What is Digg?77 Comments
- Sblader5, on 10/12/2007, -5/+65i can't wait till one of the tubes breaks and his pool is in his basement
- billmania, on 10/12/2007, -4/+40This is just genius.
- EasY_TargeT, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25hmm, i wonder if you hook up 20pcs, will it heat the pool?
- dtd00d, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21Hook this up to a PS3 and you get a hot tub.
- nhassan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17my school should hear about this; the pools freezing at times
- lonnieh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16Sort of makes you wonder if urine glows under UV light
- Seph7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Sounds like an amazing excuse for all offices to get swimming pools :D
- adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14"i can't wait till one of the tubes breaks and his pool is in his basement"
No kidding, I'd be wanting more than a "by hand" shut off valve. Some sort of high flow sensing one or something. - sparkmonkeyz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10That is awesome. I have a pool, but I don't think that I have the guts to try this.
- WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9That type of setup is safe and reliable for at least 50 years.
What can happen? A PVC tube is not going to corrode (it's plastic), ever. and those copper fittings are good for maybe 100 years. The only possible weak point is the 'hose barbs'.
If they were regular hose 'clamps', of the type with the metal strap threaded onto a screw, and were all stainless steel, as they usually are, they would be fine for maybe 100 years. I am guessing 'hose barbs' are the kind made of a single piece of rigid wire.
Still, if they are stainless, they would be OK....but i would prefer stainless steel hose clamps. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10this is extreme, dugg
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12What effect does the pool chemicals in the water have to the setup?
What happens if someone pees in the pool? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+15Don't get offended or digg my comment down as I mean no offense by this:
While cool and I'll definitely digg this, it seems a bit of overkill to me... But cool overkill. :D
And yes, I did read it. So no using the "Did you even read it?" tactic. - Djerrid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7So, what would it look like if Google did this on a massive scale?
http://thecanardtimes.blogspot.com/2006/04/googles-hunt-for-icy-blue.html - WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9"What effect does the pool chemicals in the water have to the setup?
What happens if someone pees in the pool?"
They will merely form a little copper chloride inside the copper fittings. so perhaps they will corrode in 20 years , rather than 100.
And urine....will just give the monitors a slight yellow color in the background, easily corrected in display settings. - tito13kfm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Just read the comments on slashdot... explains why this is a TERRIBLE idea and all the things that could/will go wrong with this setup.
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/06/1410219 - SystemsGuy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7So I have to admit, this is true overkill in the best sorta style. I do have to wonder, however, what the high chlorine content is going to do to the waterblocks and tubing....
- masgrada, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Umm. His diagrams have a positive pressure on the tubes inside the computer area. You'd actually want the pump to be pulling water out so when you spring a leak it is pulling air into the lines not pushing water out.
- Ramble, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6This guy is a fool. Firstly, running chlorinated water (or ozone) through the waterblocks will just corrode them and they'll eventually leak, leaving an entire pool down in his basement.
Secondly, he has no failsafe,no shutoff or anything so if his pool leaks, well, sorry.
Thirdly, he's using an indoor motor outdoors, if that fails he's *****.
Also, plumbing above power sockets?
Good lord.
If he really wanted a good system he should've used a heatexchanger/radiator and just put that into the pool. - WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Cool article. Thanks!
Too bad Google is unwilling to 'become a public utility doing this...still, perhaps others will follow.
(it's free geothermal energy of sorts)
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Article includes one picture...just some giant pipes.
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http://thecanardtimes.blogspot.com/2006/04/googles-hunt-for-icy-blue.html
"Most of the servers that power the search engines of Google are in the process of being relocated to Oahu, Hawaii to take advantage of their cooling waters. Google has been on a constant search to find ways to reduce the amount of power or cool down their fields of low-end computers that run their business.
John Piña Craven offered a solution, harvest the near-freezing waters within the ocean depths. He is the “mad genius” who designed the miles of pipes that feed through the servers and eliminated the need for fans or even A/C throughout the complex.
The temperature difference between the ice-cold water and the tropical air outside can also be harnessed to create enough electricity to power the same computers they are cooling. This slightly warmed water is then returned hundreds of meters back down.
“The real advantage of tropical islands is their warm climate and lack of a continental shelf,” explained Craven. “This way you can send your pipes far below the bulk of the marine life, the warm air boosts the amount of electricity generated, and you never have to worry about your above-ground pipes freezing in the winter.”
Craven also pitched his idea feed ceramic pipes through Hawaii’s lava fields, calculating that the difference between the superheated steam and chilly ocean water would power the state capital. Google declined, saying they had no interest in becoming a public utility." - RyeBrye, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5When I fixed my toilet earlier, I noticed that they have some kind of ballcock valve that has a built-in mechanism that will automatically shut off flow through it if there is no resistence on the other end (i.e. the toilet gets ripped off the wall or something). It was less than $10.
- TheVirus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@WaterDragon:
40c is cool enough. I have a water cooled PC it it's around 30-40c as well, which is quite cool. Some PCs run between 50-70c, which is fairly dangerous, especially at 70c. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7$1,000 watercooler for your PC... genius indeed.
- RyeBrye, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4If you water-cooled an eMachines computer using pool water, you could have child's urine flowing through your piece-of-crap computer.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4He should use 2 water circuits with a huge heat exchanger. I mean, running the pool water through a big waterblock that has another waterblock attached to it which is connected to the PCs. This way, you don't have to fear that your basement gets flooded and you won't have any issues about what sort of water runs through your computers.
