What's a good, very small, submersible pump/reservoir combo?

[johnrr6]

Am working with an Aquarius II and a SFF machine and am generally not impressed with the Aquarius II.

Good idea for a small pump/reservoir combination-----perfect for SFF machines-----it's just implemented cheaply with low quality.

Anybody know of a VERY SMALL pump/reservoir combo.

I have a very small space to work with:

One possible area (in inches) is 2 deep x 2 1/2 wide x 4 tall

The other possible mounting point is 4 deep x 3 wide x 2 1/2 tall.

Anyone have any suggestions??

I'm a pretty good builder/modder-----if I could find a great small and quiet submersible pump----think I could build the reservoir.

Thanks for any help------John

[pHaestus]

most people use Rios for this application but I'm not a big fan. Wonder if a Hydor L20'd fit?

[pauldenton]

Originally Posted by johnrr6

Am working with an Aquarius II and a SFF machine and am generally not impressed with the Aquarius II.

Good idea for a small pump/reservoir combination-----perfect for SFF machines-----it's just implemented cheaply with low quality.

Anybody know of a VERY SMALL pump/reservoir combo.

I have a very small space to work with:

One possible area (in inches) is 2 deep x 2 1/2 wide x 4 tall

The other possible mounting point is 4 deep x 3 wide x 2 1/2 tall.

Anyone have any suggestions??

I'm a pretty good builder/modder-----if I could find a great small and quiet submersible pump----think I could build the reservoir.

Thanks for any help------John

not possible to have a 4x3x2.5 pump, and a separate 2x2.5x4 res?

[satanicoo]

Why submersible? Is is a requirement to have the pump submersed?

With that kind of space i can only recomend to bypass the res, and go directly to a pump.

[johnrr6]

The pump does not have to be submersible-----I just understood that those were quieter as the water muffles the noise. Heck----it can be any kind of pump as long as it is small and quiet.

As for the reservoir-----I can do without the pump being inside it----but I would think I'd need a fair sized amont of water as this rad is small.

Could I fashion a small reservoir to fit in the taller empty space (4 x 2) with water from the radiator coming into the reservoir from a feed line at the top and water being sucked to the pump and deployed from the pump from a feed line at the bottom of the fashioned reservoir? Use gravity to help feed the pump.

They would sit separate from one another by about 6 inches

[pauldenton]

Originally Posted by johnrr6

The pump does not have to be submersible-----I just understood that those were quieter as the water muffles the noise. Heck----it can be any kind of pump as long as it is small and quiet.

As for the reservoir-----I can do without the pump being inside it----but I would think I'd need a fair sized amont of water as this rad is small.

Could I fashion a small reservoir to fit in the taller empty space (4 x 2) with water from the radiator coming into the reservoir from a feed line at the top and water being sucked to the pump and deployed from the pump from a feed line at the bottom of the fashioned reservoir? Use gravity to help feed the pump.

They would sit separate from one another by about 6 inches

hydor L20 would appear to be small enough - if you can install it on it's side...
http://www.dangerden.com/mall/Pumps/Pump_hydor.asp

[satanicoo]

Do as you wish, but remenber, no res helps to lower temps.
If it gets hot without one, it will get hot with one.

It just takes more time.

[johnrr6]

Originally Posted by satanicoo

Do as you wish, but remenber, no res helps to lower temps.
If it gets hot without one, it will get hot with one.

It just takes more time.

Am learning.....

I thought-----in general.....

The more water----the better the cooling.

But what you say makes sense unless the reservoir has some kind of cooling capability.

If the rad doesn't get rid of the heat----more water won't help.

Was looking at a Hydor l20 or a Rio 600 lying on it's side inside a reservoir I fashion out of Acrylic or plexi.

Will the Hydor function properly on it's side??

[satanicoo]

Yes. It will work fine.

