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Thread: Ever had a problem of geting TOO cold

  1. #1
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    Ever had a problem of geting TOO cold

    just finished the prototype for my CPU cooler. reached -18 C.

    My goal is to turn a Athlon XP +1800 Palomino into a semi-stable overclocked monster. I got the task of cooling the beast, i turned to TEC (peltier junctions) for cooling because i have used them before and have the supplies at hand. after hooking up a prototype to a socket 370 PIII (note it was on a an adaptor to fit into a slot 1 mobo) i turned it on...... about 40 seconds later i had ice growing on the back or the chip. i can get a desicant to clear up the ice, and when the CPU is on it will warm up a bit, but is it bad for a processor to be operating at too cold of a temperature?

  2. #2
    Senior Member naptownman's Avatar
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    As long as you can control condensation, no.

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    i have some epsom salt dessicant, but im more worried about the plastic in the chips, this thing got pretty cold, any danger of it breaking? also how do you controll condesation in sucha large enviroment?

  4. #4
    Senior Member Happy Joe's Avatar
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    To control the condensation most folks use gaskets to keep it out of the processor socket and silicone conformal coat or liquid electrical tape (liquid plastic insulating compund) to basicly encapsulate the mobo front and back.
    I tried sealing the box (used water cooling to remover the peltier heat) and that helped (after the humidity inside condensed) but was not the solution. I also tried drying the incomming air with a dehumidifier which also (kind of) worked but was not truely successful. Eventually I gave up on refrigerated processing as being too noisy and too much of a pain in the a...
    A quick google on "phase change cooling" should turn up some ideas/solutions.
    Also check out the problems that the folks that use liquid nitrogen have to deal with on their banzai runs (google LN2 cooling or liquid nitrogen cooling)
    lots of info here;
    http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/
    Enjoy!

  5. #5
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    dont know what you mean about bein too noisy? silentn running is the only thing this thing has done. I need to use peltier cooling, i dont have teh budget for much else.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Happy Joe's Avatar
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    "dont know what you mean about bein too noisy?"
    The 1/4 horsepower compressor and fan of the dehumidifier were a triful loud (the floor vibrations did feel kinda neat on the soles of my feet though)
    The water cooled peltier worked the best but I never completely got rid of the frost issues (insulated the H*** out of it and still had condensation, had to run it on its side to keep the moisture off the vid card). Water cooling the pelt (maintenance) eventually got to be too much trouble too so I gave up on the refrigeration.
    hope it work out for you though...
    I still get tempted to rip the guts out of that dehumidifier and try phase change cooling, occasionally
    Enjoy!

  7. #7
    Ultimate Member AllGamer's Avatar
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    ask the guys here my PC average temp is below 18c all time

    and that is just using FANs

    during games and heavy CPU usage it only raises to 25c to 30ish

    and no, it's not a temp sensor proble, cuz the actual room temp is 20c

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    i fixed the problem with some foam tape and some electrical grease,
    (thanks Joe)
    and i dont know what you mean by noisy, im using a 320 watt TEC and im using a large aluminum heatsink and a 120mm fan and it is around 60C and steady. i just need to know if one part of the circuit board is about -3C and the rest of the board is about 30-40C (graphic card, chipset, etc), i hear groaning and popping sometimes in the computer, but nothing ever happens, i just need to know if the plasics and components in the computer can take it, say if i turn the TEC on before i turn on the processor.
    Last edited by Jackle9MM; 04-25-2006 at 03:21 PM. Reason: grammar errors

  9. #9
    Senior Member Happy Joe's Avatar
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    From all I can find out the parts should work just fine.
    The noise was not from the tec (they're silent) it was from the dehumidifier that I was trying to use to eliminate the frost and condensation, it was like having a refrigerator with a small window fan running all the time.
    Always turn the tec on first, running the processor without the tec could damage it.
    Hows about some pics of your setup (might just inspire me to dig the old parts out of the junk...er spare parts pile)
    Enjoy!

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