# NoL's Bong Guide



## NoL

*Bong / Evaporation Cooling Guide 1: Bong Basics*

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Evaporation cooling, or bong cooling, is a simple form of cooling that can lead to a silent system, while maintaining ambient temperatures or lower at the expense of a humid room. How do you manage this? How expensive is this? Easily and cheap.

*NOTE*: There are no kits that I have ever seen (actually one now, but it does seem to have sucked) for this form of computer cooling; this is a Do-It-Yourself project (DIY).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm going to split this guide up into a few parts to make it a little bit more understandable.
_1)Evaporation Cooling
2)The basic concept
3)The basic design
4)Required Parts
5)Maintenance
6)Advantages and Disadvantages_

*Evaporation Cooling*

Evaporation cooling is just what it says, lowering the temperature of something through evaporation. Evaporation coolers, or "bong" coolers in the overclocking world, refers to a type of heat exchanger that uses evaporation cooling as a form of heat exchanger to cool a computer's CPU or GPU or any other part to around ambient temperatures or lower. Usually, it is a tall tower or a set of smaller towers, and that's the type we will be going over here.

*The Basic Concept*

When water falls from any height, and it is hotter than the surrounding area, it will evaporate a little bit depending on how much of the surface of the water is touching the colder air. To maximize surface area, an inexpensive shower head bought from Lowe's or Home depot or even Wal-Mart provides the maximum surface area of falling water by spreading it into droplets. The water then falls from a high height, and while on the way down, fresh air is pushed by a fan into the loop, which causes more evaporation. The resulting effect is a nearly silent heat exchanger that can handle quite a load and, in some cases, depending on the conditions, can result in a sub-ambient water temperature.

The other thing to realize is evaporation cooling does mean evaporation. A bong cooler requires water to work, and depending on how big your tower and scattering devices efficiency, you will have to add water to the cooler. This could be on a daily or a weekly basis.

You can also install a regulator bottle, which I will more in depth on in Guide 2: Building a Bong Cooler.

*The Basic Design*

The basic design of a standing bong tower is quite simple, and the beauty of the design can be seen in how cheaply it can be made. All you need is PVC, a PVC break off pipe, anything to scatter the water into droplets, and a fan.

The water is FNORD pumped to the top and through the scattering device. A shower head works perfectly for this application, or a Tupperware container with tiny holes punched through it with a needle. Make sure that the rising heat and water vapor given off by the evaporation can get out, so do not block the tower's top.

The water then falls in droplets as gravity takes its hold. The important part here is about halfway down your tower. This is the break off tube; it's basically a split off. You need to place a forced air vent input from there, such as a fan, to bring new fresh air in to support effective evaporation.

By the bottom your water will have cooled off, and it's ready to pump to your computer and then back to the top.

Another requirement to look into is the height of your Bong. As a general rule for my own Bong Towers, 3 foot minimum plus one foot for ever extra 75 watts of heat to cool after 100 watts and another foot for each graphics card. To cool 175 watts of heat and an SLI setup, I would recommend a six foot tower for ambient/sub-ambient temperatures. Of course, this may seem like a lot, but I normally use 3" inner dimension tubing. If you were to widen to 4", 5 feet may work just fine! Test and develop your ideas!

*Note:* This is also quite overkill, but we're overclockers, we like our bongs big and tall.

Remember, towers are also not the only way. Any way to force water to fall with a current of forced air will lead to evaporation.

*Required Parts*

An Evaporation Cooler is quite cheap to build, depending on how complex you make it. I've made them as little as $20 and as much as $50. A basic walk through Home Depot should be enough to get your ideas formulated and your parts collected. Here's a general shopping list.

-_PVC pipe_ or any other type of tube that is rigid enough to be stable at 5+ feet tall, get enough to fit your tower's height, and I would suggest three or more inch inner dimension is required.
-_A shower head_ or other scattering device, or for the DIY, a Tupperware container from your local grocery can work.
-_A Break Off PVC_ piece of the matching size to fit your pipe, also known as a "Y" or Wye.
-_A Fan_, most likely a computer enthusiast like yourself will have a 120mm or 80mm fan lying around.
-_A PVC pipe cap_; to cap the bottom of your Bong.
-_Pump_, I will mention pump requirements here, *your pump MUST be able to pump to the top of your bong cooler*, and this could be 6 feet. For these projects it's almost worth it to be an Iwaki, but marine pond pumps are the best money wise. The Mag-Drive series is one of the best Bang to Buck pumps, I own a Mag3 myself, and they are very reliable while providing plentiful head pressure and a FNORD lot of flow. A Mag3 could accommodate a 6 foot tall Bong Tower, but a Mag5 is more accommodated to the job.
-_Finally, two plastic or brass barbs for your tubing connections._

*Maintenance*

On request from Avid6eek I'm amending this in. Maintenance for bong coolers is not that hard. You can run tap water and not have a problem. But dust can cause problems over many months. A cheap aquarium water filter can solve problems if your room is particularly dusty.

And on refilling, without a regulator bottle to regulate the water level in the bottom of the Tower, you may need to add water daily. Remember this, and its always good to check your water level before starting your computer.

*Advantages and Disadvantages of Evaporation Cooling*

Honestly, this is my favorite section of any guide, as it shows you what you're up against and is a starting place for new ideas to lower the effect of a disadvantage.
Like normal, I will start with the disadvantages to your Bong Tower cooling apparatus, and work my way to the advantages.

*Disadvantages*

1)_Evaporation cooling acts like a humidifier_

Yes, evaporation of water acts as a humidifier. This is one of the worst disadvantages to a Bong, because it is unstoppable. The whole effect of the Bong Cooler is completely destroyed if water does not evaporate, and without the evaporation, there's no point in the Bong Cooler. You'll just have to let this one rest, deal with it, or make sure your room has good ventilation or a window fan.

2)_A bong tower is huge and takes up a lot of space_

Yes, but for every inch you add to your tower, your cooling power increases! And you do not have to use PVC. If you have cash, you can buy an acrylic tube and make your tower a masterpiece. Space wise? Not so much. A bong tower can be 6 feet tall and only 5 inches around. It is like a pillar and won't hog up your floor space.

3)_Humidity and sub-ambient temperatures will cause condensation_

If your water gets cold enough to form condensation, hats off to you! You have a marvelous Bong Cooler that is doing its job spectacularly. Now throw on some insulation and quit your whining. Sorry people, it has to be said. Do not complain because something is working too well.

4)_Refilling your cooling loop can be a pain_

It shouldn't be. If you install a regulator bottle then you can go a longer period of time without refilling. Otherwise, install another break off PVC piece facing upwards that you can use to pour water into.

5)_Bong cooling is noisy_

If your tube is empty, it may, otherwise surface area items inside the bong helps a load. Things like ping-pong balls and other items work wonders!

*Advantages*

Bong cooling has some major advantages to regular cooling and to almost all other cooling types. Let's go over them.

1)*Near ambient or lower temperatures!*

How could you not like this? Especially without anything like peltiers that take a separate power supply or phase change which requires a lot of time, patience, education, and money.

2)*It is very cheap!*

It's even cheaper then buying a radiator! And it is a fun project.

3)*It is nearly silent, and does not require any high CFM fans!*

An ambient temperature with normal water cooling either does not happen, or requires loud fans and a big radiator.

4)*A Bong Tower can handle a very high heat load!*

A 5 foot tall Bong Tower can easily cool off a large peltier system to ambient temperatures. Of course, this will cause more evaporation and will need to be refilled more often.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Conclusion*

Evaporative cooling, or a Bong Tower if you must, is quite an awesome way to take basic concepts and little money and create a monster cooling system.

And I am always accepting new ideas to add to my guides so throw me a PM if you want something added or a concept improved upon!

Stay tuned for a worklog/guide to building a Bong Tower!


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## killerfromsky

does it really need a fan?


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## gonX

Quote:


Originally Posted by *killerfromsky* 
does it really need a fan?

LOL yes! That's the whole point in this


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## STN71190

+ Rep, good guide.


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## OriginallyIndian

Quote:


Originally Posted by *killerfromsky* 
does it really need a fan?

lmao,

nice guide btw


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## Modki

Title is sure to catch the attention of a few people


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## NoL

Yes it needs a fan, this helps create the evaporation, as does ping pong balls as when wet they will clear alot of surface area if theyre not submerged.


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## killerfromsky

well, can't it just evaporate inside the bong?
why does it need ambient air coming in?


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## PhillyOverclocker

Good job.I gotta look into this more. I have 5 extra things already lying around that look very similar to that picture, if you know what I mean. No use letting them go to waste!


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## JacKz5o

Nice Bong guide!!


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## whitt_flunky

Man that schematic looks very familiar......







!


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## schoeds

Great guide, REP for you.

I'd love to see some pics.


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## schoeds

Quote:


Originally Posted by *killerfromsky* 
well, can't it just evaporate inside the bong?
why does it need ambient air coming in?

Once the air in the tube is at 100% humidity it will stop evaporating and thus stop cooling the water.


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## schoeds

Quote:


Originally Posted by *whitt_flunky* 
Man that schematic looks very familiar......







!

LMAO...


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## DuckieHo

Quote:


Originally Posted by *schoeds* 
Once the air in the tube is at 100% humidity it will stop evaporating and thus stop cooling the water.

Also, the heat won't be going anywhere. If it was closed, expect CPU temps to start rising after 10 mins.


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## MrBungle

you people will do anything to drop your temps by a small margin. if i told you a mouse running in a little wheel would lower your temps by two degrees, half you guys would be at a pet store buying supplies.


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## OriginallyIndian

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MrBungle* 
you people will do anything to drop your temps by a small margin. if i told you a mouse running in a little wheel would lower your temps by two degrees, half you guys would be at a pet store buying supplies.

mouse running in wheel = cheap laptop water cooling pump


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## killerfromsky

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DuckieHo* 
Also, the heat won't be going anywhere. If it was closed, expect CPU temps to start rising after 10 mins.

yeah was kinda expecting that heat will be closed.
how about multiple fans? will that help?


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## DuckieHo

Quote:


Originally Posted by *killerfromsky* 
yeah was kinda expecting that heat will be closed.
how about multiple fans? will that help?

To a point... diminishing returns.


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## killerfromsky

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DuckieHo* 
To a point... diminishing returns.

euhm, I'm from Belgium, so can you please explain me what diminishing returns are?


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## ae804

If one fan drops temps 10C, and two fans drops 17C....3 fan may be more like 21C, 4 Fans 22C 5 fans=22C

These numbers are made up, but basically what "Diminusing Returns" menas is too many fans will just increase noise with out giving any extra performance.


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## schoeds

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MrBungle* 
you people will do anything to drop your temps by a small margin. if i told you a mouse running in a little wheel would lower your temps by two degrees, half you guys would be at a pet store buying supplies.


I think this is one cool idea (bad pun), practical no, but I think anything beyond air isn't very practical.

