Cooling solution

mazda8 · 04-29-2009, 10:53 PM

Okay, I am not sure how to describe this, but think of a vacuum cleaner. So my PC is in the trunk i want to be able to suck air out of the cabin into the trunk and push it into the computer with a hose or something. What kind of hardware would I need for this?

TruckinMP3 · 04-29-2009, 10:54 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by mazda8

Okay, I am not sure how to describe this, but think of a vacuum cleaner. So my PC is in the trunk i want to be able to suck air out of the cabin into the trunk and push it into the computer with a hose or something. What kind of hardware would I need for this?

A tube and a fan?

mazda8 · 04-29-2009, 10:56 PM

well yes, but a fan won't do. Or a simple fan. I want a rather small tube, and a fan won't exactly fit that... I need it to be much more efficient, otherwise there is no point

2k1Toaster · 04-29-2009, 11:13 PM

small aircompressor/pump perhaps? Maybe a fishtank thing?

mazda8 · 04-29-2009, 11:15 PM

fishtank thing... you may be on to something.

I also had another idea. take one of those very tiny cpu fans, like the one at the front of car pc cases, and get regular sized tubing, but find something that I can attach to widenit temporarily to fit around the ends of the fan.

Squadfer · 04-29-2009, 11:32 PM

One thing to keep in mind....a small tube will not pull in much air.....and when you add a fan to a small tube...then well you will get a whistling sound coming out of it. I would personally use a 3in case fan and find a way to add a 3in tube to it. This will allow a good airflow and you wont have any noise

.

pcpete · 04-29-2009, 11:37 PM

I'm having problems with heat as well. I've got a carnetix p2140 and it gracefully shuts down windows and itself when the temp hits 60C. We had some hot weather in TO over the last week and I had this issue last summer as well.

If I ran the AC for about 10min air would seep through to the trunk and the pc would keep running....but I like to roll down my windows and turn the AC off, but this would cause temps to rise and carnetix would eventually shut everything down.

Jitters333 · 04-29-2009, 11:39 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by mazda8

fishtank thing... you may be on to something.

I also had another idea. take one of those very tiny cpu fans, like the one at the front of car pc cases, and get regular sized tubing, but find something that I can attach to widenit temporarily to fit around the ends of the fan.

A fan and several small tubes fabbed on the fan would totally work, don't know why you shot that down

get a fiberglass kit, and a bowl (about the size of the fan) line the bowl with the fabric and make sure there is enough fab to wrap around the sides of the fan. resin ONLY the fab in the bowl once dry take out place the fan on the fab bowl THEN wrap the non resined fab around the the sides of the fan and resin it

step 2
drill holes the size of the tubing in the fabbed bowl and use hot glue (or putty whatever) to get a good seal, will look something like this

Edit: or you could always get a watercooled system 300$ but WELL worth it will drop the temp very nicely
Oh And It Looks Cooler than anything else that you could do to your pc

rogerdugans · 04-30-2009, 06:08 AM

A thing to remember:
computers use ambient air for cooling.

This means that whatever the air temperature is in the computers location, THAT is the air you are using to cool the computer.
Water cooling does not change that, nor does running air ducts- these just move the source of cooling air to a remote location, ie.: instead of air from inside the dash or in the trunk, air from the passenger compartment.
Even if you use something like peltier coolers (TECs) this remains true.

The only way to really CHANGE this is to use an external device to supply the cooling air, like an air conditioner ducted to the computer.

All is not lost though- the temperature of the cooling air does NOT need to be 50 degrees fahrenheit to keep a carpc running! What DOES matter is keeping a large enough AMOUNT of air over all of you components, including the power supply.

If you are going to duct (non-refrigerated) air to the carpc, you will probably get the best results by pulling air away for the unit, not sending it towards it, and you will need to make sure that ALL of the exhaust air is going over the computer. And use a large duct, not a small one.

A 2" exhaust duct will do more to keep things cool than three 1/2" ducts with refrigerated air unless your AC really kicks some butt.

The point here is that it is really the constant exchange of air that is needed, not a one-sided supply of cool air.
If you force a constant exchange of WARM air through the carpc it will work better than sending cold air IN but doing nothing to get it back out. In that situation, the cold air will go in, be warmed up by the computer and then sort of get stuck in there getting warmer and warmer.

I hope this has made some sort of sense...

HiJackZX1 · 04-30-2009, 11:24 AM

What type of car is this for? I have a DODGE DURANGO and my PC is prone to overheating if not cooled correctly. After 3 different designs I came up with a case to move massive amounts of air through the PC. Also another thing I did is connect the fans to direct 12V power, not one fan is controlled by the PC. I notice on direct 12V the fans spin faster. My case is thin and basically has to fans blowing air in, and 2 fans blowing air out. My PC is in the cabin, but I think if you run small ducts from the top to the PC it would work. Here is a crude drawing of my idea for your car.

