my stories about cooking hardware

D

DFI Daishi

2[H]4U
Joined
Feb 14, 2005
Messages
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well, this is just an initial attempt, but i have told stories about my most spectacular hardware failure previously, so now i'm trying to share some documenting photos.

http://1stclasspcs.com/uploaded/DSCN0312.JPG
http://1stclasspcs.com/uploaded/DSCN0308.JPG
http://1stclasspcs.com/uploaded/DSCN0309.JPG

if someone could tell me how to scale the display size down a bit, then i can use img tags.

if someone would like to suggest a better image hosting solution, please do share it, since i doubt that these are going to stay up long with traffic.

this is what happened when the power flickered during the summer, causing my computer and fans to shut off, but left my pump and peltier modules running.
 
:eek: how the hell did you do that lol. I noticed there was some frost on the top of the waterblock...did you get the hot and cold side of the peltier messed up?

EDIT : nm, didn't read the whole post.
 
DFI Daishi said:
that isn't frost, but rather boiled and re-hardened plastic.
Click to expand...

ack lol, too bad you didn't have any eggs or bacon around you could have at least made yourself some breakfast.
 
Wow that's crazy. Everything is pretty much burned and melted lol
 
WOW...you sure know how to have a good time on a Saturday night ;) Too bad you couldn't have caught it on video :D
 
DFI Daishi said:
this is what happened when the power flickered during the summer, causing my computer and fans to shut off, but left my pump and peltier modules running.
Click to expand...

Wow!! That got REAL hot. Bummer. Kinda ironic how something that can get so cold can also get that hot. The price of being so [H]ard can get pretty steep. :(
 
You said the pump was still running though...so shouldn't the radiator even w/o fans have been able to keep it from getting up to 330C?
 
Erasmus354 said:
You said the pump was still running though...so shouldn't the radiator even w/o fans have been able to keep it from getting up to 330C?
Click to expand...

the pump and rad alone slowed things down, but without fans the rad can only do so much.

eventually, the coolant boiled off, and then things got really hot.

it happened while i was away at work, so who knows how long the whole process took.
 
thewhiteguy said:
TEC scares me for this very reason.
Click to expand...

honestly, it should scare anyone.

i am lucky that i did not burn down my house in this accident.

since then, i have added some control logic to force kill my 12 V PSU and pump, if the fans ever stop. (thanks, NTE electronics co.)
 
Just think, a $100 UPS would have saved everything. You are lucky the foolishness of leaving a peltier on while at work didn't burn the damn house down.
 
MeanieMan said:
Just think, a $100 UPS would have saved everything. You are lucky the foolishness of leaving a peltier on while at work didn't burn the damn house down.
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you know, i think that i just said that i was lucky not to have burned down my house, did i not?

as for a $100 UPS being able to save me from this sort of problem, would you please find me one in that price range that can handle the combined load of waterpump, computer and 12 V dedicated?

1.5 + 4.9 + 6.0 = far more amps than anything but a VERY high end server UPS is rated for.
 
Ahh...how about a 1 Kva Smart-UPS? If that works I know where ya might get one for about $200. You might also want to invest in an Aqua-Computer TCS unit that is basically a thermal switch attached to the CPU block that splices into your ATX start switch. When the TCS cuts in...off goes the computer :D
 
Top Nurse said:
Ahh...how about a 1 Kva Smart-UPS? If that works I know where ya might get one for about $200. You might also want to invest in an Aqua-Computer TCS unit that is basically a thermal switch attached to the CPU block that splices into your ATX start switch. When the TCS cuts in...off goes the computer :D
Click to expand...

i currently have a pretty effective set of safeguards in place. combo of the simple 12 V rail control relay, and a high-powered mosfet with decent hold-time that feeds off the RPM signal from one of my fans. if either cuts, so does my whole system.

1Kva might or might not be enough depending on my CPU load. (it's pretty scary, really)
 
DFI Daishi said:
i currently have a pretty effective set of safeguards in place. combo of the simple 12 V rail control relay, and a high-powered mosfet with decent hold-time that feeds off the RPM signal from one of my fans. if either cuts, so does my whole system.

1Kva might or might not be enough depending on my CPU load. (it's pretty scary, really)
Click to expand...