Tell me you wouldn't be impressed going over to your buddies place to find a 6' acrylic tube glowing red with bubbles being pumped through water in the bottom... cooling his computer







.

If you do it right it could probably be a dual purpose bong.


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## DuckieHo

Quote:


Originally Posted by *schoeds* 
I think this is one cool idea (bad pun), practical no, but I think anything beyond air isn't very practical.

You don't have a 250w OC-ed Quadcore then.


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## ae804

Would there be any benefit to having a dehumidifier in the room?

I'm very tempted to try this out. Heck, it's only a $30 project! I couldn't get much more than a Optical Drive for that.


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## NoL

Also if you look on ebay, acrylic is very cheap, I've been thinking about doing something similar. Theres tower evaporators, and theres high surface area evaporators. I want to combine them with the magical properties of acrylic!
A 4-5" diameter acrylic pipe, inside that a ton of 1/4" acrylic pipes with a bit of room between em, water flows up thru a center 1/2" pipe, fills a top resevoir of sorts, which has anchors for the 1/4" pipes, but lets water dribble down the outsides of those, then fans would blow across that creating a huge surface area for evaporation. Plus acrylic would "hold" the water in place pretty well so it would probably create quite a lot of evaporation!
Dehumidifier will help if it doesnt get overloaded. My main suggestion is, run a pipe from the top to the outside world with a fan in it. Yes the outside world, don't be afraid, they've removed most of the pointy objects and bright sun light from there so I hear!


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## Heru

What kind of a cooler is that?
Oh, es a heavy-duty cooler, mayn..


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## schoeds

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DuckieHo* 
You don't have a 250w OC-ed Quadcore then.









Your sure are right about that, wish I did though.

BTW...how pratical is a OC-ed 250w Quadcore.


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## NoL

Quote:

BTW...how pratical is a OC-ed 250w Quadcore.
Practical enough to make a bong for it


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## MrBungle

Quote:


Originally Posted by *schoeds* 
Tell me you wouldn't be impressed going over to your buddies place to find a 6' acrylic tube glowing red with bubbles being pumped through water in the bottom... cooling his computer









personally, i go to LAN parties several times a year. if i saw a friend's computer looking like that, that would just mean he'll never go to another LAN with me







. i'd be bummed.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DuckieHo* 
You don't have a 250w OC-ed Quadcore then.









equally impractical.


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## BugBash

Very Nice guide,
Its a mini watercooling system just like you have at powerstations!!!
presumabley you could/would vent the Humidified air out of your room, can have a waterlevel detector that tells you when you need to top up or even an automated system with a little tap from a resoviour or even the mains system!

+REP!


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## NoL

By taking a 2 liter soda bottle, and installing a barb in the bottom of it, and running that to where you want to keep the water level (and installing a barb there on the bong) (and dont forget a ball valve between bottle and bong), you can close the ball valve, fill the bottle, close the cap on the bottle, open the ball valve, and it will auto level the unit where you put the barb


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## NoL

Quote:

personally, i go to LAN parties several times a year. if i saw a friend's computer looking like that, that would just mean he'll never go to another LAN with me . i'd be bummed.
Easily lannable and easily the life of the party, put in a few led's, rig em up to the serial port and make em flicker and flash like strobes. To transport it, simply install a drain valve, and two quick release fittings for the tubing. Take it with you, pour in some water, and plug in the funk!


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## BugBash

Yeah,
I think that would be a little show stopper! ppl thinking ***? hes brought one of those funky water lamps with him and upon closer inspection, jaw hits floor?


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## NoL

Or even better, in the top of the bong, put a acrylic cap over it (and make a hole for exhaust), but up there put an extra slide of acrylic, tap in LED's to it, and have them illuminate the entire tower down. And of course get multi color LED's so you can do cool effects.


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## MrBungle

Quote:


Originally Posted by *NoL* 
Easily lannable and easily the life of the party, put in a few led's, rig em up to the serial port and make em flicker and flash like strobes. To transport it, simply install a drain valve, and two quick release fittings for the tubing. Take it with you, pour in some water, and plug in the funk!









lol. i could see myself driving down the freeway with a 6-foot bong in the back seat of my car







. it would probably be real fun explaining that one to the cops. "you don't understand, officer, i'm trying to lower my delta!"

my mom always said, "if you're gonna be a bear, be a grizzly." you might as well buy a little smoke machine and tie it into your loop. having smoke wafting out the chamber of your bong will give it that authentic look to really make it stand out in a crowd


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## schoeds

thread = WIN


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## ae804

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MrBungle* 
lol. i could see myself driving down the freeway with a 6-foot bong in the back seat of my car







. it would probably be real fun explaining that one to the cops. "you don't understand, officer, i'm trying to lower my delta!"

my mom always said, "if you're gonna be a bear, be a grizzly." you might as well buy a little smoke machine and tie it into your loop. having smoke wafting out the chamber of your bong will give it that authentic look to really make it stand out in a crowd









Throw in some D-Ice... Not only would it cool the water, but i'd also give off the smoke effect.

[edit] for those of you as tempted as I am...


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## DuckieHo

Hmmm... optimization thought.....

A taller stack would allow for better separation of the hotter molecules. This would be better when your water vs ambient deltas are closer.

A wide stack would allow for more overall evaporation. This would be better if the water was warmer than air and you need to remove more heat quicker.

yes?


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## cognoscenti

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Modki* 
Title is sure to catch the attention of a few people









lol thats what i thought.

Nol are you in marketing?









Nice thread, love to see it in action.


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## schoeds

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ae804* 
Throw in some D-Ice... Not only would it cool the water, but i'd also give off the smoke effect.

[edit] for those of you as tempted as I am...









Nice link but what does this mean???

Quote:

This rigid tubing is UV stabilized. It is great for do-it-yourself projects. It has a max temp of 180°F and is for gravity pressure only. It meets FDA standards for the laboratory. *Tubing is priced per food, sold in 6' intervals only.*
Edit: /sarcasm


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## ae804

Quote:


Originally Posted by *schoeds* 
Nice link but what does this mean???

I believe it means you have to buy it in multiples of 6 foot lengths.

[edit] No, that's wrong. The longest they'll ship as one solid piece is 6 feet. If you want a 8footer, you'll have to figure out a way to attach a 6 foot piece to a 2 foot piece.

And yea, they accidentally put "Food" instead of "Foot"


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## NoL

Quote:

Hmmm... optimization thought.....

A taller stack would allow for better separation of the hotter molecules. This would be better when your water vs ambient deltas are closer.

A wide stack would allow for more overall evaporation. This would be better if the water was warmer than air and you need to remove more heat quicker.

yes?
Yep you bet.
Check ebay you guys








Much cheaper and with proper selection! Grab some pipe, some acrylic sheet, and an adjustable hole saw and some bonding agent and go all out with acrylic!


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## MrBungle

Cog, the "Welcome to America" video in your sig isn't exactly fair. that would be like me driving through England with "I Brush My Teeth Everyday" painted on my car.


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## iandh

I have one of these sitting right above my head as I type this, except it is 900lbs and holds 100 gallons, and uses jacuzzi pumps.









It sure is fun to work on.


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## schoeds

Acrylic link

Edit: Check out the spiral rod.


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## PhillyOverclocker

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MrBungle* 
Cog, the "Welcome to America" video in your sig isn't exactly fair. that would be like me driving through England with "I Brush My Teeth Everyday" painted on my car.

LOL!









If they had real stones they would drive through Compton with KKK masks on.
Besides, who is scared of the Brits?


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## DuckieHo

Quote:


Originally Posted by *iandh* 
I have one of these sitting right above my head as I type this, except it is 900lbs and holds 100 gallons, and uses jacuzzi pumps.









It sure is fun to work on.









What are your CPU temps?


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## cognoscenti

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MrBungle* 
Cog, the "Welcome to America" video in your sig isn't exactly fair. that would be like me driving through England with "I Brush My Teeth Everyday" painted on my car.

Im sorryabout that, the part where you show up in the pickup I can edit you out.


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## PhillyOverclocker

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cognoscenti* 
Im sorryabout that, the part where you show up in the pickup I can edit you out.









LOL. I love British chicks.


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## NoL

Yep TAP has good stuff, and they ship quick, I have a quart of there bonding solvent for acrylic. Wonderfully awesome and powerful!


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## bigvaL

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cognoscenti* 
Im sorryabout that, the part where you show up in the pickup I can edit you out.









LOL!!!


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## bruestle2

Since the bong could be 6ft tall, filling it could be difficult.

You could have a "bucket" coming out one side that would allow you to pour water in from say 1 ft off the ground.
Attachment 54013


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## AKAeric

I never watched that vid in your sig until now. wow. No wonder the world thinks we're all ********.


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## NoL

Sort of brestle, instead seal the top of that, and the water wont enter the bong till it drops below the barb level where air can get to the holding tank. In yours the water level will just equilize.


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## Aaron_Henderson

Here's a quick mock-up...


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## NoL

The dual fans at the same level won't work as you'd like, they'll in a sense cancel each other out or create a huge dead zone right above the water with medium airflow up the sides of the tube.


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## ae804

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Aaron_Henderson*


Here's a quick mock-up...
_http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/6353/bongrl3.jpg_


You forgot the Ping Pong Balls









Looks good though. The problem I see with using Acrylic is how Brittle it is. You're looking at cutting 5 different holes into your tube.







that's a lot of cutting.


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## ae804

Quote:



Originally Posted by *NoL*


The dual fans at the same level won't work as you'd like, they'll in a sense cancel each other out or create a huge dead zone right above the water with medium airflow up the sides of the tube.


Sorry to double post, but if he were to alternate fans and exhaust holes (one fan and one hole at the top and one fan and one exhaust at the bottom) wouldn't that work?


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## Aaron_Henderson

So use one intake tube as large as can fit on the main tube, and make a small shroud with 2 x 120MM fans on that and leave the exhaust, or just do one massive tube. Plus the air pump and air stone would get the air moving in the upward direction a little as well I think. You can get some nice size air pumps that push alot of air.


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## NoL

Eh your better off with one or two fans input staged one above the other or straight in with T's, and then a fan at the top blowing up thru a pipe outdoors can help alot.


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## Dezixn

Are there any pictures of this? Such a cool idea, i want to see some in action


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## Aaron_Henderson

wouldn't the fan at the top be fried by the evap?


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## NoL

By the moisture? Doubtful.
Looking for my old pics but I dont see em.


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## Aaron_Henderson

I'd rather not risk it. Another idea would be to run this outside your house, or in the basement so you wouldn't even need to see it. You could do all the plumbing to the pc with copper pipe, and maybe make a nice unassuming fixture with two barbs in the wall. If you put it in a basement, you could also make it huge and noisy. You could have it hooked into the main plumbing and automaticlly fill when the water level drops beneath a certain level. So all the average person would see is the two shiny barbs potruding through the wall, maybe through modified light switch covers or something. I'm just running with the idea, I know some are kind of "exteme".


