Home Sign Up!

Browse Community Submit

All Art Craft Food Games Green Home Kids Life Music Offbeat Outdoors Pets Photo Ride Science Tech

Mineral Oil Submerged PC

by glj12 on May 19, 2007 Table of Contents Mineral Oil Submerged PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: Mineral Oil Submerged PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 1: Gathering the Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 9

Step 2: Modding the Aquarium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Step 3: Aquiring the Liquid Gold and Some Useless Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Step 4: Fill 'er Up! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Step 5: Sealing the Deal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Step 6: Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

Intro: Mineral Oil Submerged PC

The following link is a tutorial on how to submerge a PC in an aquarium filled with mineral oil. The results were quite astounding considering the computer being used is a server for UT2004 and CS:S. It runs at 120 degrees F and is completely DEAD SILENT. This is a fun project, and is most likely best if you use slightly older or spare parts. If you enjoy the article/video, digg it!

The 1337 Fleet Mineral Oil PC

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

Step 1: Gathering the Materials

Alright, so after watching this video you must be thinking either one of two things. 1. Wow, that's really cool! -or- 2. I mean, damn, his typing is so freakin' slow! Explanation: My video capture slowed it down a bit, no idea why. Moving right along, since this is so amazing, let's first go over a few things with pretty pictures. Here are the required materials, (or the things that we just used). Materials: 5 gallon aquarium 1 piece of justly fit plexi-glass All standard PC components Hacksaw Hot glue gun A lot of minutes on your cellphone (I'll explain why later) 5 gallons of mineral oil (or 40 pints, which is more common to find)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

Step 2: Modding the Aquarium

So, your materials are gathered, now to the fun part, modding! (To a certain extent). First, we measured all the dimensions to gain the right aquarium, which just so happened to be a classic 5 gallon one from K-Mart. Tester happened to have a sheet of plexi-glass that was a bit longer than the motherboard, so we used that as the back plate to hold it firmly against the side of the aquarium (plus, it will look like nothing is holding the motherboard at all). We then cut it to size, with the plexi-glass touching the bottom of the aquarium. After that, we took it out and drilled 3 holes in proper holding places so that the motherboard would remain secure. From there, we took the spare plexi glass, and broke it into 4 small 1" X 1" pieces, and glued them together with a bonding liquid that was about the strength between superglue and epoxy. After waiting 10 minutes for it to dry for each layer, we had enough time to take the plastic lid that came with the aquarium to have it serve as a slightly moded bufferzone between air and oil. As shown in the image below, a hacksaw was used to cut the appropriate amount of space for the VGA, RJ-45, keyboard, mouse, etc. to be exposed for connection.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

Step 3: Aquiring the Liquid Gold and Some Useless Information

After everything was mounted snug, much cleaning was needed. I had completely forgotten that the PSU, system and CPU fans were completely caked in dust. The most difficult part was cleaning out the heatsink underneath the CPU fan. Since this is a server of mine, it has been on for roughly 2 years straight. The hard drive alone has basically been on 9 years; good old Compaq, wish they were as good as they were back then. Nevermind that, back to the tutorial. The most difficult aspect of this tutorial was, believe or not, gaining the mineral oil. This was beyond hell. Yeah, try asking someone at Walgreens or Walmart that you need 5 GALLONS of mineral oil. Need I remind you what this stuff is. Most people don't seem to realize this, but this is the good "shit" per se. This is a last resort for the laxitive enthusiast. Mineral oil is what people call, a "Fleet Enima," hence the name of this project, The 1337 Fleet. I cannot tell you how many cringes and questions I received when asking this on the phone and in person. Getting back to how to acquire it, your best bet is a tractor supply, or a farm. Though in my region, after making 60 calls between Tester and I, we finally decided to go Walmart and K-Mart hopping. Out of all of the southern region of this state, there is NO MINERAL OIL. We consumed every last bit of it. We had to purchase 40 pints of this liquid gold. 2 Walmarts and 1 K-Mart are leeched. Success. Once we got back to my house, we placed a lot of bags on the ground, hoping not to mess up the hardwood floor. It is a bitch to get that out of the floor. As we poured in this revolting substance, we held our breath praying that it wouldn't explode in our faces for some odd reason. It posted successfully after filling it completely. Luckily, all went well with this monstrosity. After that, we took a hot glue gun and sealed the top to the best of our abilities while resting the 9 year old hard drive on top. You may ask, "Why can't you place that piece of junk hard drive in the aquarium?!" My answer to you, my friend, is that all hard drives have a little hole on the bottom of it that requires air to maintain proper preasure, if that were sealed, it would not function properly.

