Aquarium computer

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reggie_da_man

New Member
hi everyone,


Im 15 and im building myself a new computer this summer and i was wondering if building a a cube out of plastic 305mm by 244mm by 300mm high sealing it completly and putting it an aquarium would be a good idea like for cooling. now i wanna put a hole on the side of the cube 120mm in diameter and cut a hole in the tank, the same size same size (i do this on both sides) so that i can put a fan that blows cool air across the cpu heat sink and all the components and the other one would blow it out. im going to put the power supply on the outside of the tank so it doesnt take up as much room and it wont make the components hot inside.


if u guys could suggest something to make this idea better or if u have anyother good ideas it would be much obliged


thx in advance
 
Yeti

Yeti

VIP Member
That is definitely not something I would recommend (though it might look kinda cool if done right). Besides the inherent dangers of submerging an electronic device in water (and one that uses quite a bit of power) I don't think that having the case submerged in water would help the cooling all that much. All you would be doing is changing the external convection from a gas (air) to a liquid (water). Typically for free convection you'll see convection coefficients around 2-25 for gases and 50-1000 for liquids. However for forced convection (such as a fan) you can get gas convection coefficients from 25-250. My point by this is you'd be better off (or at least safer) just aiming a floor fan at the computer if you're that worried about cooling. This is all disregarding that the majority of the heat will be taken out via convective flow of intake and exhaust air.
 
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reggie_da_man

New Member
Actually its not so much the cooling that i want the water to do its just the effect. Im thinking of putting a pump in so that there will be a whole bunch of bubbles everywhere, but your right, 90% of the cooling is going to be the fan.
 
Yeti

Yeti

VIP Member
Well, I guess... you'll have to make sure you seal it well enough to withstand about 1 psi gage pressure. Seals have a tendency to leak sometimes and you wouldn't want any fried goldfish :p Btw, what sort of casing are you planning on using, since I'm assuming this is mainly an aesthetics issue?
 
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elmarcorulz

VIP Member
you might wanna try it out with something thats not electrical first to make sure it doesnt leek. post some pictures on here if you do it, cuz it would look sweet as a nut
 
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691175002

New Member
One fan might not be enough. If I did that I would go water cooling :). It would be really cool to have the water blocks use the entire aquarium as a resivoir but you wouldn't be able to use water additives to prevent rusting :(. Even if you don't go water cooling, how are you going to put a hole in the glass. It is almost impossible to put even small holes in glass without breaking and making a big one will be impossible. Even glass workshops won't put holes in glass that is as thin as it is on an aquarium. You would need a plasitc or acrylic tank and you would have to be very very careful. I have worked with stuff like that before and 1/8" lexan takes close to 20mins to drill without cracking and I have a drill press and put a piece of wood under it. Drilling large holes in plastic isn't easy on its own because the larger the drill bit the more chance if it "jumping". When you are about to completely go through part of the plastic breaks and the drill pulls it up which will almost always at least scratch the plastic quite a bit. You also have to drill very slowly because the plastic melts very fast, I can cut the same hole in 5 mins as I could in 20 mins but if I did it in 5 mins the hole saw would be covered in melted plastic.

Cutting is just as hard. A saw with anything less that 20TPI will just break bits out leaving a really screwed up edge (you will never be able to glue it). About 24-36 TIP hacksaws work like a charm but as soon as you start cutting with any speed, the plastic melts over the blade and you have to get a new one. A table saw works well but it does not always leave a nice edge.

If you can get past the building problems, it could work but it will be hard.
 
Exploded_Monitor

Exploded_Monitor

New Member
Well, it seems to be insane mods are "in" today. First freezers, and now aquarium computers? What happens if a duck flies into your room/office and smashes into the tank and pours water all over your 1000 dollar computer? ouch. I'd like to see pictures of it though. :D
 
jancz3rt

jancz3rt

<b>VIP Member</b>
Haha...

I think that it will look very good BUT poor fishies. They will feel the vibrations of fans and HDDs and the noise of the fans. I suppose you will want to have light inside the PC as well which the fish will find disturbing. Note that it is recommended to have the light on fopr 12hrs a day. You cannot guarantee that..... That's my alternative view on that matter.

JAN :D
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
Aqurium computers isnt anything that hardcore (finance wise at least). It's just submersion cooling afterall. The fishes are in a separate section (well they should be). Fake fishes dont excrete so its not as much of an issue.
 
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691175002

New Member
Yeti said:
Interesting. How is it ventilated? Also, how do you access any optical/floppy drives? Use external/USB ones?
Click to expand...

The pipes holding the computer up are hollow to let air through.
The drive question will require some thought depending on how he will want it too look.

I have fish and build a lot and this will be more involved then you might think. First the tank in the picturs is custom made and that could be difficult because to fit a normal mobo you will need around 50 gallons.
Second the entire thing is filled with air and will float. There could be a lot of upward preasure and that is why the one in the picture has four thick tubes holding it down.
Third fish are not always easy to keep. You will have to do water changes, deal with algee and buy a filter.

Don't worry about vibrations and noise because the fish wont care. Aquarium filters make lots of noise and the fish are fine.

It could work but you will have to be careful and build well.
 
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reggie_da_man

New Member
i would just put a usb floppy drive and a usb dvd burner thats all. And i dont think ill put fish in...or maybe the ones that eat the algee
 
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691175002

New Member
If you dont have fish making the whole system water cooled with the entire tank the resivoir would be really cool. If the computer is not watercooled get an air pump and have lots of bubbles.
 
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flame1117

banned
Iknow alot oabout fish i have a few tanks and breed some of the more expesnsive ones for a little extra $$$.Having that could cause alot of unneeded stress on the fish, and would just your fish get ich(very common parasites, that when under stress many fish will get)
 
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