboard works while submerged into oil.

Not even the same thing...Mineral oil is not electrically conductive (as water is) so it doesn't short out circuits...just makes them all greasy ...case in point, all electrical transformers like the ones hanging on utility poles use Mineral oil for coooling.

This is how you really do it though if you're interested:




RichG
I'm assuming that is a sketch of an enclosure?...what are the dimmensions? Can't get a good mental picture from your sketch...



So the bottom line definitely the custom built enclosure would be the way to go.  With adequate airflow as was mentioned.  I already have a crazy design idea in mind for the cabinet...just a matter of building it...

Thanks all for the feedback.

LMFAO you should put a couple fish in there!

Damn, that looks so awesome lol.

[nitehawk]

Wouldn't it be cheaper just to buy a portable ac unit?

[ahmedjadoon]

Naughty idea but don't think it would work.