Phase and 24x7 folding

[sdumper]

Phase users I need pointers from folks who have successfully been able to set up there
rigs on phase and who have been able to consistently leave the rig folding on a 24x7
basis without trouble.

I have now gone through a total of 11 Mobos and have tried many different tactics all
with the same end result a dead mobo.

First a little about the cooling:

I have used both a near silent Chilly1 with modest cooling potential and the evap temp
holding steady at -32c folding 2 cores.

I have also used a modded Mach II with an evap temp never dropping below -48c (modded by Jinu117
and head replaced with a Chilly style head).


NOTE: The problem does not seem to be in the mounting area but seems to be in the back.


Methods of condensation proofing I have used:
Front: socket filled with Dialectic grease and socket surrounded by armaflex with tight near
airtight mounting.
Back:
A) Armaflex on the backplate.
B) Also tried Armaflex covering entire back
of board (i believe this caused the boards to fail due to heat build up).
C) Dialectic grease layer over most of the back of board and covered with Armaflex
D) Thick layer of dialectic greas and then covered with Armaflex just over backplate.

Note2: No backplate heating element has ever been used.


I have also coated the socket area with dope once but then I bent some socket pins and
could not RMA so I have stayed away from trying this again.


So what am I missing here or is it futile to try and fold 24x7 under phase.

[n00b 0f l337]

I'm a fan of nailpolish two layers, front and back within a 3-4" radius of the CPU, then spread some dielectric on that, and in the socket with pins. From their some 1/4" neoprene cut to fit around the socket, then the donut from the evpaorator mounting with chilly1 and runmc style setups. Backplate is nail polish, dielectric, 1/4" neoprene, backplate.

[Blaster]

the back should be insulated with a clear coat / liquid tape, then a bit of dieletric grease / solid vaseline, then it should have 10 mm of armaflex before the backplate

This "sandwhich" is good for 24h use, at least for me

[sdumper]

Thanks guys see below for what I did for the Striker that died.
The socket was filled with grease.
But I didnt try the clear nail polish.

I also had the neoprene gasket that sealed tight against the armaflex. This setup worked for a few weeks of 18 hour day foldings and died this morning...


Adam im hoping that back heating element will help too


Luckily I have a P5B Deluxe wifi coming in today so that I will not be down completely...

[harvshark]

Do you know what the failure mode really is? Are you finding condensation related corrosion on the board? Or are you losing mosfets, nb, or something else related to higher OCing voltages, etc? I have killed 3 P5B-Ds just pushing a quad OC to the max on AIR cooling, so this could or could not be directly related to the phase cooling.

[BlueAqua]

This is my 939 setup that I had running for months of 24/7 use. I put 2 layers of thin adhesive foam on the backside, nothing else. I put di-electric grease in the socket and used that 3M sticky rubber stuff to build up my area before the donut. My first board I used some clear nail polish but that kinda seems to crack off, I think liquid electrical tape would be better. This board died due to the mosfets not getting enough air flow and eventually overheated and went up in smoke, but never had any issues with condensation. The Core2Duo boards are a bit more tricky to insulate the socket and surrounding areas but with some time shouldn't be too bad. Hope this helps.

[aasmaukr]

Here's my insulation, didn't run with it 24/7 but I used it for a couple days and didn't have any problems. I use vaseline, 9mm armaflex and armaflex tape.

First layer of vaseline, I use a hairdryer to melt the vaseline wich makes if flow everywhere:


Pretty much finished insulating around the CPU, except a layer of tape on top of this:


Here is the back of the mobo, I put on some vaseline before I mount the back plate with a 9mm AF sheet:




My cooler is mounted on the E6400 :

Btw I know it's not very smart putting that bag under the mobo. I don't do it any more

11 dead mobos is really sad

[Gautam]

^^ My board looks pretty much exactly like that and has been chugging for 7 months now without a hitch.

11 boards really is something. I thought I went through 'em quick.

There's a chance your deaths aren't due to phase change as has been stated. But for what it's worth, personally I don't like using backplates. I just tighten things down to a sane level for 24/7. That makes insulation much easier as well. Bolt the head down to the mobo direct and cover the immediate area in neoprene.

I can't see how covering the entire back of the motherboard in neoprene could possibly kill it.

[theelectic]

I wonder if being in hot Atlanta has anything to do with it? Perhaps running a dehumidifier in the same room would help?

[[XC] gomeler]

Nope, I live in Hotlanta and I run phase 24/7 when my room isn't 30 degrees ambient. I have my setup strapped to a bench station but from the center of the socket in a 4 inch radius circle on the backside I have a thick layer of dielectric grease then an 1/8" of neoprene and then the motherboard is essentially bolted to my station forming a tight seal. Humidity is a problem but if you form an airtight seal then nothing gets in so nothing will ice up. The entire backside of the board is pressed against the neoprene so I doubt that is how you killed any of your boards as you mentioned, I'm even running it w/ an aircooler in this config and nothing runs hot.

