Computer submersed in water?
 

[13:02] Chruser: Speaking of which, I still want to put an old computer in deionized water and run it.
[13:02] Chruser: In theory, it should work.

I disagree. You can remove the ions from water, but the water itself will form ions by decomposing into hydrogen and hydroxide. The computer might even cause the release of hydrogen gas then ignite it :p

You are both wrong, it won't work and it will not ignite.

Actually, if your computer is not filled with dust (i.e., it's free of contaminants) and it has a reasonable amount of flow of new deionized water, it would work just fine. I remember reading about some guys submerging a computer (dust and all) in deionized water and it worked for 5 minutes. Theoretically, it could last indefinitely with the right setup.

But it's not very practical, and there are better alternatives.

EDIT: Oh, and the idea that the computer would cause the release and subsequent ignition of hydrogen gas is just absurd.

Tell me the setup, I wanna try with my computer.

I just told you what you need. Clean your computer's internal parts until they're devoid of contaminants, set up some sort of flow to keep fresh deionized water in the computer, the end.

Oh, ok.
You said "with the right setup" so I figured there was probably more.

It's like putting a weed eater motor in a H1 Hummer, it's stupid, impractical, and has no real purpose.

But in all seriousness, it would be cool to see.

Why is that? The positively charged hydrogen ions will naturally move toward the negative power supply and assuming there is exposed leads, they will gain electrons, form H2 and bubble into the air. If the actual PSU is in the air and in close proximity, it could be a source of ignition.

I would bet money that it would fault before igniting.

Bah .

You're all a bunch of HUGE FUCKING NERDS

You're running around dressed as Captain Obvious, so I wouldn't say anything if I was you.

Captain Obvious, fucktard. If you're going to mock me do it right.

That's what I said, Captain blind. >_>

Nice edit.

See the little link under your post that says "Last edited by Skurai;"? Click it and, Wikipedia styley, it shows you a comparison between the original post and the edit.

Captain America indeed!

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The only way to make entirely sure that it's free of contaminants is to not only assemble the rig in a clean room, but manufacture the components in the clean room. Even then, I doubt it would work.

Theoretically, maybe. Practically, however, you can never get it clean enough to run indefinitely.

I'm telling mythbusters.

Ideally, I figure that the whole computer (including the PSU) should be submersed in an airtight container with a small opening for a power cable. An air seal needs to be installed around the power cable to prevent contaminants (e.g. dust) from reaching the water. It's possible that the self-ionization of water (0.055 µS/cm of conductivity even for de-ionized water) will itself make it impossible to run a computer in de-ionized water, but my guess is that it has a pretty good chance to work.

It's difficult to tell how much ions will interfere with the functionality of the computer, since they can interact with each other in so many different ways.

The point of the setup is that the water can be used as a more effective heat sink than air.

Why not use tested methods and submerse the machine in cooking oil?

Is that a mod perk? I can't do that.