Project: Tupperware!
OBJECTIVE:
Due to some rather unorthodox water cooling experimentation we blew up the pump resulting in an inoperable computer. Since we could not live without this computer, we had to find a way to get the CPU cooled and back online.
DISABLED SYSTEM:
ASUS P4P800-E DELUXE
P4 2.8 GHz, 478 socket
1 GIG Corsair VS Ram
ATI RADEON 9200
Maxtor 60 GIG HD
2 X Seagate 80 GIG HD
500W Aspire PSU
Poseidon WCL-03 water cooling kit
REASON SYSTEM DISABLED:
We thought it would be a good idea to try and see how icy cold we could get a Pentium 4 processor. To do this obtained a large bucket, some ice cold tap water, some ice cubes, and some 3/8” tubing. We put the tap water in the bucket and into the freezer it went for 5 minutes. When we removed the ice water from the freezer we added the ice cubes. Next we removed the tiny reservoir from the existing WC rig and replaced it with our bucket.
Old tiny reservoir
We stuck the tubes into the bucket and fired the system up, no water was flowing! We saw quite a few bubbles floating around in the line so we decided to help siphon them out. We decided the best way to remove the air bubbles were to suck them out. I elected to execute this task and later found that drinking antifreeze is not good for your stomach. After we got the bubbles out the water started flowing well. We initially got the temperature down to around 26 degrees Celsius
Low temperature (before disaster)
The temperature stayed around 26 for about 10 minutes, and then all went bad. As you can see from the temperature chart, the temperature rose linearly once the pump started to fail. The maximum temperature reached before we decided to shutdown was 77 degrees Celsius.
High temperature (pump is dead)
We tried again and again to get the temperature to stay at a tolerable level to no avail. The temperature increased quickly twice and then just stayed around 70 degrees.
We have three theories on what happened to the water pump:
1. Ice cube was sucked into pump stalling it
2. Air was let into pump for too long resulting in pump RPMs going too high.
3. we have no idea how this works and the pump is actually fine
WATER COOLING BANDAID:
After we could not get the old pump working we came up with a quick fix. We went to Canadian tire in search of a landscaping pond pump. All the pumps at that store were at least $50 so that option was out. We ended up finding a submersible pump at a local pet store for $27. The pump is a 120V pump rated at 80GPM. After this we went back to Canadian tire to pickup hosing, “hose unions”, and a tube of Loctite plumbing adhesive/sealant. The Tupperware container was picked up at a dollar store.
All the goods + A rounded UV reactive IDE cable for good measure
Once we rounded up all the parts we figured we needed we started assembling. First on the list was the new reservoir. Since we bought a submersible pump the old reservoir would not work (to tiny to hold pump). We melted two holes into the lid of the Tupperware container by heating up the hose unions with a lighter and pressing them in. we then used the sealant around the holes to make them water tight.
Two holes with unions Sealed tight
After the lid was made we decided to do a test run of the pump without the lid to save us disconnecting hoses in case something went wrong.
…After thought, open water in computer case……not a bright idea
since we didn’t have the money or time for a new water block on the processor we decided to use the old pump for a water block( it was a pump/water block combo). To use this as just a water block and not a pump, we removed its impeller and unplugged it
Crappy little impeller = bad water flow
So now the system has been tested and water block is running fine we decided to put the lid on and seal the unit up. We ran a hose from the inlet port of the container to one corner and another hose from the outlet port to the opposite corner. We figured this would produce the best cooling due to the increased distance the water had to travel.
Looking kind of spiffy now, no?
Everything is now into place; we connected the unit to the radiator and water block. And took it for a test spin
oopsy, we forgot something
After starting up the system everything seemed normal, but we still got the feeling that something was missing……..AH YES, anti-freeze. We topped it up with some anti freeze and started it up again.
There we go. that looks better.
Everything is up and running now, here are the new posted temperatures: