Anyone have any experience with one?
The only one's I've seen are Silentmaxx's (boo) and Aqua Computer's Aqua Current. (they look remarkedly similar).
After having a Silentmaxx Prosilence 350 die on me, I am going to probably go the way of watercooling rather than passive cooling.
I would like to have a watercooled PSU, but was wondering if anyone could share their experiences, good and bad.
Thanks,
-Ed
Water Cooled Power Supplies?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee, Devonavar
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larrymoencurly
- Posts: 170
- Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2002 11:29 pm
You ever come up with anything new to say? Risk your LIFE? Come on...larrymoencurly wrote:Do you really want to risk your life with a non-UL approved water-cooled PSU?
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... ight=water
I don't see that much of a risk, I don't know what I'm talking about tho. If it did short out somehow, the fuse in the powersupply would blow pretty darn fast.. even if you had your hand on the powersupply or the radiator, the electricity has a nice path through ground wires to the ground, youre very high resistance and most likely have no path to the ground.... hey you could do one better and use that fluidXP liquid in your system, its non-conductive right? Its bout $35/gallon which isn't that expensive, thats like going out to dinner or somethin one day 
.
.oops i keep hitting post too soon, i have no experience with wced powersupplies, I have looked into them but havn't really been that happy with them. If someone sold a modded seasonic powersupply (80%eff) i'd look into it... I'm not sure what my problem is really, but i have a problem buying a poweruspply that isn't antec/pcpoewrcooling/seasonic... not sure why what my prolblem is heh...
talking about the dangerous, heres something worse... seasonic's tornado ps's have the 120mm fan, inside them there are 2 basically al plates that are cut to make it look more like a heatsink... what if you went in there and flattened it out, bout zalman's videocard waterblock kit (comes with 2 waterblocks, depending on yoru gfx card), also bought some nonconductive thermal tape, put one waterblock on each piece of al... use a Y splitter on each side and runt he waterblocks in aprallel.... low resistance... 80%ef @ 200w draw is only 50w of heat, 25w per block which is less than any video card you'd need to watercvool... $60 for a 300w seasonic, $30 for the waterblock kit, $10 for a nonconductive tim.... $100 hehe and you thoguht buying a premade wced ps was unsafe
talking about the dangerous, heres something worse... seasonic's tornado ps's have the 120mm fan, inside them there are 2 basically al plates that are cut to make it look more like a heatsink... what if you went in there and flattened it out, bout zalman's videocard waterblock kit (comes with 2 waterblocks, depending on yoru gfx card), also bought some nonconductive thermal tape, put one waterblock on each piece of al... use a Y splitter on each side and runt he waterblocks in aprallel.... low resistance... 80%ef @ 200w draw is only 50w of heat, 25w per block which is less than any video card you'd need to watercvool... $60 for a 300w seasonic, $30 for the waterblock kit, $10 for a nonconductive tim.... $100 hehe and you thoguht buying a premade wced ps was unsafe
Really?larrymoencurly wrote:Do you really want to risk your life with a non-UL approved water-cooled PSU?
You do realize that swapping out fans and modding of any electrical component in your computer voids it's UL listing?
I find it hard to believe that commercially sold water cooled power supplies are UL listed. The only one available I've seen so far is Aqua Computer's. But it looks like a dead ringer to SilentMaxx's. Ugh, I would hope not.
The only other option then is to mod a PSU and void it's UL Listing. :rolleyes:
-Ed
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larrymoencurly
- Posts: 170
- Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2002 11:29 pm
You do realize that swapping out fans and modding of any electrical component in your computer voids it's UL listing?
A new fan will void the UL listing but probably won't really change anything, unlike a PSU water cooling mod.
I know I sound like a broken record on the subject of water cooling, but I just don't like the idea of the high voltage components being insulated from the water by nothing but .01" thick material.
A new fan will void the UL listing but probably won't really change anything, unlike a PSU water cooling mod.
I know I sound like a broken record on the subject of water cooling, but I just don't like the idea of the high voltage components being insulated from the water by nothing but .01" thick material.
then you do it with a psu where the heatsinks aren't 'high voltage components' ... i still haven't come across a psu with live heatsinkslarrymoencurly wrote:I know I sound like a broken record on the subject of water cooling, but I just don't like the idea of the high voltage components being insulated from the water by nothing but .01" thick material.
i think watercooled psu is a great idea. but i'd probably rather build one myself than buy one of the existing things..
psu mods
hey everyone! i just registered.
