Tapwater cooling?

[TTateRR]

So I was browsing the internet as always and a stumbled upon a post on a internet news site from Norway. So basicly the post was an experiment were they watercooled their Computer but without a reservoar, pump and radiator but instead they used a water tap.

 

The news site is called hardware.no and the original article is here http://www.hardware.no/artikler/ekstremkjoling-for-folk-flest/116746. And if you're not Norwegian you probably want to use google chrome's translate feuture. 

 

Benefits

 

The article starts with the guy naming the benefits of using this method. The 1th and most obvious is that it's cooler than most watercooling setups. This is because a normal watercooling rig can't be cooler than the room because that's where it gets it's temperatur from. But tapwater doesn't get it's temp from the room so it could run so much cooler. 

 

Tapwater cooling is also alot cheaper (atleast when you're starting out) because you don't need a reservoar, pump and radiator. The lack of this stuff also means that your rig can be more compact than a traditional watercooled computer.

 

Cons

 

So a tapwatercooled computer sounds amazing right? you acctually shouldn't do this at home and if you do this you probably just wan't it to be a temporarly thing. Even tough the pros are realy good the cons are so bad that you wan't to move away.

 

So the largest con with this is that if the system fails your computer will be destroyed, the reason for this is that it will be running constantly so if you get a leakage the resovare won't empty itself so it will just flood the computer case. 

 

The second con is that you need to have your computer in your kitchen or bathroom. And the 3th con they name is that the money you save can build up if you have to pay for you tapwater.

 

So thank you for sitting trough this entire Post and please check out the original one (http://www.hardware.no/artikler/ekstremkjoling-for-folk-flest/116746). And before you go I wan't ypu to know that i'm sorry if my english is terrible, i'm from Norway so english is not my 1th language.

[coen113]

water is cheap. just cheap.

i love ghetto mods like this

[helping]

And how do they plan on getting a block that resist corrosion? 

 

The stuff in tap water would probably chew right through any normal block let alone the tubing. 

[Tea1337]

Just imagine the amount of wasted water, where I live water isn't that cheap per gallon, but I would rather use my money and buy a loop that won't waste water. Or Just put the radiators and fans in a  deep freeze for cooler temps.

[Darth Vader]

So the largest con with this is that if the system fails your computer will be destroyed, the reason for this is that it will be running constantly so if you get a leakage the resovare won't empty itself so it will just flood the computer case. 

 

That's not the worst of it. Actual liquid coolants use either distilled water or an oil based coolant that is chemically formed by a covalent bond, both of these options are not really electrically conductive. So if there was a leak all over your hardware, they might survive.

 

Tap water is not distilled. It has added minerals (which are important to our body) and some other contaminants (mostly irrelevant to our body) however, these things make the water a lot more conductive, and if it spills on hardware, it's pretty much destroyed. 

[TTateRR]

That's not the worst of it. Actual liquid coolants use either distilled water or an oil based coolant that is chemically formed by a covalent bond, both of these options are not really electrically conductive. So if there was a leak all over your hardware, they might survive.

 

Tap water is not distilled. It has added minerals (which are important to our body) and some other contaminants (mostly irrelevant to our body) however, these things make the water a lot more conductive, and if it spills on hardware, it's pretty much destroyed. 

 

I know, that's what I said.

[Luckris]

So I was browsing the internet as always and a stumbled upon a post on a internet news site from Norway. So basicly the post was an experiment were they watercooled their Computer but without a reservoar, pump and radiator but instead they used a water tap.

 

The news site is called hardware.no and the original article is here http://www.hardware.no/artikler/ekstremkjoling-for-folk-flest/116746. And if you're not Norwegian you probably want to use google chrome's translate feuture. 

 

Benefits

 

The article starts with the guy naming the benefits of using this method. The 1th and most obvious is that it's cooler than most watercooling setups. This is because a normal watercooling rig can't be cooler than the room because that's where it gets it's temperatur from. But tapwater doesn't get it's temp from the room so it could run so much cooler. 

 

Tapwater cooling is also alot cheaper (atleast when you're starting out) because you don't need a reservoar, pump and radiator. The lack of this stuff also means that your rig can be more compact than a traditional watercooled computer.

