Air Conditioner make PC go Brrr 

Brian the Electrician: A more single-skill focussed, and qualified Linus.

That is the calmest reaction to anyone breaking a tap in a finished machined part. "Welp, my tap just broke" 🤷‍♂️

We need more Brian content, this guy just makes me smile whenever I see him in an episode, kinda like Anthony

As an HVAC guy there were some things rough to watch but awesome project

Man, just hire him already. i want to see more brian, he is so chill.

"Yo, what's the CPU temp?" "Negative forty degrees." "Celsius or Fahrenheit?" "Yeah."

Finally got it up and running. The only delays we had was because we realized we needed some extra parts (I’ll list that below) ru-vid.comUgkxihMYiJNXcHdbH-7ihymsLz61l7jVyb5O . So we have a loft where our current hvac just couldn’t seem to keep cool during the summer. We have been using a window unit since we bought this house over 6 years ago (all the houses in this neighborhood were built in the 80’s and majority of the houses built like ours use a window unit). I hate window units because they are just so noisy and the one we had really only cools one side of the loft. I had contemplated upgrading our current HVAC, but with all the rising prices these days, it would take years before saving up enough to do that. With the advice of my father-in-law (used to run an HVAC business), he recommended we get an inverter instead. We thought we bought everything we needed, but there were just a few other parts we didn’t anticipate needing (which is what caused most of our delay). My friend and father-in-law did all the work to get it installed and running and now we have nice cool air circulating nicely throughout the entire loft. It is very quiet and even the outside unit is much quieter than our main HVAC unit. Saved ourselves thousands getting this.

Brian is such a chill guy. Pun intended. Makes a mistake, laughs it off, learns from his mistake, very constructive and good at what he does... basically the guy you want in every team set to handle a project.

Alex is the pinnacle of a Canadian being - look at his beard, his checkered shirt, his passion for extreme cold and most of all, apologizing before anything has happened.

As a physicist, and a huge nerd, I would REALLY want to see Alex and Brian do some more crazy projects together. If Linus is ok to fund their shenanegans, they could make some pretty amusing contraptions, it's like working for the ol'Mythbusters crew :D

ProTip at 3:59 Always spark up torches while they point at your face! Brain is a danger in the shop.

I love this content and I need more like it. Jank engineering is what I live for. This is the most entertaining thing I've watched in a long while

i love how brian is just laughing and giggling throughout the entire first part of the video lmaoo

Man, this took me back to my time as a mechanical engineer for a custom manufacturer. Days of planning and design work followed by the inevitable hours spent in the machine shop doing sketchy hacks (complete with maniacal laughter) to solve unforseen problems. I love it when they do videos of these crazy ideas.

Love these extreme cooling vids! Ever tried inverting the test bench so the condensation drips on the ground and not the mobo?

I missed this video , but as an Xtreme overclocker . I really loved watching this video ! Thank you guys ! Love seeing some subzero prep work with the fabercastle ( Art Eraser ) and Vas . Please do a video with some LN2 with a custom Pot :)

"Linus can we have hacksmith?" Linus: "we have hacksmith at home" Hacksmith at home: *gestures to alex and Brian*

I imagine Alex walks into work everyday thinking "How can I make Linus spend a ridiculous amount of money for the next video?" 😂

I wish Brian was a full time employee. I’d love to watch basic electrical videos, running wire, vintage pc hoarding, etc.

Brian and Alex are seriously a great duo, you can see the chemistry between them, definitely want to see more of them soon

"I'm legally required to say no, I think." Next time on Inside LTT: "Send it."

Brian the Electrician is one of the best additions to this channel in the last years =)

Wow.. I love this video. Love Alex and Brian doing projects together!

It's great to see another episode of "LTT Cooling Experiments"! Even more so that this one wasn't cut short by Linus not having time and we actually got to watch problems being fixed, not just "works for this video, will fall apart later" fixed.

Holy shit Alex and Brian work so well together. You guys definitely need to have them work together more!

Huge effort in this video - well done!

This has such a mythbusters vibe to it. I love Alex and his shenanigans.

