Got an idea about cooling lappy.....

hey guys,

So... I had this "crazy" idea... and since I can't find anybody who ever mention this, maybe I'm gonna do it, but don't laugh at me if this is ridicilous.... haha..

Anybody ever think of cooling their lappy using air conditioner? ...... I had a spare air con at home, and maybe i'm gonna make some "connection" from the air con to under the table... so that when I turn on my air con, the air also flow under the table, and then I'm just gonna make some holes under the table, so that the cold air can flow inside lappy.

I'm planning to do this because I'm redecorating my room soon, so I'm gonna make everything from scratch. Including tables, so I'm not gonna be making new holes in the table, but I'm gonna make new table with holes... if possible.

hm I dunno if I explain it right here, sorry for my bad bad english ... really gotta learn again...

What I'm asking is....
1. Is this ridicilous? lol
2. Is cold air flowing right into your notebook dangerous? can dops of water forms inside? because hot part meet with cold air ( I forget the english word for this.... condensation? sorry)

 

You want to make sure that the holes in the table line up with the inlets for the laptop, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Not sure about condensation problems.

 

Thanks tiger, yeah.. I think the main prob is condensation... will it happen? Anybody have idea?

 

that is funny

I was actually thinking about the same thing last night. however, there is not way i can make it happen with my A/C units

 

haha thanks for replying me again vasylko haha lol. Why u cannot make it happen? Hm... I was thinking, maybe all A/c will work, becoz all u need is just a plastic, long enough to connect your a/c and your table....

 

Yeah - if only my units were close. My table is far from A/C so if I were to go ahead with that plan - then that would be WEIRD

it would look like industrial plan and my wife would throw my laptop out of the window if i were to do that.

You know what I mean

vasylko

 

i have actually done this before, well had the idea but changed to something else. I wanted a way to cool my monster desktop, so I figured i could put an AC in, but its way too clumsy and pain to do so i turned to something smaller. Its a called a peltier, what it is, is a wafer that once electricity is applied one side gets really cold and one side gets really hot, mine had a 80 degree difference. I managed to freeze alcohol at -80. lol. But back to the point, u could get a bunch of peltiers and a few fans and u have urself a nice and compact laptop cooler, i cant see u carrying an AC with ur laptop, . The question about condensation is indeed a problem, but with peltiers its much less unless ur in very humid room!!!

 

i wonder if running a dehumidifier next to the air conditioner would help with the moisture/condensation issue.

 

vasylko, lol yeah sorry my bad didn't expect that, but if your wife wants to throw your lappy call me first, I'll wait outside your window. haha.

rubiks24 and dragonesse, thanks for replying, looks like my idea isn't that crazy at all since you rubiks already try it ... glad to hear that... by the way, rubiks, I still don't get it why you said that with peltier condensation isn't a problem anymore? actually I'm really confused here... Hm.. so after using peltier you don't get condensation anymore right?

about dehumidifier, never seen one, so I did some quick search in howstuffworks, and this is that came up...

"A dehumidifier is simply an air conditioner that has both its hot and cold coils in the same box. A fan draws the room's air over the cold coil of the air conditioner to condense the moisture (which normally drips into a bucket). The dry air then passes through the hot coil to heat it back up to its original temperature. That's all there is to it!
If you have a room that is air conditioned, it should not need a dehumidifier -- the air conditioner should be doing the dehumidifying for you. "

So, according to this, we don't need to use a dehumidifier if we already use an a/c to cool our lappy right? Or will a dehumidifier helps with the condensation? Hm....

Actually, is condensation harmfull to lappy? I'm just wondering is the water will only form on the outer casing or in the inside too? Since the blowing cool air temperature is coldest on the outer shell right? After hitting the lappy casing, It should not that cold?

 

It's a pretty cool idea, but I tend to move around my room a lot when using laptop. A portable solution is way more appealing to me

 

@Tjun: Can I ask why you're even considering this? If your laptop is actually overheating, then you need a proper solution, not a Rube Goldberg rig.

If it's just "kinda warm" (like I suspect it is) then it seems a little ridiculous to be doing what you're proposing.