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## NoL

Does sound awesome


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## Aaron_Henderson

whoops, it's showing the old pic again, give me a sec


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## Aaron_Henderson




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## bruestle2

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Aaron_Henderson* 
Here's a quick mock-up...


The fill tube on this would work, however you would want to have a cap on it so that air would not blow out of it.


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## Aaron_Henderson

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bruestle2* 
The fill tube on this would work, however you would want to have a cap on it so that air would not blow out of it.

Yeah, I just didn't put everything in the idea, it was just a quick sketch. Thanks for suggestion though. I've concluded a small hole with some tubing fed down beneaeth water level, and just keep a funnel within reach for filling, will resist the least amount of air. If you get what I mean, I suck at explaining stuff through my keyboard.


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## Kriegen

Might try throwing in the relevant parts from an ultrasonic humidifier, would help the evap


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## Fr0sty

bong cooling :O wow







superb catchy topic btw


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## pauldovi

This is absolutely ridiculous.


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## ae804

Quote:



Originally Posted by *pauldovi*


This is absolutely ridiculous.


Did you read through the entire thread? Did we ever say this device was to be used for drugs of any kind? This is a legitimate way to cool computer components (according to NoL).

I don't understand why you think this is ridiculous. Seems like a fun idea to try some time!


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## NoL

Plus its cheaper then a PA120.3 and performs much better


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## iampoor

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Modki*


Title is sure to catch the attention of a few people










including me









Anyways Nice Guide.

I will consider trying that in the future


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## Mikey122687

Wow, i read the title and thought about a different "bong"


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## davek

I am going to build one of these... Seriously.... and it will be usable.. You could make an adaptor to go where the fan is so it would fit a slide, and put a pice of tubing down from the top with a mouthpice. Smoke (tobacco of course







) and play WoW at the same time.


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## rduffy123

Get CD on this, hell make a custom case for it and everything lol


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## ira-k

Yeah bongs are fun...The only thing I don't like about them is its an open loop and you cant use additives in it or they vaporize into the air with the water..The loop gets nasty pretty fast...I saw a guy use a toilet float and valve plumbed into his so he wouldn't have to replenish it himself....Then some just use another piece of PVC beside it a little higher with a float valve then they just fill the res and they don't have to top the bong up so often...They are a lot of fun and don't cost a lot to build...


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## Chris627

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Mikey122687*


Wow, i read the title and thought about a different "bong"











Me too, I have to say I'm a little disappointed.


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## dk8100

rep+ awesome guide, gonna try next week and see how well it works. Do you have to use a shower head type sprayer or would something that sprays in a more mist like fashion work as well. I was thinking of making a mist sprayer, though I guess flow rate would be a concern at that point.


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## NoL

Droplets really, mist might just evaporate too quick completely. Also way to much pressure restriction!


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## Peroxide

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Modki*


Title is sure to catch the attention of a few people


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## dualhYbrid

False Advertisement


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## NoL

LoL but it works


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## nate911

Nice guide, different and unique way of cooling, and cheap too! 
Rep+


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## Mootsfox

I'd like to see the build log.


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## NoL

Need a bit more cash, then I'll do an acrylic bong.


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## Ihatethedukes

I like the design, I suggest filling the tube with something extremely porous like loufa and it'll do two things, one, slow the water for more evaporation so you can shrink the length of the tube AND stop the dripping sounds!


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## Deegan

i have a question. but first nice guide nol im going to make one of these asap for a fun project. now i realize that you cant block the top because evap will not happen but can i put lets say pantyhose or some sort of dust filter type material there? because i plan to cap the fan with that also because my cats create tons of dust and hair.


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## Ihatethedukes

Yes, there must be a place for the humid air to escape.


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## Mootsfox

I've heard putting lots of nails throughout the pipe helps. Is this true?


----------



## Deegan

i would think it would just add more surface area like the ping pong balls do. more places for droplets to form. i may be way off base here tho.


----------



## NoL

Yes of course and I highly recommend both a filter on intakes and such, as well as a filter before or after the pump in the loop.


----------



## Ihatethedukes

I don't see why it would unless it's an attempt to do what my loufa idea is suggesting. Then it wouldn't do it very well and likely introduce rust and other ugly things.


----------



## Deegan

sweet as soon as i get a block im going to try this out maybe ill build it first then get a block. either way thx this is going to be fun. rep + nol


----------



## d3daiM




----------



## NoL

You guys sure like bongs


----------



## Syrillian

Quote:



Originally Posted by *NoL*


You guys sure like bongs


----------



## Deegan

Quote:



Originally Posted by *NoL*


You guys sure like bongs










as far as i can remember i dont think ive ever met one i didnt like


----------



## CyberDruid

seems like you could use a medium like artificial chamois cloth it strips in a more rectangular form factor with a number of fans blowing on the strips so the water dripping off them would be cooled..this is how evap coolers are set up that cool rooms and what not...they use a pleated paper filter.

Now I am off to design a Blunt cooler...BRB.


----------



## NoL

Yes that does work, other options include a tub or tray, a bunch of tubes sticking upwards, can be PVC and done very cheaply, but they are wrapped in something like a paper towel, though a bit sturdier, and fans blow on the wet towels.


----------



## CyberDruid

[/URL][/IMG]


----------



## MrBungle

whatever happened to the dry ice in the bong to simultaneously cool the water and give the appearance of smoke driving out the top of the bong? i cannot support this awful idea unless it has dry ice in it. and i know you really want my support.


----------



## NoL

LoL Yes dry ice could be added.


----------



## DuckieHo

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CyberDruid* 
seems like you could use a medium like artificial chamois cloth it strips in a more rectangular form factor with a number of fans blowing on the strips so the water dripping off them would be cooled..this is how evap coolers are set up that cool rooms and what not...they use a pleated paper filter.

Now I am off to design a Blunt cooler...BRB.

That's a swamp cooler. Works very similar to a bong cooler. Both are evaporation coolers.


----------



## MrBungle

thank you. you once again have my support. carry on with your work


----------



## NoL

Well swamp cooler sure, theres really two types to generalize completely. Atomizer coolers and High-Surface-Area-Evaporators or HSAE's. The beauty of the bong is adding ping pong balls or the like to the base can basically make it both an Atomizer and then a HSAE.


----------



## CyberDruid

WHat about ping pong balls all the way up the column? or would this have a reverse effect and condense the vapor?

I know gas stations use a column filled with balls to return vapor to the tanks and cut their VOC emissions...


----------



## NoL

I'd say just to the top of your fan. Basically water will spread out over the ping pong balls, the fan will cause evaporation on this thin layer. You don't want to go all the way up as it won't really help without direct fan-nage, and you'll lose the main effect of the atomizer.


----------



## bruestle2

I have been thinking a lot about this recently...How would I hook this up to a faucet so that it would auto fill?? The issue I keep running into is that is faucet is pressurized. The goal would be to NEVER worry about filling it. (unless you forget to pay the water bill)


----------



## Syrillian

Quote:



Originally Posted by *bruestle2*


I have been thinking a lot about this recently...How would I hook this up to a faucet so that it would auto fill?? The issue I keep running into is that is faucet is pressurized. The goal would be to NEVER worry about filling it. (unless you forget to pay the water bill)


A timed drip system might work.


----------



## bruestle2

Quote:



Originally Posted by *bruestle2*


I have been thinking a lot about this recently...How would I hook this up to a faucet so that it would auto fill?? The issue I keep running into is that is faucet is pressurized. The goal would be to NEVER worry about filling it. (unless you forget to pay the water bill)


I guess you could use a float like in an aquarium...when the water level is low, the faucet turns on.
Something Like this!


----------



## MCBrown.CA

this is easily the most innovative cooling idea i have ever heard of... amazing idea!! so much potential and for such little $$. i have a feeling my old S939 rig might become q guinea pig of sorts in the coming months....


----------



## NoL

Wow Major bump! Didn't even remember posting this here! Go for it man!


----------



## cuy50

This sounds cool but while it may be cheaper in the short run, I figure paying for all that distilled water which ends up getting evaporated would get pretty expensive. If in fact you were thinking of hooking it up to a tap then you would get corrosion. So I don't see this being practical.


----------



## _Trev

very nice guide!, I don't know if I should do it with my computer. I will look at some other methods before I attempt this


----------



## dk8100

I have been running my bong cooler setup for the last 6 months straight. I am going to post the results in a week or two. It works great but beware in the warmer months algae grows very rapidly. I put an excessive amount of algae killer in the tank and still the filter was clogged within less than 24 hours. I used tap water with the algae destroyer because it was cheap and the loop was only used as a second stage of cooling for my loop with waterblocks. The PVC costs a lot of money for something like this just so you know but it is a really cool project.


----------



## cuy50

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dk8100* 
I have been running my bong cooler setup for the last 6 months straight. I am going to post the results in a week or two. It works great but beware in the warmer months algae grows very rapidly. I put an excessive amount of algae killer in the tank and still the filter was clogged within less than 24 hours. I used tap water with the algae destroyer because it was cheap and the loop was only used as a second stage of cooling for my loop with waterblocks. The PVC costs a lot of money for something like this just so you know but it is a really cool project.

How did algae and corrosion not cripple your system?


----------



## bdizzel124

Hey guys, I work in the engineering field, refridgeration is my speicality. I do CAD and its a great guide. If you look at schools and hospitals you will see a "cooling tower" the same idea as this. The key to maximum cooling is making the water droplets small, the smaller the more surface area and also producing a colder water. now if we really wanted to keep our systems even colder we could run refridgerant, Like in your car, and in the bong there could be tubes








This is a basic condenser in the refridgeration industry. A frew things we dont need but you guys should get the basic concept.
When i get some free time and money Ill be attempting to design and build a system like this.


----------



## JerseyDubbin

seems like a good idea. I think multiple misters might work well (with only one you have to worry about water line) but with a few it would be manageable and you would have the smaller droplets.


----------



## dk8100

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cuy50* 
How did algae and corrosion not cripple your system?

I used some algae destroyer in the second loop. if I had the bong hooked up to the loop that runs through all my blocks i would have been screwed. The reason I did 2 separate loops is that I could isolate the loop with all the expensive stuff from the algae and corrosion. It worked extremely well in the winter for how basic the setup was. Over the next few months I'm gonna start making a real tub for the water and a proper pump, filter, and water circulation setup so that it makes things a lot easier next winter. These things can dissapate a lot of heat, but that also means you have to refill it a lot.

Early this week I disconnected my 2x7950GTs from my loop and installed my air cooled 3870. I now only have to put in water about every 5 days. The heat dump by the 7950s must have been causing a lot of evaporation which means the cooler was working. This is a fun project and i will try and post some of my optimizations when they are finished.


