homemade watercooling setup

[sirkillalot617]

Hi after a bit off reserch iv found ways of making them but can anyone offer some first hand advise on the making of the blocks no need to worry about tools my dads got everything you could want any help would be appreciated and you will get your name at the end of my mod on a plexi plate that i will make to advise in my local computer shop. Well hopefully:D

[Zephik]

Well... I found this (http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=105157) and this (http://www.overclockers.com/tips672/). That might help you?

Also, just for fun and your pure amusement, Homemade Water Cooled X360. (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=505987)

Well, that should give you some idea's and such things as what to do and not to do. I hope you have great success with this! Sure would be "cool"! ^^

-SnowFire

[sirkillalot617]

also i forgot to mention to start with i will be only making the blocks thank you snowfire your name has been listed down pm if you want it to say something different

[AKA_RA]

one tip when making your own water block: make sure you get a damn good seal. trust me, i know what happens when there isn't one -_- then again i'm lucky, i've somehow managed to get 4 different liquids on my motherboard since i bought it, at least two of those times it was running while the liquid was "introduced", and it hasn't even slowed the sucker down.

[Slug Toy]

heres another tip. definitely use copper. its way above aluminum for heat transfer.

and another tip. put something stiff behind the copper if you're drilling holes. copper is strange in that it REALLY likes to bend when the drill bit gets close to coming out the other side. you end up with a big mess on the bottom that takes a lot of work to clean up.

copper also makes things heat up real bad. use a lubricant or go very slow. you'll be amazed how hot it gets in just a few seconds. ive burnt myself that way.

you dont necessarily need to use copper for anything more than the piece that will actually make contact. mounting brackets and anything else can be made out of acrylic or aluminum if you want.

thats about all i can think of for now.

[sirkillalot617]

can anyone tell me where i can get copper blocks and if my blocks would work with different metals since i cant find a rad i like il will be makin everythin now so that includes blocks for the vrms, cpu, gpu, northbridge 2 triple fan radiators and 1 120 fan radator pipes i will buy


For the hard drives i going to have something like this http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2235/ex-res-90/XSPC_Passive_150mm_Reservoir_-_BLACK.html?tl=g30c97s167
which will act as the res and will be on the outside of the case then I will have heatpipes from the hd caddys going to itso its like a heatsink as well and looks cool

[Slug Toy]

well my dad has an electrical company (hes one of 4 owners). they use huge copper flatbar to connect equipment together when you need really low resistance, or when temperatures are involved that would melt thinner wire.

basically, if you can find an electrical company near you, ask them. usually its 2 inches wide by 1/4 inch thick and however long you want. i can get my hands on ten feet of it at a time if i wanted.

i wouldnt suggest using anything other than copper if you're serious about good cooling. ive seen aluminum blocks, but i highly doubt they are as good unless you use a peltier to further cool the block of the liquid. only advantage is that aluminum is easier to work with and machine than copper.

now as for making your own radiator... thats going to be a little tougher. i know you can get thin copper tubing from hardware stores. its used in plumbing. again, it just so happens that ive got a huge role of 1/4 inch copper tubing in my closet, so i know you can get it. the fins will be the big hassle. you can probably get metal thin enough from a metal shop. what you do from that point i dont know. ive never made a radiator. just make sure that you use copper fins if you use copper tubes. putting aluminum in direct contact with copper isnt a good idea.

[sirkillalot617]

anyone know if homemades are better than bought and does rugged edges increase heat transfer

[sirkillalot617]

one more question which would i be better making 2 triple 120 rads or one radiator with 6 fans like to triples put together

[sirkillalot617]

finaly got my design done and ready well here it is

res/ pump1/ 6-120 fan radiator/ cpu/ 1-120 fan radiator/ motherboard chipset/ vrms/ into a passive radiator tube/ gpu/ into the second back up pump/ ram heatsinks/ then back to the res

[AKA_RA]

i would make 2 loops, or even 3 with that sort of set up, lol

[sirkillalot617]

what one using each pump

[sirkillalot617]

wootage got some 1/2 inch copper pipe off the plumber thts workin on our house just need some sheets and blocks of copper now goin to the scrap yard i av a look there as money surplys a bit low at the moment im trying to get as much free stuff as i can

[Slug Toy]

you might not find proper stuff at a junk yard. for waterblocks and radiators... precision is a big factor, and theres no guarantee that stuff you find will be in an acceptable state. for 1/4 copper bars, a slight bend can cause nightmares, and tons of sanding to flatten everything out again.

on the other hand, copper IS getting expensive...

[sirkillalot617]

right heres the new stetup idea

---pump 1/ 4 140mm fan rad/ cpu/vrms/ passive rad tube/ nb

res-------------------------------------------------------- res

---pump 2/ 2 140mm fan rad/ gpu/ ram/southbridge maybe

[Slug Toy]

that seems logical. one thing you may want to change is the second loop. if you have it going southbridge-ram-gpu, that would be going coolest to hottest, and would be better overall. the gpu can handle higher temperatures, so cooling that last is usually a better idea.

[sirkillalot617]

ok thanks iv done that now i will be posting log soon showing my work as soon as the design stage is over