First build single stage (many images)

[makaka]

let's start with a bit of pre history , i got my first Vapochill ls (from ebay ) back in 2005 year or so , it was badly broken after shipping , i took it to repair shop , they fixed a broken pipe and recharged with R404 . After getting home the unit worked but temp were poor and compressor would shut down randomly . then completely refused to start , took it back to repair , they said that the control unit was bad , i ordered a new one , after about a month i got it plugged to the system , and again same issue as before compressor shut down randomly and heating up a lot . i took it back to repair , this time they refused to accept it for repair . since i was a student at the time , i was almost out of cash trying to repair the unit , so i forgot about .
Now 15 y later i found the unit in my garage , so i said what the hell why not to fix it , i spent about 2 week in forums reading about how all this work , went ahead bought all necessary tool and started the repair .

I figured out that the unit still had a leak on it , this caused the compressor to overheat . This little bad boy was danfoss nf5.5clx i was able to start the unit and get it working normally but this S*** was very noisy . so i decided to swap it with a NL11F ( Thanks to Charles Wirth for double checking with me the model) .



The compressor was used it cost about 25$


since i am planing to get load in the 200-300w range , i updated the condenser


about 20$ , according to spec 15c delta T @ 700w

i noticed that the old accumulator has some debris inside that wan't be removed , so i decided to make a new one using an old filter drier .




Also installed 2 king valve to later adjust capillary tube length easily (Thanks to aenigma for idea)


Used remaining copper tube to make a small coil on the compressor outlet . Was really hard doing this by hand , require some huge grip strength .


finally my new SS tube arrived


Silver brazing to cooper

Now putting everything inside the small case





Now finally i am allowed inside the house (wife allowed ) to do remaining work . It was really cold out in the garage there was no heating .

capilary tube install and deep vaccum , i used 3.2m of 1 mm .(so far maybe will tweak later .)





i also used a hair dryer over the compressor and tubing to boil any remaining moisture when pulling vacuum .
system did hold the vacuum for 24h now we can start charging the R507 .



first frost

insulation ,



charging until 6c super heat .

and finally :





now finishing insulation :



testing with p4 945 @ 5.2 ghz 1.6v , according to asus monitoring it is 220w (according to estimation from power meter 260w , and finally according to OuterVision? Power Supply Calculator 254w ) . i have a D820 i will test it later since it should be hotter .




342w is the compressor power usage

high side pressure under load

lowside pressure under load


All those under load (200-250w):
decharge temp : 61c
condensing temp : 36c
HP : 260 psi
ambient temp : 26c
low side pressure : 0.7bar
evaporator temp : -28c
temp 6" from compressor : -14c
compressor temp : 40c (delta fan doing great job )

It was really fun time building the unit , some time it was a pain when i had some micro leak and then cap tube blockage , but with patience and learning everything's is possible .

[lkiller123]

Wow reading through this just gives me flashbacks to the good times. Good ol P4 945. Great work!

[makaka]

lkiller123 Thanks

.

lol , i put a D820 on this board did a 4300 mhz with 1.65v should be even higher wattage than the D945@ 5.2 ghz (1.6v) and one mobo phase burned out , i will try to swap the shot PH9025L and post few more overclock result .

[makaka]

Now my first 6 ghz , it was first try . it can do more but i am more interested on testing the max load capacity of the unit .




Not sure how much power it is , this is a D820 @ 4.4 Ghz with 1.76v (really crappy overclocker) , it should be in the 240-280w range .




Cpu temp @ -13c after 20 min prime 95 load .





Evaporator temp -30c , section line temp (7.2c) sound like i almost reached the max cooling capacity with this capillary tube length .





High side pressure almost 250 psi .

Will get my hand on QX6700 and do some testing , this cpu should reach 300w easily with some overclock .

[mdzcpa]

Nice write up! The old compressed sub ambient days!

[makaka]

Finally got the QX6700





well i can see why this processor is considered one of the hostest cpu , cpu temp already in the positive side but still less than 10c , delta T evaporator to cpu is huge , maybe i have to delid this processor later .
Evaporator temp rock solid so far -33c (6" from compressor temp already +8c), we should be in the 260w+ range (280-300w maybe).


I will post more image later after some more tests

[[XC] Lead Head]

Nice job! Glad to still see some people playing around with single stages!

[aenigma]

Nice job man! Brings back memories of the good old days.

[uRnOdAiSy]

Very nice! I would like to see you throw that on on modern cpu just for kicks. I too have a Vapochill LS (2005) . She died from a leak some years ago. I still keep it. I am not sure who I would even take her to in order to effect repair. She would need some modding like you did. HVAC schools? AC repair? It's really good to see this. I have a LD ss phase cooler and I had good overclocks on my I7-7700k and I7-7900X.

[Don_Dan]

Finally got the QX6700

well i can see why this processor is considered one of the hostest cpu , cpu temp already in the positive side but still less than 10c , delta T evaporator to cpu is huge , maybe i have to delid this processor later .
Evaporator temp rock solid so far -33c (6" from compressor temp already +8c), we should be in the 260w+ range (280-300w maybe).


I will post more image later after some more tests

The QX6700 is a crazy CPU. I had one on LN2 some time ago and it ran incredibly hot. I checked and it was actually five years ago already.
I'm glad to see you're having fun!

[makaka]

Well after few day playing with unit , i ended up with a leak , it was my fault since i decided to not braze the flexible extension line , i like the look of it clean without solder




This was responsible for leak

Now since the wife is not home i can enjoy freedom of brazing in my room



Now i run out of Azote the there was no way to test pressure . since this section is completely isolated from the system due to the two valves i used air and my bike air pump to pressurize this part







and it hold 100 psi fine for about 4-5 hour





now fast cleaning the mess before the wife get home

Very nice! I would like to see you throw that on on modern cpu just for kicks.

i will hook a Sandybridge 2600k to it later , maybe even my main setup a 9900ks (but i am already lazy to disassemble the hole system in order to install the evaporator) .
So far i am playing with old cpus , now i am on the era of socket 478

[iNF3rN0]

This looks like alot of fun! I am curious why capillary tubing is used rather than a TXV. Is it because of cost?

[makaka]

This looks like alot of fun! I am curious why capillary tubing is used rather than a TXV. Is it because of cost?

I was unable to find a txv with correct size for the system .
i was also unable to find a cpev with reasonable price (there was one or 2 in ebay for like 80$+ or so ) , such cpev should cost 20$ or so . it is not a question of money here , it is a question of principle i will not pay for a 20$ device 4x the price .

[Charles Wirth]

I started my build last Tuesday, I need to get some pictures uploaded but wanted to chime in and say its good to see other builds at this time.