----------



## dk8100

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JerseyDubbin* 
seems like a good idea. I think multiple misters might work well (with only one you have to worry about water line) but with a few it would be manageable and you would have the smaller droplets.

I wanted to do a mister setup, but I was really worried about flow and the fans possible blowing too much of the mist out of the loop too fast. If you figure out a good way to do misters and maintain good flow rate post it.


----------



## wildfire99

AHHHH this is NOT what i thought it would be.


----------



## Havegooda

^LOL! Me too!

~Gooda~


----------



## KHORR

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Modki*


Title is sure to catch the attention of a few people


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

thanks for the guide im in the process of building one of my own! +rep!


----------



## Delphi44

this thread does not deliver (what was implied)


----------



## nategr8ns

does anybody have any suggestions for dealing with the "exhaust" from the bong cooler? That would be my only concern with building one of these (which I am planning to do







)
I was thinking of using scrap dryer duct and maybe letting it vent out of my window or something... Any other ideas?


----------



## Manyak

If you have an A/C running in the same room, that's all you'd need to get rid of the moisture.


----------



## nategr8ns

oh sweet! my parents pick up the electrical bill so AC is going to be running


----------



## J.Harris

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Manyak* 
If you have an A/C running in the same room, that's all you'd need to get rid of the moisture.

A/C as in a window unit or A/C vents in the floors or ceiling?


----------



## redsunx

Friggin' stoners.


----------



## 0rion

Quote:


Originally Posted by *redsunx* 
Friggin' stoners.











Awesome thread, I had always wondered about this. Now I know. Someone needs to post some pics, or make a youtube video of it running. Very cool idea.


----------



## nategr8ns

Quote:


Originally Posted by *J.Harris* 
A/C as in a window unit or A/C vents in the floors or ceiling?

window unit


----------



## Manyak

Quote:


Originally Posted by *J.Harris* 
A/C as in a window unit or A/C vents in the floors or ceiling?

Window unit







Cooling the air causes the moisture to condense...which is why there is always some sort of drainage system on those things.

Vents could work if you set it up as an air cycle...where the moist air leaves your room as the freshly cooled air gets blown in. But its not as efficient as a window A/C obviously.


----------



## davek

I thought about this a while ago, but it would still require my buying WC parts... and im to cheap for that.

But i see a problem with that diagram in the OP... where does the air go after going in? i see no exit vent... if theres nowhere for it to leave, the fan will do nothing, because only so much air can get in, then it will stop filling and the same air will stay in the tube.


----------



## nategr8ns

Quote:


Originally Posted by *davek* 
I thought about this a while ago, but it would still require my buying WC parts... and im to cheap for that.

But i see a problem with that diagram in the OP... where does the air go after going in? i see no exit vent... if theres nowhere for it to leave, the fan will do nothing, because only so much air can get in, then it will stop filling and the same air will stay in the tube.

it goes out the top of the "bong" where the steam is leaving


----------



## NoL

Lets see some more pics, great to see this living.
Another design to increase surface area is a small array of tubes standing vertically linked to a bigger tube where water is pumped into. Water comes out the tops of these tubes vertically, but you cover them in workplace towels (like paper towels but much thicker and heavier), and zip tie them on. Thus the water saturates the towels and dribbles off into a pan or such that you have this setup sit in. You then have fans blowing across or down onto the rags causing evaporation. Works very well and does not have to be tall at all.


----------



## nategr8ns

wet towels breed molds and mildew


----------



## Adrienspawn

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nategr8ns* 
wet towels breed molds and mildew









Clean the towels once a week?

Makes me wonder what you do with them after a shower...


----------



## THEBREN

Bongs FTW!


----------



## nategr8ns

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Adrienspawn*


Clean the towels once a week?

Makes me wonder what you do with them after a shower...


wash them about once a week


----------



## J.Harris

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Manyak*


Window unit







Cooling the air causes the moisture to condense...which is why there is always some sort of drainage system on those things.

Vents could work if you set it up as an air cycle...where the moist air leaves your room as the freshly cooled air gets blown in. But its not as efficient as a window A/C obviously.



Darn. I don't have a window unit, too expensive to run


----------



## Mr_Nibbles

Ok, so if I end up building one of these, do I just buy a water cooling block and tubing? Also, if someone could recommend brands that would be great(I have lga775 Core 2 Duo).

One more thing, any recommendations, short of cutting a whole in my wall, to evacuate the humidity from me already hot Arizona room would greatly appreciated. A window ac is out of the question, and my room has an ambient temp. of about 83F.


----------



## nategr8ns

you also need a pump








if you have the bong itself outside (hanging on the outside of a window maybe?) you could run tubing (lots of it) to your computer and back.
The pump would have to be extra strong do compensate for the extra tubing though.


----------



## darkpyro889

Has anyone considered putting a dehumidifier at the top of it and put a tube from the collection tank to a hole about 5" below the shower head or what ever you are using.


----------



## yoda1763

Quote:



Originally Posted by *darkpyro889*


Has anyone considered putting a dehumidifier at the top of it and put a tube from the collection tank to a hole about 5" below the shower head or what ever you are using.


that rely depletes the purpose of this. the idea is to get sub ambient temps for darn near nothing. adding a $100 dehumidifier removes the purpose, and most dehumidifier use compressors meaning you would be better off modifying them into a water chiller.


----------



## Sir Humpsalot

What about approaching this from the other angle?

Fill the tube all the way up with water. At the very bottom, you have your pump. Well above this, separated by a small baffle, have an air pump from an aquarium pumping ambient air up through the tube in bubbles.

First off, you get an awesome bubble tube effect for your room. Second, the ambient air bubbles take heat out of the water via evaporation. Third, you have a large mass of water so temps can't possibly climb too fast...


----------



## fart_plume

again that defeats the purpose of it, that is to reach subambient temps..........


----------



## mr. biggums

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sir Humpsalot* 
What about approaching this from the other angle?

Fill the tube all the way up with water. At the very bottom, you have your pump. Well above this, separated by a small baffle, have an air pump from an aquarium pumping ambient air up through the tube in bubbles.

First off, you get an awesome bubble tube effect for your room. Second, the ambient air bubbles take heat out of the water via evaporation. Third, you have a large mass of water so temps can't possibly climb too fast...

doing that could also rid of the need of having a 5 foot tube in your room







which brings another question could u run multiple tube's at smaller sizes instead of the one large one? could make a nice wall decoration if it was pulled off correctly


----------



## fart_plume

It won't work like that, you won't get evaporation from air bubbles as the air doesn't have enough mass to carry enough of the heat away vs the volume of the water in the tubes.


----------



## Sir Humpsalot

Quote:


Originally Posted by *fart_plume* 
It won't work like that, you won't get evaporation from air bubbles as the air doesn't have enough mass to carry enough of the heat away vs the volume of the water in the tubes.

But it would be doubling as a 3-5 gallon res which I would think would have some decent cooling properties of its own just by virtue of the surface area....


----------



## NoL

Bubbling won't work, and water doesn't have much of a cooling effect in a bucket.
You want to atomize it and force evaporation.


----------



## fart_plume

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sir Humpsalot* 
But it would be doubling as a 3-5 gallon res which I would think would have some decent cooling properties of its own just by virtue of the surface area....


Ok, let me relate it to you this way which hads more ratio of surface area to mass, a polar bear or a jack rabbit? The Jack rabbit does that's why it can stay cool in the desert, and since the polar bear has a small surface area to mass ratio he can retain heat better.

So with this in mind, the smaller the water drops the greater the surface area to mass ratio, thus greater cooling power.

A bucket of water has a large mass but small surface area and will retain more heat energy.


----------



## nub

Just wanted to say thanks for the guide. I am a complete newbie to water cooling. The idea of getting temps below ambient is what got me to take the plunge. I am still working out my bong set up. Have any of you guys used a cooler (as in coleman/igloo) for a reservoir?


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

I use a 22 gallon rubbermade tote. But a large camping cooler would work better because of the isolation...I am thinking I may go that route someday (if I ever have to change res's) But I doubt it will help temps much for some reason.


----------



## cquinndesign

+REP sweet info!


----------



## underdog1425

What if you modded the sprayhead of say a windex(for example) bottle? Smaller droplets = greater surface area/mass ratio. Could you combine this with a smaller height bong?

Im thinking of making a smaller bong cooler to stick my radiators in.


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

when you make the droplets really small you will blow more out the top of the bong. I have found that a normal shower jet works good to keep the drops large enough to have weight so they fall but you still get a good amount of evap. as it is I had to mount a fan on the top of the bong to blow the mist so it didn't gather down below on the res or pc.


----------



## underdog1425

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DIRTYDUCK* 
when you make the droplets really small you will blow more out the top of the bong. I have found that a normal shower jet works good to keep the drops large enough to have weight so they fall but you still get a good amount of evap. as it is I had to mount a fan on the top of the bong to blow the mist so it didn't gather down below on the res or pc.

Seal the top? With high angle drilled holes in the PVC near the top? Hmm....Or even better...extend the top of the tubing, mount a 120mm low speed fan up there acting as an intake.


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

well you want some amount of liquid to get out...that's how the thing cools...I don't think you could seal up the top...it would not cool, You need the air flow to cool the water. I have a 80mm fan at the top of the bong to blow the droplets away, not sure if that's what you mean though...


----------



## underdog1425

I think I have an understanding of your design....do you have more pictures?


----------



## Jolly-Swagman

Here is another Bong setup and has pictures and very similar to this guide see link to UberBong below.

http://www.ku74.net/uberbong/


----------



## nub

The clear pipe looks very nice, but costs a lot..... Maybe I'll get lucky and find some on ebay.


----------



## TnB= Gir

Are there any guides with quality pics floating around anywhere?


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

I would have better pictures if my room wasnt so small...its hard for me to stand back far enough to get a full shot of it. I will take it out into the kitchen next time I clean it...everyone's bong is different so you will have to decide how to mod it to fit your needs/wants. Like on mine I have a huge 22gallon res so I don't have to fill it daily...only every 3-4 days.


----------



## Bonez

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Chris627* 
Me too, I have to say I'm a little disappointed.









Attachment 88394

That's what mine looks like.


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Bonez*


Attachment 88394

That's what mine looks like.


HA HA too bad that's a Hookah ROFL


----------



## nub

22 gallons? That makes my coleman cooler resevoir seem small (is a 52 quart model) I also don't have to fill up very often, I just dump a couple gallons of water into it every few days. I should start paying more attention to water consumption.
About guides. The one Nol did here is really good. Also DirtyDuck posted links to some good info on the bong lovers thread. I'll pm you with that info. There are other types of evap coolers that don't use towers. As soon as I have the parts to make another system, I'm going to try and make a volenti style chuxevap.

link to some good stuff...
http://www.overclockers.com/index.ph...ontent&id=4096


----------



## seodeveloping

Quote:



Originally Posted by *nub*


22 gallons? That makes my coleman cooler resevoir seem small (is a 52 quart model) I also don't have to fill up very often, I just dump a couple gallons of water into it every few days. I should start paying more attention to water consumption.
About guides. The one Nol did here is really good. Also DirtyDuck posted links to some good info on the bong lovers thread. I'll pm you with that info. There are other types of evap coolers that don't use towers. As soon as I have the parts to make another system, I'm going to try and make a volenti style chuxevap.

link to some good stuff...
http://www.overclockers.com/index.ph...ontent&id=4096


Yeah seriously - who uses 22 gallons in their systems and actually see a decent improvement?