Hey LTT! hvac tech here. The mini split you're using (as most of them are) is "inverter driven", which means the computer inside varies the speed of the compressor based on various sensor inputs. Even if you trick it into coming on, that doesn't mean it will run at full power. It could run at as little as 10% capacity in some cases. It would be much easier to control and much more consistent if you replaced the 3 phase compressor with a single phase one, you could find in a window unit. You could just flip it on with a heavy duty light switch. Easiest solution is probably to take a working window unit, and steal the refrigerant lines going to the evap coil for your heat sink.

3 things... 1). Think about removing some refrigerant from your mini split, you have much less capacity on your heat sink, if you are frosting up your A/c unit, you may restrict refrigerant flow ( I've seen this on an overfilled A/C unit) 2). Two-staging a heat exchanger is super effective, I think Applied Science did one a few years back on his channel. 3). Invert you motherboard, let gravity work for you and let the eater drip away from the Motherboard. You are still thinking that you are pouring coolant into a reservoir on top of the heat sink...you don't have to do that now.

I've been a cnc programmer for years and this was cool to see you guys doing machining

You guys have my dream shop I love this.

Im so happy Linus let his kids title the video, such a good father.

Genuinely would love to have Brian be brought on full time and start doing crazy shit and having new and interesting content.

Man LTT has changed a LOT since I used them to reference a PC build, back in like 2012. Haven't been into the scene a whole lot since, have just used my PC as is with various upgrades here and there, have been more into fabricating and machining. Really glad I stuck around on the planet to see this vid.

I like how the thumbnail shows the exhaust blowing the cpu.

Holy shit. This. More of this, I had no idea how good an Alex and Brian spin off show would be but I am all for it. Get Brian onboard full time if he's willing, if not throw enough money at him so he can be more than just an occasional guest because a show with him and Alex doing wacked out projects with their combined expertise would be amazing

Good call from Brian on making a (bit of an) orifice on the copper tube end. That tube opening was quite large, leading to an inefficient throttling. You want a very small opening (relatively) for a good Joule-Thompson (adiabatic expansion of gas) effect. Also, a tip: put the motherboard in a big box en put either dry ice or a container of liquid nitrogen in there. The sublimated/evaporated gas will push out any 'normal' air and keep most of the moisture out. And finally: CPU temp sensors typically can't report negative numbers, so will just say 0.

I greatly appreciate this type of content. More tinkering please!

Alex has become a lot better as a presenter over the years! He's come a long way 🔥

You can tell Kyle is a real Canadian engineer when he reminds himself that he's legally obligated to say no.

Holy shit, whoever edited this deserves an award. Just as I was recovering from "unintentional VATS effect", "forbidden tiramisu" came and broke me, just in time for the Patrick face to absolutely slay me

Possibly my favourite project from Alex, Brian is the cherry on top

probably one of the most entertaining ltt videos ive seen. this is perfect

Dang, I really hope LTT starts churning out a lot more content like this. One of the most interesting videos in a while.

I just love when Alex is in a video, the amount of "fuck it, let's see what it does" is incredible, the segment with Kyle was really fun also, never seen him before :D

This is the best type of content this channel puts out, that and Anthony talking about random things, those are two video types I could watch everyday.

He said a bad language word at 12:49. LOL. love it. All this info in this episode is completely useless to me, yet i still enjoyed it.

Alex has good presentation skills for YT. Cheeky yet humble and honest to boot, and even after all that, he's still a mad scientist at heart. Well done, 10/10.

Yep. I want more of THIS content. Let Alex’s engineering background flourish.

5:43 got the fallout vats sound (real)

8:25 its like military camp for cpu's.

As other comments have pointed out, i'm not convinced that evaporator block is actually causing all the refrigerant to evaporate and there is lost potential to get even better cooling performance. I'm also pretty sure that when the CPU is off/idle, there is less energy to facilitate the phase change, a lot of the refrigerant remains a liquid. The low pressure line (blue I think) shouldn't have frost on it, as this suggests to me liquid is going back to the compressor (backed up by the compressor getting all frosted). Liquid going into compressor = bad. Maybe try a larger volume/more heat fins for the CPU block? Somebody else suggested an expansion valve instead of an orifice which might help.