Sorry, I'm just picturing an AC unit and a dehumidifier jerry-rigged up to a supposedly portable computer and all I can think of is, "Why?"

 

Mount a generator and one of those window AC units onto a backpack rig and now you have a portable cooling solution for your laptop!

 

Swatkins,

Yeah, my lappy just feels warm on the surface, not hot, cpu never reached 60C, and hd never reached 55C, but as I know, my desktop is far far more cooler than that, and as far as I know, cooler temps = longer life for your lappy. So it won't hurt at all right? And since I usually used my lappy for gaming (when it gets warm) only in rooms that had a/c, so my lappy get portable only when doing office work, not while gaming, and since gaming is the main lappy heat reason , so I just figured it wont hurt to take some of the cool air above me inside lappy so it will get colder... I mean, I'm going to spend almost 0$ to prolong life of my $1500 lappy.... not such a bad investment huh? anyway, I know that this is a "crazy" idea since not many people tried it, lol but it won't hurt right?

By the way, I'm not sure that it won't hurt actually.... so anybody care to share experience , or something about condensation?

kreidel,

lol. AC in backpacs wont just cool the lappy, It will cool me too, haha. sometimes when it's so hot, I wish there is integrated mini AC unit in my hat. haha. lol

 

well u see with a peltier u have just enough to get the job done, but not to the point of an AC where its so cool that the condensation actually becomes a problem.

 

Tjun,

Heck, don't let me discourage you. Knock yourself out.

Honestly though, with the temps you described, I don't think you need any sort of cooling apparatus, your notebook's life will not be significantly compromised by temps under 60.

I'd love to see a pic of your completed rig

 

Haha! That's pretty funny.. Hey man, if you have the time and energy to do it.. I would love to see that in action. I don't know about actually directing the air right into the notebook vent though.. maybe just parallel to it would be better. Or why not just get a notebook cooler?

 

Come on, now...

Let's stick to reasonable suggestions.

Seriously, though, this whole thing seems nuts.

 

Haha.. well then.. let me see what MacGyver suggests. Give him a toothpick, a can of Spam, and a sock, and he'll make you the best **** notebook cooling system ever invented!

 

alright now seriously guys, my idea is actually feasable on a laptop. I mean sure a laptop cooler is the simple and easy way to do it, but whats the fun in that? I think ill go and get 4 more peltiers and a few fans that are lying around and wip up a cooler. Ill post some pics later if i ever get it working well, i might also just get a laptop cooler and stick a few pelts in, lol, modding fun! That way i dont have to worry about metal fab. It will work so much better than a plain cooler. It will be much cooler, haha no pun intended! Id expect it to cool the laptop to low 20s on full load, hopefully even better than that

 

and not to mention that it will be very portable. I mean if u can carry a normal laptop cooler around I am sure u can carry this one around. Its only gonna be like at most 1 pound more with a dedicated power supply!

 

I dont think anyone has mentioned this but are you aware that naturally hot air rises and cold air sinks, so if you are going to have the aircon under you laptop you will have to find a way to project the cold air at the vent.

Moisture wise, did you reaslize in a car a good way to get rid of condensation in winter is to actually turn on your AC, sounds mental but works

Oh yeah my friend at work has a Mac Pro with same imtel processor and ATI X1600 as my W3J, that thing is HOT, it relies on passive heating, no fans!! the heat gets disipated by the chassis, and gues what........... the chassis is DAM HOT, the palm rest on my W3J is still cool after a days use, under left side is cool, right side under processor is warm, but get this.... his mac is hotter on the palm rest than mine is underneath the CPU! and the underneath of his is scorching!!

 

NZwaverider,
Thanks for pointing that. I almost forgot... haha.

Swatkins,
Maybe you're right, 60C won't do anything bad to my lappy, lol. Maybe I'm just want to make my own cooler, so that next time I own lappy that really hot, I didn't have to worry anymore. Hey if this works, maybe those Mac Pro user can do the same lol.

