water cooling pc

[batt22]

I decided this weekend to try and quiten my PC by following some info i got from a mate and going down the water cooling road. The fans on my PC were really starting to drive me mad

The first thing that I did was to remove all the fans. The one on the processor and graphics card were no problem but the one in the power unit was a bugger to get out.

The most difficult part was sealing all the ventilitation openings in the PC case with silicon. I also put silicon all around the joints on the PC case. The smell of silicon was dreadful but when my wife complained I told her to be patent as it will be worth it when we have a completely silent PC.

Because I had completely sealed the PC case the only opening near top was the DVD drive. So I opened that and put the small hose I had purchased specially for the job into the DVD drive as far as it would go. With what I can only describe as great excitement and anticipation, I turned on the water. It really is amazing just how long it took before the case was complete full, and boy was it heavy. That didn't really bother me as I didn't intend to be moving the PC anyway.

The big moment had arrived so I called in my wife and mother in law (who was visiting) and I announced "prepare to hear nothing!" and flicked the switch on the socket on the wall.

Before I could even press the power button on front of the PC, with a loud bang, the whole place was plunged into darkness

I knew that it was only the tripswitch so I told my onlookers not to panic and I ran out to the hall to turn the trip switch back on. But can u believe it, it wouldn't stay on. After five attempts I decided to try unplugging the PC and would you believe...yes the trip switch stayed on. My conclusion: the PC must have in some way been causing the problem.

After about an hour of tries I finally decided to abandon the whole idea of water cooling and emptied the water out of the PC, put back in the fans (except the fan in the power unit, I had broken that one getting it out) and tried the pc AGAIN. IT STILL CAUSED THE TRIP SWTICH TO BLOW!

My PC is completely shagged thanks to stupid suggestions that I got from my mate. What the hell am I going to do now. I spent two hours last night with a hair drier inside the PC case and it still trips the switch.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated batt22

[MickA]

You didn't connect to the hot tap instead of the cold one by any chance

[5150]

May be a stupid question for me to ask - but did you honestly silicone seal and then fill a box of electrical components & connectors with water and then connect it to a power supply?

If you did, then it's all borked - everything will have shorted out with the conductivity of the liquid around all the components - it's not a case of making it water tight then tipping water into the case.....

A Beginner's Guide For WaterCooling Your PC : Introduction

[batt22]

You didn't connect to the hot tap instead of the cold one by any chance

no used cold water would hot water make a diference?

May be a stupid question for me to ask - but did you honestly silicone seal and then fill a box of electrical components & connectors with water and then connect it to a power supply?

If you did, then it's all borked - everything will have shorted out with the conductivity of the liquid around all the components - it's not a case of making it water tight then tipping water into the case.....

oh so my computer wont work im still using the hair drier to dry it out fingers crossed the lights wont even turn on now ;-)

[5150]

Trust me, it's fried - water and electricity DO NOT MIX, even with other cooling methods like CO2, you get a drop of water/condensation dripping and it's toast. Your household trip-switch threw to (be thankfull for it) save blowing all your electrics and possibly killing you.

Please, for your own safety, do NOT try and plug it in again, mains ampage through you could kill you and you're insurance company won't urinate on the fire if one breaks out.

Extreme cooling is not good value and more hastle than it's worth for the gains. Invest in some top quality fans and psu - for your new PC because that other one is scrap, sorry. Try looking at the likes of overclockers.com for guides and some top end bare-bones machines (your monitor, mouse, keyboard should be re-usable), you'll need an OS install disk though.

[gary2010]

lol what did you do seal all the tower off and fill it up with water, or did you have the proper water cooling system for the pc i wouldnt have a clue what to do my self but if you filled the whole case with water its broke

[RedcarUk]

[5150]

Here's a pic as an example of what you need - note you still need fans to cool the water (think car radiator)....:


But honest, it's not worth the hastle, better investing in oversize heatsinks, good quality silver thermal paste (improves heat transfer from component to heatsink), quality fans and a decent PSU. Costs will add up tho, so unless you're into serious pc gaming then it's not good money.

[batt22]

The reason I went down this route was because I have a perspex clear window at the side of the pc tower you can see all the workings through it so i thought with it filled with water i could put some tropical fish in and make an aquarium type pc maybe some plants and a turtle ive been up all night trying to dry it out with the hair dryer but still no use it was a new computer cost £600 all my mate said was that he uses water cooling do you think i will get my money back if i explain to the shop i bought it from ;-)

[RedcarUk]

i no but mate i think your kidding us to be onist who fills there pc up with water ? and thinks it will cool it ?

then turn the power on ?

must be a joke ?

no u wont get a refund, i wouldnt even tell the shop id keep it 2 myself

[batt22]

i was wanting it to work cause it would look nice i still have 8 boxes of silicon left my wife wont let me try it on the tv now!!! i phoned my so called mate up and asked him what i done wrong after a few gasps all i could hear was laughing then he hung up so now im £600 lighter and the fish and turtle arrive tomorrow

[batt22]

I am actually shocked that anybody could think that this is a wind-up. I mean I'm not a total idiot I did wrap the power supply unit in cling film plastic wrap before I filled it with water

[jonny_s]

The reason I went down this route was because I have a perspex clear window at the side of the pc tower you can see all the workings through it so i thought with it filled with water i could put some tropical fish in and make an aquarium type pc maybe some plants and a turtle ive been up all night trying to dry it out with the hair dryer but still no use it was a new computer cost £600 all my mate said was that he uses water cooling do you think i will get my money back if i explain to the shop i bought it from ;-)

Better of using a microwave oven for the fish m8. Turn it on its back fill with water and fish, close the door and then return to upright position. I find Angels like a defrost cycle once an hour and other fish anything from power setting 1 -10 depending on size.

The beauty of this setup is that shy fish are rotated so you get to see them


Kids DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME this custom aquarium is only to be attempted by those who have mastered water cooled pc's

[batt22]

ok just an update i put it all back together after hours of drying, my mate phoned and told me he thinks i might have hard water ? he said i should use oil or urine i know a mate who owns a garage but he's shut !!! so im just going to use urine im getting wor lass to drink loads of water so time will tell
ps has anybody any ideas of gas cooling a pc ?

[RedcarUk]

i now no your taking the p** not been offensive but u must be stupid to fill a pc case with water and then to turn it on exspecting it to work