My watercooling project

jimanny · 03-25-2003, 04:44 PM

I've been lurking around here for a little while with a lot of interest in watercooling my PC, have collected a lot of great info, and have recently decided to take the DIY plunge. I attached a few images of my work in progress.

My case is a Lian-Li PC60 and I decided to design something that was totally self-contained and that would fit neatly on top the case. The design uses a 5.7"x10.7"x2" heater core, 1250 Eheim pump, 2 120mmx38mm Mechatronic fans and custom 1/4" acrylic case. So far, I have most of the materials, but still need 1/2" piece of copper for the block, acrylic sheet, tubing, fittings, electronics, and other misc. items I don't know about yet.

There's also a work-in-progress flow switch which I plan on mounting at the inlet side of the reservoir bulkhead. I plan to use an infrared proximity switch to "sense" flow on or off, then hook the switch into a relay circuit yet to be created. The box in the back is the space claim for the 40-watt power supply which I plan to use for fans, flow-switch. and relay circuits.

It will take me a couple months to actually fire this thing up due to my daily work load, but hopefully this will be one project I will actually complete (I'm optimistic). If anyone's interested, I'll post addition images as the project progresses.

Thanks for all the great info!

- jimanny

jimanny · 03-25-2003, 04:45 PM

resevoir view

jimanny · 03-25-2003, 04:46 PM

top view

gmat · 03-25-2003, 06:51 PM

Neat. Yeah post photos. We all love photos here

Mark Larson · 03-26-2003, 10:44 PM

Those are some bitchin 3D drawings. I love 3D drawings

The res is kinda small...?

Alchemy · 03-27-2003, 12:12 AM

Very snazzy work with CAD. What program is that?

I was going to give up on a cooling project using a wooden chest, but since I haven't sold any components I may as well keep them and try again on my next vacation. I doubt it will look this snazzy.

My only concerns are that you might be killing your flow by cramping things so close together and making sharp turns in your tubing, and if the res is shallow enough that you might have trouble getting air out of the system.

Still, very good job.

Alchemy

Skulemate · 03-27-2003, 01:31 AM

If you're going to have a reservior, why don't you have the pump draw from it directly? I don't see the sense of adding any more restriction to the intake line than is absolutely necessary. Sure, you'll have to rework the layout if you do this, but I think it's worth it.

jimanny · 03-27-2003, 02:42 AM

Hey all, thanks for the comments...

I'm using Pro/Engineer Wildfire to help design the project. To get the images, I just used the default room with lights, reflections, and shadows enabled. I was in a rush when I made them and didn't realize the low quality. Future pictures will be clearer, I promise!

As far as the design goes, as I mentioned I wanted to size this thing so it fits nicely on top of my Lian-Li PC60 which (minus the bezel) is 8.25"x18.25". I also wanted the reservoir built into the acrylic box so that it would be right in the front for the coolness factor. Using the ProE, it's pretty easy to move stuff around and I played with different layouts of the components to find one that makes sense for the flow, fits inside the box, and also makes the height as low as possible. I found that the components barely fit in just about any layout and I still need room for power connectors and hose fittings in the back. I did have the radiator flipped so that the pump was directly attached to the reservoir, but the fans had to be pushed to the very back of the box. I figured it may be better to position the fans so that they were better lined up with the radiator rather than to have the pump directly attached to the reservoir. The way it is now, there would be a short hose connecting the pump inlet to the res but it could change.

Another thing that I'm wondering: do you guys think the reservoir is too small? I think there's only about 2.25" of room between the inlet opening and the front wall. To help any air float to the top, I placed in a baffle between the openings, but I haven't tested anything yet so I'm not sure if it will actually work. I know there'll be a lot of flow in there cause I ran the 1250 from the kitchen sink and man that is a lot of water coming out of that thing! I could add an inch by increasing the case length to 19.25" which would allow more room for the air to escape, but it would also make the box flush with the front bezel of the case. I guess that would be ok.

Tonight I wired up a test optical switch circuit which will be used to sense flow. It worked! So the next thing to do is finalize the design for the switch to house the electrics. The little flap in res is the preliminary design.