 

Cons

 

So a tapwatercooled computer sounds amazing right? you acctually shouldn't do this at home and if you do this you probably just wan't it to be a temporarly thing. Even tough the pros are realy good the cons are so bad that you wan't to move away.

 

So the largest con with this is that if the system fails your computer will be destroyed, the reason for this is that it will be running constantly so if you get a leakage the resovare won't empty itself so it will just flood the computer case. 

 

The second con is that you need to have your computer in your kitchen or bathroom. And the 3th con they name is that the money you save can build up if you have to pay for you tapwater.

 

So thank you for sitting trough this entire Post and please check out the original one (http://www.hardware.no/artikler/ekstremkjoling-for-folk-flest/116746). And before you go I wan't ypu to know that i'm sorry if my english is terrible, i'm from Norway so english is not my 1th language.

 

Also someone would just turn the water to hot, then overheat everything. :3 

[orangecat]

Tap water has allot of impurities that can cause rusting and other nasty stuff in a loop I would never use tap water unless I had a old dirty car rad laying around and was going to use that but i would not use a nice PC rad and a nice block.

[TTateRR]

Tap water has allot of impurities that can cause rusting and other nasty stuff in a loop I would never use tap water unless I had a old dirty car rad laying around and was going to use that but i would not use a nice PC rad and a nice block.

As I said I would not recomend anyone to do this, I just wanted to show the creactive article from hardware.no who didn't recomend doing this either.

[Ghost]

Something along the same lines; You could probably set-up a loop connected to a very large tank of water that wouldn't need radiators in the loop.

[Darth Vader]

I know, that's what I said.

 

No, you did not outline that tap water is a lot more electrically conductive than actual PC liquid coolants. You just said "flooding" is the biggest issue here. But really, you can flood, even submerge your entire PC (other than hard drive and optical disk) into a liquid coolant, and so long as it is nonconductive, everything should be fine.  

[B NEGATIVE]

And how do they plan on getting a block that resist corrosion? 

 

The stuff in tap water would probably chew right through any normal block let alone the tubing. 

Nope.

Potable water is also in copper pipes,why would you think that tap water would eat blocks?

 

That's not the worst of it. Actual liquid coolants use either distilled water or an oil based coolant that is chemically formed by a covalent bond, both of these options are not really electrically conductive. So if there was a leak all over your hardware, they might survive.

 

Tap water is not distilled. It has added minerals (which are important to our body) and some other contaminants (mostly irrelevant to our body) however, these things make the water a lot more conductive, and if it spills on hardware, it's pretty much destroyed. 

 

All fluids become conductive over time,any spill on powered kit normally ends up destroyed

 

Something along the same lines; You could probably set-up a loop connected to a very large tank of water that wouldn't need radiators in the loop.

 

This.

I have seen this implemented in a variety of ways,big geoloops that are buried in the garden to 3000 ltr IBC containers,it works very well but is less than practical. Much like bong coolers.

[helping]

why would you think that tap water would eat blocks?

It was an assumption, I've never given it much thought

 

I'd still be cautious of all the crap that's in my tap water. 

[Ghost]

This.

I have seen this implemented in a variety of ways,big geoloops that are buried in the garden to 3000 ltr IBC containers,it works very well but is less than practical. Much like bong coolers.

People with rainwater collection tanks could do this. In fact I was talking to someone a while ago who was considering it.

[Darth Vader]

All fluids become conductive over time,any spill on powered kit normally ends up destroyed

 

Not really. This is (mostly) limited to distilled water coolants (suppose to oil based coolants) and It certainly wouldn't be as drastic as using tap water, unless you're the kind of person who doesn't clean his water block for years upon years.

[B NEGATIVE]

Not really. This is (mostly) limited to distilled water coolants (suppose to oil based coolants) and It certainly wouldn't be as drastic as using tap water, unless you're the kind of person who doesn't clean his water block for years upon years.

They do,simple fact. Even glycol coolants suffer from this eventually......btw,glycol is not an oil,there are no oil based coolants available,oil would be detrimental to pump performance and have a lower thermal carrying capacity.

 

Always work under the premise that the coolant is conductive.