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

Quote:



Originally Posted by *seodeveloping*


Yeah seriously - who uses 22 gallons in their systems and actually see a decent improvement?











Do you use a bong?

If you do then you know that you have to fill them up every day or so because it cools by evaporation...a 22 gallon res makes it so I only have to fill it once a week. Trust me there is a method to this madness.


----------



## nub

Quote:



Originally Posted by *seodeveloping*


Yeah seriously - who uses 22 gallons in their systems and actually see a decent improvement?











22 gallons would be perfectly sensible to use. If I had a bigger cooler lying around I certainly would have used it. As it is my resevoir is 13 gallons capacity. Next time I build one I'll see about using a 55 gallon drum for a resevoir.... maybe one of those huge plastic rain barrels.... 
really


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

yeah the larger the better really...it takes a lot longer to heat up 55 gallons of water then it does to heat up 1 gallon of water.

I updated the bong lovers thread with links to our builds and some Myths, If you can think of more Myths or FAQs let me know I can start getting them up.


----------



## homingpigeon

What about a closed loop evaporator. Run some sort of bong, the whole get up. But instead of having the cpu block directly connected to the fluid running through the bong. Have a closed cpu loop run through copper pipe that is zig-zagged inside the bong.

Wouldn't this cool the cpu loop well bellow ambient and also allow for anti algae, dye and less corrosion to the system?

Let me think on this. I bet there are coolers like this out there. In fact. I think it is the basic principle that refrigerators run on.


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

If the loop is closed how ill the water evaporate? Refrigerators work because they have freon in them.

You could however run 2 loops...a closed loop with a rad on once loop and you put the rad in the bong on a open loop. then you could use additives. However you would need 2 pumps.


----------



## KoolMan

make sure the fan is installed the correct way.
lol


----------



## nub

Quote:


Originally Posted by *homingpigeon* 
What about a closed loop evaporator. Run some sort of bong, the whole get up. But instead of having the cpu block directly connected to the fluid running through the bong. Have a closed cpu loop run through copper pipe that is zig-zagged inside the bong.

Wouldn't this cool the cpu loop well bellow ambient and also allow for anti algae, dye and less corrosion to the system?

Let me think on this. I bet there are coolers like this out there. In fact. I think it is the basic principle that refrigerators run on.

Yes, some people run dual loops. An open evaporative loop and a closed loop with a fluid to fluid heat exchanger.
About corrosion. There should not be any corrosion assuming you do not have any aluminum in your loop. As far as critters in the water, humidifier biocide works well, and so does silver (see the new silver kill coils at Petra's.)
The real advantage of a dual loop (imho) would be as a fail safe in case you forget to keep water in your evaporative loop (although the silence should be a good indicator that there is no water in it....)
As far as refrigerators go. No, this is not how refrigerators work. That is called phase change cooling, it involves a compressor, and is a lot more complex/difficult to build. There is a section on the forums about that type of cooling.


----------



## pn0yb0i

Ahh so this is what a bong cooler is. Its like a Giant reservoir with the water falling into droplets + fan to evap and cool in place of a radiator.

I understand now. You can even put ice in that giant res for superior overclock / benching.


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

You don't need a giant res for it lol I just use one for overkill factor and because I have to fill it less...a 2-5 gallon res is all that is needed....I have even seen people just cap the bottom of the bong off. This would mean there is no res. could be one of the reasons more people don't use them. (or have yet to understand how super cool they are).


----------



## pn0yb0i

Yeah... I suppose they are big and bulky, but overall I understand the fundamentals after 5 min's of reading.


----------



## BobbyChicken

How effective is it to use outake fans instead of intake fans?


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

I think it would be almost the same thing really.


----------



## Reflexive

Ahhh.
Evaporation coolers! Now there's some power that's often ignored for a slight inconvenience. You can make these beautiful however. From a PC point of view, you can have a nice standing acrylic tube setup, maybe 4 to 5 feet tall, light it up and have a good time!


----------



## gnolnats

Quote:


Originally Posted by *killerfromsky* 
well, can't it just evaporate inside the bong?
why does it need ambient air coming in?

If sealed, the air inside of the bong will eventually become saturated with water vapor and evaporation will stop. New air is required to maintain the evaporation, which is the fundamental operation of this type of cooling. It's like a mini cooling tower similar to one found on a large HVAC system.


----------



## andyroo89

How much temps differ from water cooling? like higher than h2o? I understand this is using water also to cool it but seems like a cheaper way....


----------



## nub

Quote:


Originally Posted by *andyroo89* 
How much temps differ from water cooling? like higher than h2o? I understand this is using water also to cool it but seems like a cheaper way....

Water temps in a bong chiller should be slightly below ambient. How much below will depend on the humidity of the area you are in. Condensation is never an issue though, as it is not possible to get a bong down to the dew point. And yes, it is cheaper than most radiators. There is a bong lovers club thread you should look at in the water cooling section if you want to know more.


----------



## roflmasterflex

great guide!


----------



## nub

Quote:


Originally Posted by *roflmasterflex* 
great guide!









You should build one of them and join our little club.....


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

Keyword here is Little


----------



## Reflexive

Haha really trying to sell the evaporative cooler idea eh nub?


----------



## nub

Of course. I always support anything that is DIY.


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

it really is a great way to cool for much less money...even better cooling then a radiator!


----------



## curly haired boy

i plan to build one of these sometime this year. it's going to look significantly different than what you folks are used to, however...


----------



## nub

experimentation is good. There is no 'one right way' to do this kind of cooling. Just be sure to document your build, your plans for it/thoughts/etc and take pics







we LOVE pics. Speaking of, I have some pics up on my build log of a non-traditional bong cooler


----------



## nategr8ns

post 'em up nub!


----------



## nub

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nategr8ns* 
post 'em up nub!

They are up on "Nub builds a (better) bong" in the water cooling section. There is also the unofficial bong lovers club thread in the same section.
If you are interested in this sort of cooling you should read those threads and post your thoughts


----------



## bruestle2

Quote:



Originally Posted by *nub*


They are up on "Nub builds a (better) bong" in the water cooling section.


links? I'm lazy and forgetful.


----------



## MAD_J

Anyone try using just normal water cooling then switch to the "bong"?

I would like to hear what the actual difference in temps is. As this seems like it could be cool if done right using acrylic and making a water fall type thing. Also the sound of rain makes me go to sleep almost instantly and i fold 24/7 so this seems like a project i might take on in the summer when i get a job and build a proper pc.


----------



## megajesus

How much liters of water should I be using.


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

I have a 40L res and I fill it once a week to the top.


----------



## nub

Quote:



Originally Posted by *megajesus*


How much liters of water should I be using.


Did you build a bong cooler? If so please post pics and stats in the bong lovers club thread.


----------



## megajesus

I will once I get this done. I am in the planning stages. I am checking out what I can use from home. I am moving out in a week or so, so I might have to post pone this. But I will def post it up once I am done. I am actually really pumped for this project.

40L ?

.___.


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

it does not have to be that large...I like mine that big so I don't have to refill it every other day.


----------



## NoL

Still alive eh?
Hmmm; might be making a wonderful acrylic construct in a few months. Bottom filled resevoir, large 6-7' tall standing acrylic tube. Center tube up thru the main tube that pumps liquid on up. Distribution plates up at the top to atomize the water heavily.


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

Nice man! There is the godfather of Bongs lol I cant wait to see your next design bro...you have been an inspiration for me!


----------



## T3h_Ch33z_Muncha

Quote:



Originally Posted by *NoL*


Still alive eh?
Hmmm; might be making a wonderful acrylic construct in a few months. Bottom filled resevoir, large 6-7' tall standing acrylic tube. Center tube up thru the main tube that pumps liquid on up. Distribution plates up at the top to atomize the water heavily.












geekgasm


----------



## Liighthead

is thier away to not use a shower head. so its more slient instead of having water falling down a tube??









and how effective wuld a like 15" high one beee with idk like 25L rez?


----------



## shurik06_83

yea u can hang balls inside the tube but it will work against cooling as the droplet falling threw air is what cools it but the balls will destroy alot of droplets cuting ur capasity down

and u want something atleast 6ft for it to work well

u can insulate the stack and have the stack exit to the outside it will solve the noise problem and the ur room wont smell like a swamp


----------



## Kriegen

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Liighthead*


is thier away to not use a shower head. so its more slient instead of having water falling down a tube??









and how effective wuld a like 15" high one beee with idk like 25L rez?










You can do something like a horizontal volenti cooler instead


----------



## T3h_Ch33z_Muncha

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Liighthead*


is thier away to not use a shower head. so its more slient instead of having water falling down a tube??









and how effective wuld a like 15" high one beee with idk like 25L rez?










if you want silence a horizontal is the way to go. TBH it's just a better design in every possible way than a vertical tower...


----------



## Liighthead

thinking bout attemting a like 15ish inch one.... but with 2 pipes x) each one have like a high cfm 120mm fan..... in a like 10 - 25L rez idk

would that be like same as a 240 rad or bout what temps... x) idk what water block either :/


----------



## T3h_Ch33z_Muncha

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Liighthead* 
thinking bout attemting a like 15ish inch one.... but with 2 pipes x) each one have like a high cfm 120mm fan..... in a like 10 - 25L rez idk

would that be like same as a 240 rad or bout what temps... x) idk what water block either :/

have you thought about a horizontal design? If not, i highly recommend it.


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

Bongs are great, the balls will help your cooling not hurt it, not sure what that one dude was trying to say about destroying droplets, the balls create more surface area for the water to evaporate off of, this causes more cooling not less.

With my horizontal cooler, no fan is needed, I run at 19c on full load without a fan! Using a double bong is pointless. 1 tube is almost as good as 2, its all about res size really. The larger the res the longer it takes to heat up.


----------



## T3h_Ch33z_Muncha

Quote:



Originally Posted by *DIRTYDUCK*


Bongs are great, the balls will help your cooling not hurt it, not sure what that one dude was trying to say about destroying droplets, the balls create more surface area for the water to evaporate off of, this causes more cooling not less.

With my horizontal cooler, no fan is needed, I run at 19c on full load without a fan! Using a double bong is pointless. 1 tube is almost as good as 2, its all about res size really. The larger the res the longer it takes to heat up.










have you tried it on any other CPU yet DD?