I also have a whole list of other things I plan on adding so I'll post more info and images as I go.

Thanks again,

- jimanny

gmat · 03-27-2003, 04:30 AM

There's no such thing as a 'too small' or 'too big' res. As you already figured, the only problem is turbulence / bubbles related. It's more a matter of geometry.

ProE rules !!!

UnloadeD · 03-27-2003, 07:19 PM

Looks nice, but I have a few suggestions. If you had the rad mounted to the top, you could have one fan on each side blowing out. As long as its sealed up pretty good, the fans dont have to be lined up to draw air thru. Also the gray box in back is for power? You could run a molex from the PSU, 12v DC on 2 wires for fans and 115v AC on the other 2 for your pump. The space saved could goto your res.

peace.
unloaded

MadDogMe · 03-28-2003, 03:42 AM

Or just use AC fans?, I have an old 120mm Papst AC fan kicking around, so they do make them that small. Be better using 170mm fans though...

People have had trouble adjusting speed on AC fans when using dimmer switches, alot end up without much 'resolution', an on/off effect almost...

PS, I would'nt use a reservoir at all myself...

msv · 03-28-2003, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by gmat
There's no such thing as a 'too small' or 'too big' res. As you already figured, the only problem is turbulence / bubbles related. It's more a matter of geometry.

ProE rules !!!

Should the res have a shape that makes whirling in the water difficult, like a triangular cross-section?
Didn´t really get that geometry topic.
regards
Mikael S.

gmat · 03-28-2003, 09:11 AM

Good question. Indeed the goal is to prevent bubbles to get caught in the stream, and to see them go straight from the inlet to the outlet.
Splashing (sloshing ?) ain't a good thing as well, since with several additives foams forms up quickly.
To this ends, i think that:
+ having a 'high' (as in altitude) inlet, and a 'low' outlet
+ having a baffle or some kind of filter as used in model aircrafts
+ having inlet and outlet not facing directly each other
will help.
Of course the shape of the 'box' (or tube section) is a factor of these parameters. I'm not sure about 'square' or 'round'... i built mine with what i found, ie a tube section. But one could experiment with various shapes...

DarkNeo · 03-31-2003, 05:31 PM

Your idea sounds familiar

Graystar · 03-31-2003, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DarkNeo
[b]Your idea sounds familiar

Your tee looks like...um...well...um...oh...forget it.

airspirit · 03-31-2003, 06:03 PM

Your res will be fine, as will its draw for the pump, since I'm assuming there will be a straight shot of tubing from the res to the pump (use thickwall/reinforced tubing or you'll regret it). The res is just to bleed bubbles and store extra fluid ... as well as a convenient place to fill/drain your system. I like the design ... very efficient. It also exposes your system to less risk since there are less places inside of your box for it to fail. Consider putting the box UNDER the case, though, to eliminate the chance of a leak pouring down into your system (and to facilitate filling/draining it).

Very nice design (to both of you

... though I'd do something about the enema tube, DarkNeo).

DarkNeo · 03-31-2003, 06:31 PM

It not my rig its a friends. The top housing can be bought @ JPI Performance Its called the TranZporterZ

Graystar · 03-31-2003, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DarkNeo
It not my rig its a friends.

Distancing himself!! LMAO!!

jimanny · 06-08-2003, 12:34 AM

Ok, it's been a while since I last posted but I've worked on the project here and there and I have some new pics of the rig:

http://home.attbi.com/~jimanny/water...r_1024x732.jpg

http://home.attbi.com/~jimanny/water...r_1024x768.jpg

And thanks airpspirit for the feedback. I did think about mounting the rig under the case, but leaned toward just placing it on top because it's easier to move around if needed. Also, to address issue of a possible leak into the case (from above), I plan on sealing the entire case like a fish tank at the bottom and then designing in a 1/2" lip with a small leak tube attached to the bottom and running down around the case. There's not that much coolant in the circuit, so the small leak tube should do the trick.

Currently, I'm working on the electrics for the rig and plan to have something new to post before the month is out.

