Project: External Watercooling Box
 

Here is my progress on my external enclosure for all my WC gear. This box will have it all: portability, cool water temps, and silence. So far what you are seeing is just the base and all the gear positioned on it. The final dimensions will be an 11" cube. I will enclose the box with clear red acrylic. The acrylic tube will extend above the top of the box for easy filling and bleeding of air. As you can see, I have designed the box for minimal space so it can sit beside my computer and go with me to LAN parties. Thus, I have reduced the amount of hose by placing the pump and heatercore in direct contact with the reservoir. I am also using a variable speed AC fan controller to control fan speed.

The hardware is this:
Comair Rotron Caravel AC 10" 550CFM fan(from digikey.com)
Via Aqua 1300
Unknown Heatercore
2" OD Acrylic Tube (same as in sig)
Hampton Bay Fan Control "For Ceiling Fans" (found at Home Depot)
11" x 11" x .125" Clear Red Acrylic (from Ridout Plastics)
11" x 11" x .5" Particle Board (painted gloss black)


http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/box1.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/box2.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/box3.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/box4.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/box5.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/box6.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/box7.JPG

This design is not final, so if you'd like to suggest any minor improvements, I can take those into consideration.

I have two areas in particular I would like suggestions: For the fan intake and outtake, should I drill small holes in the acrylic sides to make a vent or cut one large 10" hole and cover it with screen? Also, should a make a shroud for the fan? I would perceive this to be quite difficult for the shape and size of this fan.

wow that's a umm.. big umm.. fan you got there.. it looks nice and all. I don't know about lanning though.. lugging that around doesn't seem to portable. but whatever you like.

Yeah I think you should put a shroud around that rad because you want to force the most air through the fins as possible. Since the thing is going to be outside of the case your gonna have to think of a way of making a pretty shroud

For your vent, I would cut a single large circle and then use a chrome grill

It would look nice and you can show off how BIG your fan is :)

Why do you have a res (as it really doesn't seem like you need one with a inline pump)? and will that res not block 1/3rd of the flow on the rad?

@ ItsSoLARGE: I was thinking of a shroud, but I can't figure out a design that would work. Normally, you have a fan smaller than the radiator, but in this case it is reversed.

@ jtroutma: Do you know of a place that carries 10" chrome grills?! ;)

@ jaydee: I thought the res would be a good idea for filling. Also, it would collect any air bubbles. I don't really think airflow through the rad would be inhibited too much, because the res is about 1.5" from the rad. Also, even on the lowest of the three settings, the fan still pushes quite a lot of air. 550 CFM at max, perhaps 200 on low. So optimal airflow is not much of a concern.

After looking through the pics again I agree about the airflow. But still don't think the res/air trap is needed especially for a space saving project. Theoretically if that rad will always be standing upright like that you could drill a couple 1/2" holes (maybe one on each side) in the top and solder on a pipe to let the air out and to fill. Also that would dramatically reduce any possible brakage/leakage during transport as that res mounting (although I do like it!) doesn't look to strong to take bumps and stuff.

air flow
 

The air should be sucked through the rad. and not pushed, it will work much better. Thanks,
John:)

Well you said usually the shroud is bigger than the fan.. but I had always believed that it would be better to have a bigger fans blowing into a smaller rad because the pressure going through would be much greater (as long as the fan can handle the pressure)

Definitely one big hole for fan intake... those little holes don't work well (small intake area) and they love to whistle with some fans...and it's not a nice tune...:)

as for a shroud... can you find large enough (and nice looking too) funnel that matches your fan dia, and cut it on the other end to match the width of the rad... just thinking...

fan
 

I would still suck the air through using that big ass fan and a shroud on the fan side. Just my 2 cents worth. Thanks,
John

I decided to make a fan shroud out of aluminum foil tape, and although it is not the most attractive thing, it directs the air pretty well. I have everything mounted and sealed, or should I say *had*, because the seal between my pump and reservoir started leaking. So now I am off to buy some Goop™.

Here's a hint: Never use Lexel™ sealant, it is a cheap substitute for silicone that makes a very weak seal. Not only does it take a week to fully cure, it does not bond well to acrylic, even though it claims to work with acrylic. Also, it is toxic. When I peeled it off my res after it sprung a leak, it came right off. There was barely any adhesion to the acrylic at all!

I will get some pics up as soon as I remount the pump.

this guy makes plexy funnels for his twister bongs. Maybe you could use his technique to make a plexy/sexy shroud?

http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showth...g&pagenumber=1

For the grill you might want to consider a 10" subwoofer grill. You would have to figure out a way to mount it on the fan, but that shouldn't be too difficult. Go here for some different styles to choose from. Any local car stereo shop should have any of those grills.

I don't think you really need a shroud at all, especially if you are gonna fully enclose that puppy and then suck the air through the radiator...just seal the radiator and fan edges...

Tokamac

Thanks for the tip, 2old_honda, I'll definitely check into that.

Here's pics of the fan ducted with the aluminum tape:

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/box02.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/box03.JPG

And here's it in action.

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/boxon03.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/boxon05.JPG

http://home.pacbell.net/pqjack/boxon07.JPG

Please note the waterblock you see is temporary. I can't comment on performance since I don't have an accurate means of measuring yet, but it seems to do a lot better than my PAL8045.

I'm still figuring out how the acrylic casing will be constructed, but I'm just happy it's running right now.

BTW: The fan is actually spinning in those pics, just at a very low RPM.

nice fan!

for a cowling you could do something like this:

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~mujaj/cowling2.jpg

basically its just aluminum L pieces (black) facing out from the radiator and then C pieces (yellow) connected on them, and then finally a sheet (red) attached inside that. Then just cut a hole on the sheet for the fan and you got a nice looking cowling

I think this is the right fan grill
case etc grill
looks to be out of stock

These guys have a different version
Meci
MECI Part Number: 290-0120

(The magic of Google !)
;)

Those grills aren't quite large enough... one's for a 172mm fan and the other is for a 215.9mm (8.5") fan while koslov is using a 254mm (10") fan in his setup.

Damn,
I thought I was all helpful, turns out just wrong!;)

that fan is kinda small...

:D

I actually have one of those laying around...wonder where it is:evilaugh:

Why not use the box as your shroud:
A round hole in the back with the fan attached.
A rectangular hole in the front with the radiator attached.
Seal the box. Turn the fan on. It sucks air through the radiator and pushes it out the back.

I think I am going to stick with the aluminum tape ducting. The rad gets plenty of airflow, even on low, so I am not going to worry about it. The water temp seems very stable, I'd guess it is very near ambient.

I keep hearing this whistling sound, and at first I thought it was a leak, but upon close examination of all connections, there were no drips anywhere. I think it might be my IBM 60 GXP failing... what a surprise:rolleyes: .