----------



## DIRTYDUCK

I could...send me one!


----------



## mmakam2

instead of using a shower head, what about using some type of mister, that would create wayy more surface area, like the kind they use at the grocery store to mist the veggies.


----------



## shurik06_83

with a mister u would loose alot fo ur water cause the droplets being so small most of them would evap and very few would make it back to the rez so u would be evaporateing large amounts of water and cooling wouldent be not so grate

a shower head is used cause it makes bigger droplets the bigger droplest falling past moveing air have thier surface evaporated and get cooled and most of the droplet returns and cools the rez

with a mister the droplets would be light and get blown out and the ones that dont get blown out would evaporate compleetly and very few would get cooled and return


----------



## T3h_Ch33z_Muncha

Quote:



Originally Posted by *shurik06_83*


with a mister u would loose alot fo ur water cause the droplets being so small most of them would evap and very few would make it back to the rez so u would be evaporateing large amounts of water and cooling wouldent be not so grate

a shower head is used cause it makes bigger droplets the bigger droplest falling past moveing air have thier surface evaporated and get cooled and most of the droplet returns and cools the rez

with a mister the droplets would be light and get blown out and the ones that dont get blown out would evaporate compleetly and very few would get cooled and return


this; with a fan, most of those droplets would simply get blown back where they came from. Additionally, the flow rate would be cut right down with a mister.

If you're looking for anything with more cooling power than a conventional bong, i don't think you need to look much past a horizontal design.


----------



## dmanstasiu

Why is the horizontal design more efficient that the bong?


----------



## thrplayer1

^ I guess because of it taking less space vs a tower :shrug:

But I was looking at the volenti design and I might do that.


----------



## Schmuckley

nub likes the volenti..personally..bong fer meeh


----------



## thrplayer1

Well i was about to do the bong but then I read somewhere that volenti was better and used less space. Is that true?


----------



## Shpongle

Whenever I have enough cash saved up to build my next rig I'll most definitely look in to this idea...

The title caught my attention rather quickly, too


----------



## Straick

Pump question. Is a 600GPM bilge pump(12 volt) too much for a bong? I really want to stay with 12 volt because I plan on setting up a spare power supply to run both the pump and fan.


----------



## dmanstasiu

Too much as in ...pressure ?
You could probably find a way to limit the voltage that it gets through a resistor or something


----------



## NoL

Too much, limiting it isn't that hard though.
I do prefer the volenti designs, or forced air designs. But that can require alot more electrical use on the forced air systems. Not just a fan, but enough air movement to nebulize a stream, much like a wall hand sanitizer dispenser dose.


----------



## Schmuckley

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Straick*
> 
> Pump question. Is a 600GPM bilge pump(12 volt) too much for a bong? I really want to stay with 12 volt because I plan on setting up a spare power supply to run both the pump and fan.


danner 9.5 =perfect size for bongs

too bad i'm running a 5..i had to cut mine down to get flow







shoulda done more research


----------



## NoL

Ha, I used a danner mag3 years ago for a 8 ft tower. And that was almost too much. Worked best at 80% speed.


----------



## Straick

Typo on my part. Should have said 600gph.
Only reason for me to not do a volenti design is that I kind of like the look of a PVC tower in my living room(plumber).

I managed to build it in about 20 minutes, and testing it right now. Now, if I could only find my thermometer. Did do a test to see how much power the whole works pulls on the 120AC side, and it wouldn't even register on my multimeter(amp clamp style), but then again, that meter isn't too reliable at less than 2 amp.


----------



## NoL

Try ping pong balls, build an auto fill, and get cranking!


----------



## Straick

Auto fill is next on my list after I figure out how much water this sucker drinks, as are the ping pong balls(more surface area=better cooling, and silence).
It's running right now, and the noise isn't too bad. Almost sounds like a rainstorm.

Forgot to say, this sucker is about 6 feet tall. Clears my ceiling by maybe 6 inches.


----------



## Schmuckley

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NoL*
> 
> Ha, I used a danner mag3 years ago for a 8 ft tower. And that was almost too much. Worked best at 80% speed.


really..hrmm..:







: too late for home dep trip...







tomorrow!







: ..and i'll be doing the screen thing as per "Ray"

Q:what size tubing did you use for 8-ft tower? (if you remember)

wait a min..are you the guy that made the double-bong with the rads+110v fans?









i add 1 1/3 gallons about every 2-3 days

btw..what kind of chip were you using that on,NoL?


----------



## Straick

Quick update.
No real heat load YET(need some more PVC and fittings to route heat exchanger from computer).
About 1 hour ago, the temp started at about 75F(set the faucet the same as when I do a water change in my aquarium), and it already down to 60F, with a room temp of 70F(managed to find my thermometer).
Really wondering how low it will go, as well as how it will affect my computer's temps.

If only I had the money for a new rig right now, but it'll come in time, just hopefully sooner instead of later.


----------



## NoL

No not double rad. I'm the guide who wrote and started this thread. OP right here.

At the time I was cooling a Northwood 3.4EE with a 437W Dominator TEC block on it. Right up close to the 5ghz line. Only about... 900W of heat dump in that loop, and she drank a gallon a day or so.

I like the rain storm noise too, and you'll still get some, but the ping pong balls definitely increase total dissipation if used properly and have the fan directly blowing on them.

But as always in this thread, pictures are required Straick!

Tubing was 1/2" ID


----------



## Straick

Here's your pictures Nol.

Side view.


2 views of the bottom area.



And finally, the spray pattern. Used a PVC cap and drill to make it do this.


----------



## NoL

That's good. Falling water works well, but coating the walls works equally as well if you can channel the air to stay close to the walls. You'll still have great dissipation with that size though.

Suggestion, if your using an immersion pump, wrap the intake with a filter or get a filter for it. Great way to keep the loop clean.


----------



## Straick

Keeping the comp loop and tower seperated. That's what the copper coil in the bucket on the left(with the pump) is for. I gave up on standard air filters after managing to clog them in 2 weeks(lots of dust in the air).
What I couldn't get a pic of is the stream coming out the bottom of the cap, so that it falls right down the middle. Still like the ping pong ball idea though. Now to find out where to buy enough to fill about 6 feet of 4 inch PVC.


----------



## Schmuckley

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NoL*
> 
> No not double rad. I'm the guide who wrote and started this thread. OP right here.
> At the time I was cooling a Northwood 3.4EE with a 437W Dominator TEC block on it. Right up close to the 5ghz line. Only about... 900W of heat dump in that loop, and she drank a gallon a day or so.
> I like the rain storm noise too, and you'll still get some, but the ping pong balls definitely increase total dissipation if used properly and have the fan directly blowing on them.
> But as always in this thread, pictures are required Straick!
> Tubing was 1/2" ID


I've found that shortening the height/increasing flow reduced temps.However,it came at the cost of heat dissipation ability








With the height @ max..I wasn't getting enough flow..those Sandy Bridge cpus run real hot up over 4.6ghz.I need to increase height..yet keep the same or better flow.Your bong was basically just cooling your TEC chiller,not your cpu directly.


----------



## NoL

It ran for years on just a CPU. But the dissipation was immense. 900W on the hot side too cool brought the incoming water from room temperature up 10C at a minimum. And the bong kept the incoming water at room temperature.

If you have a saturated flow (as evaporation rate is determined by humidity and heat in the water and surface area of air flow) then it doesn't matter if you go higher or shorter. You just need enough. We always do overkill here.


----------



## Straick

Crazy question here.
While having a beer, I realized that I have enough empty beer bottles(need to turn them in a little more often, but at least I rinse them out) here to fill to main pipe on my bong, and am now thinking of using that until I can locate enough ping pong balls. If I were to try this one, I'd put them in opening down.
What do you all think? Worth doing, or hold out on the ping pong balls?

P.S. Tomorrow night, the comp gets hooked to it, just need more distilled water and antifreeze(anti corrosive and anti algae, plus it looks good) first.


----------



## NoL

Wash em out really well. But even then the mixed metal would be my concern, cans are aluminum.


----------



## dmanstasiu

BOTTLES.


----------



## Straick

Tried it out, and it didn't work as well as the water just falling(thankfully me temps and humidity stay pretty stable for easy comparisons). Did finally replace my shower head(got one of those massaging deals for christmas), and bet you all can guess where the old on is now. See how it performs compared to the diy version.


----------



## NoL

Sounds good. Most of the effect I've found in the taller bongs is simply due to keeping the walls of the pipe wet. Less to due with the falling water.

Surface area, surface area, surface area


----------



## Straick

Surface area is why I'm now trying the old shower head. I'm actually thinking of filling it with golf balls(can find a LOT of them for free).


----------



## NoL

Golf balls will work well I'd imagine. Even more surface area than ping pong balls, just will get heavy in a hurry. Not that a reservoir with 20 gallons isn't already heavy


----------



## dmanstasiu

What if you filled it with lots of heatspreaders? Like this:


----------



## Straick

The tube is 4 inch PVC, about 6 feet tall, which would mean a lot of heat sinks(heat spreaders). Also, a lot of heatsinks are aluminum, which corrodes wonerfully, and the corrosion from it jams things up.

Also, Nol, my reservoir is only 10 gallons(2-5 gallon buckets hooked together).
The shower head is achieving just a hair over 10 degrees below ambient without a load on the tower, now to hook it all up and put it into proper service. One of my reasons to keep the tower and comp isolated, as stated earlier, is to keep the loop clean, the second is so that I can turn the tower of if I need/want(why do that) to.


----------



## NoL

Isn't it amazing?
You might very well end up with subambient water temperatures under load.
10 gallons is more then enough though. I've just seen some large systems with 200-300 gallons used for HVAC swamp coolers.


----------



## Straick

Going on two hours of running Prime, and the coolant is at a whole 70F, 2 degrees cooler than the room. Chip temp is all the way up to 104F, when before it would reach 95F just playing a movie. All I can say is that it works nice.
Only found one problem with it though, the constant running water sound makes me want to take a leak constantly, so no go at the moment for gaming with it running. Really need to get a fill into the tower now.


----------



## NoL

That reflex will fade quick.

Trust me, I'm a med student


----------



## dmanstasiu

o.o


----------



## Straick

Reflex gone already. Happy I'm actually running the bong and comp isolated. The pump I was using in the bong quit on me today, so the rad had to take over. New pump, and it's back up and running at aproximately 200-250GPH max for the 6 foot head on it.
While playing movies, the temp has made it up to a whopping 28C(scorching). Now, just need a computer worthy of this cooling capacity.


----------



## Schmuckley

w00t w00t..so..after reading NoL was running an 8-footer.on a mag3...I went and extended my bong








AND..added 2 screens.It's a lot quieter..sounds like a fridge







Priming on an unlocked Zosma Atm
no pics til my neighbor gets home..but..i got screenshots!


----------



## dmanstasiu

0ºC?...


