My new WC project

The victim:

Cheap Codegen server case.


Side view


My homemade block.


You can find more info on the block here.

Once the copper comes in the block will be redone. Pretty simple design that actually does well even with my old crappy setup that now cools my K6-3 server you see in the pictures. Hopefully I can tweak it some and maybe beat Cathars but I doubt it. Fun to try though. Out with the lexan top for a copper top. All 1/2 barbs but I will try 3/8 center barb from the info I gathered from BillA's water block testing.

New parts on order hopefully will be in soon. Heater core from a 1970 ford fairlane. Thanks to Unloaded for clueing me in. It has 2 inlets and one outlet(all 5/8) which will make my female npt threaded fittings work just right plus make the hosing look better and hopefully better flow. Then i can change barbs at will without resoldering everytime. I looked at Earl's performance hose ends. Really nice but a bit pricey. Might just try to get them instead of boring brass barbs.

Still undecided on a pump. I like the hydors with the o-ring seals.
New AOC high cfm aluminum fan. New brass sheets or copper sheets for a shroud to match the heater core.

This will take some time. I plan on doing it right with a nice look. I enjoy it when others display their work in progress.So hopefully i can keep this thread for a log and let others watch the progress or deprogress.

Cheers

very nice man, just make your center inlet have a 1/4ID at the bottom, thatll give it some velocity.
or you could make a middle plate with that 1/4 hole, then the holes for the outlets and clamp it in there

I like the case Looks perfect WC

Decided to put the rad at top. I have atleast 1 inch of space from the top to the top cover I can hide the rad in. So the rad will only stick out by 1 inch inside plus the shroud and fan. Or mount it to the bottom. Hard drive rails seem to be the only thing supporting the case so that doesn't seem to be an option. I'm mounting the pump to the side where ever it will be closer to the rad. Just use some good rubber grommets to keep it from vibrating.

I say move around your drives so you can put the rad in the bottom front. You could cut out some of the plastic in front and put in some metal mesh or something.

New heater core

New heater core with two inlets and one outlet. Thanks for cuing me in Unloaded!!



Just need to sweat on my fittings and make a shroud. Then to make the mounting to fit in my case just right.

Just waiting on my hydor pump and fan and I should be set.

awesome dude..
u ordered the hydor L30?

HappyAmdOwner said:

awesome dude..
u ordered the hydor L30?

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Yes. I liked it after I seen it's compact size and comparable performance to the eheim. Plus I seen it taken apart and seen the o-ring seals. I don't know if eheim uses this but that is why I went for the hydor plus it's price.

Just got the Hydor pump and Delta 120X38 152cfm fan. Got my female adapters and 1/2 barbs for the heater core too.. Waiting on my 1/5X1/4npt barbs for my block. Those seem to be hard to find in a store; I had to order them. Shroud in the making. Got a nice saturday soldering project now.

Heater core with new barbs and female fittings.

Nice job on the heater core..

Lookin good!

I'm lookin for a new pump, post how the hydor does..

Coog said:

Nice job on the heater core..

Lookin good!

I'm lookin for a new pump, post how the hydor does..

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So far so good. I havn't got the system together yet but I had to try the pump out. Stuck it hoses to it and pumped water out of a sink. Shot 6 feet across the room once it was primed and very quite. I couldn't hear it. Let's see how it does once it's all together and running 24/7.

That delta fan pushes some air and loud to boot!! I'll setup a three pole switch for 5, 7 and 12 volt then it should be nearly silent.

6 ft aye bet that was fun lol

Well, once you get the air out of the system it's practically near quite. I'll have to redo my bleed/fill idea. Right now I installed a brass T and barb to the female adapter inlet on the core but that took nearly 30 minutes to bleed the air out. The pump doesn't put out any heat that I can feel. Might just do as Dodgeviper did and solder a barb on to the top cap of the core. Currently it's going through it's leak test. Hope it passes.

One thing to note: make sure the impellor cap is on correctly with the hydor. It only fits one way. I had it the wrong way at first. Couldn't figure out why it leaked.

Well a minor set back. Kind of ****es me off! Tryed to add a bleeder valve to the top of my rad. Drilling the hole the bit caught the brass and the drill bit acted like a screw causing it to drill right on through to the fins. No way of fixing it. So I had to order a new one! 55 dollars spent again, so a total of 110 dollars just in a rad! LOL

Before that experience, I had the whole system together outside of the case and mounted the beast of a delta on the rad just to try it out. Now I know why fan guards are so important. That Delta is a finger mangler! I bled like a stuck pig for 2 hours and the one band-aid I had left after the kid got to them didn't help me one bit.

I got the rad mounting all situated and hoses cut to size. Got the male plug and power switch from an old power supply mounted for the pump. Need to find a small sheet of copper to make a shroud, pick up some auto trim to trim out the rad hole and then wait on my new heater core again. Then it's done!

pretty nice man, how does the h/c work? what ones are inlets and what ones are outlets, do you have a better pic? strait on pic?

JFettig said:

pretty nice man, how does the h/c work? what ones are inlets and what ones are outlets, do you have a better pic? strait on pic?

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There should be one pic above the last one with the blue plastic caps on the barbs. Thats pretty much a head on pic. The one on the right is the outlet and the two on the left are the inlets. I found it doesn't impede flow as with a Y-fitting plus makes the tubing alot neater. Performance is the same or a bit better. The downside is it's twice as much as the chevette heater core. I wasn't comfortable drilling an extra barb on the chevette core, as you can see I trashed the original rad with a drill. That's why I bought this heater core.LOL

One more set back! The lexen top cracked and leaked down my MB. Took the wife's hairdryer and dryed it out. Didn't hurt anything so I'm lucky there. Got the new rad in also. Now I need to get a harder top other than lexen. Lexen tops suck. I'll never buy or make a block using a lexen top again.

yet another! lol, Im in the same boat, but I mite make one or 2 just for the looks, to see how everything is working, and for the ease of machining, make yourself an aluminum top for that sucker,
I have had a few spills in my day, as long as you get them cleaned up good, your alrite

Did just that but did it add some weight to the block. Then I took the dremmil to it and polished it up with some buffing compound. The thing shines now.

Got it all put together and just need to tidy it up my case some. Finish my shroud this weekend I hope. I just wired tied the fan and rad to it for now. Need to get the rpm sensor set right. I think it needs the ground to help read the rpms. Pretty good temps too. 28C air with 30C water and I hover at 35C idle and 37-38C load. So I'm a happy WC despite my fan mangle finger, cracked lexen top, and trashing my first rad. LOL