Lava lamps in my PC Case!!!

[childofstrings]

Hey guys,
Im a newb at case modding and Im currently still the conceptual stages of what I want to create. I've got an older case lying around that will be my first mod for my own personal computer so Im thinking I wont get too fancy there and just make it badass looking via a new paint job and some LEDs.

Once I get the experience I need from that job, Im hoping to move on to bigger and better things. One of the ideas I have bouncing around in my head right now is for a lava lamp themed case. I think it would work well considering lava lamps create a source of light, much like LEDs and cathodes in computer cases.

Ideally I would like to install an actual lava lamp inside the case at a point which would be viewable to those looking at the case. I imagine creating a custom sized lava lamp shouldn't be too difficult since I wiki'd what lava lamps are made of it and it seems to be essentially wax and dyed water.

My problem is this...lava lamps tend to generate a lot of heat...which is definitely something no one wants in their computer case. But my thinking is this...what if I could find a component inside the case that already generates heat and run my lava lamp off of it? Obviously I wouldn't install my lava lamp ontop of my CPU since that needs to stay frosty, but I was thinking maybe something like a radiator from a water-cooling unit might generate heat?

What do you guys think? Any suggestions?

[Luke122]

Interesting thought actually..

Most lava lamps run from the heat of the light bulb below. I have a small nightlight one that I got at home depot for like 2$ or something.. might be a good cheap investment to test if the heat from say, a chipset heatsink would be enough to make it flow.

Just run the case on it's side, and set the lava bottle right on the heatsink. LED's to actually light it up would be nice, as the colors are very rich compared to incandescant bulbs.

[halcyonforever]

the content is oil and wax (or glitter). Trust the former spencer's gifts employee who has broken many...

Edit: upon further research I found that My lava lamp is oil and alcahol. The ones from a store are a cemical/wax mixture.

[childofstrings]

the content is oil and wax (or glitter). Trust the former spencer's gifts employee who has broken many...

Ah I see. The wiki entry did mention something being added to the wax to make it denser than the water when its not hot (since regular wax would float in water at room temp.) Thanks for the info! I trust your background

[childofstrings]

Interesting thought actually..

Most lava lamps run from the heat of the light bulb below. I have a small nightlight one that I got at home depot for like 2$ or something.. might be a good cheap investment to test if the heat from say, a chipset heatsink would be enough to make it flow.

Just run the case on it's side, and set the lava bottle right on the heatsink. LED's to actually light it up would be nice, as the colors are very rich compared to incandescant bulbs.

You mean a lava lamp night light?

I've seen some cheap lava lamp rip off type models at a local $5 dollar store so I'll probably head down there and pick a few up then maybe run some tests like the one you mentioned. But I've got a fan on top of my heatsink thats on my CPU so I dont know if I'll be able to test it that way, but I'll snoop around for other parts in my case that generate alot of heat.

[Luke122]

Check out the chipset on your mobo. The heatsink on that should get plenty hot, unless you've got a fan on that too.

[childofstrings]

Check out the chipset on your mobo. The heatsink on that should get plenty hot, unless you've got a fan on that too.

Hey thats an idea! Thanks!