Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments, much appreciated.
Metalica732, per your request:
One of the nice things about this case is that it breaks down almost completely. This aspect proved to be very helpful (perhaps imperative) when I was assembling the system and the liquid cooling components.
I spent several months aquiring the hardware and planning/experimenting with cooling component hardware insofar as placement. The actual fabrication, assembly, setup and completion took about 2-3 days - that is what I like about planning.
Winging it is really fun, and at times a necessity but I have discovered (and this applies to all trades - for me at least) that using a solid plan that has been hashed over and picked apart leads to a relatively quick execution.
Here is an image of the main chassis components of the case: Main body, HDD cage, and Optical cage.
I used the Laing pump as it was what I had on hand. I really think that the D-Tek DB-1 would be a better choice for a case this small. I have been very happy with the one that is installed in WaterClocker; it's slim profile would be much more suited in this application.
Alas, for this mod I was forced to use that rather rotund Laing.
Laing pump Placement:
Once I had all the components together and prepared, I did the inital setup. I used XP 64-bit as (again) that was what I had available. Not a bad thing, but I have had an issue with installing the .net framework: the version that I need requires another previous version. When I attempt to install said "previous" version I get an error that it is not supported by 64-bit.... the circular logic is killing me... more likely I am missing something and I need to go back and take the time to do the novel thing of reading the instructions and FAQ's.
Sleeving the case wiring:
One issue that I knew would raise its ugly head was the pressure inside the case. with 2 (38mm x 120mm) Panaflo fans breathing heavily into the case it was a no brainer that the 2 60mm rear exhaust fans were going to be quickly over-run.
Enter: The Delta.
This fan was salvaged from the Prometheus project, and is very much akin to an angry squall; both in cfm and dba.
The Fuzion that I had to use has been around the block several times; used, abused, lapped, re-lapped, dropped (in the toilet) and in general been treated like a mangy cur... poor thing. One of the eyesores was the miserable paint job.
The bracket:
It was chipped and looking rather sad. Since I was not inclined to pick up the spray can and re-coat it I decided to cheat and cover it in CF film:
Panels:
Here is a series of shots depicting the radiator panel:
The second image shows the best way (for me) to drill holes that need to match exactly. I fail completely at measuring and then drilling... it seems to always be off by 1/16", enough to make a difference.
...and a series of pics to show the mounting of the radiator/shroud/Fan assembly which was salvaged from the Gemini project. I was originally going to use 7/16" Tygon tubing (as you can see), but after assembling the unit I discovered
that the tubing could not make a couple of the bends and simply kinked. I ended up using some old PrimoFlex 1/2" (ID) tubing that was able to make the bends without kinking. This made the OD 3/4", and that was too large to use the snap bushings to finish the ID of the holes drilled in the panels that are seen in the next image... I had to scrap them from the build. The finish on the holes is clean enough that it really makes little visual difference.
...the mounting process:
And a pic of the the reservoir/Delta panel:
Another saving grace was the removable motherboard tray. Without this feature, I would not have been able to install the pump or hook up the power leads from the fans to the Zalman controller. The overall assembly of the components was
layered in a layered manner; the components needed to be installed in a certain order and in a certain way so that the next component could be installed.
For exapmle, in order for the outlet from the radiator to reach the inlet to the Fuzion, the tube needed to be routed through the optical drive cage. This meant that the optical drive cage needed to be installed first as opposed to last, which would have made the task of installing the pump and the fan controller much eaiser... by orders of magnitude. I'll tell ya... I ran out of curse words in every language that I know how to express expletives in.
Okay... sorry about that little tantrum. Here is the motherboard tray with the teeny-tiny fans sleeved:
Installing system components:
Back to the reservoir panel.
Once I had all the hardware installed I filled and bled the system.
You guys may not believe this, but I swear to Buddha that the complete bleeding process took less than 5 minutes. I esentially filled the loop without letting any air pockets form behind the liquid that was being pushed through the loop.
Perhaps this is what is normal, but everytime that I have bled a system in the past it as taken at least a couple of hours. I think that a noteable percentage of this good fortune was due to the Swiftech reservoir. The design seems to be one that is quite ideal for bleeding, especially when it can be tilted about. In order to facilitate the bleeding I left the reservoir panel un-secured. Being able to tilt/rest the case on its end allowed the self-purging plenums of the Swiftech MCR220 to do their job with alacrity.
Once the loop was sealed I turned my attention to cleaning up the wiring, installing the Delta and then mounting the reservoir panel (I needed to remove the PSU for this - Fortunately I had the prescience to use a modular PSU. I backed
myself into a similar corner awhile back using a non-modular PSU... It was my conviction to never have such a horrendous SNAFU ever again....
The next image shows that dual-cooling of the Panaflo fans; they cool the rad, and then blow air right down the HD2900XT's throat. So far it seems a good setup, I will be OC'ing the GPU in a few days so I will get a better idea at that time.
The mounted Delta:
I originally drilled all the holes for the mounting hardware that would hold the panel to the chassis (mirrored the stock panels), but I discovered that I simply could not attach all 8 sets of hardware. There was no way thay I could fit
my hands inside the case, let alone me mitts and tools, I had to compromise and use only 4 sets per panel. Using only 4 sets seems to have no effect on the panels structure (the panel sits flush along the entire long edge with no bowing or sagging). I will have to scrounge around to see if I can find some plugs to fill the unused holes.
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This pic shows the passage of the tubes through the reservoir panel. This was a tricky one as there was the PSU above, the limited leeway to mount the res (dictated by the limited leeway of installing the Delta, limted by the height of the PSU.... another layered problem to solve), and the radius that the tubing had to follow to the inlet of the pump without kinking. This was one of the planning stages that hung me up for awhile... hahaha (lol @ me) until I realised that the reservoir did not have to sit flush to the panel.... I could mount it on stand-offs; doing so would increase the radius that the tube to the pump inlet would need to follow. Kink gone!
..and a top-down shot of the system ready to roll.
After finishing I cleared a corner of the work bench so that this little booger could Fold and look somwhat presentable....except for that handle; I removed it.
Don't get me wrong. The handle is made of metal, not plastic and is very strong and durable... but I may need that surface area to stack stuff on when I am building and tinkering.
The completed case can be seen in the first post.
Thanks for looking, and I hope that you enjoyed this little ditty.
