Jump to content

Can you you submerge a PC in distilled water?

SleinT
 Share
Posted

I recently got rid of my fish, and now I have a 10 gallon fish tank on my hands. I also have an old computer that I built a while ago that still runs Windows XP. I was wondering if I could combine to the two to create a submerged computer. My main question is whether I can use distilled water instead of mineral oil and if my old computer will be OK with it. Any tips or suggestions? 

 

Thanks! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Distilled water = Clean Water = No

Faust water =  Chemicals + Water

 

Distilling water doesn't make it magic.

 

you need mineral oil of some sort.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I recently got rid of my fish, and now I have a 10 gallon fish tank on my hands. I also have an old computer that I built a while ago that still runs Windows XP. I was wondering if I could combine to the two to create a submerged computer. My main question is whether I can use distilled water instead of mineral oil and if my old computer will be OK with it. Any tips or suggestions? 

 

Thanks! 

Lol nope. It doesn't work like that water can become conductive. Oil isn't really conductive.

NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER STOP LEARNING. DONT LET THE PAST HURT YOU. YOU CAN DOOOOO IT

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I recently got rid of my fish, and now I have a 10 gallon fish tank on my hands. I also have an old computer that I built a while ago that still runs Windows XP. I was wondering if I could combine to the two to create a submerged computer. My main question is whether I can use distilled water instead of mineral oil and if my old computer will be OK with it. Any tips or suggestions? 

 

Thanks! 

No, fairly sure it will become conductive after a while and short everything out

Gaming PC: CPU: i7 4770k@4.2GHz w/ CM Nepton 140xl, GPU: Gigabyte 1070 @2050, RAM: ADATA XPG V1 16GB@2133MHz, Mobo: MSI Z97 Gaming 7, Case: Corsair NZXT S340.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Mineral Oil Only breh

My Rigs:

Gaming/CAD/Rendering Rig
Case:
 Corsair Air 240 , CPU: i7-4790K, Mobo: ASUS Gryphon Z97 mATX,  GPU: Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 970, RAM: G.Skill Sniper 16GB, SSD: SAMSUNG 1TB 840 EVO, Cooling: Corsair H80i PCPP: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/b/f2TH99SFF HTPC
Case:
Silverstone ML06B, CPU: Pentium G3258, Mobo: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WiFi, RAM: G.Skill 4GB, SSD: Kingston SSDNow 120GB PCPP: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/b/JmZ8TW
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Distilled water = Clean Water = No

Faust water =  Chemicals + Waters

 

Distilling water doesn't make it magic.

 

you need mineral oil of some sort.

Water is a chemical.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Technically distilled water is not conductive, but once you put anything in it (dust, metals from the computer, etc) it will become conductive and will fry your computer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Water becomes conductive over time and corrodes/erodes electrical circuits.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Water is a chemical.

can't Tell if trolling or not.

but to clarify i meant all the OTHER chemicals  + Water with it, yo know how they put things in the water to make us "better" and keep it bateria free

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Lol nope. It doesn't work like that water can become conductive. Oil isn't really conductive.

thats because metals atoms are polar and water is polar but oil is non polar. and polar dissolves in polar while non polar dissolves in non polar 

yay honors chem

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

can't Tell if trolling or not.

but to clarify i meant all the OTHER chemicals  + Water with it, yo know how they put things in the water to make us "better" and keep it bateria free

I'm not trolling. It is classified as a chemical, just like everything else. Yes, the additives.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I'm not trolling. It is classified as a chemical, just like everything else. Yes, the additives.

Thats the word i was looking for :).

I ment trolling in the part that you clarrifed that water is a chemical, 

:D

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I'm not trolling. It is classified as a chemical, just like everything else. Yes, the additives.

 

I think OP just wants a mineral oil that is clear so that he can see his parts?

Open your eyes and break your chains. Console peasantry is just a state of mind.

 

MSI 980Ti + Acer XB270HU 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I think OP is talking about De-Ionized water... But yeah it slowly picks up conductivity form your electronics and will short.

Intel I9-9900k (5Ghz) | Asus ROG Maximus XI Formula | Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR4-4133mhz | ASUS ROG Strix 2080Ti | EVGA Supernova G2 1050w 80+Gold | Samsung 950 Pro M.2 (512GB) + (1TB) | Full EK custom water loop |IN-WIN S-Frame (No. 263/500)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I recently got rid of my fish, and now I have a 10 gallon fish tank on my hands. I also have an old computer that I built a while ago that still runs Windows XP. I was wondering if I could combine to the two to create a submerged computer. My main question is whether I can use distilled water instead of mineral oil and if my old computer will be OK with it. Any tips or suggestions? 

 

Thanks! 

In a perfect clean room environment without a spec of contamination and with pure H20, and with absolutely no traces of anything on the components, yes it would work.

 

In the real world? No. The moment the water touches anything even as minor as the random particles in the air it picks up ions and becomes conductive. This may not happen in an instant but it WILL happen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for the replies everyone! Glad to know that I should not do this, inless I want a dead computer. Any other suggestions on fluids? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

novec 7000.  actually reaches its boiling point and flashes to a gas cooling your components.  More expensive than mineral oil and a bit more work it seems (never done it myself) but it does not get your components all oily! it evaporates off pretty quick and runs like water

 

 

snip

Thanks! 

