MMZ_TimeLord's System Rev 02 (Worklog)

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Well, I got a little more done...

I had already measured and scored lines to center the holes for the regulator anchor screws in the "fingers". So I drilled the holes and began to tap them...



One technique for keeping the tap from "wobbling" is to use a pin in the chuck and let it sit inside the hole in the back of the tap handle... this aligns the tap to the hole and makes it easier (at least for me ).



I then drilled and tapped the holes in the bottom of the "fingers" for the anchor screws for the circuit board.



Did some light sanding... here is the results... almost done...



Tomorrow I will mark, drill and tap the holes in the "fingers" for the anchor cap screws that will hold the "fingers" to the main block.

[pippin88]

Very nice work!

[Jabo]

I wish I had access to your kind of tools.... buuuu

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Well... one step closer to a finished system... The power supply cooling block is complete. Now I just need to trim up the power supply casing and install it back into my tower. Last thing I'll do to the power supply is custom lengthen the power connectors just for my drives, etc.

On to today's workload...

First off is a word of warning... if you're in a hurry, STOP... take a break and think it through or something like this may be the result!!!


Let me explain... First: I was in a hurry, second: I forgot the rule for smaller drills and taps in copper "USE LUBRICATION!", third: I got in a hurry.

Result: Broken drill bit in the first hole... offset and drilled a second with success...



...only to break the tip of the tap off in the hole.



The tap was still usable with a little grinding down, but I could not get it out as the hole does not go all the way through and there is no way to punch back out the way it went in. :shrug:

The good news is I believe that one cap screw will be sufficient on this "finger" as it has three small regulators and not that big one and two small ones.

Here are two tips for those planning to tap very small holes...

1. Use a screw of the same type you are going to use for a tap by filing a cutting edge in the end. This will make it MUCH easier if you break it off. These are soft enough you can drill back through them.



2. Use the "T" handle with out the cross bar, this forces you to use your finger tips and NOT apply too much torque.



Here is the other "finger" with the regulators re-installed and ready to fasten to the circuit board.



Here is that "finger" being fastened to the circuit board... notice the holes actually line up for the most part.



Here is the block with the fingers installed and secured to the circuit board and all the regulators in place and ready for final leak testing. (Yes, I also messed up on which hole to move over for that one I tried to correct. DOH!



The final leak test revealed one last pinhole leak near one of the cap screw pass through holes. So, out came the torch and reheated that one area with the tube end of the block in water. All fixed and tested with the completed reservior, NO LEAKS!!! YAY!

The pump does get pretty warm, but even after an hour with only the power supply block and reservior in the system, the pump could be held without burning you. (No radiator of any kind, not too bad. )

That's it for today, I'm going to re-solder the regulators and re-fasten the circuit board into the power supply casing tomorrow and begin the custom cut-out on the power supply casing. Hopefully, I can get a finished power supply out of this mess.

[JFettig]

Lookin pretty good so far, is that one inlet/outlet have 2? it looks kinda like a T

One thing you might want to consider investing in is some cold forming taps or 'fluteless' taps. They push the material rather than cut it. You start with a little larger hole than normal and a little lube and you can turn it right into the peice of copper with no problems at all! These things rock! I have tapped proabably over 100 holes with my 4-40 and 50 or so with my 6-32. you can get them at any larger tool place like mcmaster, jtsmachine, and mscdirect

Jon

[ozzy7750]

Very nice work.

Were the heat sinks in you PSU live? Or did they have no connections to them at all?

[krazy]

Forgive me if this was mentioned earlier and I missed it. What make/model power supply are you working with?

[MMZ_TimeLord]

JFetting,

I'll consider it... but after I remembered I had to use oil... it worked just fine...

I could have kicked myself for not remembering...

ozzy7750,

I don't think any of the heat sinks were "live" not anchored to any traces. I will put a meter on it after it's done without the main block to make sure. Only one of the regulators was not insulated from the heat sinks. So that's where I think there might be a problem. Not sure yet.

Krazy,

Not sure at the moment as I'm not home... I'll check and post the model number tonight.

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Krazy,

It's a PowerTek 500W Switching Power Supply (Model Number ATX500D). It normally comes with two fans... I removed one previously and will probably undervolt the remaining one.

ozzy7550,

I checked it and there was some voltage potential between the "fingers"... So I was going to check it further and had just plugged it back in to get readings when I heard the worst sound you can hear... "*POP!*" ... and my UPS clicked off.

There was a small burn spot on the back of the circuit board... I can only suspect that a small piece of loose solder got on it and ZAP... dead PSU.

So, I'm off to the net to locate another one of the same make and model.

[ozzy7750]

thats no good!!

So you dont think it was anything to do with the blocks?

When you say there was some potential there, are you talking 1V DC or are we talking big AC voltage? The problem being that that will then charge the whole system, ie if you have AC on the blocks, then you exposed CPU block will also be charged, and the way my system is, it is very easy to touch both water and my blocks. I need to pull my psu apart and check it out some more.

[krazy]

Bummer!

This place has a 500watt "titanium" version for about $20:
http://www.buypcdirect.com/dept.asp?dept_id=24-004

Here's another place with something looking similar for about $19:
http://store.yahoo.com/dealsurprise/po50dufanatx.html

Perhaps this?:
http://www.dealsonic.com/po50atxp4amd.html

Looks like a nice inexpensive (and well-laid out) PSU to work with. Do you know how clean the voltages are? I might look into getting one of these babies.

[MMZ_TimeLord]

I ordered the EXACT same power supply (as far as I can tell) from us-depot for about $30 after shipping.

Since the old supply is dead anyway I'm going to isolate that one regulator that was grounded to the heat sink. Maybe that was the cause. But, first I'm going to do some measurements on the aluminum heatsinks and see what kind of voltage they have on them before I alter ANYTHING.

