Project: PrometheusCu

Thanks a lot folks! I appreciate all the very kind words of support.

My Grandpa is still kicking, even the doctors say he should be in the Guinness book.

About 15yrs ago he was diagnosed with a severe form of Alzheimer's called Picks(sp?). At this point in time he is all but completely brain dead.

He's been in intensive care at a psychiatric hospital for the past few years.
Last year before Christmas we decided not to replace his pace-maker battery - and we were told that once the battery dies so would he... that battery died a year ago now and he's still fighting.

Seeing him now was heartbreaking to say the least. He is on a morphine drip to stay off the pain, he's on oxygen because his lungs are dieing, and he's bed ridden with a 24hr nurse.

He has an average heartbeat of about ~20BPM!!! and is still kicking.

He's always been one of the toughest SOB's I've ever met, and even in the final moments of his life that stands true.

I'm very happy to have seen him one last time - as it's only a matter of time now.
By all medical definitions he should have passed over a year ago, recently he took a turn for the worse and was given only a few days... and now it's nothing short of miraculous that he's still with us.

Glad to hear your grandpa is still going mate.

Thanks mate!

I came back from by brief 'holiday' to have this baby waiting for me:

A custom PrometheusCU edition Watercool Heatkiller rev3.0... and DAMN!!! this block is a work of art - the internals alone are dead nuts perfect.

More soon, I'm just getting back into the groove of things on my end.

Wow, that looks nice.

Damn man, that is one hot block.. I love that Heatkiller stuff.

Sexy...hands down...sexy.

That is pure sex man. Love the look.

That's one amazing looking block.

I've been swamped with real-life the past weeks.

however:
I spent the past few days building myself a reflex still for making -among other things- potato vodka.

The irony here is that I don't even drink.

I just decided to try something new to keep my fresh. I'm constantly doing things like this - I have an insatiable desire to learn new things.

For example: About a month ago I built some Ham radios for myself and a friend. My goal was to be able to chat from a laptop -> through a Morse code oscillator -> across the air -> back into another oscillator -> into another laptop. I saw it as a sort of post apocalyptic/zombie invasion communication plan. It worked by-the way, and before long we had our own AM radio station... before almost getting fined - did you know these things need licenses?


I haven't yet taken and pictures of the completed still but I'm gong to start with some teasers for you all. The entire still was built for about ~$150.00 and the construction assumes that you care capable of soldering copper pipe and have very basic DIY knowledge.

I plan on distilling for the first time on Friday/Saturday - I'll then post a log of the parts/construction/process/recipe/and the dangers.

For now here are some teaser shots:

The 90% complete article - before cleaning:

Eventually I'd like to make an automated Laptop controlled still with computer controlled valves, heaters, and a PC radiator with fan control.

Hahahahaha

That still looks sweet! Can't wait for a how to on that I may need to make myself one too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Langer

and the construction assumes that you care capable of soldering copper pipe and have very basic DIY knowledge.

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I got some experience soldering copper pipe when I installed a new water heater last month. It took me a few tries before I was able to get everything done good enough (the flame drawing all of the water to where I was soldering really pissed me off). What I learned was to only do one piece at a time, not all 5. Pipes are the ONLY things that I will use lead-free solder with. The lead-free stuff really sucks when working with electronics.

Man that is cool, we have one made out of an old copper tub with a wood lid all hidden away in a stripped out old washing machine lol. We make Grappa every year.

I guess it would be interesting to make your own potato vodka, even if you don't drink.

That is cool as hell! You should post all of your misc mod projects in the "Misc Projects" forum, that is exactly what we are hoping to attract there. +rep for the innovation!

wow thats cool nice work man just re read last 4 pages to refresh myself.. mods going great

No updates today, I'm tired from my journey - I've been traveling the past weeks.

While in California there's been progress:
The carbon panels are being cut and shipped back to me, the copper pieces follow shortly thereafter. This has been a large factor in my hold-ups for a variety of reasons, so things should be progressing more rapidly once I get these pieces.

My new mobo, RAID card, and BBU have arrived, as well

I also got word that my Grandfather finally passed-on last Sunday. A magnificent life topped off with a tragic final decade.

As much as I just want to relax in my own bed after all the traveling I've been doing the past month, I'll be off on the road again ~700KM north to Sault Ste Marie tomorrow to prepare for the funeral.
I was going to drive up on Monday, but I've got a flight instead Tomorrow.

Things are progressing, but slowly.

Hey, another Canadian in California, sweet! Great work on this rig, you make me almost embarrassed of my own work.


Condolences. Best to you and your family.

@SloppyC - I was just there for about a week.


I snapped some quick pics of the new hardware and replacement motherboard (I've actually had this stuff for about a week now). I'll be flying north this afternoon.

Here's the Highpoint RocketRAID 3510 with a Highpoint BBU-03 battery backup unit installed:

Here's a closeup of the BBU-03:

The SSD's that it will drive:

The new motherboard:

NB:

SB:

My favorite feature, ExpressGate:

Cheesy ExpressGate video from ASUS:

That video is pretty cheesy!