what i wanted to say is, watercooling an ATX psu isn't impossible, or very dangerous for that matter. every problem you mentioned is easy to deal with (just use the very common mica isolator pads, they are guaranteed for like 1500volts. can your wall plug say that?), feel free to ask me if you have a particular question. i just modded a 230w ATX psu, i removed the fan and added a large heatsink. it works like a charm (20celsius above ambient at 1/3 load, with an undersized heatsink. i went cheap on this one, but it was my first). i also tried another method, moving hot components to a heatsink and connecting it with wires, but it didn't work, the 5v and 3.3v voltage dropped because of the extension cable (i tried different lengths, about an inch of 1mm diam. copper was still ok, but no more. the transistors can be moved, the schottkies can't. some claim to have had better luck. i dunno) i'm thinking of watercooling the next patient, a 420w imbpf. this one won't likely run with a large heatsink, altough i'll try that too when i have spare time. the procedure i used on the 230w is the same as i would mount a waterblock. i replaced the old sinks with 2 L shaped aluminum pieces (40*25*4mm), and screwed on the large heatsink (or copper waterblock) to the flat surface they make (thermal grease everywhere!). the components then went back to their original place, with a large heatsink this time. every component is isolated from the heatsink, which can be grounded like the rest of the computer case, so there is no way that (or the waterblock) shocks you. but it can kill the psu if it leaks and soaks the pcb. that's what i fear.
anyway, i hope this discussion gets going again.
what i wanted to say is, watercooling an ATX psu isn't impossible, or very dangerous for that matter. every problem you mentioned is easy to deal with (just use the very common mica isolator pads, they are guaranteed for like 1500volts. can your wall plug say that?), feel free to ask me if you have a particular question. i just modded a 230w ATX psu, i removed the fan and added a large heatsink. it works like a charm (20celsius above ambient at 1/3 load, with an undersized heatsink. i went cheap on this one, but it was my first). i also tried another method, moving hot components to a heatsink and connecting it with wires, but it didn't work, the 5v and 3.3v voltage dropped because of the extension cable (i tried different lengths, about an inch of 1mm diam. copper was still ok, but no more. the transistors can be moved, the schottkies can't. some claim to have had better luck. i dunno) i'm thinking of watercooling the next patient, a 420w imbpf. this one won't likely run with a large heatsink, altough i'll try that too when i have spare time. the procedure i used on the 230w is the same as i would mount a waterblock. i replaced the old sinks with 2 L shaped aluminum pieces (40*25*4mm), and screwed on the large heatsink (or copper waterblock) to the flat surface they make (thermal grease everywhere!). the components then went back to their original place, with a large heatsink this time. every component is isolated from the heatsink, which can be grounded like the rest of the computer case, so there is no way that (or the waterblock) shocks you. but it can kill the psu if it leaks and soaks the pcb. that's what i fear.
anyway, i hope this discussion gets going again.
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larrymoencurly
- Posts: 170
- Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2002 11:29 pm
i still haven't come across a psu with live heatsinks
The ones I've seen were in a Powmax (much better than those made now), Delta, Antec SmartPower, and an Enermax EG365P-VD. I believe that except for the Powmax, all the transistors were insulated from the heatsink.
I worry about the insulators failing because of what I've read in sci.electronics.repair. Most of the problems seem to be with very thin transparent brown plastic insulators, but one person said that his TV or monitor kept blowing replacement transistors until he quit using mica insulators rated for too little voltage. I've had two insulator problems myself, both with micas. A transistor in a stereo receiver shorted because the threaded hole in the heatsink protruded sightly, and the transistor for a simple homemade linear PSU kept measuring roughly 500K ohms against the heatsink, even though the heatsink and transistor were flat and smooth and the mica insulators seemed perfect. Both transistors were in low voltage circuits.
The ones I've seen were in a Powmax (much better than those made now), Delta, Antec SmartPower, and an Enermax EG365P-VD. I believe that except for the Powmax, all the transistors were insulated from the heatsink.
I worry about the insulators failing because of what I've read in sci.electronics.repair. Most of the problems seem to be with very thin transparent brown plastic insulators, but one person said that his TV or monitor kept blowing replacement transistors until he quit using mica insulators rated for too little voltage. I've had two insulator problems myself, both with micas. A transistor in a stereo receiver shorted because the threaded hole in the heatsink protruded sightly, and the transistor for a simple homemade linear PSU kept measuring roughly 500K ohms against the heatsink, even though the heatsink and transistor were flat and smooth and the mica insulators seemed perfect. Both transistors were in low voltage circuits.
just for kicks. This guy hates fans and loves water cooling.
http://www.zfz.com/projects.asp?request ... 50w&page=1
The zero fan zone.
http://www.zfz.com/projects.asp?request ... 50w&page=1
The zero fan zone.
Woo, that's some pretty l33t engineering skilz!apd wrote:just for kicks. This guy hates fans and loves water cooling.
http://www.zfz.com/projects.asp?request ... 50w&page=1
The zero fan zone.
