El Doug

I was actually researching a soda fountain for home use. when i discovered how they work, i figred "why not put this in a PC". but just sticking it in a PC (or more likely sticking a PC in the fountain) is rather lame. but i have discovered u actually CAN cool your computer with mountain dew if you so choose! sure its incredibly inefficient and the soda will taste like crap, having lost carbination, but what the hey - it can be done.

was thinking id get a p2 fileserver box - they seem to be wide enough to allow for a SMALL box-syrup style dispenser to fit in the side. not sure what id do with the CO2 tank and carbinator yet, but thatll come to me once i research the actual parts id be using in detail

without going into too much detail, the water from tap is run through a carbonator (adds CO2), through a coldplate, and to a set of regulators that add syrup, and dispense the soda. im going to have to call some experts first, but i am wondering how much the chemistry would be altered if i chilled the water AFTER carbonation. sure, less CO2 would get into warmer liquid, however i want to add the regulated syrup BEFORE it goes through the cold plate. in essence have the soda mixed properly, pass across the coldplate, go through PC cooling loop, back into coldplate, and out the spout.

some kind of fancy plumbing would also be required to keep soda flowing in a closed loop when the soda is not being vended - as long as i dont want it automatic, and am willing to flip a few valves, this should not be difficult at all.

aluminum blocks of course, as Carbonic Acid + Copper = poisonous soda, which i am not in the mood to drink.

is this even a viable mod to consider? will soda eat away at most tubing? is it worth $1000 after all computer parts, soda fountain, CO2 tank and refilling, syryosm and misc. plumbing? am i being stupid at 4am?

comments/tips/suggestions/slaps-to-the-face all welcome

Nerdz

Well AL doesnt rust like copper or iron does. It forms a layer which protects it against further rusting. Hmm, To keep it cold you could house the whole unit in a refigerator type unit, that way nothing get contaminated.

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El Doug

well, soda fountain cold plates come in 2 flavors - and both of these are integrated into the entire unit purchased

one uses ice that u refill roughly every 3 days to cool it down. the other includes a refigeration unit. more than likely, id go the route of the other one


rust isnt the issue inside of a waterblock - its the fact that copper + carbonic acid (which is in soda) = toxic chemical reaction

RBIEZE

Your very close to my dream Pc.
A Mountain dew slushy cooled pc.
And yes there are ways to pump slush,you'd just need a very large cpu block to accomodate the flow .
and of course a boatload of insulation.

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El Doug

slush would do hell on the pumps :S

but chilled dew would work. sure, it would work poorly. theres just something very romantic about the Dew cooling it instead of water that is mixed later

s1ugh34d

I'd love to use mountain dew to run the pc, it could be a heck of a advertisement "runs on mtn. dew"

I always wanted to try it in a a regular water cooling setup but it would eat the blocks away and the carbonation would kill it, but using the syrup would be different, no carbonation and with high flow it could work well.

i have this strange de ja ve about remembering this one worklog that was a big ad about someone who made a soda dispensing computer

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El Doug

but it wasnt cooled with the soda - it was just a fountain attached to a PC, which is kinda lame! wheres the innovation? the modding? the caffeine machine was cool in taht sense, also because of how he did the power. but thats not cool anymore.

however actually having the soda doing the cooling... now thats something else


im going to do more research on the effects of soda water on tubing materials

s1ugh34d

yea i know i was just in there but still cool, yea but like i said try just using the syrup and not after its carbonized, that might work better

Quote: Originally Posted by El Doug but it wasnt cooled with the soda - it was just a fountain attached to a PC, which is kinda lame! wheres the innovation? the modding? the caffeine machine was cool in taht sense, also because of how he did the power. but thats not cool anymore. however actually having the soda doing the cooling... now thats something else im going to do more research on the effects of soda water on tubing materials

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MasterP

I hate knocking a good idea (it'd be sweet to have a PC magically cooled by mountain dew) but I think you should alter your plan

For starters, the syrup will increase the viscousity of your coolant dramatically - hurting your pump and giving you lower flow rates - using a restrictive block/blocks will also hamper the performance.

Regardless of your rad and block's composition - without any specific additives, you will encounter galvanic corrosion or sludging in the block channels (and even worse, the radiator - which can't be easily cleaned). With the dew syrup being weakly acidic this will speed up the process too.

There are no corrosion inhibitors that I'd feel safe drinking in large quantities either - don't know about you though

I'd say your whole loop will most likely have a short, troubled lifespan and not be able to be easily reused afterwards.

Seriously, just get some UV green dye, watercool your system efficiently and put a soda fountain in your rig - you'll encounter WAY less problems and will have a rig that runs cooler (whilst dispensing cool, fizzy dew!)

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El Doug

the pumps would have been high-flow syrup pumps from a large-scale soda fountain, adapted to this small project

but ya - even if im all aluminum id corrode? they keep dew in aluminum cans without too much difficulty

Biomechanica

Alluminium usually forms a thin layer that stops it from corroding/rusting. Don't worry about that. It's mainly the pump I'd worry about.

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Jobistober

If you're gonna take a leap and use a high-flow pump, you might as well go all out and make all the cooling components from scratch. Make blocks and fittings that would accomidate 1-inch ID tubing... or bigger. Think of the temps you could get with that kind of flow capacity.

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