Crawl Space Cooler Build

this was posted on another thread
Quote:____________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ________________
Originally Posted by Soulwind
There's another thread about setting up a crawl-space cooling loop on here.

One thing that's bugged me about the idea (in both threads now), is this:

If the crawl-space ambient temp is really that much cooler than the ambient temp in the room the computer is housed in,
and the loop works to bring temps down closer to the crawl-space ambient, then wouldn't you have to worry about
condensation just like the chilled-water/phase-change cooling setups do?????? I don't think I've seen anyone mention that before.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _______________
Humm!
we'll see when i get to that point but I'm in California & the humidty is not a problem like in other areas but i am addressing that issue with the next stage
as the cooler is a mock up stage right now ( works great) & have now plans of going forward with a sheet metal version BUT 1st i'll do testing on my test bed
__________________

you shouldnt have to worry about condensation since your change in temperature is so minimal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [ShowMe!]

Why not use 4 x 220 CFM deltas on the rad...

That would eliminate all that construction work, and take up alot less space.

And you would have 880 CFM per rad...

Im assuming that sound is not a concern in this build....

---

with the blower it's gonna be easy to put a airfilter on the thing & doing that with the 4 fans EHH i'd don't know how easy that'd be

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [ShowMe!]

Why not use 4 x 220 CFM deltas on the rad...

That would eliminate all that construction work, and take up alot less space.

And you would have 880 CFM per rad...

Im assuming that sound is not a concern in this build....

---

Remember, the PQ curve of those individual Deltas isn't going to be anywhere near as strong as that blower (think of it like a bunch of low pressure, high flow pond pumps in parallel pitted against a couple RD-30's in series). As a result, the Deltas wouldn't be close moving 220CFM each through those GTX480's... that blower would, well, blow their socks off.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mike8913

you shouldnt have to worry about condensation since your change in temperature is so minimal.

---

Yeah that's what i was thinking !
as the reason for the build is to get cool air thru the rads instead of warm room temp air with the only power use would be the motor on the blower not some refer
Hey it's even Green sounding ! L O L

Got jacked around with the sheet metal guy
I hate that when people waste my time

SOO it was off to the industrial salvage yard to get some Goodies & found just what i need to replace the wood box ( some simple modding that all ) .. to make the airfilter mounts on the blower I also got some round metal duct (6 feet of it) leaves alot left over both for $10
the airfilters are gonna be the ones i use for Rig#1's "The WindTunnel " 250mm fans
10" pleted round sports car airfilters

Pix when Da sun comes up

here's what i got @ the salvage yard

here's the rework of the wood box Ver#1 makes a nice guide

cut for Da blower & blower in place & fit perfectly

blower in place & the cuts for the rads on the other end

this is gonna be a steel box with 12" X 24" X 24"

Gee I like to work with steel much better ! well after a little break then i'll post some more work !

Very happy with what i've got done

are you planing on sealing around the rads too keep the pressure up?? unless of course the box would explode b/c of the air preasure, lol.

here's where I rework how the rads will sit ,figured seeing how I lenthened the box & made the airblast longer i'll get a more even flow & not have to have as of a large baffle inside
I also need the rads to sit right next to each other as that surface is now smaller than Ver#1
also included a rad protection sheild from sharp UFO's (learned the hard way )
fab'ed up some strips to make the 2 rads a Unit & it's quite ridgid now
on to Da pix

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pedalmonkey

are you planing on sealing around the rads too keep the pressure up?? unless of course the box would explode b/c of the air preasure, lol.

---

Yeah everything will be sealed quite tight to max the air pressure to the rads

rad protection mockup looks like it's gonna work on UFO's !

here's how the rads will sit "note blower hole at bottom" last pix the rads, inside up shot of the rad from the inside to show more how they fit ..some notching to do tomorrow soo they sit lower ,then making a neopren thick seal/gasket to seall every thing up around the rads ...
all seams will be sealed with silicone & metal duct tape
the 2nd last last pix is side view of the rads & the one rad I killed with stupity

last shot was this was at the hardware store today look sharp !

GET THIS THING UP AND RUNNING!! then u should start mass producing. lol.

I wouldn't rule out the possibility of condensation completely. Like you mentioned earlier, all it takes for condensation to occur is a surface being cooler than the air around it. There's a build where some guy ran copper pipe through the ground under his property and basically used the cool ground beneath the surface as his heat exchanger. Naturally the ground temperature is lower than the air temp above ground, so condensation was a legitimate concern. It may or may not be for you, but for safety's sake I'd keep it on your mind.


P.S. This build is my current favorite project. Keep it up man : )

As long as the temp difference isn't immense and he has a decent amount of airflow through the case he should have a problem with it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KaptCrunch

need to worry after 5 degress of change and high % humidity of the area.

note he's put heat in the crawl space and heat from MB will eat the sweat provided still using case fans

---

Yeah i plan at least 3 12o's mm fans

or even a pair of 250mm's fans blowing at the MoBo & drives as they run silent


WELL back to work on this ! more pix later today of what i get done

Well i got a UFO sheild up
useful
kinda over kill but i want it easy removeable & tuff

as i have to haul this thing into the crawl space without damageing the rads

here's the pix

notch work to get the rads sitting in opening well

gonna seal Rads with silicone easiet way
the way they sit on the box useing weather stripping as seals would be a PIA

this the rad hold down single bar across the center will use screws/washers from the inside to attach futher. u will see that in later pix

here's the overkill rad protection system i used
it as all so uses the hold down bar for the rads

more detail on hold down & sheild

these shots show the inside of the rad fitting & where i'll attach the rads futher to the box this will help pull the seam tight ..then it time for silicone all the contact points

as i tested the VER#1 for flow & water temp dump & figured out the baffle AND everything worked very well
i'm not gonna test this till every thing is ready for assy .
now all i got left is mount the blower & seal up on this
I now have to do the plumbing work & build the PC
I have a test bed & will test the MobO . pull the stock cooling off ,put all EK blocks on everything but a V2 on the CPU all will be tested on the Bed then installed in Case testing agin then testing once more
all loops & blocks will get a 24 hour test all by themselves with EK res's & Iwaki pumps
then it's under the house for hook up & another round of testing