Watercooling For A/C?

FroTo · June 28, 2014

Hey guys,

Well, as the title suggests, I'm thinking of re purposing some spare water cooling parts to make an air conditioner in the house. Just as people originally made computer water cooling out of car parts, and regular tubing. (radiators for example) I want to use computer water cooling parts for air conditioning.

Before I explain myself I want to go ahead and say. This project in no way whatsoever will be "you can buy X for cheaper and Y is too overdone and you can do the same for Z". This is basically one of those "Why the heck not" kind of projects.

To tackle this project,

-I will be heading on over to home depot and grabbing some wood, acrylic, joints,screws, etc. The Box will be completely custom.

-I will have all my parts housed in this one box (IE: Radiator, Pump, Tubing, and isolation)

-I will use Ice and water as the coolant,

-The Box being used will approximate in 12-15" long and more than 6" Wide.

-Insulation will be used to prevent condensation.

So, I face a few problems here after thinking of this.

-Will the pumps be able to handle temperatures of plus/minus zero degrees Celsius? (There is no explicit info on any manufacture's website about this)

-How comparable is the speed of pump of a computer water cooling pump to an aquarium pump? And acoustics. ( In general )

-I know Tap water has some significant effect on components in the loop. Will it be that significant? (I will replace the water in between each use)

-If Tap water poses a problem, I will fill the box with distilled water, and then place a bag of ice in that water.

-Any other suggestions would be awesome too.

So, I think that's about it.

If you have read up to this point, I give you my thanks, I wasn't sure if this was an appropriate question for this place.

Thanks in advance,

FroToast : D

airdeano · June 28, 2014

So, I face a few problems here after thinking of this.

-Will the pumps be able to handle temperatures of plus/minus zero degrees Celsius? (There is no explicit info on any manufacture's website about this)

-How comparable is the speed of pump of a computer water cooling pump to an aquarium pump? And acoustics. ( In general )

-I know Tap water has some significant effect on components in the loop. Will it be that significant? (I will replace the water in between each use)

-If Tap water poses a problem, I will fill the box with distilled water, and then place a bag of ice in that water.

-Any other suggestions would be awesome too.

1. you will need to prepare the coolant for low temperature use as it will freeze and

subsequently destroy the pump as it pumps water not ice or slush.

2. the rpm varies between models and manufacturers. acoustically, the mounting

and bleeding procedure is mostly to blame for pump noise.

3. tap water contains evil nasties that when heat is applied and removed can support

algae and microbial growth. you can freeze distilled water, as it doesn't have

impurities to slow the process. the pH level can also affect the internals depending

on location.

for "dirty" testing using tap water is fine, just as long it is not the final choice/solution

to use. the impurities, metals and properties of tap water is not best to enclosed

cooling solutions.

Peopie · June 28, 2014

If I recall correctly, don't air conditioners work by compressing a type of refrigerant, such as R134a? I don't think the pumps we use for watercooling are capable of compressing liquid to air conditioning levels.

Maybe you could look into using refrigerants for your liquid rather than any sort of water and ice. But I would recommend using safe ones, such as Ammonia or Carbon Dioxide.