Dima_y,

Thank you very much... :dome:
________________________

Today's update...

I got the Plates soldered together in the oven last night before bed.

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0112.jpg

This afternoon I glued the templates on the 1/16" plate side and began drilling the screw holes for the Hard Drives to mount through. Here I'm just doing a small counter sink to give the bit a start point. (don't want it to walk)

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0114.jpg

After I got all of these drilled, I flipped the unit over and found center on these holes and milled out the recesses for the screws to 3/8" and milled out the crossover passage with 1/2" endmill so I can put the copper crossover tube in later.

Here I have test fitted the plates to some old (REALLY old) Hard Drives. Above is the existing drive cage. (left image)

The hashed area on the original cage is to be removed and the new plate/cage will go something like this... (right image)

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01.../Dscn0115a.jpg http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01.../Dscn0115b.jpg

Tomorrow I'll solder the crossover tube and double check the blocks for leaks.

One step closer... Peace! :p

sweet sweet sweet :)

relly sweet

timelord, arent you wasting all the work on those channels, by making the HD make contact with the thin plate?

it thoes look nice though :)

Thanks for the compliments... on with the show! :D

First off, I set in with my hack saw and cut the hashed area of the original drive cage out.

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0116.jpg

Not too shabby... :p

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0117.jpg

Made an additional slot so I could do a double bend to spread the connecting area just enough to get over the copper, like so...

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0118.jpg

Next, I cut a piece of ½" copper pipe/tubing 1/8" wider than the drives and checked the clearance...

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0119.jpg

Then, out came the torch and I soldered both sides... taking care not to overheat the plates and desolder something important! (That would be bad :eek: ) Don't worry, the drives I'm using are either bad or REALLY small capacity. (Less than 400mb)

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0120.jpg

Now the unit is mostly complete and can stand on it's own...

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0121.jpg

After the cleanup, I tested the fit of the drives again to make sure I didn't miss any extra solder blobs that might make the bottom drive fit incorrectly...

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0122.jpg

Here I've attached the modified drive cage and secured it... seems I need an extra screw hole in this location... (Red circle)

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0123.jpg

Now for the inlet and outlet bung... I cut a 3/4" x 5/8" piece off my ½" copper bar. I then drilled two 3/8" passages at 90° to each other and then milled out a ½" hole for the outlet side about a ¼" deep and soldered a section of ½" copper pipe/tubing in for the connection...

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0125.jpg

Out came the torch again and I soldered this over the inlet hole on the front plate...

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0126.jpg

Next I cut a smaller piece from my bar and made another outlet and soldered it in place. This one faces down instead of toward the back of the PC...

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0127.jpg

Here is the completed cooling cage with all four RAID 0 + 1 drives and the single EIDE extra storage drive at the top. Front...

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0129.jpg

Back...

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0128.jpg

That raps it up for today... Cheers! :D

-J-,

I don't believe so as I mainly want to get the water to flow past the copper that is in contact with the drives. The passages simply get the water to collect more heat before leaving the blocks.

sweet HDD cooler

I'm doing the same, but to make it easier to drain, since my inlet/outlet's will be at the "top".


I like this HDD block, but I would have used a flexible tube between the two plates. Maybe I'm just paranoid, and don't trust myself to get the spacing right. The funny thing is that it's not too late for you to do the same... ;)


Excellent work! Thanks for the PM, and the tips you've shown us through this thread.

No problem bigben2k... I've been haunting these forums for a while now and have gleened SO much from everyone here. I figgered I had an obligation to show to what use I put the information. :D

As for today, it was a total loss as to work on the system... disassembled my case a little farther and am preparing to hack it up with my moto-tool and other tools.

Other than that, I had other "chores" to do. :rolleyes:

I will try and get some more done this week as I'm going to be in San Diego next week for company training. :cry:

Anyone down there I should look up? L.A. area? Riverside? etc.? :shrug:

Another episode of "As the mill turns..." :D

First I had to drill and tap some new hold down's for the video card front block.

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0130.jpg

One more hold down and it's on to find the center of the first hole...

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0131.jpg

Then I drilled down 3/16" with a 3/32" drill bit (my 1/8" endmill is not center cutting... :cry: )

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0132.jpg

On the third column here... You'll notice that some of them are slightly off center. This will not matter as the endmill will cut the full 1/8" out.

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0133.jpg

Here all the holes are predrilled for the #rotor section...

