Good junction box to use as reservoir
 

I went to Home Depot the other day to look for a good res, and this is what I found:

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/DSC00980.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/DSC00979.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/DSC00977.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/DSC00983.JPG

It was in the electrical section, a floor junction box. The thing is about 6.25in tall and 5in diameter. It has 4 7/8in outlets that come with plugs. It has a removable lid that fits on airtight. The plugs would obviously need to be sealed, but I think I am gonna leave the top unsealed, this way I can remove the lid and add water when necessary. Price: $11. Whaddaya think?

damn that thing is huge compared to my little 12oz air trap :eek:

well you might want to seal up the top and put in a clear window/plug of some sort so you can fill it and see inside via that protal or whatever

That's definitely workable. Do you plan to try to fit it inside your case? You could always cut it so that it's not so tall.

I am planning to put it in an external enclosure, probably an old AT case or something similar. It will be at the top and probably protrude a little from the top of the case. I might cut a 4 1/2 circle in the top and mount some plexi there so I can see inside. Then I can just look in and see if it needs filling and remove the whole cap when I need to.

My question is, Do I need to worry about pressure from accumulated air bubbles building up in the top of the res? I am using Tygon, and I hear it's pretty airtight. Pump is AV 1300, and I'll be using lots of tight hose clamps. If so, could I alleviate the pressure just by opening the top every so often? How often would I need to do that?

never. it wont get pressurized at all (well, maybe an insignificantly small amount due to the water expanding, but its nothing to worry about). just keep it tightly closed at all times (unless filling) and it should be fine.

That looks pretty good. I think that the plugs on the bottom would worry me a little. Even sealed. I used this one which, is a little bigger, but still just as nice...

http://members.cox.net/webmaster-cch/images/MJB-RES.jpg

Here's what I did to the junction box this weekend:

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/top.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/side.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/lidtop.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/lidbottom.JPG

I got an 8x10 sheet of plexi at Home Depot for $2 and Dremeled it to a 4 3/4in circle. Then I cut out a 4 1/2in hole in the lid, and epoxied the plexi to the underside. Now I can see where the water level is and tell if I have any kind of nasty growth.

I am also planning on putting a red LED in the bottom to light up the water. Does water wetter make water noticeably red or do I need some kind of dye? I don't need any UV dye as I only have a regular cathode light.

Here's a pic of my current rig, aircooled for now, so you can see why I am trying to match colors:

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/case_angle.jpg

Here it is with the CC off:

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/lightoff.JPG

So, as you can see, I've already put some effort into creating a unified color theme for my case, and I would like to have water that matches. Any suggestions?

edit: Tell me if the pics are too dark, I really can't tell on this monitor I am using. My main rig is down due to "Unmountable_Boot_Volume." Thanks XP, now I gotta hunt down my install CD so I can repair the dang thing.

Water Wetter will get you that red color if you use enough.

looks like mine.Thx
http://fotos.terra.com.br/album.cgi/262362
Sorry my english