Bummer...Might know where ya could get a 1.5 Kva Smart-UPS for a bit more, but last time I hooked one up to a household plug it blew the breakers when I turned it on :(

The Aqua-Computer TCS is just a simple last ditch thermal switch that when it reaches about 160*F it cuts the power to the system. It is not thee only solution. It pays to have more than one fix in the works. I suppose it would have saved your system, no? I think they are about $15-20 :D
 
Top Nurse said:
Bummer...Might know where ya could get a 1.5 Kva Smart-UPS for a bit more, but last time I hooked one up to a household plug it blew the breakers when I turned it on :(

The Aqua-Computer TCS is just a simple last ditch thermal switch that when it reaches about 160*F it cuts the power to the system. It is not thee only solution. It pays to have more than one fix in the works. I suppose it would have saved your system, no? I think they are about $15-20 :D
Click to expand...

no. flat out no. you can't tempt me with sweet promises, devil. i am not shelling out that kind of money for a UPS.

i built this cooling solution while i was working, and i fixed it while i was working. now that i am a student again, i am having trouble drawing up a budget for next year that will allow me to spend any of my wages from this summer on computer parts.

gas prices and vehicle repairs are killing me. it is starting to come very close to the level where it might be more affordable to move out and live close enough to the campus to walk/bike/bus to school.

as for the TCS being able to save my system, the computer was already off. at that point my pump and 12 V PSU were on a simple manual switch, not a relay.

this accident happened last summer, if anyone is confused. i am just posting the pics now, that i took at the time.
 
Really.

This is scary.


Sorry it happened man, and it gave me goosebumps of fear just looking at it and thinking about what could have happened. :eek:
 
holy crap man...
wow.... i mean just wow....
thats scarry stuff... really scarry stuff...
almost scarry enough to scare the water outa my system...

and yea... i know what you mean about those expensive UPS's... i looked into one a while back, but to handle my computer for any reasonable ammount of time in the event of a power outage was nearing a grand... (unless i bought it on ebay)

get us some pics of how ur setup was prior to fryage...it will be interesting to examine..
 
I just bought three (3) 700 Va UPS's for $40 this morning for a friend. If you want to know where you can get some more at $15 a piece E-me. If you live in So Cal you can go pick them up. :D
 
damn...that sucks man...sorry to see you turned your cpu into an egg fryer

lookon the bright side...now its time to upgrade! ;)
 
quakefiend420 said:
lookon the bright side...now its time to upgrade! ;)
Click to expand...

I think that's the problem if you read back a few posts as he's going back to school. I definitely know the feeling from transitioning from a full time job to a full time student. Things that seemed perfectly OK like popping for a 6600 GT seem absolutley exorbitant when in school. My heart really bleeds for your trauma and there isn't a bright side for a while. I hate lowered expectations on my hardware... When I went back to school in a mid-life change of heart I even stooped to using an Apple II for my word processing :eek:
 
DFI Daishi said:
no. flat out no. you can't tempt me with sweet promises, devil. i am not shelling out that kind of money for a UPS. .
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: That's a stupid attitude, how much did you spend on your system?
 
computerpro3 said:
:rolleyes: That's a stupid attitude, how much did you spend on your system?
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replacing the damaged components cost one HELL of a lot less than the $200 - $300 US (probably more like $500 - $700 by the time i pay exchange rate, shipping and duties) that getting a 1.0 - 1.5 Kva UPS would cost.

hell, at this point i am driving on bald car tires with worn out brakes, a cracked winshield and wonky suspension and have barely enough cash to cover gas until the end of the semester.

i'm not spending ANYTHING on my computer until late july, if then.

now, once again: these pictures are from last summer, and i now have adequate safety measures to shut this thing down if the power flickers or a fan stops.

i have tested theses safety measures, and they seem to work pretty well. even if i don't have a UPS, my computer will not catch fire again
 
okay, since things seem to have died down..............

i did not put these pictures up and start this thread looking for sympathy, warnings or anything else of that nature.

this was an accident that happened roughly a year ago, now, and i have long since recovered my system.

at the time that i came home and found this charred wreck, i decided to document what had happened by taking some photographs of the carnage.

from the beginning, this thread was intended for the general entertainment of the readers of these forums, proof of some of the stories that i have recounted in previous threads, and perhaps as a warning to anyone else who is thinking of doing peltier cooling, but like myself is apt to cut corners part way through a project, to get the system working sooner.

along the way, though, some people said some things that really started to annoy me, and i responded in a way that was not always terribly polite.

for that i appologise.
 
I'm a bit curious as to how the water 'boiled off'.....it's a closed loop so even if it got hot it really can't go anywhere unless the pressure of the heated water blew a tube somewhere and you had water all through your case (which is bad as well).
 
tsuehpsyde said:
I'm a bit curious as to how the water 'boiled off'.....it's a closed loop so even if it got hot it really can't go anywhere unless the pressure of the heated water blew a tube somewhere and you had water all through your case (which is bad as well).
Click to expand...

it's hard to tell after the fact, if it was a gradual jet from some slightly weaker seal, or a sudden rupture.

and to clairify, not all of the coolant boiled off. enough got out initially to generate an air pocket that made the coolant stop flowing through the whole loop, then whatever was left in and above the CPU block boiled off, then temps went stupid-high.

there was a minor volume of water on the floor when i got home.

