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Water cooling stuff

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There's an Eheim 12v at FCPU, $105 though. And yeah, big pumps just don't seem right by me either.

Edit: I've seen many home-brew res's made from PVC tube, nice ones too.
 
I heard that it's difficult to make reservoirs on containers that are not flat. PVC tube is round so I don't see how you can make a flush, water tight seal. I'm definetly sure I'm going to make my own reservoir. I don't like the designs on any i've seen online. Anyways this is a good way to save $20.
 
Oh, I had assumed that you were going to make a round one. If you're going to make a bay-res wouldn't lexan be the best choice?
 
I haven't decided on the style of res. The only reason I think it won't be round is because I can't think of a way to make a good connection. I'm not saying it has to be a bay res, I basically just want anything that will hold a decent amount of water and will fit in the tight space I have.

I haven't done any research about making a res with lexan. What do you use to make a water-tight connection between two pieces?
 
I've never done any hardcore fab work, but you can buy bulkhead fittings that work just fine. Do you want links? Lexan is a polycarbonite that's harder and easier to work than standard plexi.
 
Go here: http://www.modernplastics.com/lexan.html and then click on the "Platics Purchase Center" link on the left. You'll need to navigate through some links until you get to the Lexan items in the thicknesses. I'd imagine you'd want ~1/8-3/16" material (if not a little thicker, especially if you're going to screw into it). I suggest doing a cardboard mock-up of the item so that you can figure out what size sheet you'll need to get. The smallest is 12"x12" for $10. Then it goes up from there to 12"x24" for $20, 12"x48" for $40, etc. Then you'll need to have it shipped (of course). The 1/4" (.220") is about 20% more for the same sheet sizes... You have to decide IF it's really worth the pain of cutting (stuff smells NASTY when you cut it with a saw, or you'll need to use a heat knife/grinder), gluing it, or forming it with heat (as in your kitchen oven). While it IS strong stuff, it takes experience to work with it well. I worked at a sign shop for a few years, where we used the stuff. If you didn't time the heating JUST right, and work with it fast enough, you'd either get warping, bubbles, or other things would happen to ruin it. The people that really knew how to work with it made it look easy, but it wasn't. Even WITH the proper equipment on hand to work on it.

I'd say, you're better off just buying a res that's already made and use it. If it's going inside the case, and can't be seen unless you either open it up, or look hard, don't worry about it. Personally, I'm still going the external res route, which means I care what it looks like on top of how it performs.
 
Thanks for all the good info. My plan was to cut out six flat pieces and make a box. Then I was just going to glue them together somehow and use caulk to fill the edge joints. It's not that I care so much what it looks like. The only 3.5 dual bay res I found had the fill hole facing the front of the case. This means everytime I want to top it off a little I have to pull out the res...which would require me to move pump and motherboard try among other things. I just wanted to make a custom one so that I can choose exactly the size so it fits without taking up excess space. I also want to put the fill hole so that it can be easily accessed without removing or adjusting anything.

Do you know how to make water-tight seals with the lexan?
 
When I was at the sign shop, they had special glue for lexan. I don't remember what it was called, but I know it was strong stuff. It essentially melted the material some, and then fused it togther. If you didn't do that properly (as well) you'd get a weak joint/seal and have problems with it later. Caulk will only go so far too, before it can't handle what is trying to come out. Have you thought about [maybe] reversing the way the 3.5" bay res. goes into the case? Have the fill towards the inside, and run the lines so that they can come out the front (formally the back) and still work? You could, even, use some metal brackets to kick the res into the case more if you need to for the tubes to run without kinks (or get the kink-less stuff). OR, get elbow bend fittings for the res so that the tubes come out towards the sides anyway. You could even make them go down to the bay below and then to the pump/radiator... Depending on your case (as well) you could mount the res on the bottom of it (if there's room) so that all you'll need is a funnel, or funnel and length of tubing, to fill it/top it off.

You might need to get a bit creative to have the system fit as you want it to. That's the biggest thing I'm finding... I'll probably be kicking my optical drives down one bay so that I can top mount the radiator between the PSU and front of the case, with it venting out the top. That will mean pulling everything from the case in order to cut the vent holes as well as mounting holes for the fans (and radiator) as well as figuring out what type/finish grills I want to use. I might even pick up a roto-zip tool in order to cut the large holes. That way, it will be a cleaner cut and require less filing to finish it off. I want to make this look as professional as possible. That way, if I have a customer want the same thing, I can show them the finished (working) product. That usually closes the deal for me.
 
On the first page at the bototm of this topic, I have included links of what I wanted. The res picture is there as well. I thought about doing as you said and putting the fill hole facing in. But I read that having 90 degree bends aren't good. Then if I put the res like you said I'd have a 180 deg bend so that prolly can't be better. I don't know what to do about the res but it sounds like I'm not going to mess with this lexan crap. By the time I buy everything to make it, I could afford a $25 res. I think I'm going to just buy a res but I have to find the right one.

The creativity that went into designing the setup for my comp is fairly complex. If the given dimensions for the various parts I want are valid, everything will just fit into my case. I haven't actually bought anyting yet, I'm just planning and making sure everything will fit into my small case.
 