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0134.jpg

Got the three right-hand columns done. You can barely make out the #rotor turbulance pins... remember these holes that are being milled are only 1/8" (Just over 3mm)

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0135.jpg

My eyes were hurting from focusing on it... so I'll do some more tomorrow. :dome:

Good night everyone! Cheers! :p

arent you going to try to make that block lighther?

maybe taking some of the non usefull parts

-J-,

I'm not too artistic... so I may just drill holes in the back side and make it appear solid. Not sure yet. :dome:

Love your work!

But what program do you use for making thoses templates? Looks alot easier too work like that! :)

Pritorian,

Microsoft Visio Professional 2002. I use it at work a lot and so it's second nature to me.

And, yes, it is a LOT easier to work with the templates. :D

Thanks man! I'll try it out :)

Well I got the #rotor area all done except for breaking the walls between holes... also haven't cleaned out all the chips yet so it's harder to see the pattern.

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0136.jpg

I also started to drill the pilot holes for the 0-80 screws... (the bit is 3/64" in diameter :eek: )

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0137.jpg

I have not finished all the pilot holes as I have various chores to do to prepare for my trip... I will monitor the forums while I'm gone if anyone has questions. :dome:

that looks great

have you considered that maybe the gpu zone is excesively restrictive?

i mean, you got quite a wide path before it, and suddenly it reduces to 5 1-2 mm channels.

maybe increasing the number of holes so you have more channels for the water to flow?

apart from that it looks great.

BTW would you be so kind to share the height of the base pads for the mem and the core?

im looking foward to make a r9800 block too

-J-,

I want it restrictive in that area only BECAUSE of the core. Also, I want the flow restricted in these blocks as the main flow needs to go through the CPU block.

I'll do some calculations on the cross sectional area of the GPU passages around the #rotor columns and the inlet. I think you will find that they are VERY close.

As to the height differences between the GPU and the RAM...

It was mentioned by BladeRunner in a previous thread that dimension varies because of IC and solder ball height. The variance is quite wide making the dimension useless for all cards.

I could post the dimensions for my card... but this measurement will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and from model to model. The variance is still to big, even of two identical model cards from the same manufacturer...

You'd be better off taking the measurement yourself. :dome:

Ahh... so now we find the reason why copper is in short supply... MMZ_TimeLord's got most of it :p

Very nice to see m8, love the hdd structure, and also nice to watch someone else put in the hours on a mill, takes some dedication to do all what you've done so far

Not been around here much recently as I'm sorting a unit atm :cool:

Thanks BladeRunner! :D

I won't be posting much to this until the 21st or so... but I will be monitoring the forums from afar. :dome:

Cheers!

Well, I'm still stuck in training here in San Diego... ;)

Hope to get some good work done when I return next week. :D

Cheers!!!

I must ask, what training are you doing?
I am in Atlanta right now for some sun cluster training (normally in houston).

I'm in San Diego for Voice over IP Soft Switch and Gateway training. (I'm in Telecom) :D

No kidding, I bet that thing isn't light. :D

Looking good man!

Another silly idea come to me mind, does anyone know how well zinc xfers heat? I ask cuz looking at your original Alum. heatsinks on the voltage regs I am wondering why not use Alum. tubing on the orginal heatsinks by using an "aluminum solder" such as Alumite or similar brand (98%zinc/2% Alum soldering rods). Theres a guy on e-bay sells small packs of the stuff for like $5-10(US). I have ordered some before and the stuff works great, I just don't know how well it xfers heat.

-MC

Well... nothing got done yesterday... so today I did a little.

First I milled a shallow run on the passages that were at right angles to the table... and some small start around the upper portion of the #Rotor area. Also (after breaking 3 bits in the tiny holes) decided to put two of the larger cap screws in the area that the passage crosses over to the back plate.

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0164.jpg

Then I got fed up with the template... (3-in-1 oil was breaking down the 3M adhesive) ... so off it came (after I marked the corners of the block outline :D )

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0165.jpg

Then I finished milling the right angle passages to depth...

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mmz_tl_01...s/Dscn0166.jpg

I'm going to try and get the rest of the water passage side done tomorrow.

Cheers! :D

The same happened to me while working with paper templates. The reason is that oils in spray cans have some solvent that loosen the adhesive. Is better using some thin oil applied by drops and the templates will last a lot more.

nicozeg,

My 3-in-1 oil is not in a spray can... it's in a sqeeze can with an applicator tip.

I do know that it's one of the oils itself that breaks down the adheasive. I may have to go to an adheasive that is oil resistant. :shrug:

i'm extremely impressed so far! keep it coming :)

Hmm, I also use 3m super 77, and switching oil just worked a lot better. Maybe you can try motor oil.

Edit: I remember another trick; use some water soluble adhesive, it resist oil very well. ;)