Well a friend of mine wanted a GPU cooler, and the PE isn't a bad option. He wanted the best he could get, and while R404a is a pretty heavy gas, and can (and has for me) kill the compressor, I thought about R290 instead.
The BD50 is already a higher displacement compressor than the BD35 in the SE and classics, so I couldn't be sure it would 'like' even 290. It normally has a no load temp of about -33, and at 160w they say it's about -5 or so but I tested it and it got a little over 0c, and that was on my tester, so it's all relative lol.
It's a pretty light gas for the temps you can get, so I figured I could improve things and still have a setup that would last a while for him.
I got this Vapo ages ago along with another one and was going to use them for an SLI or Crossfire setup, but I'm just not benching and broke down and said he could have it. Only when I'd had MY fun with it though
Not much modding on this one, I just degassed, added a Low access port, and vacced it out, then threw in some 290, charging to about 12c of superheat 4" back from the compressor. Easy really, then I stick a probe on, and the 150w(ish) load tester and checked how it turned out.
I got slightly better results in the shed as it was about 10c out there, but I think that with an extra fan on the front as a 'sandwich' the condensoing would improve and the temps would get slightly better. Doesn't really matter, as it's going onto a GPU and he doesn't want huge condensation issues, so he should be happy with it.
That's it sitting on the open chassis. The chill control is mounted under the unit. I figured I'd just leave it in that for now, and he can decide what and how to mount it later if it's a pain to work with. Not much changed except for that access added in. I didn't bother with the high side, as I can measure discharge temps, and it works. If there had been any issues, I'd have added one in.
That's the evap on the display, and the suction return temp. About right for both retaining capacity, and ensuring good cooling on the compressor.
Down to about -30 it was quite fast, and then it slowly came down to that and stayed there. In the shed I saw -42 but with 23c ambient the condensing temp was a touch higher. Took about 4 mins to get to that, and about 1.5mins to get to -30. The no load temps aren't really what I care about on this one though, wanted to see what my load tester would do to it.
I left it for about an hour under that load. It got to -20, and then it was a slow process coming down to -15 and it sat like a rock there for about 1/2hr before I got bored.
The temp sensor on the Vapo's is surprisingly accurate I found. Both at no load and load temps, it wasn't more than a degree or so off the Fluke. The compressor didn't get very hot at all, and the electronics were only a tiny bit warmer than normal. I still recommend a fan on the heatsink that's on the electrical box though just to make sure.
So it wasn't bad. I figure at the 100w or so that his GPU will pull about -25 to -30 evap temp should be about right, but we'll see when he get's it all hooked up this week. Hopefully he gets me some screenies of temps and such.
So...R290 in a VapoPE? I think I like it...
Cheers
Gray
The BD50 is already a higher displacement compressor than the BD35 in the SE and classics, so I couldn't be sure it would 'like' even 290. It normally has a no load temp of about -33, and at 160w they say it's about -5 or so but I tested it and it got a little over 0c, and that was on my tester, so it's all relative lol.
It's a pretty light gas for the temps you can get, so I figured I could improve things and still have a setup that would last a while for him.
I got this Vapo ages ago along with another one and was going to use them for an SLI or Crossfire setup, but I'm just not benching and broke down and said he could have it. Only when I'd had MY fun with it though
Not much modding on this one, I just degassed, added a Low access port, and vacced it out, then threw in some 290, charging to about 12c of superheat 4" back from the compressor. Easy really, then I stick a probe on, and the 150w(ish) load tester and checked how it turned out.
I got slightly better results in the shed as it was about 10c out there, but I think that with an extra fan on the front as a 'sandwich' the condensoing would improve and the temps would get slightly better. Doesn't really matter, as it's going onto a GPU and he doesn't want huge condensation issues, so he should be happy with it.
That's it sitting on the open chassis. The chill control is mounted under the unit. I figured I'd just leave it in that for now, and he can decide what and how to mount it later if it's a pain to work with. Not much changed except for that access added in. I didn't bother with the high side, as I can measure discharge temps, and it works. If there had been any issues, I'd have added one in.
That's the evap on the display, and the suction return temp. About right for both retaining capacity, and ensuring good cooling on the compressor.
Down to about -30 it was quite fast, and then it slowly came down to that and stayed there. In the shed I saw -42 but with 23c ambient the condensing temp was a touch higher. Took about 4 mins to get to that, and about 1.5mins to get to -30. The no load temps aren't really what I care about on this one though, wanted to see what my load tester would do to it.
I left it for about an hour under that load. It got to -20, and then it was a slow process coming down to -15 and it sat like a rock there for about 1/2hr before I got bored.
The temp sensor on the Vapo's is surprisingly accurate I found. Both at no load and load temps, it wasn't more than a degree or so off the Fluke. The compressor didn't get very hot at all, and the electronics were only a tiny bit warmer than normal. I still recommend a fan on the heatsink that's on the electrical box though just to make sure.
So it wasn't bad. I figure at the 100w or so that his GPU will pull about -25 to -30 evap temp should be about right, but we'll see when he get's it all hooked up this week. Hopefully he gets me some screenies of temps and such.
So...R290 in a VapoPE? I think I like it...
Cheers
Gray
, glad i bought a spare
I need to get my fx under a cascade