Watercooling Reservoirs

[MpG]

*Headdesk*

When you started asking questions about the size and material, and then posted that pic... I immediately jumped to the "logical" conclusion, that you were going to make the entire bottom one big reservoir (aka aquarium-style), which is why I posted those suggestions. Ah well, they're still valid.

Mind, forgetting to put a proper drain on a 20-gallon square water tank is something that'll REALLY make you speak in tongues when the time comes to change the water!

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by MpG

*Headdesk*

When you started asking questions about the size and material, and then posted that pic... I immediately jumped to the "logical" conclusion, that you were going to make the entire bottom one big reservoir (aka aquarium-style), which is why I posted those suggestions. Ah well, they're still valid.

Mind, forgetting to put a proper drain on a 20-gallon square water tank is something that'll REALLY make you speak in tongues when the time comes to change the water!

You know to be honest.. I've seriously contemplated doing that! And tossing in a goldfish hahahaha but only half of it cause I need room for the pump and rad + fans still :P

Water would never be really warm enough to kill the fish... it was just a matter of.. ugh cleaning it hahaha.

Would have to invest in a few quick disconnects to make that work.

[Jack Rabbit]

I am pretty sure I saw that article on the guy who used his pool as a reservoir too. (Here is a link on successful evaporative cooling - Nuclear Tower Water Cooling. Not for normal use but still interesting.)

The pool would give basically infinite capacity to dissipate heat. My question is how much water is necessary to achieve this? I really like the idea of a quiet computer and would like to build a system to get the noise level down as much as possible for normal operation.

I remember a HOWTO written some 10 years ago when water cooling meant building your own blocks from chunks of copper. The author had dug a hole in his basement floor and installed a 20 gallon tank of some kind. Then he ran pipes up to his computer. The pump was in the basement so it ran almost silently. The system had no rad. There was enough water in the reservoir and the earth was cool enough (even in summer) that it could dissipate the heat fast enough.

I am not about to do the kind of plumbing necessary to achieve either of these feats; I do not have a pool to start with! I would not mind setting up a very large resevoir. Something the size of a fish tank would doable. I would not mind turning on the fans when gaming or otherwise maxing out the processors but I would like it to be very quiet when doing low power activities. I wonder how fast would a pair of 2L soda bottles heat up if the rad fan was not in operation.

[DK2]

Obviously, that guy was single….

[enaberif]

*bump*

How well does stainless steel hold up in a loop with copper?

I'm assuming it'd be fine as barbs are stainless or are they nickel plated?

[DK2]

Fine I would guess,
In my house I have copper pipes and stainless tubs, taps and such are nickel and brass, etc…

Stainless steel may be best for a reservoir though, it’s used a lot in the food industry.

[lowfat]

BTW you'd never want fish in the same loop as the rest of your waterblocks. You'd have it so gummed up damn quickly. An aquarium is a cool idea and all, but you'd need it completely seperate.

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by enaberif

*bump*

How well does stainless steel hold up in a loop with copper?

I'm assuming it'd be fine as barbs are stainless or are they nickel plated?

I'm pretty sure the last pair of barbs I picked up the a PA 120.1 were nickel plated rather than stainless. That said... it was copper underneath anywise :) .

[vinister]

Originally Posted by lowfat

BTW you'd never want fish in the same loop as the rest of your waterblocks. You'd have it so gummed up damn quickly. An aquarium is a cool idea and all, but you'd need it completely seperate.

Solution? Just use a rad, and dump the rad in the fish tank. Put one of those bubblers under it, it will look cool and keep the water flowing.

[Phobia]

Originally Posted by vinister

Solution? Just use a rad, and dump the rad in the fish tank. Put one of those bubblers under it, it will look cool and keep the water flowing.

no no, the fish "crap"*literally* will go into the rez and rad and everything