The water cooling system that you don't need!

This water cooling system can take water from you water well, and so much more.

IntermediateFull instructions provided20 hours149

The water cooling system that you don't need!

Things used in this project

Hardware components

3 way valve 12VDC

Used to modify the hydraulic circuit.

FLOW METER YF-S401

Used to measure flow speed and total water used.

Arduino Nano R3

In this project I used a close but is not that relevant btw

water block lga1155

52MM 10W Water Level Float Switch

Used to detect the high level of the water

Maxim Integrated DS18B20 Programmable Resolution 1-Wire Digital Thermometer

Used on PCB but also the waterproof version on the water tank

200mm Water Level Float Switch

Used to detect low water level

12VDC water pump

Cheap 12vdc water pump

Story

I wanted to build an open loop cooling system, but then I knew that using that PC would be impossible if not near to an water outlet, So I decided to implement a closed loop as well.... and then more ideas kicks in and the project became more complex.

First of all guys this water cooling system can work as a traditional one, with the difference that it doesn't have any radiator, this malus is strong but I didn't wanted to make a standard circuit so I took the risk to rely only on a huge 4L water tank.

Closed loop circuit.

The second mode is the open loop, this mode take the water from an external source (ideally a water well), using a water well means that the temperature of the water is always low due to the underground temperature but also means that you can drain the water back to the water well wasting no water.

Open loop Circuit.

Now the things get more intresting, Once I had all this components I thought, "why should I keep taking water then I can take it only when necessary?"

In the Hybrid loop mode the water in the tank get exchanged with the cold water from the external source only when the critical temperature is reached.

Hybrid loop phase 1 (closed loop temperature under control)

Hybrid loop phase 2 (Critical temperature reached, the pump push the water out of the circuit and the tank becomes empy)

Hybrid loop phase 3 (The tank gets filled with cold water).

All these mode and phases get controlled by an arduino nano and a prototype board.

My electronics design are sometime basic feedbacks are welcome.

Prototype board

This prototype board take the supply from the ATX PSU and communicate with a micro USB to Header USB connected directly on the MOBO.

Data acquisition flow.

Some data are acquire with Arduino some with HWINFO64 especially to have the SoC temperature and power drawn.

Benchmarks

Closed loop Graph.

Hybrid loop critical temperature set at 35°C

Hybrid loop night run Critical temperature 45°C (lower ambient temperature).

Hybrid loop CT 45°C

Adactive Hybrid test.

There is some stuff to say about the results and I talk about it in the video but anyways I'm quite satisfied, this system was not suppose to perform well but it do his job. I also had a lot of fun doing it and I love the way it looks, and you guys? Do you think there is something useful in this project that could be also useful is a serious project or maybe not?

Code

Hybrid_cooling_09.ino

#include <OneWire.h>
#include <DallasTemperature.h>
volatile int count = 0;
unsigned long Old_flowmeter;
bool EV_1_STATE = 1;
bool EV_2_STATE = 1;
bool Pump_STATE = 1;
int Pump_Power = 255;
int Mode = 3; // 1 closed loop | 2 open loop | 3 Hybrid loop
int Hybrid_phase = 0;
float flux = 0 ;
float freq = 0; // frequency generate by the flow meter
float CL_Water_measured = 0;// water measured while to closed loop mode was in use
float OP_Water_measured = 0;// water measured while to open loop mode was in use
float ToCPU_water = 0;
float FromCPU_water = 0;
float AmbientTemp = 0;
float Max_water_temp = 45.00;
int flow_ms= 1000; //ms to sample flow measurement
int Water_LOWLVL=0;// zero is low level
int Water_HIGHLVL=0;// 1 is high level
bool tachstate = 0;
int Tachometer = 6;
unsigned long Millis=0;
unsigned long Serial_ms = 5000;
unsigned long old_serial = 0;
unsigned long old_tach=0;
unsigned long levelhigh = 0;
bool flag = 1;
#define ONE_WIRE_BUS A2
#define TEMPERATURE_PRECISION 9

OneWire oneWire(ONE_WIRE_BUS);
DallasTemperature sensors(&oneWire);
DeviceAddress AmbientTempADR = { 0x28, 0x61, 0x64, 0x08, 0xEE, 0x79, 0x3C, 0xD2 };
DeviceAddress FromCPUADR = { 0x28, 0xFF, 0x64, 0x18, 0x2D, 0xBD, 0x94, 0x1D };
DeviceAddress ToCPUADR   = { 0x28, 0xFF, 0x64, 0x18, 0x22, 0x47, 0x22, 0xD3 };
void pulse();
void setup() 
  {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(2,INPUT);
  pinMode(5,OUTPUT);
  pinMode(7,OUTPUT);
  pinMode(9,OUTPUT);
  pinMode(A6,INPUT);
  pinMode(A7,INPUT);
  pinMode(Tachometer,OUTPUT);
 
  attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(2), pulse, RISING);
  sensors.begin();
 