----------



## Straick

Nol, I got an idea today that I want to run by you. Have 2 towers, about 6-8 foot tall a piece in parralel, and run the chilled water from them through a radiator inside with a fan on it for a cheap for of AC. I know that it won't achieve as low of temperatures as a true AC, but it seems like it would be a LOT cheaper to run, and would be better than nothing for me(no place to setup a true AC system, windows too small). What do you think?


----------



## NoL

You mean lower the temperature of water with bongs (not sure why you'd have two? just make the first big enough), and blow air through it for a cool breeze? Sure you can do it, but you'd be more limited by needing to control the humidity (evacuate top of bongs outside or through a window, etc) and chances are you'd still only get the same effect as a fan.


----------



## Straick

The bongs would be outside, and have a car radiator inside with a fan on it. The only reason for two is that I'm basically planning on trying to cool my place with it, and I want LOTS of capacity.


----------



## NoL

Why not use well/city water through the radiator off your water lines? That's normally quite cold. Just thinking out loud, bit easier


----------



## Straick

Easier, yes, but my landlord would kill me for the amount of water that I'd use(they charge based on amount of use around here). I had thought of it, but threw it out when I realized how much water I'd use.


----------



## NoL

You'd be using a similar amount to run the Bongs







Probably more then a temperature controlled "stagnant" radiator.

Stagnant radiators have a thermostat and a solenoid valve.
The idea is to let in water that is above (for heating) or below (for cooling) the room temperature. Then no new water is added until it hits room temperature again, and then bam, more water to displace the old. Sometimes you have it metered to put in all new fresh water, sometimes just a bit to set a temperature control. Either way they work quite well.


----------



## thrplayer1

So what pumps do you guys use for your own bongs?


----------



## NoL

Mag's normally. 3/5/7 were always my favorite.


----------



## thrplayer1

Are those pumps good for like super giant bongs and a full loop or are they like decent pumps for medium size jobs?

I forgot to mention I'm planning on using this on the cpu only.


----------



## Straick

I just made a discovery on my part. More pump isn't always better. Tried a larger, 120Volt pump in mine, and the temps went up with it, as well as it now spraying a mist out the top. Guess I stumbled onto a balance that works well.


----------



## Schmuckley

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *thrplayer1*
> 
> So what pumps do you guys use for your own bongs?


mag 5 here..wanting to get a raystorm and a 9.5 ..kinda worried about heat,though


----------



## Straick

Any of you know of any UV reactive dyes that don't evaporate? In the final version, I want to use clear acrylic for the main tower, and light it with black light LEDs run down the back. I'm thinking that it would look pretty cool, while still being very functional.


----------



## nub

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Straick*
> 
> Any of you know of any UV reactive dyes that don't evaporate? In the final version, I want to use clear acrylic for the main tower, and light it with black light LEDs run down the back. I'm thinking that it would look pretty cool, while still being very functional.


Acrylic tube is very expensive. Building a bong to cool your pc is not usually about how it looks, but about how it works. However, everyone has different thoughts on what looks good so more power to you.

If you are serious about building an evaporative cooler, the tower design is not the most efficient nor is it the easiest. Horizontal drip tube style work better, are completely silent except for the pump and are simple to make, and since they are not towers they probably put less strain on the pump (less vertical head)


----------



## thrplayer1

I've got the PVC pipes and a shower head today. The pipe is like almost three feet tall and 4 inches wide, only using this to cool my cpu.


----------



## Straick

Nub, it's already built using PVC, and I don't have enough length type room for a swamp chiller. It's cooling job will be getting extended a bit more in the coming months. Got 3 desktops for building a folding setup, and I'm going to cool all their CPUs with this thing, as well as my current tower. Reason for it, I want to dump the heat away from them because they'll be sitting one on top of the other, and I don't want the heat to affect the others.


----------



## nub

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Straick*
> 
> Nub, it's already built using PVC, and I don't have enough length type room for a swamp chiller. It's cooling job will be getting extended a bit more in the coming months. Got 3 desktops for building a folding setup, and I'm going to cool all their CPUs with this thing, as well as my current tower. Reason for it, I want to dump the heat away from them because they'll be sitting one on top of the other, and I don't want the heat to affect the others.


How large is your reservoir?


----------



## Straick

2-5 gallon buckets hooked together, but I don't have any direction where it is for a horizontal airflow that is unobstructed.


----------



## nub

An experiment for you to try. in the tower of your bong, from your shower head/atomizer/whatever you are using, attach a stip of fabric that is narrow and long. narrow enough to easily hang inside your bong tower, long enough to reach just about to the water level when you have a full reservoir.
I think you will find this improves your water temps.


----------



## dmanstasiu

Because it'll absorb moisture allowing more water to vaporize ?


----------



## Straick

Because it should give more surface area for evaporation to take place on. I'll try it later Nub.


----------



## nub

yes. it will increase the surface area. when I did this, I used zip ties at teh top and bottom, and had my cloth hanging from a circle (2" pvc pipe cut 1" long, at both top and bottom). created a sort of tube - had 'circles' at top and bottom. gave about the same performance as the horizontal type of volenti cooler.

re. horizontal space for air flow -= with a horizontal volenti style rig (aka naja style rig) you really dont need a lot of air flow directly on the cloth. I found that temps with no fan were very close to temps with fan. The only noise from the rig at all was teh power supply fan and the hum from a d4 pump. Most of these experiments were posted in the bong lovers club thread and also in naja's thread stickies. I had a couple build threads but do not think any of the pictures are still up. I did not bother wtih pics of the horizontal rig or the tube in the tower rig. I don't think there are many pics up anymore.

It is a shame that DirtyDuck stopped posting. The main bong thread in water cooling section pretty much died when he left. Most of the posts in the water cooling section now seem to be driven by how the rig looks, not by how it performs.







Perhaps it is better to have evaporative cooling thread in this section.


----------



## Schmuckley

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Schmuckley*
> 
> My Loop
> 
> My Temps Right now..it's ...70f ambient
> 
> dang..wish i could make the temps pic clearer..anyway ..63c
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> YaY bong!
> Even if i prime for hours..it will only rise 1-2c
> Those are Idle temps..under load..39c
> Not pretty..but highly effective
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ..sounds nice,too


----------



## kdb424

I've seen this work with a phenom X6, but could this still keep up with a [email protected] and a GTS 480 overclocked with a 6" bong or so? I'd rather not build it only to find it's too limited. It looks like i would be a heck of a fun project though if it would suit my needs.


----------



## OCAddict

I was going to build a Bong Tower myself researched it and never could decide how to handle the evaporation so I decided going another route, however I did learn enough to share.

Here's the key, evaporative cooling the longer the water falling is in contact with the air flow, the cooler the water becomes.

One thing I had learned from another builders observations was as he recorded temperatures inside the bong he was surprised to discover the coolest temps were not in the center where the drops were falling but on the interior wall of the main tube.

The water flowing down the interior tube wall was staying in contact with the air flow longer than the water falling through the air.

So obviously increasing the interior wall area should decrease the temperature of the water, so how do you achieve that?

By partially filling the interior of the bong with smaller 3/8" or 1/2" PVC or CPVC pipes, the air will then flow up through the pipes as the water is flowing down through them, effectively increasing the interior wall area, exponentially, all of the water coming down the inside and outside of each pipe wall will be cooled decreasing the water temperature.

Just and idea to share, I have not tested this theory.


----------



## dmanstasiu

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *OCAddict*
> 
> I was going to build a Bong Tower myself researched it and never could decide how to handle the evaporation so I decided going another route, however I did learn enough to share.
> Here's the key, evaporative cooling the longer the water falling is in contact with the air flow, the cooler the water becomes.
> One thing I had learned from another builders observations was as he recorded temperatures inside the bong he was surprised to discover the coolest temps were not in the center where the drops were falling but on the interior wall of the main tube.
> The water flowing down the interior tube wall was staying in contact with the air flow longer than the water falling through the air.
> So obviously increasing the interior wall area should decrease the temperature of the water, so how do you achieve that?
> By partially filling the interior of the bong with smaller 3/8" or 1/2" PVC or CPVC pipes, the air will then flow up through the pipes as the water is flowing down through them, effectively increasing the interior wall area, exponentially, all of the water coming down the inside and outside of each pipe wall will be cooled decreasing the water temperature.
> Just and idea to share, I have not tested this theory.


I think this is the reason people add ping pong balls... maybe?


----------



## Iam4423

in the guide you say that you can run this on tap water so its inexpensive to run and maintain but (baring in mind im no water cooler) i thought that the reason you didnt use tap water in water loops was because of the chance of corrosion or build up of gunk... not to mention the fact that tap water conducts electricity.

surely using tap water in this situation is going to have the same issues. other than that im seriously considering this cooling solution it sounds like fun!


----------



## nub

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dmanstasiu*
> 
> I think this is the reason people add ping pong balls... maybe?


yes. cloth works better. surface area matters more than fall distance. short wide 'fountain' type of cooler with cloth hanging over 'dribblers' - ie a horizontal style volenti cooler. small. silent (no fan needed) and works better than a tower style bong. takes up less vertical space too.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Iam4423*
> 
> in the guide you say that you can run this on tap water so its inexpensive to run and maintain but (baring in mind im no water cooler) i thought that the reason you didnt use tap water in water loops was because of the chance of corrosion or build up of gunk... not to mention the fact that tap water conducts electricity.
> surely using tap water in this situation is going to have the same issues. other than that im seriously considering this cooling solution it sounds like fun!


use 2 loops, with a fluid to fluid heat exchanger joining them. loop 1 is open loop with evaporative cooler. loop 2 is closed loop with water blocks on it. Run distilled in loop 2. Tap in loop 1. You can buy plate style fluid to fluid heat exchangers online for not too much.


----------



## Iam4423

That sir, is a very good plan, I like it!
imhopefully starting a new job at the end of next month so I should have a bit of spare cash to throw into the project: D


----------



## myst88

I've been thinking, what if you had a closed loop system with a water tank style naja cooler / horizontal volenti and you made it air tight and stuck it in your basement. Would the ambient temperature be cool enough to condense the vaporized water in the tank and keep an endless cycle without ever needing to worry about refilling the water in the tank? Or would the lack of airflow just kill the cooling effect.


----------



## dmanstasiu

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *myst88*
> 
> I've been thinking, what if you had a closed loop system with a water tank style naja cooler / horizontal volenti and you made it air tight and stuck it in your basement. Would the ambient temperature be cool enough to condense the vaporized water in the tank and keep an endless cycle without ever needing to worry about refilling the water in the tank? Or would the lack of airflow just kill the cooling effect.


The air would get saturated. Any type evaporation cooler does not work in sealed system


----------



## myst88

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dmanstasiu*
> 
> The air would get saturated. Any type evaporation cooler does not work in sealed system


Makes sense


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## NoL

^^ Correct.

Towels are good, as are ping pong balls. Although towels in the past I found developed mold after a few months, and ping pong balls never did. Both also reduce noise if used as a fall damper.