Rubiks,
You got a great idea there... maybe it's possible to connect peltier inside a notebook cooler? but how is the schematicS? I read that peltier will maximum need 40W right? notebook cooler only use power from USB right? It's not gonna be enough.... and by the way, naturally hot air rises and cold air sinks, so how can we make the cold air rises up then?... hmmm
Can you tell me what temps your peltier operating (both sides) and how much power it need?

 

Hm... the schematics... is it gonna be like this?

So just 2 peltier on the side, so that when the cold air created and sink, it got blown up and enter notebook. but what about the hot side (the question mark) if the temperature diff is 70C, then it must be very hot there, it will be dangerous to put your hand or something there. Is it okay to add a lid there? from metal or something so that nothing will come in contact with it?

 

Seriously ? The mac pro has no fans ???

 

Well I looked at it tonight to check and it did not have any vent around the outside, it is seriously thin!

If you look closely under screen hinge Looking from behing and underneath the laptop, there is a series of holes that run the entire width of the laptop (tucked behind the hinge), but without an obvious inlet and outlet they look more like holes? Lets put it this way, it was uncomfortably hot and that was with light use, he said when you are doing stressfull work it gets really hot. but surely there must be a fan in there!

 

i don't believe it had fans...hence the need to underclock x1600..and the requirement that it not be used on the lap..lest you wish certain jewels be roasted..haha

 

I heard peltier are electric hogs, how much u pay for ur electric bill?

Read somewhere that 12V is enuf for peltier.

Tell me ur advancement on peltier. Mayb i ll built a peltier air con, freakin hot here..

 

alright lets address a few issues and questions.

Yes that is correct and the reasons is bc the temp inside ur car in the winter is hotter than outside, so if u use ur ac to drop the temp u get no condensation.

True, but with the help of a few fans I think we will manage or we can rely on passive cooling. Ill explain shortly.

**** the mac has no fans? um interesting. Kinda bad for the components eh?

Tjun- well i mean pelts range from a few watts to 200+ watts. Its really about how big u get them. U have to consider the efficency curve, of where the max between the wattage and actual temp drop is.

Lunateck- Yes pelts can run just fine with 12v or even 5v, but needs a quite alot of current so using the usb port as the power source is out of the question for effectiveness. So we turn to the notebook battery or external adapter. Now if u use this on the road its gonna kill ur battery hours. Course u can always tap into the laptop wall adapter.

Well yeah pelts are kinda electricity hogs, and a little damper on the bill, but if u consider that and ur kitchen frig or oven, then its nothing.

I plan on using 2 pelts and schematic wise thinking something like this.



I plan to use passive cooling where i can put the pelt on a surface right up against where the cpu in the system is. Course mold the plate to the shape of the bottom of the laptop. And using the fan to expel the hot air.

What i have on my desktop is pelt + water cooling. Its a 175 watt pelt against the cpu with a water block to cool the other side of the pelt. Its quite nice, I have gotten the cpu to run at around 15 degree.

 

rubiks, so you mean If I used AC to cool a lappy, while the room temperature is clearly higher than inside, will condensation occurs？

about your schematics, so you'r not trying to blow the cold air in, but instead try to make the surface cold? hm.... then how did you make the cold air come in contact with cpu? isn't cold air tends to sink? It wont be as effective as blowing it inside right?

Omg, I'm kinda confused with the peltier's electricity consumption. Since we can't use usb to power that, the portable idea is cleary out of consideration, thus, isn't it just better to use AC then?

 

um typo, not 175 but 75 watt, 175 watt would be insane. Well alright ur not as worried about the room temperature. But ur actually worried about the cpu and memory getting condesation. Which i mean its not that big of a problem bc the components will not be as cold. Alright think about it this way, get a glass of ice water on a hot day, try to find a metal container, and then put a fan next to it and then put another metal object on the other side so it would be like a sandwich.

GLASS FAN OBJECT
GLASS FAN OBJECT
GLASS FAN OBJECT

Btw use a small computer fan not a room fan, lol.

And observe what happens. U shouldnt notice too much if an condensation on the object. Its probably gonna be the same effect.