  Serial.print("Locating devices...");
  Serial.print("Found ");
  Serial.print(sensors.getDeviceCount(), DEC);
  Serial.println(" devices.");
  sensors.requestTemperatures();
  Serial.print("Timestamp");Serial.print(",");Serial.print("Water_HIGHLVL");Serial.print(","); Serial.print("Water_LOWLVL");Serial.print(",");Serial.print("ToCPU_water");Serial.print(",");Serial.print("FromCPU_water");Serial.print(",");Serial.print("AmbientTemp");Serial.print(",");Serial.print("CL_Water_measured");Serial.print(",");Serial.print("OP_Water_measured");Serial.print(",");Serial.print("flux");Serial.print("\n");
  
  }

void loop() 
{  Millis=millis();
   IO_update();
   Flowmeter();
   analog_to_digital();
   generate_tach();
   Serial_print();
  
   switch (Mode) {
    case 1:// closed loop both valves are OFF and the pump is always ON
     EV_1_STATE = 0;
     EV_2_STATE = 0;
     Pump_STATE = 1;
     Serial.print("mode 1");
      break;
      
    case 2: // closed loop both valves are ON and the pump is always OFF
      EV_1_STATE = 1;
      EV_2_STATE = 1;
      Pump_STATE = 0;
      break;
      
    case 3:
         if(Hybrid_phase==0)//closed loop
         {
         EV_1_STATE = 0;
         EV_2_STATE = 0;
         Pump_STATE = 1;
         
         }
         
         if((ToCPU_water>Max_water_temp)&&(Hybrid_phase==0)&&(ToCPU_water!=85))// empty the tank until low level triggers
         {
         EV_1_STATE = 1;
         EV_2_STATE = 0;
         Pump_STATE = 1;
         Hybrid_phase=1;
         
         }

         if((Hybrid_phase==1)&&(Water_LOWLVL==1)) // filling the tank until low high triggers
         {
         EV_1_STATE = 0;
         EV_2_STATE = 1;
         Pump_STATE = 0;
         Hybrid_phase=2;
         
         }

         if((Hybrid_phase==2)&&(Water_HIGHLVL==1)) // filling the tank until low high triggers
         {
         Hybrid_phase=0; 
         }

       
        
         
      break;
      
    default:
      Mode = 1;
      Serial.println("Invalid mode mode set to 1(closed loop)");
      break;
  }


  

   
   


}

void pulse() 
  {
  count++;
  }

void analog_to_digital() 
{
 
  if(analogRead(A6)>500)
  {
  Water_LOWLVL=1;
  }
  else
  {
  Water_LOWLVL=0;
  }
 
  if(analogRead(A7)>500)
  {
  Water_HIGHLVL=0;
  }
  else
  {
  Water_HIGHLVL=1;
  }

}

void Flowmeter() 
  {  
    if ((millis() - Old_flowmeter) > flow_ms) 
    {
    Old_flowmeter = millis();
    freq = (float)count / ((float)1000/flow_ms);
    flux = (freq*((float)1000/flow_ms)) /98.0f ;
    
    //Depending on the state of the EV1 I add the measured flow to the open loop water of closed loop.
    if (EV_2_STATE)
    {
    OP_Water_measured += flux;  
    }
    else
    {
    CL_Water_measured += flux;  
    }
    count = 0;



  
  }
 } 

void IO_update()
{
  
  if(Pump_STATE)
  {
  analogWrite(5,Pump_Power);
  } 
  else
  {
  digitalWrite(5,LOW);  
  } 
digitalWrite(7,EV_2_STATE);
digitalWrite(9,EV_1_STATE);


}

void Serial_print()
{
if (Millis-old_serial>=Serial_ms)
   {
      old_serial=millis(); 
  /* Serial.print("Water_HIGHLVL ");Serial.println(Water_HIGHLVL);
   Serial.print("Water_LOWLVL ");Serial.println(Water_LOWLVL);
   Serial.print("ToCPU_water");Serial.println(ToCPU_water);
   Serial.print("FromCPU_water ");Serial.println(FromCPU_water);
   Serial.print("AmbientTemp ");Serial.println(AmbientTemp);
   Serial.print("Total Closed loop water : ");Serial.print(CL_Water_measured);
   Serial.print("Total Open loop water : ");Serial.print(OP_Water_measured);
   Serial.print("\tflux: ");Serial.print(flux);Serial.println(" l/min ");*/

  
   Serial.print(",");Serial.print(Water_HIGHLVL);Serial.print(","); Serial.print(Water_LOWLVL);Serial.print(",");Serial.print(ToCPU_water);Serial.print(",");Serial.print(FromCPU_water);Serial.print(",");Serial.print(AmbientTemp);Serial.print(",");Serial.print(CL_Water_measured/60);Serial.print(",");Serial.print(OP_Water_measured/60);Serial.print(",");Serial.print(flux);Serial.print("\n");

   sensors.requestTemperatures();
   ToCPU_water=sensors.getTempC(ToCPUADR);
   FromCPU_water=sensors.getTempC(FromCPUADR);
   AmbientTemp=sensors.getTempC(AmbientTempADR);
  
   if(Water_HIGHLVL)
   {
   digitalWrite(7,LOW);
   digitalWrite(9,HIGH); 
   analogWrite(5,Pump_Power);
   delay (4000);
   }
 
    
   }
}

void generate_tach()
{
if (Millis-old_tach>=7)
   {
   tachstate=!tachstate;
   digitalWrite(Tachometer,tachstate);
   old_tach=Millis;
   }
}