all of this is just my best guess work, looking at the results. i have no urge to try to re-create the same conditions, so that i can watch and know for sure, though.

funny, that............
 
i just want to point out it's ironic that you are "DFI" daishi but ran a NF7 ;)

Just a dumb comment, for fun.
 
diredesire said:
i just want to point out it's ironic that you are "DFI" daishi but ran a NF7 ;)

Just a dumb comment, for fun.
Click to expand...

just plain old "daishi" was already taken when i joined, and that picture is from long before i joined hard.

i was much happier with that board, this DFI NF2 is nothing but trouble.

i've been over this before, but i decided to use DFI as part of my name in an attempt to take some of DFI's evil power as my own, and not be so totally ruled by it's whims.

hasn't worked out thus far.
 
i ran a pelt/h20 setup for a while on an old duron 600...i was never comfortable leaving it on while i was gone for more than few minutes, so i didn't

eventually, i got rid of the pelt and did just plain h20, which i felt comfortable enough to leave on for a few hours anyways
 
Woah Daishi that's enough to frighten me off of TEC for good.

I was wondering if you could describe the types of controls you implemented into your new system to avoid another meltdown.
I'm sure those principles may be universally applied.
 
DFI Daishi said:
just plain old "daishi" was already taken when i joined, and that picture is from long before i joined hard.

i was much happier with that board, this DFI NF2 is nothing but trouble.

i've been over this before, but i decided to use DFI as part of my name in an attempt to take some of DFI's evil power as my own, and not be so totally ruled by it's whims.

hasn't worked out thus far.
Click to expand...
Yeah, if i had to do the AXP series all over again i'd go with an NF7 or an AN7, my Infinity was great for the higher FSBs, but it gave me a lot of trouble...
 
fore1337 said:
Woah Daishi that's enough to frighten me off of TEC for good.

I was wondering if you could describe the types of controls you implemented into your new system to avoid another meltdown.
I'm sure those principles may be universally applied.
Click to expand...

well the key control, and the easy to implement control is that i now turn my pump and didicated 12 V PSU on and off with a relay that is controlled by the 12 V rail of my computer.

that makes sure that if my computer is off, my pump and heatpumps cannot be on.

the not so easy to diagram and explain control is the one that shuts my rig off if one of the fans on my rad stops working.

i got rid of my old circuit design program a while ago, since i did not have a real CD copy of it or anything, just a download that came with one of my old textbooks.

oh well.

the basic design is that i now have a relay that controls power to my computer, pump and dedicated 12 V PSU. there is a bypass switch that allows me to intially power everything at startup. i have a mosfet that has the RPM lead of one of my fans going to the control pin. i have an small inductor before the mosfet. the power lead of the mosfet supplies power to the control pins of the relay, from the 12 V rail of my computer.

the inductor is to smooth out the pulsing generated by the mosfet cycling open and shut on the 12V rail. maybe the PSU wouldn't mind, but it's just easier on the PSU this way.

i don't think that description is all that clear, so i'm trying to diagram the circuit in MS paint, but it's not going so smoothly.................
 
bump, interesting stuff. Basically a secondary PSU and a relay between the main PSU and secondary (assuming your peltier was running off the secondary since the main shut down) would of prevented this if that had been in your computer correct? Asking for knowledge purpouse only.

I personally have no problems with leaving my pelts going days since that is how mine is personally set up. If the main PSU shuts down the secondary shuts down cutting power to the peltier. Simple, but effective. Sounds like you have something similiar now only much more complex.

Only mention it since quite a few people are saying peltiers are super dangerous, i personally, dont see that, as long as you have simple saftery measures in place. I dont think there isnt a retail peltier out now that doesnt recommend a form of relay switch.
 
Shifra said:
bump, interesting stuff. Basically a secondary PSU and a relay between the main PSU and secondary (assuming your peltier was running off the secondary since the main shut down) would of prevented this if that had been in your computer correct? Asking for knowledge purpouse only.

I personally have no problems with leaving my pelts going days since that is how mine is personally set up. If the main PSU shuts down the secondary shuts down cutting power to the peltier. Simple, but effective. Sounds like you have something similiar now only much more complex.

Only mention it since quite a few people are saying peltiers are super dangerous, i personally, dont see that, as long as you have simple saftery measures in place. I dont think there isnt a retail peltier out now that doesnt recommend a form of relay switch.
Click to expand...
in response to your first point: yes, in this case a simple relay to cycle my dedicated 12 V PSU on and off in synch with the rest of my system would have prevented this whole mess.

i now use such a relay.

the complicated bits that i have added i are in addition to the relay, as opposed to any kind of replacement to the relay, and are probably not strictly speaking necessary or helpfull. i was just kind of paranoid while rebuilding this, you know?
 
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