So happy to see Alex doing wacky cooling experiments again

I love these kinds of videos

Working as a plumber with some HVAC knowledge, Ive had this exact idea but never the resources nor the money to do this, I am so happy someone did it!! This is so friggin awesome!!!

HVAC tech Here with 15 years exp. You would have a much much easier time using a drinking fountain to build your chiller. You can get a capillary tube that works as a perfect TXV any refrigeration shop can look up the length for you based on the compressor. Also, those fancy controls would go away and it would be simple as a closed contact to turn the compressors on.

A mini split was probably the worst type of AC unit to do this with lol, they have an incredible amount of sensors and safeties integral to the system. Im actually surprised you guys got it to run at all. A small window unit may be a better choice, much less going on internally. Also, you may consider simply running the cooling block in line with the evap coil, after the metering device and before the coil, although this may not reach the temps you guys would like. Perhaps a fix to that may be to restrict the airflow through the coil, either by disabling the fan, or blocking most of the coil. Also note that the compressor will suffer damage from all of this, and the head pressure may jump to extreme levels- worst case scenario it ruptures a line, especially if the high pressure safety is bypassed. If it does, evacuate the room and ventilate it, as refrigerant displaces oxygen. -HVAC Tech

always wanted to see something like this

Haha this looked like so much fun. You guys are great! 🔥

There's a super easy way to prevent the whole condensation issue with subzero cooling, just put the PC in an airtight enclosure. The volume of air in the enclosure won't contain anywhere near enough water vapor to cause problems, even if it condenses at a single point (you can do the math with the humidity and volume of air to see for yourself). You get condensation issues because you're exposing the cold elements to the entirety of the air in the room (plus more due to the room's ventilation), which does contain a significant amount of vaporized water. Using an airtight enclosure would allow you to bypass the standard sub-zero condensation mitigation practices that essentially ruin the PC components (vaseline etc.). This is not hard to achieve. While I have you here, to prevent algal formation in water-cooling loops (the gunk that you have to clean out of the loops periodically) simply boil the water for ~20 minutes before adding to the loop. This is not to sanitize the water. This is to degas the water, meaning there no dissolved CO2 for any biological contaminants to feed on.

Brian the electrician is the only laugh track LTT needs

As an HVAC technician and a computer nerd I am in love with this video 🤓👨‍🔧😄 I wish more people tried this stuff

Thank you at first, I just plan to build with a/c to cool the processers. So excited.

You should consider putting the mini split evaporator inline after the cpu block but without its txv to avoid sending liquid to the compressor. With a heat load being so small you might still grenade your compressor. If you put the evaporator back inline you’ll still be able to maintain -20c because that’s the temp your refrigerant can change phase at 40psi assuming it’s a 410a unit. Then the evaporator can fix the heat load issue and you won’t need to trick the sensors. Also you could direct the evaporators fan at the pc to help remove some humidity in the air and cool the rest of the pc.

I feel like Linus will eventually hire Brian. Dude is a master of his craft.

I love how this always comes back once in a while.

I love how I could leave this video halfway through and come back an hour later and be less confused.

When tapping a hole, remember to only do quarter turns at a time, and continually back out the tap to clear out the picked-up debris. That prevents excess strain on the taps :)

I started an HVAC apprenticeship 2 years ago. And since then have desperately been looking for a video about cooling PCs directly with a heatpump. Thank you LTT for providing me with interesting content :) Edit: After watching the video i would love to see you use a proper expansion valve in the follow up video. It makes controlling temperatures and condensation much easier. It would also probably bypass most of the issues you are facing with controlling the hvac unit, since it's set up to be used with an evaporator that uses an EV. Due to the CPU thermal load characteristics an EEV (Electronic Expansion Valve) is probably a good option.

I can't get tired of watching this video

i remember when i offered this A\C idea in LTT forums years ago... nice to see it at work.