That video was pretty bad.

About how long would that battery backup last? It doesn't look that big.

The BBU is just supposed backup any cache contents in the case of a sudden power-loss. It's just a failsafe, it's not supposed to keep your drives running or anything. It'll probally last a couple years, which is likely longer than this system will be used for.

1 charge from the battery can keep your cache data safe for ~48hrs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HighPoint

HighPoint provides a battery backup unit BBU-03 for use with its high-performance RocketRAID 3500/4300 Series RAID controllers. The battery back up unit protect the integrity of the cache data on the RocketRAID 3500/4300 Series host adapter by providing backup power if there is a complete AC power failure or a brief power outage.

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Sorry to hear about your grandfather's passing. From what you described, he sounds like he made quite a mark. Safe travels.

wasnt she ment to be going to work?

Thanks Mach.

Dont-Fear... wha??

I am very sorry to hear about your Grandfather Langer. I know what it feels like to lose a Grandfather.

On a happier note the mod is looking great.

Where did you get the power switches in post #350? Do they light up?

Sorry to hear the bad news about your Grandfather. -Our prayers are with you and your family.

sorry to hear, my wife's and I thoughts are with you and your family

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Langer

Google - Bulgin Vandal Resistant Switches
I don't know where you're located but I got mine from Performance-PCs.com, all said and done they were about $147 shipped.

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(Quote from post #352)


Here's some links to Performance-pcs.com for the switches noted.
Smaller Switches 16mm

The Larger 22mm Switches

And yes you can get ones that Light up (either large or small from the links above).

Good luck!

@The boy 4rm oz - As always, thanks a lot man.

@rendermandan - Thank you for that. Dark Carbon is looking fantastic by the way.

@SXRguyinMA - Thank you - much appreciated.

@crazybillybob - Haha, thanks a lot mate.

sorry to hear about ur grand father ...

i was talking about the lady in the video b4.... she was off to work....

Sorry to hear about everything Langer. I have been following this log for sometime now but only just became a member. You are doing some amazing work! Keep it up!

So long with no info.... I need my fix man :)

I've just not yet completed anything more to reveal just yet.

I want to complete the chassis before going any further and much of that work is being done by an outside party. I'm having a hard time getting people to follow-up on their word.


Allow me to elaborate.

-I'm trying to get this work done for free - or at least as close to as possible.
-There is several thousand bucks worth of machine time alone in my required parts, and I don't want to pay that.
-My Dad offered to cut the parts for me using his carbon fiber companies waterjet machines in his California based plant. (the of his factories outside China with waterjets)
-It took Dad about 6-weeks to actually get on it to the point where notable progress is being made.
-Unfortunately the General Manager of the Cali plant doesn't want to do any personal jobs - which I can respect because it's unfair that the big-boss' kid should get to use the production equipment.
-I'm in the process of negotiating with the California GM, and also with another local source who is offering me a really great price (hopefully he will stand by it... I've encountered several other who have not).


Long story short... I keep meeting asshole machinists that offer a price - then delay after delay come up with a ludicrous price. This process has added months of delays unfortunately.

Sorry to hear about your difficulties with finding a good machinest, I'm sure you will eventually ;).

at least you get responses :) bl tho

that is sad to hear langer. but look at it this way. you still pretty much have an awesome computer the way it is :)

It's always frustrating to have to wait for someone else to do something you need done. I had an eBay seller kicked off from under me AFTER I ordered a SSHD. Now I have to fight eBay and PayPal to get that money back. Sometimes the real world is just hell bent on creating problems.

But you do have your still!:banana:

john

In the spirit of progress, I decided to change my fittings and tubing style and configuration to accommodate the new reservoirs.

I made a "small" AquaTuning.de order just now:

and as I mentioned I also have 2 of these puppies en-route as well...

With special thanks to Shoggy from Aquacomputer for giving me the heads up on their re-release (I pleaded with him several months back for a pair of these reservoirs... so I'm elated to see them available again).



More stuff to fit into this already jam packed case. I may only be able to fit one of these reservoirs into Prometheus... but not a big deal I'll be happy to have a spare "copperTube" in my collection of parts.

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Some of you may be wondering why I don't just use my router for all the cutting?
Answer - the router is old and out of alignment and one of the motors is burned out... that is until last week. An engineer friend of mine had experience with such things so I put him to work.
I'll be cutting my own parts again - but this time with a capable machine.
Before it was unlevel - didn't travel smoothly - a motor was burned out - and it was a decade out of service... this time it's all calibrated and ready to go and I actually have time allocated to finishing.
I have everything for this project complete and waiting... once I get the actual structural elements done it wont be more than a week to + build + plug in + test + tweak + cry.

Today I spent the afternoon in the shop preparing my drawings and the machine for cutting. I'll be going back to the shop Monday/Tuesday to complete cutting of the FINAL carbon parts.

TUESDAY there will be much progress. Stay tuned until then. ;)

lol we want more pics :P