Now the efficency wouldnt be too high if its passively cooled, i suppose. I mean it really also as to do with if ur fan on the cpu is trying to blow hot are out the bottom. Then its really pointless unless u can reverse that. And so if its intaking then i suppose its ok. If there are no vents then probably want to also put another fan on the cold side of the pelt. So the pelt is sandwiched between two fans. I suppose that might work, Course dont forget, which i did, u definitly need 2 heatsinks per pelt inorder for any fan to have any real effect.

Now portablity is still possible. I mean if u dont mind carrying around 4 fans 4 heat sinks and 2 pelts, some wires some lite casing. then it shouldnt be that big of a deal. Ok again power wise, u can always tap into the battery power of the laptop. Course again u can just buy another laptop battery. Or if u use power adapter then u can tap a line out of that.

The way i thought about this whole issue is that, most people at least i dont think, would use a regular laptop cooler unless the laptop is sitting on a desk or some sort. How many ppl do u know use a regular laptop cooler at like the airport? So i mean its reasonably movable (at most 5 lbs), unlike an AC. I actually just found 4 pelts lying around my house. They are not marked with the wattage, no sn, or pn. So i dont know, I am gonna have to figure out the wattage or just test it (trial and error)

Well i got most parts that i need

have-
4 pelts
20 some odd heatsinks
10 120mm fans
some scrap metal
power adapter

dont have-
time to build it, quite a shame, maybe this weekend when Iam not working.

 

I get it. Lol. Thanks for explaining that to me. Okay then, I'm just gonna try to make a sandwich consisted of fan-peltier-fan. Right? And maybe I'll just get power from a power adapter, hm... maybe 2 or 3 weeks from now since didn't have time to do it, and peltier is hard to look for here, dunno what the chinese word for peltier.. lol

And then about portability, hm, yeah you're right, If I didn't mind carrying laptop cooler around, then what's the big deal just by adding some peltier and power adapter right?

By the way, how's the effect using peltier on your desktop? U said you got the CPU down to 15C, but without using peltier, how high is the temps? and how many peltier u'r using?

 

Wow... 20 heatsinks and 10 fans. R u buildin an AirConditioner?

 

yep thats ALMOST what u want to do. remember pelt is no good without a heat sink, so u want fan-heat sink-pelt- heat sink-fan, who knows if i get around to it then i should have a working model by this weekend. Oh important thing, make sure u properly cool the hot side bc if u dont u can easily ruin the pelt. bc if the hot side cant disipate the heat around 80c, the temp will start transfering to the cool side. and then ull get like a 40-40. lol. Course prolonged running will kill the pelt. And also the pelt works very fast 5 seconds or so to create the max temp diff. Also dont touch the hot side, i learned that the hard way. lol

on the desktop i used 1 pelt. It was um around 50-60c without pelt, just stock fan and heat sink. Well i can definitly over clock my cpu which i did. I had a 2.8ghz, and i oced it to 3.4ghz, course that raised the temps to 20ish. I had some issues with condensation at first, but with proper insulation and padding, everything was good.

p.s. i am chinese too, lol, but i dont know what the word for peltier is either, maybe u can look it up in a dictionary or some sort of translator. Ill look around and see what i can find. btw ull find pelts to be on the expensive side. about 40bucks a pelt. But hey whats money in the name of modding. lol

 

heres a 172watt pelt for 41.50

http://store.pcpowerzone.com/172wpeltier.html

I mean thats a little over doing it, a simple 75 watt does the job just fine, i mean i could switch mine in the desktop out but no sense, it works just fine, i guess maybe i can lower the temp a little more and oc a little more. haha, its not as big of a deal as how much temp diff the pelt can keep and the power it can out put, but actually how low u can keep the hot side, i mean if u can get the hot side to like 0c u get the cold side to -80ish

 

ahah, lol, no i just pick them up when this company was going out of business, i mean they are industrial sized heat sinks measuring 10inches by 7 inches, and they weigh like a brick. But they sure are effective. Same deal with the fans, I have a huge box of fans, ranging from all sizes, big one are 120mm and small ones are 50mm.