 

LTT Community Standards                                               Welcome!-A quick guide for new members to LTT

Man's Machine- i7-7700k@5.0GHz / Asus M8H / GTX 1080Ti / 4x4gb Gskill 3000 CL15  / Custom loop / 240gb Intel SSD / 3tb HDD / Corsair RM1000x / Dell S2716DG

The Lady's Rig- G3258@4.4GHz(1.39v) on Hyper 212 / Gigabyte GA-B85M / gtx750 / 8gb PNY xlr8 / 500gb seagate HDD / CS 450M / Asus PB277Q

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

can't Tell if trolling or not.

but to clarify i meant all the OTHER chemicals + Water with it, yo know how they put things in the water to make us "better" and keep it bateria free

If I wanted to be a smartass, it's a chemical compound. I think. IDC, it's going for 1:30 in the morning.

But it would quickly and swiftly kill that computer. You could technically submerge it in this 3M liquid which is clear like water and won't short anything (you can apparently run a low power Core i3 without a heatsink if you make a little condensation and cooling thing.

EDUT: @0ld_Chicken beat me to it lol

Main rig on profile

VAULT - File Server

Spoiler

Intel Core i5 11400 w/ Shadow Rock LP, 2x16GB SP GAMING 3200MHz CL16, ASUS PRIME Z590-A, 2x LSI 9211-8i, Fractal Define 7, 256GB Team MP33, 3x 6TB WD Red Pro (general storage), 3x 1TB Seagate Barracuda (dumping ground), 3x 8TB WD White-Label (Plex) (all 3 arrays in their respective Windows Parity storage spaces), Corsair RM750x, Windows 11 Education

Sleeper HP Pavilion A6137C

Spoiler

Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.4GHz, 4x8GB G.SKILL Ares 1800MHz CL10, ASUS Z170M-E D3, 128GB Team MP33, 1TB Seagate Barracuda, 320GB Samsung Spinpoint (for video capture), MSI GTX 970 100ME, EVGA 650G1, Windows 10 Pro

Mac Mini (Late 2020)

Spoiler

Apple M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB, macOS Sonoma

Consoles: Softmodded 1.4 Xbox w/ 500GB HDD, Xbox 360 Elite 120GB Falcon, XB1X w/2TB MX500, Xbox Series X, PS1 1001, PS2 Slim 70000 w/ FreeMcBoot, PS4 Pro 7015B 1TB (retired), PS5 Digital, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Wii RVL-001 (black)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I've actually heard that pure water -  I'm talking semiconductor mfg. pure water is basically like a solvent.  Will strip your hands of oils and dry them out.

 

I still want to get my hands on a glass of the stuff and drink it.

Workstation:  13700k @ 5.5Ghz || Gigabyte Z790 Ultra || MSI Gaming Trio 4090 Shunt || TeamGroup DDR5-7800 @ 7000 || Corsair AX1500i@240V || whole-house loop.

LANRig/GuestGamingBox: 9900nonK || Gigabyte Z390 Master || ASUS TUF 3090 650W shunt || Corsair SF600 || CPU+GPU watercooled 280 rad pull only || whole-house loop.

Server Router (Untangle): 13600k @ Stock || ASRock Z690 ITX || All 10Gbe || 2x8GB 3200 || PicoPSU 150W 24pin + AX1200i on CPU|| whole-house loop

Server Compute/Storage: 10850K @ 5.1Ghz || Gigabyte Z490 Ultra || EVGA FTW3 3090 1000W || LSI 9280i-24 port || 4TB Samsung 860 Evo, 5x10TB Seagate Enterprise Raid 6, 4x8TB Seagate Archive Backup ||  whole-house loop.

Laptop: HP Elitebook 840 G8 (Intel 1185G7) + 3080Ti Thunderbolt Dock, Razer Blade Stealth 13" 2017 (Intel 8550U)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 years later...
Posted

You can clean your PC with destiled water, just make sure everything is out of power like condensor from several components arround the PC, just let the thing sit until is fully discharge and make sure is completly dry once you clean all the dust (is a risk I would not take to be honest, blowing air allready clean everything just fine). For cooling your PC use mineral oil, even the best destiled water with quimical could get dirty over time and become semi-conductive and just shot-circuit your components, oil on the other hand won't mix with dirt as easy as water and will remain none-conductive. I honestly not aprove on oil rigs, is dirty enough to the PC components if you don't even mention the posibility of making a mess if your fish tank brake at any point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 year later...
Posted
On 5/29/2018 at 7:32 PM, Christophe Corazza said:

You know this is a thread from 2015, right?

yes

why my computer broken :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
9 hours ago, Jokey Carrot said:

yes

 

Wonderful!

 

Now that we’ve established this observation, we can try to draw some conclusions.

 

You know… back here in Belgium, we have a Dutch saying. Translated into English, it goes something like this:

“Trying to retrieve old cows from a ditch.”

 

Don’t ask me why cows… or how the hell they ended up in a ditch… The saying just popped into my mind when reading your comment. ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing Custom Loop and Exotic Cooling

×