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uh oh...now I'm a little worried...I'm expecting to use somewhere around 5 feet of it, although I'm kinda wishing I'd requested 10 feet. oh well, live and learn. I always have the green stuff if I run out of the clear.Quote:
Originally Posted by x88x
WOO HOO!! stuff from Danger Den just arrived:
I love voiding warranties 5 minutes after I get the item...
And the slim fans I ordered from PerformancePCs:
They're REALLY thin, 1.2cm instead of 2.5cm:
That's it for now...I'm realizing it's going to take all weekend to get this set up...
I posted this over in the PC cases/cooling part of the forum, but then thought it might have a better chance of being seen and answered here:
Does it completely defeat the purpose of 24-hour leak testing to drain the setup after the test so I can detach the waterblocks to make them easier to install on the motherboard/video card? Or is leak testing primarily to make sure the fittings and tubing all..well...fit, and don't leak?
I'm just thinking that it'll be awkward to try and put everything together if it's all connected by various hoses which restrict relative motion.
I consider myself a newbie at this; I once had another watercooling setup, but that was around 6 or 7 years ago, and I don't recall much from it.
I answered it in the other location
Made some progress yesterday, although it doesn't really feel like it. I decided to use the fans pictured above to clamp the aluminum radiator mount to the bottom of the radiator. Works pretty well, and suddenly I don't have to worry about screwholes lining up. I also cut another chunk out of the inside of the top so it'd fit around the radiator. The following photos were taken when I put the top over the radiator and started experimenting with reservoir placement...and so began my troubles.
The mounts that they came with would work for just one, but not mounting both side by side like I wanted. I first tried using 1" or 1.5" pine stakes and a 2" hole saw (the res diameter is 2"). problem was that the hole saw is bigger than the stakes, so the teeth kept catching on the side of the stake and stopping the saw. when it didn't stop the saw, then the wood just split. And luckily it was on the very first cut, before the teeth got dirty, that the saw jumped off the stake and nicked a finger. which then hurt like hell the rest of the day. Earlier in the day I somehow managed to slice another finger as I attempted to spin one of the fan blades to make sure it spun without hitting anything...still not sure exactly what happened there, but the fan thankfully was fine (spoken like a true modder, eh?)
2 bandaids later, I got the bright idea to modify the acrylic mounts the reservoirs came with. I took the top portions of each, stuck them around the outside of each reservoir, and ran 5" screws to connect and tighten them together. I was then going to use 2 hinges, whose holes were miraculously spaced exactly correctly, to mount it to the radiator. Only problem...the mounts were about 1.5 centimeters too tall. And I can't lower the rad any more or it'll hit the video card waterblock. So by this point I was getting rather irritated, and my girlfriend suggested I drill holes through the acrylic lower down, and cut off the parts that stuck up too high. Would have worked if I'd had a drill press. As it was, I shattered 2 of the pieces and got a drill bit stuck in a 3rd - the acrylic melted around it and I didn't pull it out in time.
I finally decided then to work with what I knew best - fiberboard, wood dowel, and a couple hinges. I know it's not the prettiest thing, but it works :) You'll see the bottom part of the new mount in the last picture. It's hard to see, but I used a hinge and existing screws on each end of the reservoirs to screw them to each other, so they won't move relative to each other, and the mount will then keep them on top of the rad. Now all I need to do is mount the pump (visible on the right side of 4th photo; the one on the left side is also a real pump that I'll see if I can make a copy of and use it for looks...and save the real pump for a future project), add the tubes, put the waterblocks on, fill it and leak test it.
Looks good, I like it. The custom res mounts fit in better with the rest of the case anyways, imo. ;)
yeah, I think I agree with you. I keep reminding myself it'll look better once I paint it and take care of all the rough edges and such, but that's still a ways off. Tonight I hope to get the loop running - not much more to do to make that happen!Quote:
Originally Posted by x88x
HUGE thank you to Danger Den and Outoftheboxmods.com for making this (and the last several) post possible!
So I got nearly done with the loop last night. Turns out there was a bit more construction left to do than I thought. Here's what I accomplished:
drilled screwholes in the aluminum radiator support bars for mounting the bars and mounting the pump
painted support bars black
finished reservoir mount and painted it black
mounted reservoirs and pump to radiator
discovered that using a large drill bit on a hole drilled in metal is a great way to deburr the hole
mounted the pump on the wrong side :facepalm: and had to fix it this morning, which is why in the last couple pics the pump is on the other side compared to the first several. Anyone want to take a stab at why it's better for it to be on the other side? :) you might be able to figure it out from previous photos, but I'm not sure the answer is real obvious unless you see it in person.... hint - it doesn't have anything *directly* to do with the PSU that it was right over...but indirectly. (cue maniacal laughter here ;) )
And finally, the results of my labors! Tonight I'll connect the hoses, put the waterblocks on the GPU and CPU (the pics below still show the standard heatsinks I have on 'em), fill and then start leak testing this thing. I'm rather happy with how the radiator/reservoirs look though, it's unique and kinda cool :P
side note - the Danger Den logo fan grille won't really be visible until the central removeable roof piece is pulled off. But then it's quite obvious, kind of a nice semi-hidden bit of branding. I'd wanted it to be visible through the main air vent in the roof, but as you can see above the reservoirs completely cover both those mounting spots.
I'm gonna guess the new pump placement made it easier to come down to hit the various blocks?
Looking at it set up now, I had a thought. For a fill point, you could just turn it on end with the end that that pump is on at the bottom, and use the plugged holes at the 'top' of the reservoirs.
Looks great! ..though, I would replace the hinge holding the two res' together with somethings else if I were you... :whistler:
It looks awesome m8, looks like a new type of snow walker :) sometimes with themed cases the insides look a bit of a nightmare to work with but this is looking great artoo +rep for brilliant insides & outside :).