[fhorst]

I used the Eden 104, small and low wattage. Koolance makes some nice pumps with res also.
The eden is low flow rated, but with a good head. I placed them in series, and it gives me the same performence in a loop as the L20. But it is half the size, and half the wattage.

As long as it is low wattage, there is no problem submerging it. If it is high wattage, you will only add aditional heat it your loop.
A Hydor L20 is for me a high wattage pump.

[cristoff]

supposedly all a res is for is to make it easier to get rid of air bubbles and to fill the system with water...

[Grizzy]

http://aquastealth.com/index.asp?Pag...PROD&ProdID=36

Take a look at that, may not be very good quality tho

http://aquastealth.com/index.asp?Pag...PROD&ProdID=33
the pump itself without the res.

[groucho]

The following information might help you with the pump and reservoir issues.

I had purchased an inexpensive kit called the Ahanix Iceberg a while back. I put it together and filled it with filtered water and a touch of water wetter (the stuff you put in a car's radiator to make it run cooler). The water wetter did reduce the temp a few degrees Celsius, but reacted badly with the reservoir and made it crack and crumble. I eventually decided I was going to build my own reservoir and "overengineer" it a bit so it might last. Along the way, my pump died too. Since this might help you, I'll share what I did and how as best I can without pictures (I'm at work where I don't have the ability to photograph the thing to show you). My whole replacement reservoir and pump cost about $38.

I started by visiting "The Container Store" at the mall and finding a clear plastic tumbler that looked about the right size and had a reasonably good sealing lid. You could probably use any plastic container you like as long as it can handle "dishwasher" level temperatures. Mine cost me about $5.99 plus tax.

I then went to my local hardware store (Home Depot) and purchased all of the following items: 3 brass male-threaded 3/8" outer diameter hose fittings to 1/4" hose barbs (~$1.10 each), 2 brass female threaded 3/8" outer diameter hose fittings to 1/4" hose barbs (~$1.10 each), 4 fender washers of a hole size that fit securely between the hose fittings (and about 1.5-2" in diameter, about $0.22 each), silicone aquarium sealant ($2.79 for a tube), teflon tape ($0.99 for a roll), and a sturdy 3-prong replacement electrical plug (about $2.69). All this stuff cost me about $12.00.

After that, I took a trip to the local Wal-Mart and found a submersible "fountain pump" for about $19 that flowed 60gph. It was nearly the same size as my original pump, though it probably flowed less (though that didn't cause a significant problem when I monitored my temps later).

With all this hardware at my disposal, I started fabricating. I began by test fitting things. I put the pump inside the plastic tumbler and estimated about where the "outgoing" water hole would need to be. I then set the washer over that area and drew a hole of the appropriate size. I set the other washer next to that one to mark where the "incoming" water hole would need to be and marked that hole.

Using a 1/4" drill bit I made 3 holes in the lid. Two would be for the water in/out connections and one for the pump's electrical cord to go through. I used one side of a pair of sharp scissors to bore out two of the 1/4" holes to the diameter of the inside of the fender washers using the holes I drew earlier. I left the third one smaller because it matched the pump's electric cord that way.

I put some aquarium sealant around the two larger holes in the lid and set the fender washers on it. I let those dry in place, then flipped the lid over. I put more sealant around the holes on the inside side of the lid and set the other pair of fender washers in place. The purpose of these washers was to give the brass hose fittings a big secure metal surface to connect through. I did this primarily for stability and to ensure that the fittings wouldn't gouge a larger hole through the lid later on. You could omit this if you wanted to save a buck or so.