[symphy]

Try lots of sealstring, it's the only way to do it 100% right. Armacell masks will work, but not as good as they should if the area around the socket is filled with coils etc. (At least at my trys and LN2...)

Try to get a cheap version of sealstring; here at Germany there's a equal but more cheap stuff which is used to glue the glasses into the windowframes.

Build a huge tower around the socket (6 layers high and 4 layers wide or something like that), take thin armaflex and put it at the top of it, that makes the donout not glue at the sealstring.

Same at the backside. One layer of sealstring, armaflex over it...

AND OF COURSE: Lots of nail polish. Two little bottles for a single mainboard are okay...

That method works for LN2 like a charm (5 hours +), so there should be no problem with SS.

Negative thing: So much sealstring... No RMA i think :/

Think about that please: If its really airtight, the humidity can be 100%. No need for a "dehumidifier". The only thing is to get it airtight. That's why i dont like to use little pieces of armaflex to build around the coils and so on...

[sdumper]

Thanks guys ill give nail polish a try...also the mobos werent killed one after another but they all eventually died.

Heres a pict of the graveyard...most of these boards I was able to RMA for a second round. Im starting to think maybe its voltage related because I do like to fold at 4.2ghz for my e6700/x6800 chips and 3.8/3.9 for my QX6700.

[IMG][/IMG]

[MrDeeds]

My first question would be why do you ever turn it off? It isnt truely 24/7 then and the act of leaving it on for 18hrs then letting it thaw out could be part of the problem.

I've never tried nail polish but i do use acrylic conformal coating. Which is clear after application and comes off with alcohol or contact cleaner.

I've used phase on 3 boards with phase over the last 8 months. My aw9d-max still works just fine. A P5B-Deluxe died on me but it wasnt due to condensation and i was able to rma it because the acrylic conformal coating is very easy to remove. My commando has been running for 2 months with no issue.

[sdumper]

My first question would be why do you ever turn it off? It isnt truely 24/7 then and the act of leaving it on for 18hrs then letting it thaw out could be part of the problem.

I've never tried nail polish but i do use acrylic conformal coating. Which is clear after application and comes off with alcohol or contact cleaner.

I've used phase on 3 boards with phase over the last 8 months. My aw9d-max still works just fine. A P5B-Deluxe died on me but it wasnt due to condensation and i was able to rma it because the acrylic conformal coating is very easy to remove. My commando has been running for 2 months with no issue.

First off I have two phase units or had until a few days ago when I sold my Chilly1 to pay for a new unit which is being built for me. Anyway the chilly1 was left running on a 24x7 basis usually for about a week until the mobo would die.

The 18 hour a day rig is in my bedroom so it goes off when I go to bed because its too loud for the wife to tolerate.

[harvshark]

My first question would be why do you ever turn it off? It isnt truely 24/7 then and the act of leaving it on for 18hrs then letting it thaw out could be part of the problem.

I've never tried nail polish but i do use acrylic conformal coating. Which is clear after application and comes off with alcohol or contact cleaner.

I've used phase on 3 boards with phase over the last 8 months. My aw9d-max still works just fine. A P5B-Deluxe died on me but it wasnt due to condensation and i was able to rma it because the acrylic conformal coating is very easy to remove. My commando has been running for 2 months with no issue.

Maybe you can verify for me....doesn't the Commando lack the capacitors around the cpu socket making the task of insulating the socket a lot easier?

[pumbertot]

when my parts arrive iam going to paint the whole motherboard pcb in liquid electrical paint then use thermal grease followed bu neoprene and filling every gap I see with sealstring. can never overdo insulation imo.

[MrDeeds]

First off I have two phase units or had until a few days ago when I sold my Chilly1 to pay for a new unit which is being built for me. Anyway the chilly1 was left running on a 24x7 basis usually for about a week until the mobo would die.

The 18 hour a day rig is in my bedroom so it goes off when I go to bed because its too loud for the wife to tolerate.

I cant really understand why your having so many issues with condensation then. A board dying in a week? That just isnt right.

@harvshark
yea it is easier with commando.

[sdumper]

Not sure either...interesting note though I was running one of the units in my basement and for the most part it was this area which was running through mobos. At one point when I checked after an EVGA 680i board died I had a puddle of water built up under the board. Note this room also has the hot water heater and furnace both of which run on gas. The burning of the GAS may also add to humidity in the room.

Also my Striker board appears to be back in business ... It appeared dead but after sitting for a day I was able to get it back up and running.

Bottom line it may have been a mix of many factors killing these boards some of which were condensation and some of which was simply me pushing the voltage too high for too long.