You could probably get some elbow brackets and use those to mount the res to the bottom of the case. Then you'd have it closer to the pump, have the fill hole easier to get to, and not have any 90 or 180 bends. Just bolt the brackets to the bottom of the case and use them. If you got them long enough (cut them as needed to get them to mount to the base) then you could even bend them over the top of the res to make it even more secure.
 
I'm not exactly getting this method. By elbow brackets do you mean 90 deg metal brackets you can buy at hardware stores that holds to things together at 90 deg angles? I also don't quite get what you mean by mounting the res to the bottom of the case. At the bottom from of my case, I have 5 3.5 bays that go all the way down. I figured I would put the dual floppy res at the bottom two bays and make it right next to the pump. This is pretty much the only way I can get all components to fit. But then the fill hole is still facing the front which will be hard to get to.
 
I just started thinking but will my setup be enough to cool overclocked amd64 and overclocked radeon 9800pro? Assume that I get a hydor l30 pump.
 
For the base/bottom mounting, you could put the res outside of the bays and thus make ALL of it accessable to you. Unless you're using ALL of your PCI slots, you should have enough room to put the res. there. The angle brackets would be used to hold the res in place. You can secure one of the legs (of the brackets) to the case and then either screw the other leg to the res or just bend it over the top (if the bracket is long enough). Either way, there IS a way to make the res more accessable to you, you just need to think about it some more and map out the placement before you start putting it together. I'll be doing that before I get my own liquid cooling system. That way, I know where everything is going before it arrives. Plan ahead and you're ready to go from the start.
 
Ooooh, now I see what you mean. Yeah that ain't a bad idea to put the res under the vid card. I don't really plan on gettin anything else for the pci slots except a wireless card so a res should definetly fit. Also, I can move the pump to go as far in into the 3.5 bay slot so that the res is more easily accesible. Good thinking. I'm going to order all the parts soon but I think now I have a basic layout of everything. Of course things will probably change once I get the parts and see the actual sizes.
 
if your getting into brackets and stuff, why not mount externally on the rear of the case. some long metal brackets to hold it a bit away and stuff. less trouble.
 
I was thinking about mounting it outside like akira34 was planning on doing. It would save a lot of valuable space, it would be safer, and I could more easily see when my water level is getting low. The only problem is that I wanted to keep everything internal. It would first off look nicer. But I do move my comp around a bit, like once a month, and when I'm loading/unloading from my car there is a greater chance that I bump the res into something and cause it to break.

The other thing was that I wanted to keep the res right next to the pump...I read somewhere that this is the best setup because it uses the least amount of tubing or something. I have an 80mm case fan opening on top and I saw that they sold res's that mount on top openings just like mine. The rad would also be on top. The problem with this is that I would go from the top of the case (for the res), to the bottom (for the pump), then all the way back to the top (for the rad). That probably wouldn't be good would it?
 
I plan to put something around my res to protect it from bumps and such. Especially since I intend to have it on the right hand side (when looking at the front of the case) which is what you rest it on when upgrading items (like the video card) or generally working on it. I just need to find the materials I intend to use, draw out the item, get some items cut and such and then install it. I'm leaning towards using diamond plate aluminum since it's light, strong, looks cool, and would accent the black case pretty well. It also wouldn't be too difficult to paint flat black later (to match the case) if I wanted to. I might even mount the pump to the either the side panel, or bottom of the protector so that there's less line between the pump and res. Thinking outside the box opens up more than a few possibilities.
 
As long as you follow the basics, the way you assemble your loop is pretty flexible. My circuit is:

Pump -> CPU -> GPU -> Rad -> Res -> Pump

From the GPU to the res is about 18in, but that doesn't cause a problem because I have a nice pump. Don't be afraid the experiment if you think you can do better than orthodoxy. The fact that you move your case regularly changes things a bit though.
 
Originally posted by: HardWarrior
Pump -> CPU -> GPU -> Rad -> Res -> Pump
Click to expand...
I thought it was supposed to be pump -> rad -> cpu -> gpu -> res -> pump. I read somewhere that the case temperature may raise the cooled water in the res if you do rad -> res -> pump...
 
akira, is your pump going to be on the bottom of the case? if so are you going to mount the res near the bottom also?
 
Since my res is going outside the case, I'll be mounting it as high up as I can (the feeds will probably be about halfway up the case). The pump is either going to be on the bottom of the case (inside) or on the bottom of the protector outside the case. Either way, it will be a short tun between the res and pump. It will also be a fairly short run from the rad to the res (rad being on the top of the case, inside). Where the pump goes, exactly, and how it goes will determine the shroud depth. I'm still going to make it so that I can see the fluid level inside the res and have easy access to the cap (for filling). I still need to wait until either the end of next week or the following before I can finally order up everything. I'm still waiting for that bloody payment to arrive so that I can do this.

Still, with it being a bit cooler today, my processor was between 38C and 40C while I had the system running. I didn't do much with it, so I don't know how a load would have effected the temps... Still, I look forward to doing the liquid cooling. Especially if I can afford the non-conductive (elctrically) fluid... Just need to figure out how much I'll need... Or should I just order up a gallon and keep the rest in reserve???
 
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