Also, I really do suspect I got sloppy and left a very small sliver of solder on the board. I'm going to double check EVERYTHING this time around.

[UberBlue]

Now that you have the power supply blocks made, do you really need to unsolder the MOSFETs to install the blocks? That looks like a big risky step that needs to be eliminated.

[krazy]

When you get the new one, I'd try a few things before opening it and voiding the warranty.

Reach inside with a small screwdriver while the PSU is running through one of the air intake slots or something and short both of the heatsinks to ground. If the new PSU doesn't blow up because of this, you can be pretty confident that it is not designed to have any kind of voltage across the sinks. If it goes out with a bang, that handy dandy warranty sticker is still intact and it's DOA in my book.

[MMZ_TimeLord]

UberBlue,

yeah, it would be nice to do without unsoldering those... however, there are several large components in the way of the screws that hold them to the heat sinks. So, I am REQUIRED to remove them to change out the sinks.

Krazy,

I don't think I'll short them with a screwdriver... I think I'll check them with a meter through the vent first. If there is significant voltage present on one or both, I will just make sure and isolate that last regulator as that's the ONLY connection either of the "fingers" had.

Again, I am convinced that I messed up with a sliver of solder across two traces or something similar as there was a black soot spot on the casing and the board. I cleaned the area and it was still shorting. So it's fried.

The new PSU has shipped and should be here in a few days. Meanwhile I'm going to start on the HDD water block drive cage. I have some old dead drives around to use as "dummy" drives for the construction so I don't risk my new drives.

[JFettig]

MMZ, actually all of the transistors/fetts are conducting to the block, in order to totally insulate them youll have to get some plastic screws to go along with the shims.

kinda funny, I didnt realize that either till now

Jon

[ozzy7750]

Originally Posted by JFettig

MMZ, actually all of the transistors/fetts are conducting to the block, in order to totally insulate them youll have to get some plastic screws to go along with the shims.

i think they will probably have a plastic insert so that the screw doesnt touch the voltage regulator.

If the heat sinks do carry potential, they will for a reason, ie they will make up part of the circuit. By isolating that, the whole thing may not work.

[MMZ_TimeLord]

JFetting,

ozzy7750 is right... all but one regulator (5 out of 6) had an insulating pad behind them as well as a plastic insert for the screw to go through... only one is actually conductive to the heat sink and just one heat sink.

ozzy7750,

That heat sink is NOT connected to ANY circuit, it is only connected to that regulator. I figure it is for a reason, but I don't know why.

All I know is that if I isolate that regulator, it should NOT affect the circuit as it would dead end in the original heat sink anyway (open circuit).

Again... I'm going to double check all this with my meter when the new one arrives.

[MMZ_TimeLord]

No PSU yet... so I worked on the Hard Drive Cage solution today.

First cut out my templates. Then I sprayed some "3M Super 77 Spray Adhesive" on the plate copper and and, viola, easy to follow lines. You could, after gluing on the templates, score the lines to make it visible even if you rub the paper off.

Here are the plates for the Ati All-in-Wonder Radeon 9700 Pro solution...



Here, I have made my "tooling plates" out of 3/16" aluminum (greyish-beige plates) and have them secured down along with clamping blocks for one of the Hard Drive Cooler plates.



I have one 7/64" hole drilled through the all the plates and 5/16" hole milled through the copper only. This will allow me to secure the copper to the "tooling plates" without drilling into my table.

Here I've drilled and tapped all four corner holes and have secured the copper plate. I'm now checking to make sure my copper is square in relation to the table by first aligning with one hole's center mark...



Then moving the table in the "X" direction to another center to see how far off I am...



Only being off by about 0.02" is not bad... so, I loosened the bolts holding the copper and lightly tapped the copper so it turned to line up. Then double checked this again. "Dead on!"

Next from the second hole's center mark, I moved the table in the "Y" direction until I reached this center...



Not off at all... that I can see. A more accurate way to do this would be from the corners of the template itself as those points are farther apart. I will do this with the Video Card solution plates as the measurements on those are MUCH more critical.

Here I've set the depth of my 3/8", 4-flute endmill to 5/32" by putting a 3/32" drill bit under it for accurate measure. (The plate is 1/4" thick)



That's it for today... I'll cut the channel tomorrow. Peace...

[MMZ_TimeLord]

One more image to tickle your imaginations...

[nicozeg]

What cad software do you use?

I like very much the look of your drawings.

[JFettig]

Maybe it would be a good idea to hack the old ps case so its ready and you can just transplant the guts into there and have it ready without ruining both cases.


Jon

[MMZ_TimeLord]

nicozeg,

I don't use CAD software really. I use Microsoft Visio 2k. I use it so much at work it's like second nature to me and I've been doing orthographic drawings since I was 6 years old.

JFetting,

Yeah, I am going to hack up the cover of the old one as that's the only place that this will protrude. I will probably use the power connectors off the dead one too, as I will be making custom cables just for this system configuration.
__________________

More to follow later tonight... gonna go eat supper now.

[-J-]

timelord, do you thinks its a good idea to split the flow just before getting to the cpu block?

i guess that i would prefer having the cpu block as a flow splitter, and sending 1 line to the video block, and the other to the psu + hdd blocks.

thats my guess

[pHaestus]

MMZ_Timelord:

If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion, I'd recommend tapping a small hole in the bottom (which is the highest point) of your heatercore and putting in a little needle valve and 1/8" stretch of hose. You can dump that back into your main loop up in the top part of your case. Doing this should let you clear the air out of the tanks of the core really easily; otherwise I suspect you'll have to pull it out and shake it a bit...