Best Liquid Cooling System

Word up fellow miners. We're getting pretty serious down here with our mining operation and are tying a few extreme cooling methods to keep shit from getting too hot. Just fishing for advice from any cats that got experience.

Anyway, we experimenting with full PC immersion in organic fluids to conduct heat. We tried olive oil and lard and are now thinking of ethanol, the first two were nasty as fuck and them PCs would no way get resold afterwards. Smelt like a goddam fast food joint in PC form. Ethanol is much nicer if we can take care of them fire hazards and shit with appropriate care and caution.

Anyone got ideas up in here?

Quote from: bonker on August 30, 2011, 09:02:19 PM

Have you tried using a fan?

It's called 'hot and cold aisles' and it's been 'extreme'ly effective in most datacenters for one reason: it's dead simple.

HOT || rig || COLD || rig || HOT
HOT || rig || COLD || rig || HOT
< air < air air > air >

Exhaust the HOT aisles properly and you've solved your problem.

Now just to be a dick, I'll scrutinize some more!

Olive oil??

You must've seen the mess coming Tongue

Most crazy enthusiasts use mineral oil instead - it's a hell of a lot cheaper too.

ETHANOL?!

You must've seen the explision and flames coming Tongue

Electricity + flammable liquids = inevitable disaster.

Sure, submerged in ethanol is probably fine as, like gasoline (petrol) it's the gasses that are actually combustible rather than the liquid. Still, there are far better options.

I think you're going to have trouble selling any components that have been submerged in anything other than plain old air.

Have you tried mineral oil?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtufuXLvOok

Quote from: wildboy211 on August 31, 2011, 03:11:48 AM

Have you tried mineral oil?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtufuXLvOok

Without a radiator and fans, even the mineral oil will eventually get wicked hot.

Fill your hottub with mineral oil and submerse the PC in it. Don't turn the hottub on.

You have failed to utilize the most potent and interesting organic fluid. How's about you come over to my place and I get you started, little lady.

Quote from: Spotswood on August 31, 2011, 04:08:11 AM

Quote from: wildboy211 on August 31, 2011, 03:11:48 AM

Have you tried mineral oil?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtufuXLvOok

Without a radiator and fans, even the mineral oil will eventually get wicked hot.

He can still have fans...not sure about a radiator - but i think he can.

How are you cooling the fluids? All the immersed pc stuff I have seen assumes limited duty cycles with long cooldown times in between. If you are running 24/7 you will need a way to cool the fluid. I would think you would be better off with a standard water cooling setup and it would not preclude eventual resale of the equipment.

Well, obviously a refrigerator would be the best option for cooling the liquid...I mean, it keeps my beers cold, right?

Quote from: bonker on August 30, 2011, 09:02:19 PM

It just came to me in a flash of brilliance, or perhaps my fingerless gloves just caught on fire while I was heating a spoon with a zippo:

Gravy.

Quote from: RandyFolds on August 31, 2011, 05:15:06 AM

Well, obviously a refrigerator would be the best option for cooling the liquid...I mean, it keeps my beers cold, right?

maybe they should use beer..

Quote from: RandyFolds on August 31, 2011, 05:55:35 AM

Gravy.

Even better.. but what kind to use? beef? turkey? or perhaps sausage breakfast gravy?

Quote from: Tim the Magician on August 31, 2011, 06:06:12 AM

Quote from: RandyFolds on August 31, 2011, 05:15:06 AM

Well, obviously a refrigerator would be the best option for cooling the liquid...I mean, it keeps my beers cold, right?

maybe they should use beer..

Quote from: RandyFolds on August 31, 2011, 05:55:35 AM

Gravy.

Even better.. but what kind to use? beef? turkey? or perhaps sausage breakfast gravy?

Sausage breakfast gravy is a no-go. Too lumpy. We need to find the thermal coefficient of beef vs. turkey gravy, as well as the ideal thickness for optimal cooling.

Does ordinary car engine oil work for cooling hardware without blowing anything up?

Quote from: RandyFolds on August 31, 2011, 05:55:35 AM

Quote from: bonker on August 30, 2011, 09:02:19 PM

It just came to me in a flash of brilliance, or perhaps my fingerless gloves just caught on fire while I was heating a spoon with a zippo:

Gravy.

Hey man, I appreciate your input and shit, but gravy? I mean I aint running no soup kitchen for the homeless with my mining operation.

Foodstuffs are generally out when it comes to organic fluid cooling, jam and shit is just nasty and doesn't work. Ethanol and benzine should work better apart from the fire and biohazard.

Don't use high strength ethanol for cooling! I distill alcohol and high strength ethanol is extremely flammable! It is very dangerous as it releases vapours as it evaporates and since it burns with an almost invisible flame it can be very difficult to see that your rig is on fire until the house is on fire. If you're that serious about cooling then hire a slave to keep topping up your pots with dry ice or look into some other form of refrigeration.

Quote from: SMOKEU on August 31, 2011, 10:48:29 AM

"hire a slave"

dude you can't hire slaves, that's the point. Could prolly get a couple of crackheads to keep your rigs maintained cheap though.

Wow this forum is going downhill

I wonder if using one of those fish tank filters which creates a sort of waterfall back into the tank would cool the fluid enough?

I think you would want to be sure you were using a fluid with a low vapor pressure to avoid exposing components through evaporation.. plus I wouldn't want to be breathing my cooling medium all the time.