With my washer-reinforced holes ready, it was time to do plumbing. I put one threaded hose fitting through each of the two reinforced holes and wrapped the "male" ends of the threads with Teflon tape to help seal them and make them easier to remove later if need be. I tightened them as well as I could. I then checked to see that they the pump, fittings, etc., were all going to fit comfortably inside the reservoir. On my first attempt, they did not. It turns out the one or the other of the sides of the fittings (male or female, I forget, but I think it was the female) was longer and extended too far inside the tank to connect comfortably to the pump, so I had to remove them and flip them around. Once it all appeared to be fitting OK, I used more aquarium sealant to make the hole around the fittings water-tight. The resulting finished lid was something like this ASCII representation:



1/4" Hose Barb 1/4" Hose Barb
(Female Fitting) Female Fitting
| |
Fender Washer Fender Washer
| | 1/4" Hole
Aquarium Sealant Aquarium Sealant for pump
| | electric cord
==========|== PLASTIC LID =========|==========================
| |
Aquarium Sealant Aquarium Sealant
| |
Fender Washer Fender Washer
| |
1/4 Hose Barb 1/4" Hose Barb
(Male Fitting) (Male Fitting)



Now it was time to turn my attention to the pump. As delivered from Wal-Mart, the pump had only a small plastic hole for water output. That wouldn't connect to the rest of my fabrication, so I took the third threaded male fitting, coated it with the Teflon tape, and gently but forcefully screwed it into the plastic exhaust hole of the pump. It happened to fit perfectly.

I cut a small section of rubber tubing to the length to connect the hose barb on the pump to the hose barb on the fitting attached to the underside of the lid, then connected the pump to the lid.

I then connected the hoses from my existing water cooling system to the hose barbs on the fittings on top of the lid. I filled the reservoir with water and dropped the pump inside. I plugged the pump in and confirmed that water flowed through the system without leakage. Satisfied that this was working OK, I was ready to finish the job.

I clipped off the pump's electric power plug and ran the wire through that third 1/4" hole in the lid. When I got the reservoir assembled to my satisfaction, I sealed the area around the cable with aquarium sealant. (My goal was to have as little evaporation as possible, so sealing the lid this way would allow for less evaporation than, say, cutting a u-shaped hole to the edge of the lid and running the cord through that.)

I then ran the pump's power wire out an unused serial port knockout on the back of the case. I then attached the 3-prong power plug to the pump (green wire to ground, black and white to the other two connectors). I plugged it in and confirmed that the pump was running and the water flowing without leaks. Success!

For a total price around $35 I had replaced my water cooling system's pump and reservoir myself. Temperatures with the new setup are roughly 10% higher than they were with the original factory-supplied pump, which I suspect is because this new pump is a lower-flowing pump than the original. But the system is very quiet (if I turn off the PC with the pump still running you can't hear it outside the case) and cooling is still better than the air-based methods I used in the past.

If you wanted to reduce the cost of this setup, you could do so several ways. First, if you found a suitable container in your recycling bin (perhaps an old plastic peanut butter jar, for example) you could save the $5.99 my tumbler cost me. You might also find a cheaper tumbler somewhere that you like. You could also eliminate the brass fittings, teflon tape, and fender washers, running the hoses directly through the lid and sealing with the sealant. The down-side is that if you need to replace your hoses later, you'll have to scrape off that sealant and reapply it after running the new hoses. You might also find a cheaper pump out there, though I doubt it.

If you are building your water cooling rig from scratch, I'm told that there are some heater cores for cars that can serve quite well as a radiator for PC cooling and cost $10 or so new, maybe less from a junk yard. They'll require some modification to work in such a system, but could be a lot cheaper than commercial rigs.

[Andrea12]

Try out the <link removed> brand, pretty useful IMHO.

[ben333]

Get a calender. Welcome to ProCooling!

Also, by the pic anyway I would have to say thats a goddamn terrible and impractical pump for water cooling unless it's going into a flooded basement or well. I guess it would fit in a 5 gallon bucket...

[Bratie]

I'm using a <link removed> brand.

[jaydee]

Originally Posted by ben333

Get a calender. Welcome to ProCooling!

Also, by the pic anyway I would have to say thats a goddamn terrible and impractical pump for water cooling unless it's going into a flooded basement or well. I guess it would fit in a 5 gallon bucket...

Just spammers ben...