Well as you can tell from the title I'm back to Playing with the Phase change.
The major differance this time around is that I took considerable time and effort designing this system.

My main goals are to chill liquid coolent well below - 30f or about - 35 celsius and use that in an insulated liquid loop to cool the Pc 24/7.

Some of the issues ive run into on past designs were coolent control and safety ,(for the pc that is}.
So my primary concern was to impliment some sort of rapid control mechanism .
The best way I could find within my budget is to utilize 2 Honeywell universal process controllers,
with multiple sensors monitoring the refrigeration system.
along with them I'll be useing a full array of safety devices ,high pressure cutouts etc...

heres a pic of my weapons of choice,I'll list the specs as thayre used in the build later.

And of course the heart of my system ,a sweet Brand new copelaweld R22 condensing unit.
Fortunatelly I wont need the base cause Ups broke it during shipping, figures.

And heres a whole slew of the parts I'll be needing to make this all work



Heres the Killer "Swep flat plate heat exchanger" and "Taco Bronze cartridge pump" good for up to 600 Gph.
I'll be running it slower than that though, that much flow is totally unnecesary at these temps.

Heres the case that will be my victim,at 37 pounds and 20" high X 20" long and 12" wide its pretty roomy.






Check out the fan ,a killer Comair rotron caravel,is 550 Cfm enough?
Maybe to much,It'll be on an automatic 3 speed controller also,.
Look how tiny the orange 80mm fan looks,the other fan is a pabst Ebm 120mm that puts out 160 Cfm.



and more pics of the materials I'll be useing,Thanks Ebay you saved my wallet!





and finally if all else fails ,I'll convert it into a dual stage phase change system with a couple more of these,Weee...



Thats all for now ,Time to start wrenching...Later! (I miss Zen,wish he was around for this )

That looks like some serious industrial-duty gear RBIEZE!

It's more than I'd do, but I'm not an HVAC tech guy either. I can't say I really follow how all of it works, so I'd appreciate any explanations as to your theories and reasons for your choices, and I'm sure many other folks would benefit from your expertise and knowledge.

This may be a redundant question, but are you planning to run this PC as a main rig, or is this more of a "mad science" lab experiment? We all live every day with a hardly noticeable refrigerator running in the background, and I wondered whether something built to this level would be practical, reliable and quiet enough to use as a primary PC?

I know very little about phase cooling, but I know that that box you're planning to use as a case is totallly pimp!

Should give it a very nice "industrial" look.

thats pretty hardcore. are you the first to use process control stuff with a PC phasechange setup? it just looks looks super sexy industrial.

Quote: Wordbiker] This may be a redundant question, but are you planning to run this PC as a main rig, or is this more of a "mad science" lab experiment? We all live every day with a hardly noticeable refrigerator running in the background, and I wondered whether something built to this level would be practical, reliable and quiet enough to use as a primary PC?

This will be my #2 rig,I'm Not quite ready to drop my opty 170 in it till Ive thouroghly tested on a cheaper cpu.
This system wont be folding 24/7 unless i'm at home.

The practicality is subjective to your point of view.
On one hand ,we all know that dropping temps equals vastly improved performance.
But on the other hand the cooling isnt free, energy usage and costs were a major concern on this project.
(thats what doomed my past eperiments)

I set a goal early on to stay under 600 watts running ,and around 1k watt@120Vac at startup
Just about what a Uber SLI system uses by itself.
I dont want to blow the breakers every time It turns on.

Reliability will be 100% or I will have failed this project, thats where all the controlls come into play.
And as far as noise goes, when the condensing unit is running you cant even hear it from a few feet away.

And lastly ,Im a refrigeration student (midlife career change) and this design incorporates all the major components used in large process control and refrigeration systems .

So yes It is a type of "Mad Scientist Project" But Ive tryed to keep it in the real proven world and stay away from the uncharted .
With all the sensors involved I'll be able to watch and understand the relationship between the individual componants and how changes effect them in realtime.

Hope I didnt bore you with that I'll try to stay away from long droning explanations.

Naw RBIEZE, you didn't bore anyone, and thanks for answering my questions.

