[Completed] Aquatronic Beta - Overclock.net

*CyberDruid* · 07-12-05

here it is--Aquatronic Beta--my first attempt at WCing--I have numerous phots and threads so I will update this shortly--the latest thread is: http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/33412-acrylic-res-rad-shroud-panel-window.html

and more: http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/33231-w000000t-storm-wb-arrives.html

http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/32637-cooltechnia-com-rocks-parts-arrive-aqua.html

*CyberDruid* · 07-13-05

Here are the pics of the mod--completed at 5:30 AM today (another all nighter)--here's the run down--disassembled rig--installed Storm WB and reinstalled mobo--fitted shroud for rad and fitted rad--began fitting duct intake for little rad and about 3AM yesterday pierced the heatercore of the little rad with a too long screw (stupid me) so had to eliminate the little rad for now (too bad--it looked super cool)--redirected exhaust 80mm as intake and ducted air to northbridge, RAM--made clear 1/4" panel to replace side panel and fabbed a resevoir to fit between the dirve bay and panel--modded barbed fittings for res and leaktested (OK)--glued res to panel and began fitting pump--made a baseplate for pump of two layers of 1/4" "sound-Down" a heavy metal-impregnated neoprene--with a 3mm layer of marine ply in the center--pump plate wedges between mobo tray and panel lip, pump it screwed to plate, entire assembly removable from case w/o disconnecting plumbing or wiring (!) for service--began plumbing with 1/2" I.D. tygon and coolsleeves (which work great to prevent kinking and flattening but are hard to put on the tubing)--using 1/2" I.D.tees and 90 degree elbows and customized fittings from the plumbing section of the local hardware I first tried to use 1 psi one way valves for the fill/bleed lines--but found the internal air pressure of the system was too low to overcome the valve stop--replumbed fill and air lines (capped with brass fittings and sealed with and internal o-ring) but hesitated in drilling top of case until checking to see how the operation would work--plumbed remaining lines to allow panel/res to swing open from rear for access--eliminated floppy drive and promise card and Cold Cathode/external molex to tidy case further (there is still room for all that)--flushed rad with de-ionized bottled water--disconnected from pump and WB and teste all lines for leaks (OK)--drained lines and rad and installed for final time--at 3AM went out to get Zerex---with towels and rags handy began filling system to discover that even w/o the one-way valve the sealed res was making an air pressure pocket that kept it from willing more than halfway when upright--by laying the panel/res flat I was able to fill th res about 90% full and completely fill al the lines WB and pump before powering the system (!)--I had gone to some trouble laying out the lines so that the WB would always be charged with coolant even if higher than the h ighpoint in the res (which it is not)--powered system w/o peripherals to check apparatus (OK)--at first a lot of small air bubbles were cycling through the lines--I cracked open the fill caps and continued running the system--I could feel mildly warm air from the rad--I shut down and pulled the rad and pump out while connect to look for leaks--a small amount of coolant had collected under the rad shroud from dribbles during filling--I dried it up and inspected everything for several minutes and discovered I minut weeping from the rad top line--I reclamped and double clamped the line and it stopped--I changed the front fan out from the TT Thunderblade (which runs about 2800 rpm and makes a wicked blade noise) to the nexus and routedthe thermal probes to check intake air exhaust air and the side of the WB--re-tidy-ed all the wires and cables and lines and wiped down all the acrylic and sealed the panel to the case with metallic tape (which removes w/o residue and acts as a hinge for now)--put the Rig back in it's niche in the workstation and connected all the peripherals--I had eliminated all but 2 cards and left the slots open for now--I powered up for the first time with keyboard mouse and screens and got my Linux Grub Boot--booted successfully into Mandrake and shutdown--went into BIOS and set the IDE config back to SATA--set the HDD devices and the Boot Order to skip the Linux (IDE HDD) Boot and here I am in XP posting this mod.

I decided against using a fan grill for the rad and put three fat slots in the acrylic panel. Now the panel door does triple duty as a resevoir, grill and one side of the rad shroud.

My stepson G (at the lappy) has a friend (elkymods?) that etches panels with custom designs--as a graphic artist and designer myself I would prefer to do it all myself but I really used a lot of my "hobby" time up alreadry--between workling under a tight deadline and moving out of state at the end of the month I am burning the candle at both ends and the middle right now so this is as far as this mod will get by my hand until I resettle in the Mountains of Franklin County Virginia...but I might get some (?) logo and artwork etched on the beast before I go--hope you like it!

(pictures below)

*CyberDruid* · 07-13-05

Here's the next 5 pix--the previous pictures were of raw materials I cut and assembled--the next pix are of the shroud in place (it fits within 1/8" of the ATI card (!) and is nearly flush the case opening--I made the fittings from cutting down some PVC adapters for nuts, garden hose washers and 5/8 MIP to 1/2" I.D. barbs--I tested the res tray before glueing it to the panel--there is no way to service the fittings although they can be repositioned carefully...my stepson joined men about 9pm and soldiered on till about 1:30AM--he was using the P3 for a table for his AMD powered lappy (lol) looking up specs for the pump...

*CyberDruid* · 07-13-05

These next shots take us into about 3AM where i lost my mojo and pilled all the stuff in a tote to keep my son out of it until I got back from work the next (that actually) evening...

Good thing I took a break because I was preparing to drill throug the panel for the intake for the rear rad. I started looking over my work from the previous stint and really didn't like the way i had mounted the little Black Ice rad so O removed it to find I hand punctured it...bummer...but at least I hadn't put a hole in the panel...

*CyberDruid* · 07-13-05

Next coupla shots are blurry (camera must've been tired...) but they are the little 80mm ducts that direct air onto the Northbridge and RAM area of the mobo--by shrouding the 120mm intake for the rad I had no intake except the rear fan--the PSU has a 140mm that works great as an exhaust and the blowhole is an exhaust--that's one of the reasons I left all the PCI slot covers open...

I began plumbing with the inlet to the WB and worked backwards keeping in mind the desired result of always having the WB charged with coolant and supplied as directly as possible with the coolest least restricted supply...

*CyberDruid* · 07-13-05

In the next series I put the pump on the sound-deadening mounting plate

*CyberDruid* · 07-13-05

I continue running the lines--which was acompromise between a really tight sanitary look or being able to actually open it up and get at everything--I ended up with more lines visible than I wanted due to time restraints--I had wanted to hide the fill/bleed lined behind the mob tray w/o coolsleeves so only the basic loop would be the visual focus--but ended up teeing out the back from one of the holes I had made for the little rad and tucking the other line againstthe rear vertical edge--the head of the fill cap snaps into the exisiting upper flange of the case hiding it from sight at least--but once the system is full of coolant it is hard to start adjusting the plumbing (!)

The brass bits are the fill caps I mad up with an O ring

*CyberDruid* · 07-13-05

Now it starts getting a little crowded..the extra lines could be hidden later...they not only bleed and fill the system but the allow me to use the air pocket in the res to charge the lines above the res leve...

*CyberDruid* · 07-13-05

Originally thought I'd hinge it from the bottom but the shortest line layout was to swing it from the rear...started layout for slots

*CyberDruid* · 07-13-05

Must've ahd the stuff in and out dozens of times--here's a good shot of how the pump plate holds the rad shroud in place--everything wedges against the case sides...
Shot of the slots--they need a little attention and edging--and a pre-fill shot (full of tension and drama (it's about4:30am))--rags and towels in abundance...

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[Completed] Aquatronic Beta

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