Submerging an entire pc in isopropyl alcohol?

[Somerandomtechyboi]

just randomly got curious about submersion cooling pcs cause boredom and curiosity

 

Mineral oil is the go to but its messy and expensive

 

Novec is actually purpose designed for submersion cooling but its expensive asf

 

But when reading the Wikipedia page for ispropyl alcohol it looks like its non conductive in pure form and freezes at -89c, not to mention a liter of the stuff (99% IPA) is only around 1$, its cheap and doesnt make a mess, it even freezes at a really low temp so if i really wanted to i could cool the thing to subzero temps

 

 

Now the question is why isnt isopropyl used instead of mineral oil? I mean yes it needs a dessicant to get any water out but other than that its dirt cheap and it even accomodates subzero cooling

 

Im genuinely considering building one (and will probs do so anyways) just for shits and giggles and because subzero cooled submersion pc

[Aidan M.]

pretty sure most  ispropyl alcohol is not 100% pure and it can be hard to find. 

like generic dollar store ones are like 80% and rest is water or whatever and that is the issue

[Levent]

One would assume its very obvious but its not the first time I am surprised by the threads here. IPA is a solvent, it will dissolve shit, its also not like that alcohol and its vapors are dangerious too.

4 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Im genuinely considering building one (and will probs do so anyways) just for shits and giggles and because subzero cooled submersion pc

If you are considering dying for shits and giggles, seek help.

[Aidan M.]

also its incredibly flammable. so any sparks or anything maybe a loose wire will mean your whole house is on fire. 

alc is amazing fire starter... think moltovs etc lmao

[Somerandomtechyboi]

5 minutes ago, Aidan M. said:

pretty sure most  ispropyl alcohol is not 100% pure and it can be hard to find. 

like generic dollar store ones are like 80% and rest is water or whatever and that is the issue

Online store

And i can verify that my alcohol isnt rubbish since even a tissue remains mostly dry and same goes for paper, doesnt rip easily either like if it were dry

 

Sure not 100% but its almost there, just needs some dessicant

 

4 minutes ago, Levent said:

One would assume its very obvious but its not the first time I am surprised by the threads here. IPA is a solvent, it will dissolve shit, its also not like that alcohol and its vapors are dangerious too.

If you are considering dying for shits and giggles, seek help.

I mean i use it to clean boards sometimes and all the slots are fine after a spray down

 

I was envisioning more like a sealed off container with the alcohol fumes never getting out (for obvious reasons related to the pungent smell) and cooling happens via a liquid to liquid or liquid to gas heat exchanger, could be a regular ass car radiator on the other side for ambient or a used ac unit for subzero

 

And damn i never thought the fumes were that dangerous but maybe thats because i only inhale small amounts and immedeatly get repulsed by how pungent it is

 

7 minutes ago, Aidan M. said:

also its incredibly flammable. so any sparks or anything maybe a loose wire will mean your whole house is on fire. 

alc is amazing fire starter... think moltovs etc lmao

As for fires maybe ill just put the entire thing in a sealed box with some gas that dont allow fires like carbon dioxide or something

[Levent]

Just now, Somerandomtechyboi said:

I mean i use it to clean boards sometimes and all the slots are fine after a spray down

 

I was envisioning more like a sealed off container with the alcohol fumes never getting out (for obvious reasons related to the pungent smell) and cooling happens via a liquid to liquid or liquid to gas heat exchanger, could be a regular ass car radiator on the other side for ambient or a used ac unit for subzero

 

And damn i never thought the fumes were that dangerous but maybe thats because i only inhale small amounts and immedeatly get repulsed by how pungent it is

Once again, you respond with word salad. IPA is used for cleaning, there is no reason to stress that just to make the product feel less dangerous.

 

If you are going to build a stupid setup like that, there are MUCH better cooling methods to use. It is incredibly dumb to use IPA for using as direct contact cooling then proceeding to come with an idea like building a condensation chamber.