Some of the other phase change projects I've seen looked pretty sketchy. Some even looked like a fire hazard! I like the idea of you utilizing the hardcore industrial enclosure as that seems like a much safer way of building a system for "real life conditions". I'm not sure about you, but in my house we have dogs, cats, kids...and even myself that could meet disaster accidentally encountering high voltage, sub-zero temps, uncontained chemicals, etc. Very cool approach, and very sensible.

I also appreciate you keeping an eye on efficiency. Sure, a project like this never works out if you were to calculate how much you gain versus how much the project cost, or how much electricity it takes to run, but it seems you are using the experience for probably the best reason of all: Self-education. That's why I asked you to share what you're learning along the way. Judging by the response for past phase-change projects, you'll have a good following on this one, and answering questions before they occur might make it an education for all of us.

Best of luck with your project.

EDIT: From a modding perspective, that case seems a perfect candidate for an idea my son and I discussed. Take all the funny warning labels you can find, or perhaps even come up with your own custom graphics and plaster them over every square inch of the case, overemphasizing the "dangers".

Here's a site to generate your own caution labels.

RBIEZE, you are definatly goin' HARD CORE cooling on this Bro, but I gotta say , im not only confident it will work smooth as silk , but im bettin on you puttin up some SWEET OC numbers when its all said and done

** Not to mention the MORE POWER / BIGGER IS BETTER factor , its what i live by ***

Quote: Originally Posted by Wordbiker Here's a site to generate your own caution labels.

+rep for that site!

Looks like a killer project!

ADD: So what kinda temps you expecting? -100C?

Quote: So what kinda temps you expecting? -100C?

Hey Nerds thanks for asking.
But no,not with a single stage system (1 compressor) on R22.
More like -35c to -40c max at load .

This project is about controllability,and furthering my Education / understanding of liquid chillers.
Not so much massive low temps,I'd have to use an alternative liquid medium at below -50c
but the system is designed to handle those temps when the time comes.

I did purchase a second heat exchanger and compressor etc with those temps in mind.
But thats an entirelly different aspect of this project,better saved for the future.

When I begin assembly next week, I'll note and explain some of the things I'm doing towards that end that would be unnecessary in a chiller used at these temps.(above -50)

What CPU will be you be putting under this thing? Not sure if the temps you're looking at will cause a problem, but you may run into the dreaded cold bug.

Quote: Originally Posted by Wordbiker Here's a site to generate your own caution labels.

They forgot about this ONE!

Quote: Originally Posted by THRASHER2 They forgot about this ONE!

sorry , but i couldnt resist , LOOK AT MY NEW AVITAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Gen. T2 SIR !!!!!

Ok , back to yer BADA$$ project , BTW , YOU ARE GONNA DO SOME OVER CLOCKING WITH THIS RIGHT!!!!!

Wow all that is off the heazy!You have a lot of work ahead of you from what I can see.Checking this project worklog out will be a pleasure.Take your time and show us a super example what can be done,Jo

Quote: Originally Posted by HigHTecHReDNecK sorry , but i couldnt resist , LOOK AT MY NEW AVITAR !!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Gen. T2 SIR !!!!! Ok , back to yer BADA$$ project , BTW , YOU ARE GONNA DO SOME OVER CLOCKING WITH THIS RIGHT!!!!!

But of course.
Folding gets installed right after windows ,Right?

I'm not much for death runs ,but yah I'll be OC'ing
None of My Cpu's have the cold bug ,so I'm good there.

Nice avatar HTRN.

this is the most seriously hard core mod that i have seen i luv it and where did you get that fan that is the coolest fan ever way to go on the guiness book of world record mods my friend tried a phase change from scratch and fried his stuff but it was pretty cool and it looks like you know what to do and
Good Luck

Well Ive been plugging along and have finally figured out a layout that will keep all the refrigerant lines neat and orderly.



Also I layed out and cut the case for the air intake ,fan and windows.
And thats where the trouble started,so far ive been chastized/yelled at by several people that I ruined the case by putting windows in it.





It seems the solid industrial look was liked by all .
But in my defense,I have to have some way to access the system from both sides.
So to try to preserve the industrial image I'm going to leave the side door, which is on the far side of the pic solid.

Tonight I'll be running all the copper lines .
I'll post pics with links to the component manufacturers ,and give a brief explanation of the function of each individual component involved .

Hopefully that way you'll be able to understand a little better whats going on under the hood of any phase change / refrigeration system.

///Later