"Running a PC in a minifridge just doesn't work" Basically Homeless would like a word

Hi, mechanical engineer here, active in the field of HVAC&R, from residential stuff to big industrial/commercial. I would prefer a simpler on/off unit ( not a frequency inverter one ) mainly because i wouldn't need to reverse engineer the controller. I would just use a simple digital thermostat and a relay to power the compressor. Also, some of those have an electronically controlled expansion valve, PITA for your use case. I would try to design the evaporator as an assembly tightened with fasteners and flanges. We use a lot valves and filters in the field that are made similarly. And I would try to put a cavity for the probe of the digital thermostat. Did Bryan use an oxy-acetylene torch, or an acetylene only? An oxy--acetylene kit would be better for this one ( hotter flame, faster heating, faster brazing ). You evacuate the circuit, first of all because humidity can plug the expansion orifice ( capillary tube, orifice, or expansion valve ). Secondary, some refrigerants can form acids if there is humidity in the circuit , and this causes premature wear in the components. Thirdly, because with flammable refrigerants there is a possibility for explosion ( air and fuel under pressure, is what makes diesel engines go brrr ) The compressor in the unit is probably three-phase. I haven't seen a vfd driven unit with a single phase AC current compressor. Though, it might be higher voltage than the one provided in Canada, in order to use smaller cross section of cables for a given amperage, and ( if I am not wrong) better efficiency.

You guys scared me by saying soldering. Glad to see you actually brazed it.

Easily my favorite video Alex is awesome

"Hey Brian, you wanna help us turn a Household Aircon into a CPU cooler?" "I'm sorry, what?" "Well, we DO have a Huge Fabrication workshop now.." "*sigh* Fine..."

Alex: "Does anybody want hearing protection?" Brian: "WHAT!?"

This is exactly what I have been wanting to do for fifteen years --- a phase-change sub-ambient cooling system. But my plan involves using either a mini-fridge compressor or one of the really cool tiny compressors from Aspen, and cooling a liquid loop via an evaporative coil-to-water block interface so that multiple components can be cooled, and also to eliminate condensation on the components themselves. In addition, a fail-safe bypass liquid circuit is necessary so that the coolant can flow through a standard radiator if the refrigeration fails. I live in a desert with a very low relative humidity, so I believe I can get the liquid temperature significantly below ambient without any condensation problems.

Worked with these AC units for a couple years but mostly did the refrigerating in grocery stores. When the compressor suction line is getting frosted it means that gas did not return to liquid yet basically and the "black thing" next to the compressor is a filter to catch that liquid to an extent. (Compressors do not like liquid and the valve plate inside will bend from it rather quickly) To go a little more in depth the liquid gets sprayed in the evaporator block and this will be 100% liquid vapor and when the warmer air gets pulled through the evaporator with the right settings it should return to gas form ideally 0% liquid vapor. Usually this is controlled by an automatic valve in AC and in grocery stores or bigger applications its a valve that shoots controllable burst of liquid vapor to control both temp and to ensure that the refrigerant returns to Gas. If this project ever gets a sequel or for any DIYers out there "Danfoss" makes both the valve and programmable regulators for it. Split units and their circuit boards are so complicated that any AC mechanic calls the supplier when something is wrong other then an easy to fix code. While it can literally be compressor with a simple pressure regulator that turns the compressor off before it reaches vacuum and set to turn on when it reaches a certain amount above the pressure set for shutting it off on low pressure. The pressure regulator compressor control technique is not even that getto, its used a lot for businesses that need refrigeration on a small scale like a bakeries for example. Ac's are made to not be fixed and are overly complicated. Hope this info is still useful on an old video. ^^

I already love Kyle's accent and sense of humor, can't wait to see him in more videos

We need more of Alex doing crazy shit!!!!

Brians laugh is so contagious

lowkey one of my favorite videos

Seeing Brian laughing and giggling warms my heart, for real. And I love seeing more of Alex.

I love that LTT has turned into a variety show, now with a custom shop for building crazy things like this!

