A few basic questions about water cooling

[Technochicken]

So I am planning to water cool a laptop, and I have a few questions about it.

1. Why use water? Why not use a nonconductive liquid like mineral oil, so if there are leaks, you won't fry your computer?

2. For water cooling on a small scale, would I really need a reservoir, or would the water contained in the tubing suffice?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

They do sell bottled non-conductive liquid specifically for the use in liquid cooling setups, have for years. http://www.xoxide.com/water-cooling-coolant-dye.html

It has been a while since I've really been into the whole liquid cooling scene, and I could be wrong on this assumption but, I would guess that the reservoir serves at least one distinct purpose (it did when I had a liquid cooling system 3 years ago): The liquid in a typical set up *will* evaporate over time (not all that much time either) and the reservoir is an easy way to add more liquid to the loop. Air bubbles = inefficient flow = overheating.

Now, a simple question for you :

Why liquid cooling on a laptop? The entire benefit of a laptop is its mobility, which, I assume you basically destroy with liquid cooling. Just seems like way more of a hassle than it is worth, unless it's just for fun.

 

[Technochicken]

It's basically just for fun. Also, the main goal is to make the water cooling system completely powered by and attached to the laptop, so it should still be fairly portable. I'm still trying to find a half decent cheap laptop off ebay.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Good luck it being portable with a copper/aluminum radiator and however many ozs of liquid you have in the loop . Not to mention the waterblock.