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View Full Version : A typical refrigerator, what can it do?



dmiles@users.so
01-07-2008, 07:09 AM
Ok if i put my motherboard in mineral oil and in a cat litter box and if i stuck cat litter box in the mini frigde/feezer, and put fans to stir the oil alot .. would that supply good cooling?

Actually the question might be more to:
If I stuck three 100watt lightbulbs always on in a freezer and left it there all day. And opened the freezer.. Would it feel warm or cold?

Lowrider
01-07-2008, 08:03 AM
Ok if i put my motherboard in mineral oil and in a cat litter box and if i stuck cat litter box in the mini frigde/feezer, and put fans to stir the oil alot .. would that supply good cooling?

Actually the question might be more to:
If I stuck three 100watt lightbulbs always on in a freezer and left it there all day. And opened the freezer.. Would it feel warm or cold?

It all depends! What capacity of fridge/freezer you use!

dmiles@users.so
01-07-2008, 08:29 AM
It is a 1.7cf Haier's Cool Color Cube Refrigerator/Freezer

Full-width, slide-out wire shelf
Full-width and half-width door storage shelf
2-liter bottle storage
Reversible 2-liter interior shelf
Half-width freezer compartment with ice cube tray
Manual defrost
Adjustable thermostat
New recessed door handle
Coil back
Capacity: 1.7 cu. ft.
Basically the cheap 66$ Walmart Dorm Fridge.

We are trying to understand if we should get a better system like a top opening freezer game hunters use.

Or if i should buy a 40 year old frig from the local newspaper for 25$.

The 300watt question is to find out if I am going to have to do alot of customizing like taking the cooling system out of a victemized frig and putting the vital bits in the oil to cool it off.

Or if my system can be shared with my wife to store food.

The MG Pony
01-07-2008, 05:03 PM
you will have to compleatly rebuild it. Basicaly only thing you get is the compressor the rest is garbage.

dmiles@users.so
02-07-2008, 12:46 AM
you will have to compleatly rebuild it. Basicaly only thing you get is the compressor the rest is garbage.
"the rest is garbage"

It seems like you can buy all sorts of refrigerators/drink coolers/horizontal freezers for 40$ and under in the newpapers.

If I buy one and remove all he cooling hardware (carefully) could it be a matter of just putting the barbs into the oil and then looking for frost points to insulate.

So the rest isn't garbage, is there some specs i can ask about before buying to make sure it's sufficient for use?

Are air conditioners better since they excpect insanely longer duty cycles?

Will a water cooler burn out after a month of running 18/7 ?

Are refrigerators/freezers inherently weak due to the fact they are expected to only work on cooling off a box of air once it gets too warm and can take their sweet time at doing so?

-Thank you

The MG Pony
03-07-2008, 07:01 PM
No the rest is garbage. You need fare more cooling then the steel condencer can give, the internal evap is of no real use.

Larger the fridge more cooling capacity, but to use it on computers we have to modify the condencer to one of higher capacity.

really for what tools and such will cost you best to pay for a premodded one.

alpha
11-07-2008, 08:15 AM
I think the key thing here is going to be the capacity of the fridge. I have in the past toyed with domestics with average to poor success and if your mini fridge is something similar to what I have it will not do a very good job at cooling a computer or you oil. I have never used oil for the cooling medium but have tried putting motherboard inside the refrigerated space aswell as chilling water and pumping that to cpu. The conclusion I came to was don't waste the time, either buy something with adequate cooling capacity or, better still and even more fun build something afresh or modify what you have.

Good luck, happy playing and let us know how you get on..

Blaster
06-08-2008, 12:58 AM
...it will not hold the constant load the computer (.. or bulbs) will produce.

Home fridges are not designed for this kind of load.

knighty
27-08-2008, 12:46 AM
I skipped a few posts.... but I did this myself years ago !

had my motherboard submerged in 10gal (uk gal) of oil at -30'C.....

it worked "ok" ish.... (i was only 14 at the time... it was a bodge job!)

once the oil starts to get cold, it gets really really thick.... you end up with a "pool" of hot oil around the cpu area while the rest of the oil is freezing....

no way will a fav move it.... and you'll need a GOOD powerfull pump to move it... even a little bit!

for mine, I took the freezer equipment from one freezer, then choped the top (freezer section) from the top of a fridge freezer and lay it on it's back... to make a nice big cool box :-)

SkyWalker
11-10-2008, 05:02 PM
for mine, I took the freezer equipment from one freezer, then choped the top (freezer section) from the top of a fridge freezer and lay it on it's back... to make a nice big cool box :-)


bet the compressor stayed lubricated for a long time??? :rolleyes:

how long did this "bodge" run for?

The MG Pony
14-10-2008, 07:33 PM
bet the compressor stayed lubricated for a long time??? :rolleyes:

how long did this "bodge" run for?

I'd wager for a good long time as the internal gas voloucity should sweep the oil along nicely, how ever the efficiency is some thing to be feared!