The guy in the workshop is the happiest person i have seen so far

This was a really fun video

The comment about using the aircon to cool the cryocooler is actually pretty sensible. I used to work, many years ago, for a company that made and distributed heavy-duty cryo freezers for laboratory use, and at the extreme, they used up to four stages. This is for the type of labs that deal in class 4 pathogens, so each system of multi-stage compressors and refrigerants is dualled with a parallel one running from a completely independent power source with ultimate fallback to liquid nitrogen. Total redundancy there, but which thankfully, you don't need. If you think you know who we were supplying you may well be right, but I can't confirm or deny it. Those freezers are extremely bulky, extremely heavy, and eye-wateringly expensive! Less extreme ones though (2 or 3 loops, no redundancy) weren't nearly as bad in price or unwieldiness. The difficulty outside that very specialised industry is in obtaining suitable refrigerants, as each stage needs to operate within a different temperature range. The readily available ones just don't go as cold as you might want - they stop evaporating and go back to the compressor as liquid, with predictable and messy results., so as you get in from the outer loop towards the inner one(s) you need refrigerants which have lower and lower boiling points. And each stage needs to be thermally insulated inside the one outside it. I'm afraid that as a lowly entry-level into that company I do not know what compounds were used as inner loop refrigerants, and it may have changed since then anyway - this was back in the late '70s. The best way to avoid condensation and frosting is to run it in an anhydrous atmosphere - totally remove the humidity - and luckily the outer loop of refrigeration is rather good at doing that. Be careful of static in a completely dry (as in below 5% humidity) environment though. Normally, the water in the air gives a nice slow leak-down of static, but dry air doesn't do that. So grounded wrist straps all round, or one fingerpoken will cause spitzensparken mit puffensmoke und blitzkaput 😞.

I am a big fan of Brian's laugh, it just makes you smile.

MORE BRIAN!!! Dude's so knowledgeable and funny

Ngl, that video was pretty cool. The best way chill out, IMO.

As someone who works with a ton of mini-split/ductless and knows how the inverter and controls work... this was the most entertaining video ever. you were brutally abusing this machine, and she was hurting the whole time, and I could hear the sounds it was making and the compressor wanted to die. @15:26 when I saw the frost on the compressor inlet, it made me bust out laughing. Thank you for combining my two passions, HVAC and computers, and making me laugh.

As an HVAC installer, I really enjoy seeing you guys do things with Air Conditioners

11:29 this whole contraption on the desk with you both working on it looks like the time when Tony stark and the other guy in the cave making the DIY arc reactor and suit 😂

thats are job that i like. Awesome

I love this. As a fabricator and PC guy this is right up my alley. More please! (coper work hardens, that will break your taps. If you're doing alot of work on the coper, quench it to make it soft again. Also, use flux to make soldering much easier and faster)

⛓️ Highly experienced HVAC Tech here… Evaporator coil’s are usually designed to operate at a specific temperature (42°F or so) dependent upon its metering device but is made not to exceed below the freezing temperature of water so that it will not freeze, make ice, expand, and break the evaporator coil releasing all of the refrigerant 👍 That’s another reason why it is good to change your air filter when you are supposed to (replacement time depends on the size and the thicknesses of your filter) And never run a system without a filter or with a cheap filter that you can see through 🫣 The metering device also helps to keep the system balanced and keeps the compressor from getting flooded with liquid refrigerant which will immediately destroy the compressor because it is a vapor pump and not a liquid pump. Non condenables would usually destroy a compressor pretty quickly by throwing a rod or breaking a scroll plate compressor in multiple ways but in this case it is a mini split heat pump which will save you for a while because it has something that will capture and store that liquid refrigerant for a while! It’s called an accumulator and is usually installed on heat pumps to help the compressor from getting flooded by liquid refrigerant 🎉

"Wait, brrr because the cpu is cold, or brrr because it's running so fast?" "Yes."

4:24 - wouldn't it be easier to spread solder powder between layers, clamp it together and then heat the whole thing rather than to mess around with regular solder stick?

I love Brian's laugh, more brian pls