A cooling system for a cooling system???

[myp71]

What would be your take on this system? I'm going to build. This is going to be a cooling system for a thermoelectric cooler system you know how it get so hot on the other side, well what if I were to put a couple of copper pipes through the heatsink and a small water pump and a big water resivor so the water would have a chance to cool down before it goes back through the copper pipe system.Whould that keep it cool enough? I could just try it but, I would like to share my idea with you guys.
Let me know what you think <p>Thanks for your help
Myp71
Ryan

[Chris Foley]

Hi, Ryan. Actually, you're considering a cooling system (H2O) for a cooling system (Peltier junction cooler) for a cooling system (heat sink). Water cooling of heat sinks is an ultra-efficient, if somewhat cumbersome, way of cooling semis. It's used frequently in very high power systems.<p>Now, here's the interesting part. After you've got the plumbing done and your secondary cooler is working, try turning off the Peltier cooler. Your cooling system will probably work just as well without it. Thermoelectric coolers are a grossly inefficient way of heat sinking, producing more heat than they remove. In enclosed systems, they're usually only a marginal solution for designers who can't use external cooling methods like you're doing.<p>Water is pretty unique -- it's thermal mass is higher than just about anything. It's an ideal solution for keeping semis cool, once you get past the plumbing. And the leaks. Try teflon plumbers' tape where necessary, pressure-test the pipes before you put them in with the electronics, and provide strain relief so any inadvertent jostling doesn't start a flood. If it's critical, you might want to have a flow switch to turn things off if the water flow is interrupted.<p>Good luck.
Chris<p>[ September 12, 2003: Message edited by: Chris Foley ]</p>

[sundancer87]

Why couldn't you put another Peltier Junction with the cold side to the hot side of the original junction?
You wouldn't have to worry about a wet evironment and the extra weight of water.

[jollyrgr]

Sorry but your idea has already been done. PC overclockers have used refrigerants, Peltiers, water etc. to cool overclocked microprocessors, hard drives, and even video cards.<p>And water cooling a Peltier device is quite common with overclockers. When overclocking computers the uP gets very hot. All sorts of methods have been used to cool down processors. For a Peltier and water cooled solution, check out this:<p>http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/Tt_Aquarius/<p>
If you want to see some actual water cooled Peltiers, try this link. (You will need to scroll down to almost the bottom of the page.)<p>http://www.overclockers.com/tips78/<p>
As far as sundancer87 suggesting stacking Peltiers for additional cooling, this has been done as well. I read an article about how Peltiers were stacked to achive cryogenic temperatures. I do not recall most of the information and could not find it on the web either. But apparently some experimenters have achieved some very low temps by stacking these devices.