Quote:
Originally posted by Prlwytkovsky
Nice mod ! The duct is a nice piece of quality work.
I'm planning to put watercooling in the same YY case. Got mine a week ago. I was surprised how thick the metal is. How did you cut your case ? I have a dremel on the way but I'm not sure that will work....
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Thanks, but if you could see it up close, you would see that it's definitely not the engineering marvel that it appears to be at a distance.
I cut the case with two different tools.
1) Jig saw with a 32-tooth blade - I used this to cut the back panel off. After doing it, I decided that cutting off the back panel may not have been completely necessary.
I also used the jigsaw to partially cut out the square in the motherboard tray. If you're not water cooling, or if you don't otherwise need access to the bottom of the motherboard to access the heatsink mounting holes, cutting this hole isn't necessary.
2) Dremel tool with a reinforced cutting wheel - I used this to cut out part of the motherboard panel hole. The reason is that two sides of the hole were too close to the case sides to allow use of the jig saw. I could have used this method for cutting off the back panel too, but using the jigsaw was a bit faster.
I also used the dremel tool to cut the notch out of the drive mounting bracket that holds the waterpump, and to cut the hole out for the external fan box.
Buy a LOT of these wheels. It will take two to cut out the motherboard hole, and probably four to cut off the back of the case (if you do that). The curting wheels come in a pack of either 4 or 6 (i don't remember which), and they are black in color.
3) If you're going to build a duct like mine, borrow, rent, or buy a drill press if you don't already have one. Tolerances are fairly tight and you don't have a lot of room for mistakes.
4) I used a miter saw to cut the aluminum angle pieces at 45-degree angles, and you'll need a file to de-burr drill holes and eliminate the metal falsh that results from using a power saw on sheet aluminum.
5) I ordered all of the duct "skin" pieces from a
www.onlinemetals.com. They will cut their stock to sizes you request. This will save you loads of time and anguish because then, all you have to do is find a way to put them together.
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Here's a good piece of advice - measure twice, think about it, and measure two more times, and then cut.
Despite it's obvious benefits, the yy0221 case is still a bit small, but it's probably still the best watercooling case available. It could stand to be another couple of inches bigger in all dimensions (width, depth, and height). There is a YY0441, and it's more than twice as expensive as the 0221, but it's MUCH bigger, and would probably have been a better choice.
The BlackIce Extreme radiator is quite literally the best radiator I could have selected for the case/duct combination I ended up with. I will update the site to include all of the pieces (and their measurements) that I had to cut so that you can duplicate it, at least in terms of dimension. This duct definitely requires a LOT of room, but the guarantee of cooler external ambient air instead of recycling pre-heated internal air should go a long way towards maximizing cooling efficiency. I was also considering mounting a 80mm fan at the water pump, but I wanted to first see if the power suppy fan would draw out most of the heat generated by the pump.
I think if I had been a better engineer (not to mention more experienced), I could have gotten away without using nuts and instead, tapping the holes , or at least using PEM nuts. That would have save GOBS of time at the assembly phase.
Something about mounting the waterpump directly over the power supply just gives me the willies, so I was also considering mounting the PSU on it's side towards the center of the case, and putting the pump on the floor of the case next to it, but I simply got bored with thinking about it. I did, however, have the presence of mind to have an alternate backing plate made for the back of the case that would allow me to do this at a later date.
Finally, I fully intend on coming up with a "Plan E" that involves moving the pump, radiator, and reservoir into a separate homemade aluminum box that will bolt on top of the YYcube. This box will allow a full 5-inch square inlet for the radiator fans, and provide ample room for the other gear (including a larger pump, or even multiple pumps if deemed necessary).
If there's anything I can help you with, feel free to ask.