Step 4: Fill 'er Up!

Not much skill is needed with this part. All you need is a funnel, and a steady hand. If you have wood floors, odds are it is best to place something underneath your aquarium computer so it doesn't stain the wood. Turn on your computer and quickly fill the area as much as you can. We had to turn off the computer for a bit when it reached the CPU fan since it was disproportioned, and was setting it a bit off kilter. If we had it in gallon form, (the oil) it would have gone much smoother. After filling it up to the top with 37 pints of oil, and saw that it was functioning properly, we need to seal the top off as well as we could.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

Step 5: Sealing the Deal

The final step. All we need to do now is to make it as air tight as possible. To seal off the lid, we took a hot glue gun and doused it with glue. We just placed it around the perimeter to the best of our abilities, (you can view the images below for a better idea).

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

Step 6: Final Thoughts

As of now, it seems to be functioning alright, but keep a couple of things in mind; velcro, as I have found out, does not hold down case fans too well. The one black fan as shown in the images and video started to fall over, but luckily was caught by the other case fan's cord. Phew! One other thing is that the case feels quite hot! Maybe it is because our summers here are pretty warm and humid. I guess certainly no hotter than it was prior in the cirulating air environment. I will certainly keep you posted in the forums about how long this piece of machinery is lasting. I am hoping that if it survives the summer, than it has passed the hardest test on any computer. And by the by, this is one of the heaviest PC's you will ever carry. Since mineral oil is 64 oz. per gallon, and there are 5 gallons plus the weight of the PSU, etc. it should be around 25 pounds. In terms of noise, it would be COMPLETELY silent, if there was no hard drive. Since the hdd is 9 years old, it was not built for silence+performance. Hope you enjoyed this somewhat of a loose tutorial, enjoy the pics and video, and try this on your own if you have computer parts to spare! Here are some finished product pics.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

Related Instructables

DIY Mineral Makeup by scoochmaroo

Ryu project by genius989

homemade oil can (Photos) by sharlston

Oil Submerged Fish Tank Pc (Photos) by IIwootII

How to Mod a Bolt Yo-Yo by Doctor Popular

Shutdown a Computor Remotley (the real way) by iKill

Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 369 comments

walshlg says:

Mar 13, 2011. 5:48 PM REPLY May I remind you of some basic thermodynamics: You seem to be using the oil as a heat sump. THat's fine if you understand that the heat must go somewhere or it will just keep heating up! So eventually, the heat consumed will equal the heat radiated through the walls of the aquarium. The aquarium is not a very good way of dissipating heat! So it will get very hot, the question now becomes how hot? The next point is that mineral oil is a very good solvent of organics, like wiring, glue that holds labels onto the powersupply, plastic connectors that the wiring plugs into, wiring insulation. In summary, this approach will probably not last long. If you want to cool your computer really well then check out the DangerDen forum and learn how to water cool, its most excellent and your machine is guaranteed to weigh less than 80 pounds!

egal says:
thats cool man...great idea

Mar 12, 2011. 4:54 AM REPLY

bossmansam says:
have you considered putting lights on it so it lights up cool at night

Feb 21, 2011. 3:14 PM REPLY

hairyyy0 says:
For all those questioning the theory. http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php They have a very nice Frequently raised questions section that explains all of this.

Feb 16, 2011. 12:17 PM REPLY

gordio286 says:
could you essentially run a sealed tube from that hole to the top of the tank?

Jan 2, 2011. 12:23 PM REPLY

sqeeek says:
If you sealed it right. Easier to stick it inside the lid where you can't see it, though. Lol you could even glue an old heatsink to the drive and let that stick down into the oil.