Party on...

- jimanny

Sproket · 06-08-2003, 01:12 AM

jimanny

If you spend as much time creating your watercooling rig as those cad drawing's, you will have a very nice system!

Those cad's almost look real.

Kewl

03-26-2003, 10:44 PM	#5
Mark Larson Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: MN Posts: 67	Those are some bitchin 3D drawings. I love 3D drawings The res is kinda small...? __________________ AMD Fanboy.

03-27-2003, 01:31 AM	#7
Skulemate Cooling Savant Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 381	If you're going to have a reservior, why don't you have the pump draw from it directly? I don't see the sense of adding any more restriction to the intake line than is absolutely necessary. Sure, you'll have to rework the layout if you do this, but I think it's worth it. __________________ Michael E. Robbins M.A.Sc. Candidate, University of Toronto 12.1 GHz of AMD's finest (17.7 GHz total) crunching proudly for the AMDMB.com Killer Frogs SETI BOINC: Dual Opteron 246s (Iwill DK8N) \| XP2800+ (Shuttle SN41G2) \| 3x XP2400+ (ASUS A7N266-vm) SETI BOINC: 2x P4 2.8E (ASUS P4R800-vm) \| Crunching 24/7

03-31-2003, 06:03 PM	#16
airspirit Been /.'d... have you? Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Moscow, ID Posts: 1,986	Your res will be fine, as will its draw for the pump, since I'm assuming there will be a straight shot of tubing from the res to the pump (use thickwall/reinforced tubing or you'll regret it). The res is just to bleed bubbles and store extra fluid ... as well as a convenient place to fill/drain your system. I like the design ... very efficient. It also exposes your system to less risk since there are less places inside of your box for it to fail. Consider putting the box UNDER the case, though, to eliminate the chance of a leak pouring down into your system (and to facilitate filling/draining it). Very nice design (to both of you ... though I'd do something about the enema tube, DarkNeo). __________________ #!/bin/sh {who;} {last;} {pause;} {grep;} {touch;} {unzip;} mount /dev/girl -t {wet;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} echo yes yes yes {yes;} umount {/dev/girl;zip;} rm -rf {wet.spot;} {sleep;} finger: permission denied

06-08-2003, 01:12 AM	#20
Sproket Cooling Savant Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 193	jimanny If you spend as much time creating your watercooling rig as those cad drawing's, you will have a very nice system! Those cad's almost look real. Kewl __________________ NF7-S Bios D1.8 218FSB X 11.5 1700+ DLT3C 0310 @ 2511Mhz TwinMos 2x256 PC3200 BH-5 Albatron TI4800se 310/643 3dmark 15,110 3DMark2001SE Link

03-25-2003, 06:51 PM	#4
gmat Thermophile Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: France Posts: 1,221	Neat. Yeah post photos. We all love photos here

03-27-2003, 12:12 AM	#6
Alchemy Cooling Savant Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Boston Posts: 238	Very snazzy work with CAD. What program is that? I was going to give up on a cooling project using a wooden chest, but since I haven't sold any components I may as well keep them and try again on my next vacation. I doubt it will look this snazzy. My only concerns are that you might be killing your flow by cramping things so close together and making sharp turns in your tubing, and if the res is shallow enough that you might have trouble getting air out of the system. Still, very good job. Alchemy