- AstroZombie138, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I've always thought this would be a great reason to build data centers in the Detroit area (I'm not from that area, so please no Detroit sucks responses). The area has had a lot of downturn because of the auto industry, land and real estate are dirt cheap and you have an abundance of hydroelectric power and cold water from the lakes. With the auto industry in the dumps you also have a lot of skilled labor talent for circuit / equipment installations, etc. Why are so many companies building data centers in Phoenix and Texas when it is so hot there?
- RyeBrye, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The problem with building in Detroit is that your IT workers would unionize just from the peer pressure of being so close to the auto workers.
- Daiken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"$1,000 watercooler for your PC... genius indeed."
Getting on the front page of Digg...priceless. - ToadX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Bad idea. Eventually the impurities in the water will kill the watercooling setup. This is why people use distilled water in their water cooling setups.
- thewayne, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Actually it is just the reverse, to an extent. The copper pipe, depending on how much of it there is, will slowly add copper to the water. This most likely will not harm the pool equipment, but it will turn blonde hair green. :) And for the guy that says chlorinated water is basically ozone, he doesn't know anything about pool chemistry. If chlorinated water corroded copper, then every commercially (gas powered) purchased pool heater would fail since they have a series of copper pipes inside. All pool piping is pvc nowadays.
- SamsLembas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Great question. He said he removed the fans from most of his computers too, so he can't just switch to them. Guess he lives somewhere where it is always warm, but for the rest of us......
- LilRabbitFooFoo, on 08/11/2008, -0/+2Would that make it a Pee-4 processor?
- plsailboy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4detroit is *****
- wacki, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2He should put a heat exchanger outside and above ground. That way if any of the computer tubing busts the heat exchanger acts as a failsafe and you don't end up with any pool water inside the house. These are made specifically for pool water:
http://www.apiheattransfer.com/en/Products/HeatExchangers/PlateHeatExchanger/BrazedPHE.htm
Your only worry would be a failure both inside the heat exchanger AND THEN a failure of the computer coolant inside the house. Very low odds of that happening, but even that has a solution. There are plenty of chemicals that change color when they touch chlorine. It's pretty easy to make a clear window for a visual alarm. If all those failsafes don't work then god hates you and you are ***** no matter what you do. - bradleyland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'd be really worried about that as well. Most people use distilled water, or special additives in their water cooling setups. Pool water has a fair amount of chlorine in it, which is EXTREMELY corrosive.
- zoom1928, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2WaterDragon wrote:
> That type of setup is safe and reliable for at least 50 years.
You must not have a pool. On one I maintain, we've had six or seven PVC pipes fail in the past 20 years. Most of them were underground either under a building or a sidewalk so it was a complete pain to find and fix. PVC isn't made to last. It's just temporary garbage. Also, a friend of mine runs a pool repair place. He has more customers than he can handle. PVC pipes and connections fail very often, and he makes a good living fixing them. The guys that install pools use them on purpose to screw over their customers because they know they'll be back in a year of two to fix busted or leaking pipes. There's no way I'd allow PVC near a computer cooling system. - edzieba, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If you don't have a pool, you can use a closed exchange loop and groundwater for cooling.
- Sethwm2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2rotfl eMachines XD
- bigbchew, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Very true..unless they used something a little more heavy-duty the pool water (with chlorine and what) would definitely corrode away at the average liquid kit.
- christopherw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2For exactly that reason - this is just one guy, doing it all himself, without the resources and huge cashflow available to a large company like IBM.
It's the nerd factor - IBM did it possibly out of necessity and an attempt to lower their datacentre cooling costs, this guy just did it for the hell of it and so we verily salute him :D - digitaldd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Bad idea yes, but this was probably done [if it was actually done, it could have been staged just for photos] so it could make he rounds a digg, slashdot, furl, or insert a site here. for that its worked.
- Justice101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1All school pools are freezing. They like it that way. Hell, mine even put a large fan on wheels right next to where you get out of the pool that on 24/7, but some how they decide to turn off half the lights in the school all day to save money.
- strangeguitar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why a pool? Is this overkill? Why not just toilet water or from a valve under your sink?
- Endeavour3d, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm surprised it took the guy that long to figure using two dissimilar metals with chlorinated water would lead to corrosion..
- Brennan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1His best idea is actually at the bottom of the page, putting the heat exchanger on his AC in a circulated box that runs from pool water. I'd love to hear how much more efficient the AC is from that, and that might produce enough heat to actually have a noticeable effect on the temp of the pool.
- LeafOnTheWind, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ok.. this is pretty cool.. but.. i dont quite get the requirement of having a pool ( which i have, but still ) wouldnt it work just as well using the toilet bowl tank? That water gets refreshed frequently, so should be pretty cool water even compared to pool water.. and you wouldnt have to dig a hole outside, plug and play. This project seems like the guy had way way to much time and plumbing skills on his hands. I have zero desire to dig up my pool plumbing and splice into it. and build a custom pvc water proof box for burying a indoor water pump in a hole outside.. ?LOL i think this could be parody of how to take pc water cooling way way way too far.. but really funny.
- ajakz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I see a lot of condos and houses pre built with computer wires in the walls, why not a refrigerated circulation system with a hose coming out of the wall below the power and LAN connection.
I would suggest a gravity pump for an upgrade along with the flow sensor/auto shut off idea, plus covering exposed pipe with absorbent insulation (for condensation, pipes above wires indeed), on a project this size might as well go whole hog.
As long as the tubing is pool or hot tub grade plastic, it's made for the chemicals, copper will barely care.
dugg for being cool - slackbuster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What happens when you remove the bushes, open the grate, turn the valve and drain the pool? I bet Dr. Fred gets mighty angry when you take his glowing key.
- Atomic1fire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1if isps did this (for the ones that do hosting) i think they would be minipowerplants and get a little extra money on the side
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