Moco Computing

Went to taobao.com, sort motherboard trays by lowest cost and bought literally that… and no sparks flying yet. And, starting to wonder if there is a reason that the original mineral oil PCs used plexi or acrylic as opposed to glass or metal. Nevertheless, I did order a metal motherboard tray for ease of maintenance.

ROADBLOCK #1: Containers (aka glorified fishtanks) come in interesting sizes, which makes the possibilities nearly limitless compared to a usual desktop. However… a 20 gallon container would need 20 gallons worth of mineral oil (see below)
ROADBLOCK #2: Mineral oil is expensive (and it’s a by product of the stuff that goes into cars, who knew?)
ROADBLOCK #3: Mineral oil is heavy, which makes shipping inconvenient.

As mineral oil is more viscous than water, I’m considering what pump I should use to transfer the oil between the reservoir (fish tank) and the radiators. Also looking into caulks and sealants to prevent a leak in the fish tank due to the oil degrading silicones and plastics.

I had an idea to create a computer with mineral oil cooling instead of air or water cooling because it seemed more fun... It went out of fashion for a few years, and I was wondering if there are new ways I can shape the machine to make it interesting for people again. I quickly put together some spare parts to create a rough prototype. Looking to limit myself to a 6-week timeline, with the goal of having one paid customer and also open-sourcing the project plans for others to download and build their own. 🙌