 

Okay rubiks, it's all clear now, thanks for helping me out. Really appreciate it. And for all of you who contributed too, thanks, I'm gonna try it, and when it works, I'm gonna let u all know what has become of this idea. Thanks all. Great forum here !

 

funny idea... But I actually thought about putting a computer in a fridge to cool it down. You would need to mod it so now water gets to the computer. Another thing, why don't notebook coolers have bigger fans.. Most just have small 8cm fans. If you put like 2, 20cm fans that would cool things down. Bigger fans usually spin slower, but still cool things better.

Good luck by the way!

 

Oh, i hav an idea. Well i simple it down to a few steps, hope u guys can work it out.

1. Cold side, cold air into the intake of the lappy.
2. Hot side, place on the exhaust of the lappy (some how u hav to route it there)

So that, if the intake tem is 10C, and the exhaust is 30, it would cool it down without buildin another extra fan. Just an opinion.

 

Jason,

LOL. putting notebook inside fridge will be funny, coz you ought to come into the fridge too to use your notebook right? cool. 20 cm fan in a notebook .... haha doubt we'll ever see it. Maybe in the 17''s? Thanks anyway

Lunateck,

I don't really get what you're trying to explain, but the temp diff between hot side and cold side of a peltier is more than 60C. so I think if you try to install a peltier inside your notebook or on the exhaust, I don't think it's going to work... but hey never tried it, so I don't know it either...

 

I meant the laptop cooler, not the laptop it self.

l________ laptop bottom_________ [Laptop exhaust] (HOT side with radiator fin)
l__________(XFANX)____________(Peltier)
l_____________________________(Cold side intake)

The hot side air is deflected to the top, so circulation of of the hot air into the cold air intake is minimize.

 

Ever thought about just sitting on the floor and putting your laptop over the AC vent directly? That is unless u have a window unit

Seriously though, this is a pretty entertaining thread to read. Let us know if anyone actually creates any of these ideas. Make sure you get the patent before you post though

 

haha lol, yeah i got it "running" out of the 5 pelts i managed to scrape up, i only got 1 to "work". I use qoutation marks for several reasons. I am currently using a variable laptop power supply running at 12 volts and delivers up to 4.5 amps/ 80watts. Not as much current as i would like to have seen. Now, I have no idea on the ratings of anyone of the pelts, there are no markings what so ever, the only way to see if it works is to see if it cools or not. so at a range between 12-24 volts thats the only pelt that works. The other ones would trip the supplie's fuse instantly, meaning either its trying to draw too many volts or too many amps. I dont know yet. With what i have right now, i got the hot side down to around 40c with a huge heatsink and 2 80mm fans. The cold side is sub 0, i know that bc water freezes on that side. Um i dont see any condensation. Ill post pictures of it later night or tomorrow. Course i also need a case for this beast.

 

I never said putting a notebook inside a fridge. Just a desktop or something. And a 20cm fan that would not fit in a notebook. By that I meant for a cooling pad. Putting a big fan like that would get a lot better air flow then a little 8, or 12cm fan.

 

alright so i got a few pics of the rig i setup, my camera has been screwey and the pics are a little blurry. Feel free to give some suggestions and such. Course i still need to put some fans on the cool side. Btw the side with the fan is the hot side! Um i dont know which would be more effecient, with fan on cool side or without on the cool side, and right up agains the laptop surface. Um odd I can only do 5 pics per post i suppose.

 

cont......

 

and final pic

 

The cold side fan depends on where ur pointin the cold side at. I still couldnt figure out which setup ur using. Mind explainin with some sketch?

 

i suppose i can label the picture.

Alright so as you can see the setup right now is on its side, When in use u would set it on the bottom which would be where the fan is right now. But if i did it right now with out a case the fan would be trying to intake air from the table.

 

I think ur laptop automaticly sucks air in due to their own fans. BTW, puttin in extra fan may increase the temperature a bit compare to not puttin one. U know, faster movin air, higher temperature, blah blah blah... So it would b better to let ur lappy do the job, suck the air in.

BTW, it would get quite ackward, if u set it like that, the heatsink looks high.

 

yeah i guess i suppose i can try to get thinner heat sinks and get it so its not a foot above the table, lol