Re: Temple of Fusion - All Your Transistors Will Bow to Me
Custom = Nothing Fits - 6/28/2011
The problem with building a custom from scratch case for the first time is that you will make a lot of mistakes. It seems nothing fits, one thing is too long, while anther is too short. This what happen most of the weekend when building the computer part. I thought it would only take an hour or two to start plumping all the lines. Boy I was wrong, and only got the tubing in the base done. But the good part is, the tubing in the base is the hardest part of this computer build.
I first started off by putting in the two PSUs. I attached the nickel plate to the two PSUs, the used brass screws to connect the plate to the Temple. The brass screws are not shown in the pictures, but you can tell where the go. I didn't install the pumps, because I am waiting for G3/8 to G/14 converter. Forgot the pumps had larger holes with the Bitspower front.
Next was installing the two pumps. The first thing I had to do was get it re-wired. The power was on a 4-pin molex, while the RPM was on a 3-pin connector. The control board that I will be using will drive the pump, and it has a 3-pin male as the hook up to the pump. It is cool, the software can read the RPM, and have feedback. Also will be putting flow meters in each loop. As an engineer, you can never have enough data. Here are pictures of the re-wire and the placement of the pumps.
The next thing I had to do was get the reservoirs mounted. When using the brackets, it pushed out the reservoirs too much. There was a simply fix was to cut down the mounts. This worked out great. So I drilled the holes, and the screws were to short because off the Temple's wall. I had to run to Ace to get some longer machine screws. Here are some pictures of the process.
After that ordeal, I started plumping the tubes for the radiators, reservoirs, and the pumps. I pre-cut holes in the bottom base so I could hook up the radiators and reservoirs. However the end up being to small. I didn't want to cut first and tried to route the first tube: radiator → reservoir. I tried about 2 frustrating hours trying to get the compression fitting screwed into the radiator. I needed a break and would have some time on Sunday to work on the case again. I got some sleep and the next day the first thing I did was cut bigger bottom holes in the base. I did it with a jigsaw, but the blade was too long and hitting the top of the base, so I snapped the blade to make it shorter and it worked wonderful. I got the first route done, and moved onto the reservoirs. This was going to be tricky, since the reservoir covers the hole were the tubes are connected to it. The top hole is pretty small, but the hole on the bottom was big to help move the fittings around. It took some tries, and scraping off some dirt paint, but I got the two 90degree fittings hooked up to the reservoir and got the fittings into the base. The bad thing is I had to remove the bottom mount to get fit into the hole. I ended up breaking the mount trying to but it back on, but it was the best thing. I just used super glue on the edges, then placed the mount with the screw inside, then waited a couple of minutes, and it was good a new. Since the mount is behind the reservoir, no one can see were it cracked.
Now I moved on to the right side and ran into another problem. The radiator was sitting too high, and I couldn't get the fitting connected to the radiator, because the fittings was hitting the top of the base. So I cut the top piece in two places, so the fittings could fit (can be seen in the pic below). Since the area was small, I couldn't use a jigsaw and had to use the dremel, which took some time. The fans will hide the cut outs, and the fitting don't hit the fan, because of the ½ off wood I cut out. After that, it was smooth sailing, and I got all the connections that run through the base done. This are the hardest routes. Here are some pictures of my odyssey.
In the last shot, you will see Bitspower multi-PSU board. Easy way to hook up two PSUs. Also, the two silver things at the end of the two tubes are temp sensors.
After I got the bottom plumping done, it was too late to work on anything else. So I am looking forward to next weekend to get the computer finished. And I am glad it is a three day weekend because of the holiday. On a bad note, it might take some time to get another update done. I got to take some piece out of my current rig, to make the computer in the Temple. Hopefully I will get it done in a week or two, and can show off some finished shots, after I get it clean, polished, and the paint touched up.
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Originally Posted by SXRguyinMA
so far left of center i'm in right field
