Parts for subwoofer sized rad box
 

Hello,

I'm currently building a new HTPC/fileserver. Due to the amount of hardware going in there I need to make my first rad box. To stay with the HTPC theme the rad box will be in the shape of a subwoofer (1 foot cube using 3/4" MDF).

The heat load it need to dissipate silently is about 210W (D820 + 8 HDDs) using a Swiftech Storm and two homemade HDD blocks that will mount to the sides of the drives. Total tubing will be under 10 feet of 1/2" Tygon.


The question is now what to put inside the cube itself:

Rad option 1: Singe PA160 mounted at the bottom and a single silent 120mm fan at the back wall. The airflow is in through the rad and out the back.

Rad option 2: Dual PA160 monted on left and right side and then two silent fans at the back. The airflow is in through the rads and out the back.

Rad option 3: Wait for the PA120.2 and mount it at the bottom and have 2 fans at the back. The airflow is in through the rad and out the back.

Pump option a: Single Eheim 1048.

Pump option b: Dual Eheim 1048 in series as per Cathar's post here.

Pump option c: Single Laing D5.


The fan(s) will be controlled by a T Balancer and a 6" Themotube for easy filling and bleeding.


Which combination above will make me a happy mashie in the long run?

The PA160 isn't really what you are going for here, it's made for pc-cases and thats where it excells due to the large surface area compared to the HE120.1 and other single 120mm fans. That while still fitting in a standart midi-case.

What your aim is here is as much frontal area as possible, something that'll just fit under the bottom of your cube would be perfect. Be it a heatercore or a pc-rad.

Just remember that a bottom mounted rad will tend to suck up heaps of dust if you slack off on the vacuuming.

Ehm, it excells because it is a lot more efficient at low air flow/pressure.

isnt 3/4" MDF a tad heavy to just hold a radiator and a pump? Or is that just what you have laying around? :D


Id go the dual PA160 and dual 1048s route. 2 PA160s would outperform a 120.2
If you dont care about the $$$ difference go with the 160s. As for pumps try silentpcreview forums for threads on which pump is quietest. I think the 1048s are still held to be the best. A D5 would give more pressure though.

The thick MDF will be a good sound killer, the inside will also be padded with foam. I have a 1048 that has been in service 24/7 for nearly 4 years without problems and very silent unless I forget to top up the system once every 9 months. ;)

I would use B: Dual Eheim 1048 in series or similiar setup.

A) with single 1048 you will be getting less than 1 gpm for storm block. That means the storm block will start to underperform and temps will not be so impressive.

B) Best choice but similiar options. You already have two 1048's so I would stick with those. Slighty better would be dual mcp350 (even better Modded MCP 350
or dual CSP MAG.

C) mcp655 pump gets too noisy at setting 4 and 5. I would go for mcp350 single modified version. Would be quiter and perform the same.

To think about it 2 pa160's is overkill. A single pa160 with two fans can handle that load without a sweat. Mashie since you have godlike modding skills I would setup three 120mm fans. Two fans in stack configartion for push and one pull exhaust out.

If you stilll like the idea of two pa160s 12x9x9" rad box would be smaller as a 1ft cube is larger than the HTPC which is not that small.

It has higher airflow at lower pressure due to the large surface area. That equals higher performance with low pressure fans. Radiator thickness has got something to say as well, but frontal area is the most important factor.

The PA160 is 160mm*160mm = 25600mm^2 (a normal 120mm rad i only 56% of that)

Two of them is then 2*25600mm^2 = 51200mm^2

A large radiator, say 250mm*250mm is 62500mm^2 and will, with a resonable thickness have less airflow resistance than two PA160.


The unveiling of the new PA rads is comming up soon, in any case I reckon you should have a peek at them before you decide on anything.

I personally would avoid a solution that has the rad on the bottom of the case. It'll be a vacuum cleaner then more or less :)

Thanks guys, so from the input above I gather my initial idea of 2 x PA160, 2 x 1048 and 2 x 120mm fans will work just fine :)

It's a trade-off, like anything else. One of the things being "traded for" is the form factor, which, indeed, is about perfect for a tower or mini-tower.
If you're building a big box, I'd suggest you find the biggest rad you can fit (at a price you're willing to pay). For instance, the 2-193 (11.2x7.875x2 - 569 sq cm frontal area) Inlet and outlet both face "front" and are 0.625 (so no soldering, just cut tubes to length). About $45 at RockAuto ('76 Plymouth Trailduster).
Yes, it's 2" thick, but if you're not pulling much air through it (low noise fans) then the moving air mass is going through a much larger area, which means lower velocity, which translates to lower resistance.
Note - I just picked this core "out of a hat" I'm sure there are better/cheaper/larger/whatever available.
If you haven't already built the box, I'd think about something that's the same length and width as the PC you're going to use it with, but only four or five inches high. Put a 2-766 (14.188x3.25x1.625 297 sq cm) in one side - or even use two, one in each side - and vent with one or two nexxos 120mm fans at the rear. Still plenty of room inside for a pump and reservoir.

Hey, I still think one pa160 with two fans is fine but two pa160 is killer. Why have one when you can have two.

I think a bonny heatercore 120x300x50mm with 4 low rpm fans would be good.
$30 for the Bonny Rad, some paint, two shrouds and 4 CM fans for $5 each.

Being the cheapest or most logical setup is Mashie's forte. It's all about ohhs and awws since Mashie has some of the sickest mods ever. I think the two pa160 has more drool factor and that is what he is gunning for.

Did I mention I'm a pro at constantly changing plans? ;)

Well last week I got a new TV bench and after doing some measurements I moved away from the subwoofer idea.

What I now intend to do is to place the HTPC in the left shelf, receiver and DVD player in the right. The center speaker will be at the fron of the middle section while the rear of the middle section will hold the rad box. The space available behind the speaker is 435mm wide, 250mm high and about 150mm deep to not starve the speaker elements from air.

So what this new design mean is that I could fit a PA120.3 or BI III Pro near the top on the front and then have two nexus fans at the rear. At the bottom it shold be plenty of space to embedd the pumps in foam.