Modding radiator, building res, ect....

[WebMasta33]

Ok, I just bought my radiator from Autozone Anyways, I don't like the way the fitting are done, they pinch off at the connection. I wanna pull them off and put fittings in the other side.

So should I just solder a copper plate over the old holes? Or should I use some sort of epoxy?

--Second, I'm building a res tank for my water. What thickness or plexi or lexan should I go for? Should I just use pure silicone caulking?

--Third, I'm building my own waterblocks. Should I just tap out screw holes and seal it using screws with a oring? Or should I try to epoxy it?

Any answers are greatly appriciated

[Brians256]

Bear in mind that I'm not the expert that many others are (Kevin, UnaClocker, Joe (of course), pHaestus, etc...)

I'd use epoxy to seal off the old holes in the heatercore.

I have no idea how to build a res with acrylic or plexiglass.

I'm confused about your screw holes. Why would you need to seal them? Are they the mounting holes? If so, I would have assumed that they would not intersect the water channel(s) and that the could just be untapped holes. Confused on this last one. I have built two waterblocks, so I was hoping to give an answer to this one. Sorry.

[twocpu]

Originally posted by WebMasta33:
Ok, I just bought my radiator from Autozone Anyways, I don't like the way the fitting are done, they pinch off at the connection. I wanna pull them off and put fittings in the other side.

So should I just solder a copper plate over the old holes? Or should I use some sort of epoxy?

--Second, I'm building a res tank for my water. What thickness or plexi or lexan should I go for? Should I just use pure silicone caulking?

--Third, I'm building my own waterblocks. Should I just tap out screw holes and seal it using screws with a oring? Or should I try to epoxy it?

Any answers are greatly appriciated

Epoxy in general is very brittle & will crack with continued thermal stress. Use a catalyzed urethane adhesive, or or find an epoxy that has a decent flexural modulus. Any slow setting, casting epoxy that you can find in most hobby shops will work. The JB Weld that most people use because it's cheap and easy to work with will fatigue and crack over time with thermal cycling.

[AllTalkSebrasky]

I do know that there is a special glue made for plexi and acrylics. its slightly acidic so it melts the plastic together or something. but thats all i know.

[f155mph]

Hey All,

I am new here and I found this site to be very helpful. I am building my first H2O system myself. Anyway I just build a res out of acrylic. It is not that hard to do. I went to a local plastic store to buy it. MAKE SURE YOU MAKE A MARKUP OF THE RES WITH CARDBOARD SO YOU KNOW EVERYTHING FITS. ALSO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE THICKNESS OF THE ACRYLIC ITSELF. Oh, find a place that is willing to cut the acrylic for you. I wasted $10 since I just guess on the size I need. I ended up making a bigger one. My res size is 6w x 5.5l x 4.5h with 1/2" acrylic. The hardest part is the glueing and fitting the barb on the res. I got NPT 1/2" barb. You will need to drill the hole out to 3/4" and get a NPT 1/2" pipe tap at the local hardware store(Home Depot don't have it). When you applied the glue(smell like acetote) you got to do it really quick cause it evaporate fast. So get a brush and put a lot on the plastic. The slap the other piece of plastic on to it. Put as much pressure you can on the joint, and if you do it right there will be no air trap in between. You can see right through it. Be really to have some sore arms, might want to go get some big C clamps. Lastly I seal everything up with 100% aquarium silicone.
Sorry for the long post, hope this help.