Jan 20, 2011. 2:04 PM REPLY

cwebsterlusk says:

Apr 24, 2009. 9:11 PM REPLY I had a board just like this until it got fried by the fools at the power company. it was had a core 2 duo in it and the evercool heat sink and fan cooled it well. plus there was a 90mm case fan. the system ran at 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) with a full load on the processor and ram, which is 20 degrees cooler than yours and it had virtually no noise.

kvswim says:
i actually have this exact board. MSI P965 Neo, correct? It's an alright board, but sucks for overclocking.

Mar 4, 2010. 1:13 PM REPLY

sqeeek says:

Jan 20, 2011. 2:01 PM REPLY Also have had a P965 Neo-F or whatever, the longer version of this board. Runs with a P4/HT (old, i know) and it overheats like a ford. I think my problem is mostly because of shoving so many thousands of parts in a little case, but this might be a cool solution.

KNEXFRANTIC says:
can you keep goldfish in there

Jan 12, 2011. 11:33 AM REPLY

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

craftyv says:
yes if it's knex.

Jan 14, 2011. 1:56 PM REPLY

KNEXFRANTIC says:
or those cool ones which you catch with magnetic fishing rods

Jan 14, 2011. 2:05 PM REPLY

Kiteman says:
It's oil, not water.

Jan 14, 2011. 1:42 PM REPLY

KNEXFRANTIC says:
oh right thanks anways

Jan 14, 2011. 2:04 PM REPLY

R1Ch0 says:
you could still keep goldfish in there, they would be alive though.

Jan 20, 2011. 7:01 PM REPLY

R1Ch0 says:
wouldn't , whoops typo. plus, sorry KNEXFRANTIC, just having a bit of fun.

Jan 24, 2011. 6:37 PM REPLY

KNEXFRANTIC says:
i know i didnt see that it was oil

Jan 22, 2011. 7:02 AM REPLY

andrewbaker says:
Nice way to copy systm dude.http://revision3.com/systm/oilcooling

Jan 10, 2011. 8:00 PM REPLY

Javin007 says:

Jul 16, 2010. 6:48 AM REPLY I'm confused. Are the fans plugged in? And if so, what is their purpose? Just to move the oil around? What kind of heat sink is the oil? Have the fans burned out from having to work harder? 120 F seems awful cool for the CPU to be running at. Seems like it should last a lot longer if that is the temperature it stays at. Replacing a part would be a bitch, though.

franzwa says:

Dec 24, 2010. 2:36 PM REPLY well lets just say that when u put ur hand in it it feels very hot and no fans burnt so far and heat sink is old i wants to r.i.p. so i got a new one! no more heat problem just the bill for it! Dec 23, 2010. 11:48 PM REPLY

Ghost Wolf says:

This is a bad idea like Shortw (aka Short Stuff) here as a excellent point you should have a radiator.

shortw says:

Jul 16, 2010. 7:15 PM REPLY Oil is a bad media to exchange heat, oil is slow to absorb heat and slow to give up heat. You have a fancy fish tank made from Plexiglas, that is not good either. Plexiglas is a insulator and will not give up heat very well. A glass fish tank would be a lot better. You are lucky you did not burn your motherboard or power supply up yet, because of running your fans in oil. More drag or resistance on fan's= higher amps, higher amps = bad for motherboard or power supply. Keep all wires above fish tank, I have seen fluids run inside along wires between copper and insulation and making a big mess. Oil have different effect on wires and it depends of the material the wires are made of. I have seen insulation of wires swell up and also I have seen it harden up and crack..... Don't call me crazy...but, have you tried to use '' real '' distilled water instead of oil? Not the one you buy at the grocery store which by the way is just filtered water and still has traces of minerals and metal. Real distilled water will not conduct electricity .

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

Ghost Wolf says:

Your carzy

Dec 23, 2010. 11:45 PM REPLY

trn2la says:

Nov 20, 2010. 7:03 PM REPLY not yet saying I agree, but higher amps = more temp too. Also I had no idea (i should have) that 'Real" distilled water does not conduct electricity. I assume that's coz salts and electrolytes and such are removed and they were the conductors in the water? I guess the question is, what is it in water that makes it conduct? :P Still great for getting the idea off the ground. I'm not so sure these fellas where looking for a method of cooling, but rather just the visual effect of a computer submersed in a liquid that looks like water. Id sure love to see this done again with distilled water, perhaps I will give it a go. Soooo..... Does this mean, if I spill conductive liquid (like coffee) onto my keyboard, I can flush it out with distilled water and reduce my chances of a short? I tell ya what, ill try that over the next couple of days (I have maybe 20 old keyboards) then again, keyboards are made in a way that gives them a little protection from conductive liquids. hmmm, anyway, ill try a few different devices, ill see how a hair dryer copes with 'real distilled water" Oct 17, 2010. 5:12 PM REPLY Mineral oil gets warm. That's because it absorbs heat well. If you don't understand thermodynamics it's easy to assume that because the liquid is warm, then the computer is warm. The fact is, if the oil gets hot, it is absorbing a lot of heat from the computer. If you reached in and touched part of the computer (don't) you'd feel that it is cooler than the surrounding oil. The oil is somewhat of a drag on the fans, but its also a lubricant and often the fans perform better than before. Real distilled water actually would work, but you'd need to place both ends of a coper or zinc wire into the water to keep it from oxidizing (yes water can oxidize in a non sterile environment, i.e. stuff in the water like mobos). You'd have to change out the wire a lot. Or alternately place two large copper/zinc panels and each end, attached by a wire.

joshka89 says:

omnibot says:

Nov 8, 2010. 6:39 AM REPLY I just submerged my home server in oil (rapeseed oil) and I read somewhere that some people had to replace burnt out fans. My solution was to break off about half the fanblades, the fan spins nicely, the oil is circulating well and any vibrations from the unbalanced fans seem to be absorbed by the oils. Works well so far.

GroovyPoet says:

Jul 19, 2010. 6:45 AM REPLY His computer has been running for 3+ years with no issues. Oil dispenses heat easier than water, simple science, and Distilled Water would quickly become ionized, then microscopic metallic bits would integrate, then your computer would fry. This has been discussed many times already on this Instructable.

luposays says:

Nov 7, 2010. 12:56 PM REPLY mineral oil is the same substance used to insulate as well as disapate heat in high voltage electrical transformers as well.

ryanlg says:
Uh, how does this not short out your computer? Aren't liquids bad for computers?

Nov 7, 2010. 9:49 PM REPLY

GroovyPoet says:
No... all liquids aren't bad for your computer. Only liquids that allow the electricity to conduct. Mineral Oil does not.

Nov 10, 2010. 4:07 PM REPLY

menahunie says:

Nov 7, 2010. 2:50 PM REPLY You can get the mineral oil at a hardware store in the paint department by the gallon can allot cheaper than all those pints at around $1-2 ea.

hippyrob says:

Oct 29, 2010. 8:07 PM REPLY Is this useful to protect against dust accumulation? Would this system usually have an external radiator and/or heat sink? Do HDD's really have holes in them? (Am I being ignorant in asking these questions?) Oct 17, 2010. 5:16 PM REPLY A really good mod for this is to create a small reservoir outside the case and attach it with 2 80mm hoses to the main case. At each end of the hoses place some fans. Have one hose blow into the case from the reservoir and the other blow out of the case. This way the oil flows and has a chance to cool off in the reservoir, which helps with heat in hotter systems. Using this technique you can Overclock Everything without heat damage. Aug 1, 2007. 11:42 PM REPLY Qoute, "sockeye101says: this is why they use oil as a coolant in transformers. however, after a while it becomes radioactive/ toxic/ poisonous or something like that. BEWARE!" Actually what happens to the mineral oil in transformers is the oil can absorb moisture and break down due to internal arcs in the core of the transformer. The moisture forms sludge, and the arcs break down the oil into several different compounds, one of which is acetylene. This darkens the oil and can introduce carbon into the oil from being broken down by arcing. Transformers that do this are usually found during routine oil sampling and repaired. Unless you put something radioactive into the oil, it won't become radioactive. Toxic/poisionous is a possibility if anything shorts or arcs in the oil; or if the oil breaks down the wire insulation. As an intersting note HV transformer cores contain wood and paper as insulation, along with the silicon steel core and the copper windings. The mineral oil in transformers usually has a breakdown threshold of say, 3kV or so, found by using a oil tester made by Doble. I work for a company that builds HV circuit breakers and am familar with transformers. Cool setup though!!

joshka89 says:

dominicfortune00 says:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

rcisneros says:

Oct 15, 2010. 7:59 PM REPLY What you are talking about can kind of happen, but in conditions much more extreme than this. My GUESS would be that most of us would have upgraded way before any that would happen. If you are reading this on a P3, you might be the exception.

lukej says:
And he might be thinking of cfc oil

Jul 25, 2010. 6:45 AM REPLY

GroovyPoet says:

Jul 15, 2010. 4:33 AM REPLY I don't think you understand something.... When was the last time you saw a computer 'arc' any electricity? Never. That's because they don't. You're not even comparing "Apples to Oranges" more like "Squid to Invader Zim." The reaction you're explaining will positively never happen in a computer, it doesn't have the 'capacity' to do so.

Javin007 says:

Jul 16, 2010. 6:44 AM REPLY I've seen a computer power supply arc. Shortly afterwards, it let all the smoke out of the computer, so it didn't work anymore, though. I'd still be concerned that a shorted power supply MAY be able to produce enough heat to cause a problem, but without having done any experimentation with mineral oil, I don't know what kind of heat we'd be talking about.

GroovyPoet says:

Jul 19, 2010. 5:27 AM REPLY Here's the thing though: Even if it did have that affect on food grade mineral oil, a Power Supply that is in the process of 'arcing electricity' will very quickly fail. End of Computer. It likely won't process long enough to make any mineral oil toxic.

Javin007 says:
Indeed, once the smoke is let out the PC doesn't work anymore. :/

Jul 19, 2010. 6:45 AM REPLY

Nyxius says:

Aug 20, 2010. 10:54 AM REPLY computers may not arc, but anything over a couple of volts has bleed. Same results as arcing, but longer to achieve.

GroovyPoet says:

Aug 28, 2010. 11:16 AM REPLY As I've researched the concept of using mineral oil to cool a PC I've yet to encounter anything remotely related to the following: "oil can absorb moisture and break down due to internal arcs in the core of the transformer. The moisture forms sludge, and the arcs break down the oil into several different compounds, one of which is acetylene. This darkens the oil and can introduce carbon into the oil from being broken down by arcing." This is explaining something that occurs in Industrial HIGH VOLTAGE conditions using nonfood-grade mineral oil. It is so far off base when compared to the voltage and output of a PC power supply that it is silly to contemplate happening whether a Power Supply temporarily arcs (and then dies) or over a period of time 'bleeds.' It... will... not... happen. It cannot happen, a power supply doesn't have the 'umph' to do so.

Nyxius says:

Aug 28, 2010. 12:27 PM REPLY I'm not saying that it is enough to cause a problem for circuitry. And it will definitely not be observable. I too have done a large amount of research into electro-chemical reactions, and I actually used a computer power supply as one of my tools for awhile (until I could afford to buy a supply with more juice). Mineral oil is probable fine to use as an insulator, but I would recommend filtration or replacement at least once per year. I don't know how hygroscopic mineral oil is, but I do know that breakdown can occur in non polar fluids due to induced London Effect charge, and I know that any impurities in the oil will aggravate that by increasing any dielectric. Increased dielectric = increased probability of reaction.

octopuscabbage says:
How much does that much mineral oil cost?

Sep 21, 2010. 7:21 PM REPLY

ventorocket says:
do the fans still serve a purpose and do they still wrok in the oil?

Sep 7, 2010. 8:40 PM REPLY

1badgt says:
just wandaring how does the motherboard work when its submerged? wouldnt it short cercuit????

Apr 29, 2008. 7:06 AM REPLY

alhowell13 says:
No actually the mineral oil would the bus of the motherboard tranport data quicker

Sep 1, 2010. 6:58 AM REPLY

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/

glj12 says:
Read about mineral oil, and you will see why it does not. It is a lubricant, and does not conduct electricity.

Apr 29, 2008. 7:55 AM REPLY

T_T_ says:
the hard drive can also be submerged all hard drives are air/water tight

Jul 15, 2010. 1:48 PM REPLY

wethecom says:
nope they have air filters in on them ive torn may apart and i havent seen one without a small cloth patch acting as a filter

Aug 20, 2010. 9:36 PM REPLY

view all 369 comments

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mineral-Oil-Submerged-PC/