2015/05/29 22:33:20
Scarlet-Tech
According to the Fluke that is embedded in the head, -40.6
 
according to the Ryobi Laser Canon thermal gun thing, the area that is condensating is 20.3c
2015/05/30 04:51:04
hallowen
You don't need to pack it with PJ or the like, It almost appears that the "foam" in the pic is porous.
I assume you are using closed-cell foam which should not allow any air in around the top of the Evaporator head/Enclosure to form the condensation shown.
2015/05/30 09:47:48
Scarlet-Tech
The foam in there was from the lot that came with the phase change, so I am not sure if that was a bad section of foam. There wasn't anything in there before, so I decided to put it there to keep the humid air out of the mounting system.
2015/05/30 10:23:17
hallowen
If You can blow air through it, Then it is porous, If you can't then it is closed-cell foam.
 
Personally, I've never had any condensation like you have shown on top of the Evaporator Head/Flex tube area on either my CPU Phase Change (Vertical Mounting) and also my GPU Phase Change (Horizontal mounting) no matter how long or short a time my System is in operation in which I use closed-cell foam to insulate those same areas.
I know it's a Pain to disassemble, But you did state you checked for any condensation around the CPU/Evaporator Head, Right?
 
 
2015/05/30 11:01:12
Scarlet-Tech
I have checked inside and where the hard mounting foam is under the mounting system, thst there is a very little bit of condensation.
2015/05/30 11:33:39
hallowen
There has got to be an air leak/insulation problem somewhere. How bad was the condensation before you used the foam insulation? 
2015/05/30 11:36:30
Scarlet-Tech
I honestly couldn't tell because of the foam. Air was most definitely getting in, that is for sure. I have added a shop town and more foam around the top of the mount, and will watch it closely. If that doesn't work, I may look into some way of filling the top of the mount to seal it.
2015/06/01 20:18:06
Scarlet-Tech
I am going to have to seal the top of the mount somehow. I was forced to shut down the system because of a severe lightning storm, and now there is condensation soaked through 4 layers of shop towel and all over the top of the mounting system. I pulled the foam out of the top, and will purchase some sealant tomorrow, or more Petroleum Jelly, and just coat or fill the top of the mount when it dries out.

Currently, I am not comfortable booting the system, or plugging it back in. I will just wait 24/48 hours for everything to guy out.
2015/06/02 00:53:17
johnksss
Sorry to hear that. Do you have any pictures of the whole setup (phase change unit) from top to bottom? And to be honest, that doesn't look to be the right foam.It should look more like the foam around the evap head and base.
This is a handy tool for all sorts of jobs. Including but not limited to...Getting the water off the board. I have used this many times to clean a board of water or ice build up. LINK And it works for a whole lot of other things as well. No need to wait 24 hours, this will have you back up in running in less than 5 minutes.
 
On you next set of test. Just leave it disconnected from the mother board. Turn it on for about 5 minutes then turn it off. This way you have a very good idea where the water is coming from. Also you need to make sure the evap is really between -30C to -50C or so at all times. 
 
2015/06/02 04:44:03
Scarlet-Tech
The evap head is always at -38 or below. I check it with the fluke at random time, and the unit itself has the LED read out. The condensation is building up on the lines just before the head itself. I was thinking if I seal the lines from the inside of the mount up to the top of the mount, with a thin layer of sealant that I could peel off, if necessary, then it may stop the frost/condensation build up.

I did put a fan on the board last night to move air over it. It should be dry today, but I am getting very frustrated with tearing the entire system apart anytime I shut it down, just because of this. I don't know enough about it to make it stop though.

Could the system need to be recharged with freon?

I could also pull the motherboard off the test bench, remove all of the Maximus tuf armor and clear cost the whole board with fingernail polish. That would stop the condensation worries... Lol.

Use My Existing Forum Account

Use My Social Media Account