 

This whole idea will perform worse than a $100 chinese watercooling setup and will be as safe as using half filled plastic bottle with gasoline as an ashtray. Think on your ideas for more than 10 seconds and take your adhd meds.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

9 minutes ago, Levent said:

Once again, you respond with word salad. IPA is used for cleaning, there is no reason to stress that just to make the product feel less dangerous.

 

If you are going to build a stupid setup like that, there are MUCH better cooling methods to use. It is incredibly dumb to use IPA for using as direct contact cooling then proceeding to come with an idea like building a condensation chamber.

 

This whole idea will perform worse than a $100 chinese watercooling setup and will be as safe as using half filled plastic bottle with gasoline as an ashtray. Think on your ideas for more than 10 seconds and take your adhd meds.

Oh well

Would be interesting to try if i ever get the chance to do it somewhat safely

 

maybe just put some dice in it and see what happens

 

yo @LinusTech

If you run out of video ideas then heres a really stupid one to try out, and prefferably with subzero

[will0hlep]

3 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

yo @LinusTech

If you run out of video ideas then heres a really stupid one to try out, and prefferably with subzero

I'd like to see a video testing different options for PC submerion. I'd suggest doing it like the "items you had lying around" thermal paste video, although I'm not sure how many non conductive liquids most people have lying around in their homes.

[DeerDK]

if you do it, please film it.

For real though, it sounds like a firehazard. Electricity, heat development and an inflammable liquid that can turn into gas at sub 100 degrees C?

To paraphrase Zero Punctuation "Its like a puppy chewing on a fire extinguisher. I will love to watch it in a video but hate to have it in my house."

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 minutes ago, DeerDK said:

if you do it, please film it.

For real though, it sounds like a firehazard. Electricity, heat development and an inflammable liquid that can turn into gas at sub 100 degrees C?

To paraphrase Zero Punctuation "Its like a puppy chewing on a fire extinguisher. I will love to watch it in a video but hate to have it in my house."

I will film it if i ever get around to doing this for real

 

Apparently freezes at -89c so no sub -100c shenanigans but that kinda temp is unachievable anyways unless you go straight for ln2, now it makes sense why dice doesnt freeze it and it can be made into poor mans liquid nitrogen

[DeerDK]

3 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

I will film it if i ever get around to doing this for real

 

Apparently freezes at -89c so no sub -100c shenanigans but that kinda temp is unachievable anyways unless you go straight for ln2, now it makes sense why dice doesnt freeze it and it can be made into poor mans liquid nitrogen

i was more thinking in +temperatures (the concept of distillation). My layman take still is that it sounds rather risky having alcohol fumes and electronics close together.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 minutes ago, DeerDK said:

i was more thinking in +temperatures (the concept of distillation). My layman take still is that it sounds rather risky having alcohol fumes and electronics close together.

I mean it is vaporized fuel

Only takes a spark to make an explosion

 

Maybe not a violent explosion as in engines when compressed or when given an oxidizer but enough to maybe set some stuff on fire

 

Maybe in a sealed tank with no room for vapor so itll just be liquid IPA, probs would only work when the thing is chilled and running subzero so no vapors or atleast minimal vapors

[AnonymousGuy]

Pure alcohol evaporates hard.  So what's your plan for making a sealed enclosure that still has IO ports?

 

But in general if no one has done something it's almost always for a reason.  Probably no one wants to handle gallons of a volatile solvent when there's other stuff out there that is much safer.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

3 hours ago, AnonymousGuy said:

Pure alcohol evaporates hard.  So what's your plan for making a sealed enclosure that still has IO ports?

Isnt that just a matter of using some extensions?

 

Just make a hole for extensions then seal it off once extensions are in place so you still have i/o

[vsteel]

100% alcohol has a huge affinity for water and will pull it out of the air.  There is a reason that you don't see 100% pure alcohol in most things, it can't be distilled there has to be chemical means to separate that last few percent of water and alcohol.    So while you start out fine you soon will have enough water in the mix to cause issues.  Not to mention the solvent properties which will pull conductive things from various places on the PC causing conductive issues. 

 

And as mentioned you would need to have it in an air tight enclosure.

 

TLDR; bad idea.