Milled myself a coldplate **PICS**

[p8ntslinger676]

Well after having my 320watt tec sitting around for a good 4 months doing nothing, i decided that i might as well finish the project that i had started so many months ago. I milled it on my cnc machine which is accurate to .005" so it is pretty much exactly 50mmx50mm in the center then i decided to use the socket 423 holes for mounting so i could mount it easily to my apogee. I also lapped both the top and bottom to 1500grit cus i was bored:p: the only thing i need now is a psu, i know im getting a meanwell, but what wattage should i get so as to get a full 320watts from the tec?

*note* if yall want a cold plate milled pm me :D

Now time for pics :) (my digicam sucks and wont focus any more so dont blame me for the poor quality pictures)

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/1197/p1010001bc2.jpg

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/6900/p1010002is1.jpg

[Holst]

Very very nice :D

How are you going to bolt it to the apogee?
And what about insulation?

Lookng forward to seeing this in action.

[p8ntslinger676]

im going to get a few machine screws, some nuts and some washers and put some ASC in there and tighten it down real hard(using the socket 423 holes on my apogee, i milled the holes in the cold plate to be the same dimensions as the socket 423 holes on the apogee):D

as for insulation... i will need to see, what do you recommend?

[Holst]

That will be an excelent way to clamp the TEC, good thinking.
Just be carefull not to bend or damage the block by tightening too hard :) and leaktest once its all in place.

As for insulation stick on neoprene foam will be the best bet.
With your coldplate design it makes it a bit harder as the bits that stick out where the screws go will be awquard. If you can get some thick bits of neoprene you can make some holes in it and squeese it between the coldplate and mount. Then cut it flush with the edge of the coldplate and then wrap neoprene tape around the edges.

Dielectric grease on the CPU socket is recomended. You can also waterproof the mothebaord with nail varnish.
You also need to put some neoprene on the back of the motherboard, either stick it on or squash it between the board and the case backplate.

If you leave the system running at idle for long periods then the screws bolting the coldplate and the waterblocks mountings might also get cold enough for condensation, so be carefull.

There are some good insulation guides in phase change and LN2 that might be worth reading for preparing the motherboard, and some links to where you can buy insulation.

Taking some pics as you put the insulation on would be helpfull, you could even make a guide and im sure Max will put it in a sticky if its good :D
For testing at load I think you might be able to manage without insulation with a decent overclock... but please do be very carefull if you try this. If your PC crashes or something then you will get ICE VERY fast without any load on the block!!!

[n00b 0f l337]

Very very nice looking. Should work okay, but you should try to avoid running your pelt at full power. I would suggest the meanwell s-320-12

[p8ntslinger676]

so you think the 350 watt meanwell is a no no?

[n00b 0f l337]

A s-350-15 will work, but I think the s-320-12 will give you more in the adjustment range you want.

[p8ntslinger676]

gah...the 350 is almost twice as much as the 320, i guess i know which one im getting now:rolleyes:

[p8ntslinger676]

Quick question... would it be possible to run the tec off of my psu? i have 4 18amp 12v rails and i could probably make wire up a molex adapter (2 from two different psu rails into the 1 for the tec) pretty easily, good or bad idea? the only other things im running are a 8800gtx, one 500gig sata hd, a mcp655 pump and one dvd drive.

[littleowl]

Quick question... would it be possible to run the tec off of my psu? i have 4 18amp 12v rails and i could probably make wire up a molex adapter (2 from two different psu rails into the 1 for the tec) pretty easily, good or bad idea? the only other things im running are a 8800gtx, one 500gig sata hd, a mcp655 pump and one dvd drive.

:nono: From the sounds of it, you can do it but can we tell you to!?! No it is an unsafe thing to do! :)
I would not recommend it because it can pull way too much and fry your pc as well as catch on fire! The 18a that psu tells you it gets is only the max of what it can run. It may only be getting 13 or 15 at any given time.

[Holst]

Quick question... would it be possible to run the tec off of my psu? i have 4 18amp 12v rails and i could probably make wire up a molex adapter (2 from two different psu rails into the 1 for the tec) pretty easily, good or bad idea? the only other things im running are a 8800gtx, one 500gig sata hd, a mcp655 pump and one dvd drive.


I wouldnt recomend this.

First danger is there is a sliht chance you will overload your PSU and break it.
Second danger is that your PSU will struggle and your OC will go down.
The PSU will be running near full load so its life expectancy will be significantly reduced.

With PSU's you dont just have to look at meanwells!!

Although NOL might be correct about not running the pelt at full power.. I suspect that in your case he may be wrong!
As long as you can keep water temps down I predict that you will get the best load temps with the TEC at max voltage.
Your CPU wattage is going to be high and your waterblock should be pretty efficent, so the bigger the TEC the better IMO.

Take a ood look on ebay for high amp 15v ajustable PSU's. These are often used by ham radio enthusiasts as transmitter PSU's

This is the sort of thing I would be looking for on ebay
I am NOT recomending that you buy from this seller, its just an example after a 2 minute search (15v power supply)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pyramid-PS-26KX-Power-Supply-6-15V-AC-to-DC-NEW_W0QQitemZ120118497026QQihZ002QQcategoryZ58286Q QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This is much better than a meanwell IMO as its ajustable 5-15v so you can tune the voltage, and 25amps is enough.
Lots more here - http://electronics.listings.ebay.com/Accessories_Power-Supply_W0QQfclZ3QQfromZR11QQsacatZ48708QQsocmdZLis tingItemList

[p8ntslinger676]

i only have the cpu in the loop with a 120.3 so i think i will be ok cooling wise, the thing is i wanted to be able to mount the in a small space under the case that im building but i guess thats not going to happen now. and i wanted a relay so it would automatically turn itself on, on power up of the system.

[Holst]

It would be nicer to have everything in the case.
But it wont be difficult to unplug the PSU should you need to move the PC.

As for relay its very easy to make one that will swich on any AC psu by using the PC PSU to switch it, I can make you a diargam later if needed.
Just be carefull to insulate mains voltags propperly as you wont want to electricute yourself, or your pets (if yo uhave any)

have you given any thousht to the wire you will use to solder the TEC to the PSU? I would recomend silicone insulated 12awg wire that I got from a model RC car shop. I also used some high ampage connectors I got from the same shop so I could easily unplug the TEC.
The wire is imortant as you dont want to loose voltage in the wire, and high amp DC is a fire risk if you use the wrong connectors and wire.
When soldering the TEC wires be carefull not to melt the soft solder that connects the TEC to the wires. They use soft solder as it will melt if the TEC overheats (safety measure)
To prevent it melting when you solder hold the TEC side of the wire with some big pliers or grips to act as a heatsink to stop the TEC getting hot.
Use a big soldering iron and do it as fast as possible.

[p8ntslinger676]

i have a solder gun so soldering shouldnt be a problem at all, and i also have some extra 12awg wire from when me and my friend that i mill stuff with were trying to build a gauss gun(didnt shoot very far but it was fun i guess) we used it for a 1000 volt transformer that plugged into the 120 volt wall socket and charged a bunch of 600volt capacitors (6total in pairs of 2). The capacitors are massive, they are something like 8 inches tall and 3 inches in diameter:p: we build lots of electronic stuff so this should be pretty simple for me:) and i found a good deal on ebay for a 320watt meanwell that i will try and nab for cheap and if i dont win the auction then ill get the ham radio psu.