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Dave's office PC fridge mod

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Dave's office PC fridge mod
By David Field
Sep 12, 2008 | 20 Comments
Tags: Dave's | office | PC | fridge | mod

When your drinks are getting warm, keeping your computer cool comes a distant second.

Due to the unhealthy amounts of caffeine that I have no option but to consume on a daily basis (it's written into my job description), I spent a few minutes today doing a quick PC mod to make the caffeine delivery system more efficient.

I've had a small cigarette lighter powered fridge sitting next to my desk for a while now. It's driven by a peltier that can cool or heat the inside, and it conveniently fits what I'm assuming will be either four cans of coke or six cans of V/Red Bull.

Since it's used to running on a car's DC output -- be it 12 or 13.8 volts depending on if the alternator's running -- there's no reason why it shouldn't have run on the 12V rail of my office machine's power supply. And certainly not since last year, when out of frustration and due to my insistence on running 4 Adobe applications, Outlook, several word documents, countless tiny applications and no less than 30 browser tabs simultaneously I replaced my old corporate box with a 3 GHz machine that I built from lab parts (which is now running at 3.8 GHz) that's powered by a beefy power supply.

I sliced off the cigarette lighter end and got to work. I threaded the wire through the back of the case where some sort of backplane would normally have been, but which was thrown away long ago during the build when I decided it annoyed me. It's the wire on the right of the graphics card.

click to view full size image


Since Dick Smith is slowly turning into Bing Lee and there's no Jaycar Electronics within walking distance of the office, I abandoned my original idea of buying a molex connector and soldering its 12v pins to the fridge's leads. Instead I grabbed a terminal block and cut off two contacts, which screw down to the fridge leads in one end and the 12V line that I'd lopped off my PSU in the other.

For the record, Jaycar itself is slowly turning into Granny May's.

click to view full size image


Box it all back up again, plug it in and switch it on.

Voila.

click to view full size image


Would you believe that that’s the state of my desk after I spend half the day cleaning it?

 
 
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20 Comments
Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.
beatshoes
Sep 12, 2008 5:45 PM
your desk is horrible, also, why do you need 3 headphones?
but i do like the fridge pc combination.
c0nc0n
Sep 12, 2008 7:35 PM
Good cable management (not) oh well, I want your monitors, they look big.
battlefield_gir
Sep 12, 2008 7:40 PM
putting a pc in a fridge would be cool or freezer and it was in a vacuum.
nesquick
Sep 12, 2008 9:52 PM
but gir hows the thing going to cool if there are no particles to transfer thermal energy to?

also i have the same sennheiser headphones the writer has <3
smadge1
Sep 13, 2008 1:46 PM
maybe someone can take dave's idea and make it better.
MedicineBaby
Sep 13, 2008 5:03 PM
Nice mod ! any stubbies in it? :P



You know, I can't even get to sleep in my room if a piece of paper or pen is not perfectly aligned on my desk or somewhat 'out of place'. I think I would have a heart attack if I actually saw the office in person :S

Icabaad
Sep 13, 2008 8:34 PM
lol @ Medicinebaby
Elfarch
Sep 13, 2008 8:59 PM
People think your desk is untidy? But I can see desk.
Jeruselem
Sep 13, 2008 10:58 PM
Corsair should add 12V "Atomican beer fridge" cables for it's modular PSUs sold to Aussies.

:)
colganaitor
Sep 14, 2008 10:17 AM
MMMMmmmmm . . . . Do I see a pink dildo hiding on that desk?

mp3metalhead
Sep 14, 2008 3:27 PM
ha, its tidier then my work desk. The life of someone who works in IT.
eat_the_flag
Sep 14, 2008 11:05 PM
STFU i work for jaycar
das_book
Sep 14, 2008 11:46 PM
A reletivly clean desk
Fat_Bodybuilder
Sep 15, 2008 10:25 AM
What are you, blind? It's obviously blue.
lunchbox1988
Sep 15, 2008 2:01 PM
WIN!

I must steal your job, but somehow not do anything but play.
emccat
Sep 17, 2008 8:07 PM
hahaha i will take the refrigerator and laugh at it at night when you cant see then put it back in your office
ironleg
Sep 21, 2008 9:03 AM
I love the frig Idea. can you send a set of plans. I wonder how it would do with temperatures on hot video cards and cpu/NB/SB.
SpudMuffin
Oct 20, 2008 2:53 PM
So the fridge only runs when the PCI is on? I assume then you don't shutdown overnight otherwise your goodies in the fridge would spoil.

Lose on practicality
Lose on environment

Running your PC via an inverter off the 12V and mounted entirely [i]inside[/i] the frindge would be so000 much better....
antifunker
Oct 21, 2008 5:46 PM
LOL @ the Dick Smith & Jaycar comments...

SO TRUE!
ash_nug
Oct 25, 2008 7:14 PM
Rather retro looking fridge isnt it.
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