Ok, here is my post on insulation for those that wonder how you get a -40C evap on a computer without killing it or in my case -10C
Anyways materials used(keep in mind this is Project Redneck)
Di-Electric Grease bought at PepBoys, used as a last line of defence agains moisture, provides some insulation and ensures airtight seal. Vasolene will work if you really want to be cheap.
1/2" and 3/4" copper pipe insulation bought at local hardware store, I used it to insulate the suction line and pieces for my doughnut.
Pieces of 3mm hobby foam from Hobby Lobby, used as an insulation on the back of the motherboard and to insulate to cpu level.
Some 15 PSI Styrofoam from local lumber store. 1" thick, very dense. used as a block to forma a seal around my socket insulation and the evap.
Plexiglass sheets, bought at Lowes, used as a screw base on the back of motherboard and as a mounting block to screw the evap ontoo.
Some 4" machine screws and nuts, self explanatory.
So what I did is I put a whole lotta grease on the back of the motherboard where the cpu would be. Made sure every cirucut and metal piece was covered in it. Then I took a peice of 4x4" pleaxi and 4mm foam and cut the holes in them for the bolts. Stuck the bolts through them and through the motherboard and put the motherboard down.
Then I took more grease and mashed as much as I could in the socket itslef untill it was spewing out of the sides, I also gave the surrounding area a very liberal coating of it. I cut a piece of 4mm to fit as much area as I could fit in and made a hole for the socket. I placed it on the motherboard and coated it in grease.
Then I installed the CPU and cut another piece of 4mm the same size as the first but with a smaller hole just big enough for the top of the cpu's ihs to be exposed. It looked like this when done: (sorry for the horrid quality, 8 MP cameras and SimV don't mix well)
Then I took my styrofoam and cut out another block. Drilled a hole in it to let my evap and it's encasement fit snugly inside it. I put a light coat of grease on the bottom of it.
Now here I have installed my doughnut, a peice of foam that goes around the extra space of the evap to have some give put when screwed down tight on the cpu it squishes and pushed all of the foam insulation down tight to hold the seal. Here I have just finished wrapping it in electrical tape to make sure it is tight.
Now its ready to go. I wrapped a little bit of tape arount the top there to seal a small crack I accedentaly made. When I install it for actual use I will tape the whole thing up just as a outer seal. It is not tight down on the cpu yet but it is close. As you see I have sealed the gap where the plexi met the evap with some rubber cement and pushed my pipe insulation into it. They key to it is having an airtight seal. Having a little air in there is going to happen but the goal is to minimize it and stop any airflow. Because on these units condensation dosen't form as you have seen it is frost, as long as your unit is on it will stay frost, 99% of damage to a computer from a phase change is when a user turns their computer off, some frost that has formed melts and leaks onto a component. Most phase users try and minimize their power cycling of their computer to help aleviate this risk.
So I tested it on my computer and it works, I know motherboards are very poor at reading negative temps, some boards with units at -70c only read -20 or so. So my -10 could have been -30 I wont know untill I pick up a temp probe thats not so cheap. The most contact I made with it is half of the block though.
So what needs to be done before i can turn this into my permanent cooling solution is a suction line, a way to stabilize my mounting config a bit more it is kind of wobbly but I know the culprit, and since I need to take my whole evap insulation off anyway I will resand it to ensure flatness and insert some copper wool in there to try and slow the refrigerant down a bit. I would buy a real block but they are about 80 bucks, thats something im not prepared to spend, if I can find two copper plates about 1/4-1/2" thick between now and then I will make my own block but untill then it is my evap in a can method. :P So maybe by next weekend we see some progress after that I think I am going to San Antone for 2.5 weeks so I will continue when I get back from that. Right now I am kicking myself for beein a cheap ass and not buying a flex line. Oh well
by GunnerMan » Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:18 pm 
