Project: Rivendell

[xr4man]

It's not as easy as you'd think mate, I looked into a similar idea as a complete water-cooled-noob and all the advice was that it wouldn't really work. Firstly you're still going to end up needing a big rad as without one your only method of cooling would be constant evaportion from the reservoir which would in turn require frequent top-ups. Also you'll have to filter the crap out of it due to any particles of dirt and dust that will inevitably find their way into the open system. In a design with a waterfall incorporated I'd also imagine (but this is pure speculation) that you'd be left with a dry pump when the system is shut-off, depending where you were able to locate it. Pretty sure that would be bad :p

all of those things could easily be overcome/engineered in.

it would be interesting to see how much cooling effect a waterfall would have though. i'm not going to say it would be enough to eliminate the need for a raditor, but it does make for an interesting concept.

however, the evaporation is something i hadn't thought about. that could easily become a problem.

[Munty]

Evaporation would be exaggerated significantly by the waterfall effect as well so it would be even worse than a standard open system. But yes you're right it could be done, just not a particularly efficient way to cool anything as it would lose so much water you'd need it connected to the water mains :p

[xr4man]

just not a particularly efficient way to cool anything

yes, but is anything in this build for efficiency or for artistic talent?

[Munty]

touche I guess it depends where you draw the line really which is all down to the individual! In this case I think it's a bit too inefficient to be worth doing but regarding a water system for the falls that's not water cooled I think that'll totally pay for itself by sheer coolness

[artoodeeto]

touche I guess it depends where you draw the line really which is all down to the individual! In this case I think it's a bit too inefficient to be worth doing but regarding a water system for the falls that's not water cooled I think that'll totally pay for itself by sheer coolness

Yeah, I agree. On the one hand it'd be REALLY cool to say, hey those waterfalls you're admiring...they're the cooling system too. On the other hand...you know maybe if it was a system that I only took to shows and that sort of thing it'd be worth it. But it'll be an everyday system. Sorta like trying to justify driving a Formula 1 to the grocery store, taking the kids to school, etc. You'd look bloody awesome doing it, but you'd also likely destroy the car in the process. (not to mention where to stash the groceries on the way home??) LOL...anyways.

Munty, I like the diagrams Especially the pump filling an upper internal reservoir which then drains into the channel that turns into the waterfalls. It's a great way to ensure the water doesn't come gushing out, although I'll still keep in mind pump speeds. I don't think I'd mentioned in my log earlier I plan on at least 2, if not 3 separate waterfalls.

Also, just had a thought re: the weight of the water. If the front trough were completely filled (assuming it was water tight right now, which it isn't), the trough alone would weigh about 9 pounds. It's about 260 cubic inches in volume. Realistically, I’d probably have to significantly cut down the volume of the trough, at least in half if not to a quarter, to make the weight realistic. The main issue is going to be that the trough won’t be directly supported underneath, it’ll be sticking off the front end of the desk out of necessity since neither desk we have is deep enough. I don’t want the case to be front heavy. Now, the trough certainly won’t be 260 cubic inches by the time I waterproof it, do the riverbed, add cliff face coming down the front, etc, so it could be that just those things will sufficiently reduce the volume to make the weight manageable. There’s also the weight of an internal upper reservoir to consider, depends on how big I can make it without making it too big.
I’ll have to work on some more sketchups with this in mind – glad this discussion happened I want to get this right the first time.

[Munty]

Ok I have another last quick doodle for you before bed! Nothing impressive but it's a possible method to achieve what you're looking for without too much hardware and it's yours if you want it

Black lines show possible positions for a big 'feature' mountain to one side and a lower range across the back which could be the backdrop to the buildings like in the pictures. Obviously need loads of trees and if you or someone you know has the skill it would look awesome to put some more distance into the background by painting/printing a horizon onto that backboard!

The blue square is a possible position for the pump, size permitting, as there seems to be some space there with your current setup. It could be attached to the main case so the drawer could still move independently of it and the pipe running up from there can also follow the contours of the case.

The pipe is the blue lines and I've put in one from the pump to go up the big mountain and then the overflow from there to go down the inside of the range to another outlet on the right. I thought splitting the left side into 2 flows could let you save on extra tanks and difficult work but still make a nice feature and maybe even bring it out under the bridge Then I stuck the one on the right side to sort of frame it but I dunno the possibilities are endless!

Regarding the weight of the water it should be ok as you've thought about it well in advance (I wouldn't have done lol) so you can quite easily shape the river bed to be narrow and shallow for the most part and only use part of the trough for the actual riversoir. That said it might give you a less compromised result if you make the river whatever dimensions you think looks best then part filling it with epoxy or some form of transparent but solid material, then have the real water on top of that. Course that would only make sense if the substitute you use is lighter than water lol

Whatever you do it's going to be awesome and I'm going to be watching with great interest

[x88x]

Regarding moving/draining/etc the system, I had an interesting thought. Suppose instead of having just a pump at the bottom, you have a big reservoir, big enough to hold all of the water in the system. The river output feeds directly into this big reservoir. The pump then pulls from the reservoir (either a feeder line or immersed in it), and sends the flow to the first waterfall reservoir (great idea for flow control on those, Munty), which then overflows into the subsequent waterfall reservoirs down the line, and eventually into the head of the river. If the flow through the river is still too much, you could even put in another waterfall reservoir with overflow feeding to the big reservoir. Now, here comes the interesting part. Put in two Y-valves between the pump and first waterfall reservoir like so:

Then, when you want to 'drain' the system, you switch these two valves, and the pump starts simply emptying the river into the reservoir, and the the tubing between the valve and the first reservoir can drain back into the main reservoir. Actually, come to think of it, you could take out the valve closest to the pump and just turn off the pump instead. Gravity should take care of the rest.

[artoodeeto]

*bump...



Been over a year, but now that I finally have a job again... (rubs palms together evil-genius-style)

Don't know what my construction schedule will be yet (March is shaping up to be a busy month), but watch this space...at the very least I'm upgrading the system soon. And it has a new vertical backboard - the old re-used fiberboard was too heavy, so I replaced it with plywood. Looks prettier (for now; it won't be visible when done) and is MUCH lighter weight:

[Waynio]

This is a challenging one to complete but after seeing how excellent the sand crawler turned out I know this will be sweet.

[mofo]

Something to consider.

(BTW, fully support this mod. Have you read the 12? tolkien history books, ie lay of beleriand. they're tough but some awesome info and stories in themselves.)

You'll need somewhere to drain or store the open areas water for transport. and valves on any open loops. The car ride would certainly be a wet one with even the highest waterfall open during transport.

A possibility is just those brass plugs that go in the ends of tubing. Valves above the falls will solve one end but the water in the reservoirs will also need plugs for backflow.