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| Author |
Message |
b0rgel
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Computer mod question
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Dec 11 13:00 UTC 2003 |
I was thinking of a computer mod I wanted to do, but I'm not sure if it's a
good idea (like I'll let THAT stop me). What i'm wanting to do is cut out one
side of my case and put a lava lamp in a window. I figure I could probably
use a fluorescent light or mabye a yellow neon light to illuninate the window.
I am having trouble coming up with a way to heat the substances though. My
inital thought was a spare power supply connected to some sort of coil. I was
also considering something like a heat pump, but I don't know if they come
small enough. I am also concerned about the heat effecting the hardware. Does
anyone have any advice they would like to share? Thanks in advance.
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| 16 responses total. |
scott
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response 1 of 16:
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Dec 11 14:31 UTC 2003 |
The heat is definitely going to be difficult, since that's basically how the
lava lamp works.
I've seen non-lamp things that use a mixture of oils to do various neat
things, either rocked back and forth for waves or else you have to turn it
upside down. I wonder if something like that could be put behind the window
and rotated?
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rcurl
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response 2 of 16:
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Dec 12 02:27 UTC 2003 |
The lava lamps are heated with the light bulb that illuminates them.
Incandescent light bulbs put out quite a bit of heat.
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borgel
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response 3 of 16:
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Dec 12 14:03 UTC 2003 |
Yeah, I had already ruled out the incandescent bulbs, that's the reason I was
trying to conider different heating mechanisms. I figured that a fluorescent
or yellow neon may still be able to provide decent lighting.
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rcurl
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response 4 of 16:
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Dec 12 21:36 UTC 2003 |
Why did you rule out an incandescent bulb?
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borgel
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response 5 of 16:
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Dec 15 04:59 UTC 2003 |
I just assuming that the heat produced from an incandescent bulb would have
negative effects on the computer (that's why I hadn't mentioned the use of
them in the first post).
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rcurl
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response 6 of 16:
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Dec 15 06:51 UTC 2003 |
You won't get a lava lamp to work without a heat input. That's what drives
the circulation.
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b0rgel
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response 7 of 16:
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Dec 16 13:11 UTC 2003 |
What I was assuming was that I might have been able to find an alternate
heating source that was more efficent than a light bulb, because I know they
radiate a lot of heat. I was thinking something more along these lines:
http://www.mod-tronic.com/Minco_Miniature_Heating_Elements.html
and
http://www.herbach.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HAR&Pro
duc
t_Code=TM92HVC2178&Category_Code=HVC
Do you think something like this would work too?
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scott
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response 8 of 16:
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Dec 16 14:42 UTC 2003 |
If you're really set on using a real lava lamp... The bulb is 40 watts, and
perhaps you could reduce the radiation of heat with some insulation around
the metal base. You want to dim the lamp slightly to compensate...
But as far as heat dissipation goes, I've seen reference to how many watts
various CPUs dissipate, so that's a clue about how much heat you've already
got inside the case.
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gull
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response 9 of 16:
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Dec 16 14:56 UTC 2003 |
Re resp:7: How efficient do you want? 90% of the power that goes into
an incandescent light bulb is heat! Only 10% comes out as light.
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