I was just wondering if it is feasible to use mineral oil in a water loop instead of water or coolant.
nope, water moves heat better.
+1
Why would you even do that ? The point of mineral oil is replacing the "air" , not the water .
That , and it would probably kill most pumps .
It wouldn't kill most pumps. The one that Linus is using is a regular water cooling pump.
Is it feasible? Yes. Is it advisable? No.
So the only reason that makes sense to use mineral oil in a loop is if you were cooling the oil that you would submerge your build in.
yeah, i bet you would get worse temps than the stock cooler.
Won't work either way, the waterpump is not made for a liquid with the viscosity and specific mass of oil. The viscosity is higher, the specific mass is lower, so the velocity will most probably be lower, and thus the pressure higher, and higher pressure is not a good idea. also, as said by others, oil is not as good a heat conductor, there will be serious cooling performance problems anyway. Also, the tubes may not be made for oil, they may turn brittle and start to leak.
exactly ☺
We use the same kinda of pumps that are used for water to pump oil at work just saying. Positive displacement and centrifugal pumps will pump whatever you through at them. Provided you have good suction head and reasonable line pressure you will flow.
But yeah oil is good as a lubricant not as a coolant. Liquid metal on the other hand absorbs heat like there is no tomorrow, it is just most liquid metals are kinda toxic but YOLO!
Yeah don't do it.
I am gonna build a mineral oil submerged PC tho. Just for fun :)
Same pump system, different quality in comparison to industrial pumps, and definitely not the same performance in the loop. The little pumps in colling systems are specifically made for water or water/glycol mixtures. It's not because it pumps other stuff that it will perform within acceptable parameters in a cooling loop. The main thing is, with the same pump, the speed will be lower and thus the pressure higher.
If someone would give me a pump I will make it pump anything, like pudding
dang i wana do it too. start a new trend. the only thing i need to figure out is how to stop the oil from wicking. maybe some sort of conformal coating.
TBH I really don't think it is as much of an issue as everyone claims. I've been doing some testing with wires and you get a little wicking but it isn't horrible.
I'm also just using a glass fish tank. You don't need a $600+ kit. I feel the build Linus did was a bit IDK they made it out to be a bigger deal than it is.
I'm also submerging everything. Going SSD and dumping it in as well.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-Stops-Rust-18-oz-NeverWet-Multi-Purpose-Spray-Kit-274232/204216476
I don't know if that would work with mineral oil. I'm assuming it is just a hydrophobic coating, a bit like RainX, so I don't think it would have much effect on the oil which of course has no water in it. It would probably just dissolve as well.
I've been browsing the Puget Systems forums. Most people say wicking is basically a non issue. Mostly it is a problem if you have a high oil level. Most is minor and can be taken care of with a paper towel.
+1 The oil will dissolve it since it is oil based itself.