busy modifying the tank righjt now and trying to dcide on a mounting system for the board

 

Ok, here i now have the computer in the tank, rough idea for now.



EDIT: now i finally got the power supply in, the only thing missing to make it work is a hard drive. But i think i'm gonna scrap this idea and use a completely different more powerful computer. The power supply is a real pita though... very bulky

 

For the most part a hard drive is a sealed unit. The question is, where is the hard drive not 100% sealed. If it's just the tiny blow hole, then it should be possible to snorkel the thing (would be cool too with a plexiglass window on the drive). On the bottom of the drive I think there is a shaft for the spindle, that might be the only other problem area.

BTW - Nice pic! If you can get it all together, it should be a pretty cool visual piece (not to mention, ha, pretty cool, that thing should have NO heat issues).

 

Thanks, starting over tommorow though. Going to use a computer with newer better hardware and its a little bit smaller which should help too.

 

Keane it looks like you have a good start on your project. I am looking forward to seeing it completed.

 

Thanks gregg, i'm looking forward to completion aswell

 

Ok, today i made some more progress, i ditched the original computer you see aove and i start with a more modern better board. Then i needed to mount it to something so i picked up a 32x44" sheet of acrylic. I cut out a piece for the motherboard and drilled a bunch of holes for it and mounted it. Looks pretty good, tommorow i need to cut out a piece for the top of the tank. I also ordered my 6 gallons of oil which should be here next week. Heres a shot of the board, it looks cloudy because some of the plastic is still on to protect it.

My biggest problem right now is trying to figure out what to do with the power supply, its a big ol box and its very clunky and bulky and i'm just having a hard time figuring out how to mount it or put it in the tank

 

my question is mother boards now use sata conections and sata drives witch run a whole lot better. how are you going to mount the cd drive and how can you hook up the wires for it to power up? also how can it stay cool

 

Did you use brass stand offs for your back plane (so the soldier points don't rest on it and potentially mark it up)??

As for the power supply, it might be kinda neat to take the casing off it. Heck, you can do away with the fans (I'd be concerned about the stress the fans would be under anyways in the oil).

@Monte07 - If he opts for mechanical drives (like a DVD drive or mechanical hard drive) he would have to have the cables come out as they will not run in the oil. My guess is use or make a hole in the tank lid. As for how the PC will stay cool, it's the oil. Mineral oil does not conduct electricity and to my knowledge does not corrode components, but what it will do is dissipate heat better then any heat sink/fan you can put on it (AND it will help keep the entire unit cool).

 

No stand offs, couldn't get them in a store which annoys me. I hate having to order everything online, people dont carry anything in stores these days. I've thought about taking the case off the power supply but i'm concered over the shock hazard with doing that.