Power Consumption Query

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Like everyone who owns a Macbook Pro, I'm finally fed up with applying aloe to the burns on my lap. So I'm attempting to build a custom cooling pad. It involves copper tubing, water, and whole bunch of physics that I won't bore you with.

Anyway, what I need to know before I can begin construction is to know the power consumption and the and the wattage output. More specifically, I need to know how many BTUs the average MBP is putting out at 100% CPU usage.

I've searched the forums and googled it, unfortunately google insists on only telling me the power consumption/BTU output of a Mac Pro; not exactly what I'm looking for. Can anyone help me out?
 
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If you are doing this just for the sake of doing it then fair enough but IMO it is rather too much work! I bought 5 laptop coolers for the family earlier in the year for about £15 each! they are silent having just one large fan under the laptop and basically squirt the heat out of one side. We wife is never off her laptop using it in bed most of the time and this works perfectly well. I am considering buying a new cooler myself as my new laptop is slightly larger than the cooler but even with the cooler I have I have no problems at all.

If you do build it it would make an interesting article but using water cooling on a laptop with all the inherent risks, pipes, radiators and messing about is overkill!

As for maximum BTU you could just calculate your stored battery power (its in the system profile). Run software that maxs your computer out and time it till it dies. Then convert this energy 100% to heat. Ignoring light and sound. This would give you the total with a little overhead.
 
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Yeah, this just a little DYI project for myself. I'm picturing a copper tubing zig-zagging around, then reaching the compressor which will have lots of disk-like fins to maximize heat reduction. The goal of this is to use purely physics to cool the computer (relying on the properties of evaporation and condensation) which means absolutely no moving parts and no external power source. I had a cooling pad that used little bead which would absorb heat and melt into a gel, and then reform into beads when it cooled but the problem was it only worked for an hour, after which it seemed to just insulate my laptop and make it hotter. I want to stay away from pads that rely on power from my USB because it will undoubtedly drain my battery.
I'll then install it in a nice wooden case with brass hinges and and tacks, perhaps even some little windows to see inside.
Anyway, thanks for the advice. I guess I'll have to do some conversions, System Profiler only seems to give me amperage and voltage.
 
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cowasaki

what coolers do you have right now and what one where you think about buying for yourself later?
 
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Joined
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Yeah, this just a little DYI project for myself. I'm picturing a copper tubing zig-zagging around, then reaching the compressor which will have lots of disk-like fins to maximize heat reduction. The goal of this is to use purely physics to cool the computer (relying on the properties of evaporation and condensation) which means absolutely no moving parts and no external power source. I had a cooling pad that used little bead which would absorb heat and melt into a gel, and then reform into beads when it cooled but the problem was it only worked for an hour, after which it seemed to just insulate my laptop and make it hotter. I want to stay away from pads that rely on power from my USB because it will undoubtedly drain my battery.
I'll then install it in a nice wooden case with brass hinges and and tacks, perhaps even some little windows to see inside.
Anyway, thanks for the advice. I guess I'll have to do some conversions, System Profiler only seems to give me amperage and voltage.



Ok here goes.....

Amps * Volts = Watts
Watts * hours = watthours
watthours * 3.41214148 = Btu


By the way if you are using the conduct


You say NO moving parts... If your plan is to basically build a refrigerator then you could get away without a pump but it really is not the most efficient way of doing it. Personally I would go with a tiny fish tank pump as minimum. If this is encased in the rest of the workings you will not hear it but it really will make the whole thing work better. If you do want to go down the no fans route then this will increase the challenge (but I suppose that is why you are doing it so no problem there). You could take a look at the resorator which is a computer cooler that uses the same principals that you APPEAR to be explaining. This device works either with or without a fan and is made by Zalman.
 
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Just after my last post, I calculated the Watt/hours to be about 60, which means about 204 BTU. So I'll see what I can come up with.
Also in regards to the pump, again I would prefer this to have no cords. This way I can take it where ever I please.
 

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