03-27-2003, 02:42 AM	#8
jimanny Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: CA Posts: 9	Hey all, thanks for the comments... I'm using Pro/Engineer Wildfire to help design the project. To get the images, I just used the default room with lights, reflections, and shadows enabled. I was in a rush when I made them and didn't realize the low quality. Future pictures will be clearer, I promise! As far as the design goes, as I mentioned I wanted to size this thing so it fits nicely on top of my Lian-Li PC60 which (minus the bezel) is 8.25"x18.25". I also wanted the reservoir built into the acrylic box so that it would be right in the front for the coolness factor. Using the ProE, it's pretty easy to move stuff around and I played with different layouts of the components to find one that makes sense for the flow, fits inside the box, and also makes the height as low as possible. I found that the components barely fit in just about any layout and I still need room for power connectors and hose fittings in the back. I did have the radiator flipped so that the pump was directly attached to the reservoir, but the fans had to be pushed to the very back of the box. I figured it may be better to position the fans so that they were better lined up with the radiator rather than to have the pump directly attached to the reservoir. The way it is now, there would be a short hose connecting the pump inlet to the res but it could change. Another thing that I'm wondering: do you guys think the reservoir is too small? I think there's only about 2.25" of room between the inlet opening and the front wall. To help any air float to the top, I placed in a baffle between the openings, but I haven't tested anything yet so I'm not sure if it will actually work. I know there'll be a lot of flow in there cause I ran the 1250 from the kitchen sink and man that is a lot of water coming out of that thing! I could add an inch by increasing the case length to 19.25" which would allow more room for the air to escape, but it would also make the box flush with the front bezel of the case. I guess that would be ok. Tonight I wired up a test optical switch circuit which will be used to sense flow. It worked! So the next thing to do is finalize the design for the switch to house the electrics. The little flap in res is the preliminary design. I also have a whole list of other things I plan on adding so I'll post more info and images as I go. Thanks again, - jimanny

03-27-2003, 04:30 AM	#9
gmat Thermophile Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: France Posts: 1,221	There's no such thing as a 'too small' or 'too big' res. As you already figured, the only problem is turbulence / bubbles related. It's more a matter of geometry. ProE rules !!!

03-27-2003, 07:19 PM	#10
UnloadeD Cooling Savant Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: MidWest USA Posts: 176	Looks nice, but I have a few suggestions. If you had the rad mounted to the top, you could have one fan on each side blowing out. As long as its sealed up pretty good, the fans dont have to be lined up to draw air thru. Also the gray box in back is for power? You could run a molex from the PSU, 12v DC on 2 wires for fans and 115v AC on the other 2 for your pump. The space saved could goto your res. peace. unloaded

03-28-2003, 03:42 AM	#11
MadDogMe Thermophile Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Just shut up ;) ... Posts: 1,068	Or just use AC fans?, I have an old 120mm Papst AC fan kicking around, so they do make them that small. Be better using 170mm fans though... People have had trouble adjusting speed on AC fans when using dimmer switches, alot end up without much 'resolution', an on/off effect almost... PS, I would'nt use a reservoir at all myself...

03-28-2003, 09:11 AM	#13
gmat Thermophile Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: France Posts: 1,221	Good question. Indeed the goal is to prevent bubbles to get caught in the stream, and to see them go straight from the inlet to the outlet. Splashing (sloshing ?) ain't a good thing as well, since with several additives foams forms up quickly. To this ends, i think that: + having a 'high' (as in altitude) inlet, and a 'low' outlet + having a baffle or some kind of filter as used in model aircrafts + having inlet and outlet not facing directly each other will help. Of course the shape of the 'box' (or tube section) is a factor of these parameters. I'm not sure about 'square' or 'round'... i built mine with what i found, ie a tube section. But one could experiment with various shapes...

03-31-2003, 05:31 PM	#14
DarkNeo Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 5	Your idea sounds familiar

03-31-2003, 06:31 PM	#17
DarkNeo Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 5	It not my rig its a friends. The top housing can be bought @ JPI Performance Its called the TranZporterZ

06-08-2003, 12:34 AM	#19
jimanny Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: CA Posts: 9	Ok, it's been a while since I last posted but I've worked on the project here and there and I have some new pics of the rig: http://home.attbi.com/~jimanny/water...r_1024x732.jpg http://home.attbi.com/~jimanny/water...r_1024x768.jpg And thanks airpspirit for the feedback. I did think about mounting the rig under the case, but leaned toward just placing it on top because it's easier to move around if needed. Also, to address issue of a possible leak into the case (from above), I plan on sealing the entire case like a fish tank at the bottom and then designing in a 1/2" lip with a small leak tube attached to the bottom and running down around the case. There's not that much coolant in the circuit, so the small leak tube should do the trick. Currently, I'm working on the electrics for the rig and plan to have something new to post before the month is out. Party on... - jimanny

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)