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[Case Gallery] Oil Submerged HTPC

M

Macross

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Joined
May 19, 2009
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To view this case mod, go here.



Specs:
AMD 3800+
2GB Geil RAM
Leadtek 6800GT
120Gb Laptop HDD
Hauppauge MCE 150

Mods:
The tank is a cheapie from Big W. I cut out the back of and old case that had a removable motherboard tray and mounted it in a 10mm perspex lid that sits flush in the fish tank. Removed PSU from its housing and mounted on 10mm perspex that is attached to top lid.

The idea is not new, and i was inspired by the guys at http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php and their oil cooled pc. A big problem i saw with a lot of fish tank oil pcs, was the nightmare of trying to do anything on them once the oil was in. So i went with the idea of having the "Computer" parts all mounted in one piece that gets sunk into the oil. Storage is also an issue. As its a HTPC, i wanted big storage, but didnt want a big external drive lumbering around the tank. I solved this issue by running the OS on a laptop drive in the top under the tank cover, and using the vista iSCSI initiator to hit my NAS in the office downstairs. So i have lots of storage and no messy external drives. Best thing is that with the bubbles turned off, its totaly silent. :P This machine runs my 42" plasma and the odd game or two.... old parts and not going to tear crysis a new one, but does its job perfectly.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
10/10

Fully insane, very very good, u use u mind a lot to build this tank and the care if u have with the tank is awesome.

Congrats
 
it's a good thing you followed the pudget system radiator and pump idea add-on. 9/10 from me for even having the nutz to put parts in oil.
 
great looking

I'm curious as to how the pump and radiator are working for you? I built my eclipse 3 mini as a testbed so it's not really an issue for me, my 1250 sempron runs 23-26C on the chip and 47C as the system temp when the bubbles are going. It gains about 10C with it off. I'm curious as to your temps over all and how big a difference the radiator makes?
 
The system did get warm without the radiator. The equilibrium of heat coming in and heat going out through the glass was too high to operate for extended periods. But with the radiator and high volume pump installed, the temps leveled out at about 45C. The machine runs 24/7 now to record TV, and i have setup the sleep mode with a little tweaking so that it wakes up to record a show and then goes back to sleep again if no one is watching it.
 
how is the psu hanging in oil ??? Dont you worry that the oil may conduct some electricity to other parts ??
INSANE Mod 10/10 for sure
 
9/10!
 
I dare you to place your hand inside while the rig is on then take a pic with a thumbs up
 
Nice, you actually made one that you use and not just a "LOOK WUT I DID".
10/10
 
Highly impressive, mate.
 
to6ko91 said:
how is the psu hanging in oil ??? Dont you worry that the oil may conduct some electricity to other parts ??
INSANE Mod 10/10 for sure
Click to expand...

If you check some of the build shots, you can see that the PSU is mounted on some 10mm perspex which is in turn attatched to the top lid. This means that unlike some other oil PCs around, you dont have to have the PSU sitting in the bottom of the tank.

Mineral oil is clear, and appears to look like water, but has no conductive properties. It is used to cool large electrical transformers, so has no ill effects on electrical components. And its nice on your hands :)
 
Macross said:
If you check some of the build shots, you can see that the PSU is mounted on some 10mm perspex which is in turn attatched to the top lid. This means that unlike some other oil PCs around, you dont have to have the PSU sitting in the bottom of the tank.

Mineral oil is clear, and appears to look like water, but has no conductive properties. It is used to cool large electrical transformers, so has no ill effects on electrical components. And its nice on your hands :)
Click to expand...

Cool :P)
 
it's unique and unusual bro!
9/10 !
 
nice job on the "unit" to submerge everything at once. How do the fans handle spinning in the liquid? Think they'd put a bit of a current load on the PSU? possibly adding more heat to the oil bath? Can put a few hoses on a manifold from the pressure side of the loop, then point them at your heat exchangers in the submerged oil. Keep an eye out for long term oil wicking at the cables; and oil soaking into anything the cables are touching.
 
Interesting. Good thing it works.
10/10
 
that something there 10/10 ive seen few people pull it of so good
 
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