Keep it up guys, love to see my guide still orbiting after all these years.


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## Skoobs

want to do this!

could you fill the tube with ping pong balls so that the water trickles down them? would that be too much?


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## dmanstasiu

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Skoobs*
> 
> want to do this!
> could you fill the tube with ping pong balls so that the water trickles down them? would that be too much?


Yup.


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## archenstone

To retain more water could you have metal piping from the top going at a downward angle to cool the evaporation and return it to water? Like in a distillary "think moonshine, water purification for researching it"


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## Tjj226 Angel

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *archenstone*
> 
> To retain more water could you have metal piping from the top going at a downward angle to cool the evaporation and return it to water? Like in a distillary "think moonshine, water purification for researching it"


Ultimately yes, but you would loose cooling performance. The idea is that you want to restrict the evaporation as little as possible so you can force even more evaporation to occur.

If you don't want to have to fill your reservoir as often, you could install a regulator bottle.


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## EAnushan

What are load temps like btw? From what I read in the bong lovers club, they're much higher than standard water cooling load temps?


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## Schmuckley

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EAnushan*
> 
> What are load temps like btw? From what I read in the bong lovers club, they're much higher than standard water cooling load temps?

























What are your temps with a 5ghz 2500K with 1.53v?
http://www.overclock.net/t/406256/the-official-bong-lovers-club-56k-fail/1200_100 73c on the hottest core is pretty good, IMO.


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## EAnushan

Oh, I didn't mean that the temps weren't good. I was wondering how they compared to a closed water loop. 73c looks to be a bit higher than a standard loop.

Still, a bong looks like an incredibly fun DIY project ^^


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## Schmuckley

@ 1.53v? Where are you seeing these results? Sandy stable club? eh..I got one good mount where it would go 64c max..basically the block is the limiting factor..because my res water stays cooler than ambient (which is 29c) all the time.


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## EAnushan

Didn't notice you were running at 1.53v, in which case those are great temps! I was considering my own 2500k which runs at something like 1.3v (4.5ghz).


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## bombastinator

Has anyone tried installing a toilet float valve in the bottom of one of these and hooking it up to a water line so it NEVER has to be refilled (by hand anyway. the water company does it for you)?


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## NoL

That would work fine. It's the same idea as a catch bottle except I only ever ran distilled water in my bong towers.


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## bombastinator

That would cut down on sediment deposits. Depending on the type of minerals in your local water You;d generally get either calcium (lyme) or iron buildup. Have to clean it out every couple years. You could use a water softener, but then the buildup would be salt. Potentially a lot easier to clean up though, ad you could just put the salt back into the softener system.


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## lowguppy

I'm curious if a setup like this has ever been tested against traditional radiators of varying sizes. The evaporation tower seems to be serving the same function in the loop, and with a large enough radiator you wouldn't need any fans, just the pump (which could, in theory, be quieter since it doesn't have to lift the water so far).


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## RnRollie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *lowguppy*
> 
> I'm curious if a setup like this has ever been tested against traditional radiators of varying sizes. The evaporation tower seems to be serving the same function in the loop, and with a large enough radiator you wouldn't need any fans, just the pump (which could, in theory, be quieter since it doesn't have to lift the water so far).


unless you live in a damp, cold climate, evaporative cooling -when correctly dimensioned- will outperform any radiator setup. Because the best you can achieve with radiators is ambient, while evap can actually drop below ambient.

For example:
eg Nevada desert








Ambient Temp 30°C , Ambient Humidity 0 - 5% , which results in a dew point between -32°C & -13°C
With an Evap sized & efficiency at 85% => temp drop (air/water) to +/- 15°C (wet bulb temp)

There is a sliding scale with an optimal range, the kicker being what is the dewpoint?
The hotter & dryer the environment, the lower the dewpoint, the "better" evap cooling works before it either saturates the ambient (room) or before the maximum rate of vaporisation of water per sec is reached.

keywords: google, wikipedia, cooling towers, evaporative cooling, swamp coolers , etc , you can get lost in the subject for days on end









Note:
it is almost impossible to achieve 85% efficiency with a (self-build) bong cooler, you need to use the "industrial design" & swamp coolers.
Now, if these things weren't so damn bulky & cumbersome


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## NoL

Quote:


> a large enough radiator you wouldn't need any fans


The problem with fanless is it requires increasing the fin space for convection. You end up cooling 1000W's and needing something the size of a desk.
What has been discussed before is the Volenti cooler assembly with towels. It's a way to "dribble" water onto a set of hanging towels over a collection pan, and with very little airflow produce large amounts of evaporation. This is the "smallest" form of the Bong cooler.


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## Schmuckley

eh,I've been running one for quite a while now








I just use a 92mm fan in the wye








I've also learned that 1/2 cup vinegar per 48-qt cooler full keeps the calcium deposits from getting hard.








(tapwater) (from well)
I'm running a 1366 chip right now with a 7950 in the loop..still stays below ambient!


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## NoL

If anyone really wants a BIG bong cooler...
Just spotted this on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CTS-Cooling-Tower-/321334038891?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ad100516b
For 120w of power... well you get 60,000 btu of cooling. That's 5 tons of cooling power. So about 18kw of cooling.


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## OCAddict

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NoL*
> 
> That would work fine. It's the same idea as a catch bottle except I only ever ran distilled water in my bong towers.


So are you still running bong tower cooling now or was it just an experiment for you?


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## NoL

Quote:


> So are you still running bong tower cooling now or was it just an experiment for you?


This is a cooling method I used for my PC back in 2003 and 2004.
When the chips were starting to get very hot (northwood/prescott).
Since then I've only used it for large buffer tank cooling that is used for other industrial processes around the workshop. Sometimes you just need a 55 gallon drum of water cooled.


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## OCAddict

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NoL*
> 
> This is a cooling method I used for my PC back in 2003 and 2004.
> When the chips were starting to get very hot (northwood/prescott).
> Since then I've only used it for large buffer tank cooling that is used for other industrial processes around the workshop. Sometimes you just need a 55 gallon drum of water cooled.


Water mass is very effective cooling it would take quite some time for a computer to affect 55 gallons of water, but I assume you're talking more than just one.

I was using a Coleman Cooler with 10 gallons of water and ice to run below ambient temperatures then went to peltiers to chill the water replacing the ice and the volume, and eventually dropped the volume down to about 2/3rds of a gallon in an insulated reservoir.

So what other industrial processes are you into?


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## NoL

When I get time in the workshop (hard these days as I'm a surgical resident) I'm normally doing something stupid.
8kw liquid cooled liquid chiller for a laser array, water cooling for wort chilling, a few heat pumps, that kinda stuff is all on the table right now.
It becomes easier to find heat exchangers (plate or tube) instead of a well sized condenser for many projects, so having a water setup that provides reliable conditions for testing became a high priority. A few pvc valves and such and it became pretty easy to use a big drum for cooling. I got the idea from another vapor phase guy about 5 years ago named Bazx.


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## OCAddict

Wow you are busy!

Check this out when you get some extra time, you seem to me that you would appreciate the effort that's been invested in it.


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## NoL

Yeah a bit busy these days








All together though I enjoy that project log but feel it could have been done better. It's just not the most efficient system.


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## OCAddict

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NoL*
> 
> Yeah a bit busy these days
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All together though I enjoy that project log but feel it could have been done better. It's just not the most efficient system.


Any efficiency tips?


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## NoL

Any system that has both a radiator and insulation has a problem with deciding its goal.
Something to ponder on.


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## OCAddict

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NoL*
> 
> Any system that has both a radiator and insulation has a problem with deciding its goal.
> Something to ponder on.


Any peltier application is not efficient, I thought you may have had some tips that would be worth considering.

It is a dual loop setup the radiator cools the GPU, the peltier chilled water cools the CPU and there is no radiator involved in the CPU chilled cooling loop at all, you must have just skimmed over and really not payed that much attention, I know you said you were busy.


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## NoL

I must have missed that OCAddict.
I'm still not sure why the tubes to the radiator are insulated then? Mind explaining?


----------



## OCAddict

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NoL*
> 
> I must have missed that OCAddict.
> I'm still not sure why the tubes to the radiator are insulated then? Mind explaining?


Because I had some left over and it looked uniform coming into the computer.

No reasoning or purpose for it other than that.


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## Phrytning

I'm looking into the "bong" method of cooling. I have never built a loop before, but I have been avidly researching this subject for about 3 weeks now and I feel like I have a pretty good grasp, but no experience.

Using this method, I would HAVE to have this in a separate loop than my cpu/gpu? No way around?
I already have a AIO on my CPU and it performs well enough, 60c during heavy gaming. (i only recently found out about folding, but I dont have the money to front the electric bill for 24/7 [email protected])
I would love to water cool my graphics though, because they tend to get a it hotter (~80C) when gaming, and while its not anywhere near shutdown temps (92c?) I would like my machine to stay cooler for the sake of cooling. I dont really want a AIO for my graphics, because I could just get more fans to accomplish the same cooling.
1. How tall would I have to make the tower to cool a gtx570 & 9800gt graphics card alone?
2. You guys keep saying the Volenti coolers are more efficient and yet you still post about tower specs for the rest of the forum.n Is there some sort of side-by-side comparision between the vertical and horizontal evaps?
3. Any word on the pipe inside a pipe inside a pipe, for surface area? People have said that water on the side of the pipe is cooler than the water free falling.
4. With only those two heat sources (the graphics @ 80C max each) is it feasible to keep this inside a case? Two or three 20 inch bongs in series?

*Found InitialDriveGTR's Project Rainfall. Pretty much exactly what I wanted to do. I wish I could get salvaged grade A plexi from my job :'(*


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## dmanstasiu

Project Rainfall was a beautiful masterpiece of bong cooling


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## RnRollie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dmanstasiu*
> 
> Project Rainfall was a beautiful masterpiece of *bong cooling*


excep that it wasn't








It remains one of the nicest & formidastic implementations of evaporative cooling but it wasn't "bong".
it used the "volenti" variant, which itself is a "low-fat", small scale, low efficiency variant of "swamp" cooling.

Commercial/industrial "swamp" evap coolers can reach 93 % efficiency (the industry's own claims)
The best you can hope for with DIY/home build is 85% ; which -in the right dry climate- can still produce remarkable to fantastic results, mind you.

I've got numbers somewhere.. i might even have posted tehm before









EDIT: i did : post 302 http://www.overclock.net/t/224941/nols-bong-guide/300_100#post_21884496


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## Phrytning

Actually, I believe the project was a combination of both, swamp-field at the top, and then a Res/bong combo within the case.


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## NoL

To be fair while this thread starts discussing standard bong coolers, it really is a discussion of all swamp cooler types, including Volenti's.


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## Schmuckley

I voted for project rainfall








I think it had Volenti in the top, no?


----------