You don't have to have ducts towards the back of the PC, only ducts coming in. Only thing is the trunk will be cooled also when the PC pushes the air out. Basically the duct is coming from the the flat area behind the rear passenger seats and before the rear windshield. Usually they put the rear speakers in that area. It should be thin to cut. For maximum air cooling I recommend 2 fans at the top, regular pc fans, the 2 more at the base of the PC drawing air in. The at the other end of the case, 2 more fans blowing air out. You should not hear much noise either. Here is a pic of my case. I used the cars seat frame to build it. I center console goes on top of it.

PS: don't ever use direct A/C air, it will start to rust and corrode your pc. Your cabin is cooled by A/C so the way I have explained will work perfect.

digital79 · 05-15-2009, 11:08 AM

Fans are not good at pushing air trough pipes, you would need a small blower.

You could tap into an air duct to get some cool air to the trunk.

Jitters333 · 05-16-2009, 04:10 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by digital79

Fans are not good at pushing air trough pipes, you would need a small blower.

You could tap into an air duct to get some cool air to the trunk.

Don't Speak of which you don't know!
Googled leaf blower and picked a random one
http://westtexasmercantile.ecrater.c...hp?pid=4337513
it happens to have 100cfm..
newegg 30$ this fan has 240 cfm.. 140% more than a leaf blower..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835213001

Fan:1 Leaf Blower:0

and yes im sure you can find a gas powered blower that can smoke this fan, wouldn't think that would be to practical though

And then theres ALWAYS water cooling =D not the cheapest but NOTHING will beat it/ will ever look any cooler!!3
installing one in my friends beamer next month, Its going to look AMAZING! can't wait will run you a solid 150-300 Buckurooneyys though.. in my opinion totally worth it

CraziFuzzy · 05-16-2009, 04:35 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by HiJackZX1

PS: don't ever use direct A/C air, it will start to rust and corrode your pc. Your cabin is cooled by A/C so the way I have explained will work perfect.

Curious.. why do you think A/C air would cause any sort of corrosion? If anyhting, AC Air would be dryer than the ambient air in the car, as the AC dehumidifies as it cools, so if anything, it would be BETTER for the electronics.

rogerdugans · 05-16-2009, 06:23 AM

A few points on "blowers" and fans:

Blowers, as in leaf blowers, HVAC blowers and the fan used in automotive heat/AC systems are a specific TYPE of fan sometimes referred to as "squirrel cage" fans due to the design on the fan vanes and cage.

The fans generally used in computers, window fans and home air conditioners are another type of fan.

Both fans have different strengths and weaknesses:
*by design, squirrel cage fans generally make more noise but can actually put out an impressive amount of pressure. This is why they are used in car ventilation systems and industrial HVAC: they can really PUSH air through convoluted ducts.
Squirrel cage fans- blowers- work well for leaf blowers for the same reason.
(Note that these fans are considerably different in exact configuration but loosely belong to the same "family" of fans because they take intake air at the center and use the rotational force of the spinning fan to pressurize the air in the exhaust on the outside edge of the fan.)

*Pancake (also called "muffin") fans, as generally used in computers, window fans and so on tend to be smaller, quieter and still move a good volume of air- AS LONG AS THERE IS LITTLE TO RESTRICT FLOW. They work well in free-flow situations but are rarely found in any sort of duct because they just do not work well when flow is restricted. (Tubeaxial fans are similar in ways but much DEEPER and used where restrictions to airflow exist.)

Both designs ARE fans.
One is more suitable for low-noise, open environments
One is more suitable for being remotely located due to high noise and its ability to push air through restricted areas.

The point is-
CFM alone is not an indicator of how well a fan will perform in a ducted situation.
Try building a leaf blower with the 240cfm fan linked above: it will not work anywhere near as well as the 100cfm blower.

With that point straightened out:
it really should not be required to force ducted air to a carpc all that often, but if it IS then do yourself a favor and do not use a high cfm pancake fan.
Check into squirrel cage/blower type fans instead- there are fairly small, quiet ones that put out enough pressure to deal with a convoluted duct and still move a decent amount of air.

Some links to visually show different fans:
http://www.surplussales.com/Fans-Blo...ansBlow-1.html
http://www.surplussales.com/Fans-Blo...ansBlow-3.html

Another type which is generally not available in 12v versions: tube axial fans
http://www.surplussales.com/Fans-Blo...ansBlow-4.html

These are round fans (similar to pancake/muffin fans) but very DEEP and high speed- they can put out some real pressure too.

malcom2073 · 05-16-2009, 06:31 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by CraziFuzzy

Curious.. why do you think A/C air would cause any sort of corrosion? If anyhting, AC Air would be dryer than the ambient air in the car, as the AC dehumidifies as it cools, so if anything, it would be BETTER for the electronics.

The main issue is the AC will lower the temperature of your components way below ambient, and if ambient is humid it will condense water on the board therefore corroding and rusting it. Especially a problem right after the computer/fan system is shut off.

Also, while water cooling doesn't lower the temperature of the board below ambient, it does remove heat from the cpu much better. The cpu runs much higher than ambient, even in a hot trunk (usually). At a hotter ambient temperature water cooling with be able to get the CPU closer to ambient than fan/heatsink cooling, and therefore is better.

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