Where do i get a cascade?

[Spanko]

My current setup is a TC4 Rev2 ALU top, eheim1250, pro core w/2 shrouds and 2 fans push pull, and a T line. I was gonna get a Dtek Whitewater but figured i might as well go all the way and get a cascade. So where do i go about ordering one, and how much is it? Also does it come with a poly or aluminum top or do i get to choose?

[found404]

There's a sticky with the web address on

[SemiCycle]

Originally posted by found404
There's a sticky with the web address on

Gonna make him searh huh? :)

http://www.employees.org/~slf/lrwb/

[Deathmasher]

it said that d-tek is now going to be making them? Also has anyone come up with a way to mount them with out the 4 holes in the mobo?

[Ven0m]

IF he's going to sell license to dtek, I think that we can start preparing for next block, like it was with white water.

Mounting problem was discussed here (http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=230363)

[Deathmasher]

Venom I can't seam to get to that link that you posted on that page. Do you know what company is making those brackets?

[Cathar]

Originally posted by Deathmasher
it said that d-tek is now going to be making them?

D-Tek is making the White Water

You asked about the Cascade. Go back to the website and click the Cascade link on the panel in the left, not the White Water.

[Spanko]

Wow thanks for link and info. I have one more question for cathar, is it possible to get a aluminum or copper top for the cascade if i order one? Id be willing to pay more of course.

[Cathar]

Originally posted by Spanko
Wow thanks for link and info. I have one more question for cathar, is it possible to get a aluminum or copper top for the cascade if i order one? Id be willing to pay more of course.

No. Did you have a problem with polycarbonate (that I use), or do you really have a problem with the cheaper and more fragile Lucite/plexi/acrylic tops that are prone to cracking.

[Spanko]

Eh i dont know too much about it, but i assumed your polycarbonate was pretty much the same as on the maze4, tc4, dtek whitewater etc etc, in which case ive heard so many horror stories about cracking and whatnot, that its pretty much scared me straight. Just for my own peace of mind id like to have aluminum or metal top, like on my TC4, because ive read so many horror stories.. but if your top is different in some way and more durable, i didnt know. I take it my assumption was wrong. If you can verify for me that its not the same i think that will ease my mind, im just really worried about a leak. But your word would be good enough for me, your already proven to be "the man" of watercooling hehe..

[Cathar]

Yes, it is different.

The DangerDen blocks use Lucite, which is a brand of acrylic based plexiglass. Acrylic plastics are wonderful and glossy. When you heat treat them, they are super glossy and amazingly transparant. Acrylic is also fairly cheap, but one of its drawbacks is that it is prone to cracking quite easily due to small stress fractures introduced at the time when the acrylic is cut. Through using polypropylene barbs, the stresses that causes the micro-fractures to expand into full-blown cracks are greatly diminshed, and this is why you see DD blocks shipping with poly barbs as a default. It is possible to use brass barbs with acrylics, but you just have to be really careful.

The older DTek blocks, and I had a chat to Danny at DTek about this, use a bullet-proof form of polycarbonate with a certain percentage of glass in it. Again, the glass helps the polycarbonate to look good, but adds brittleness. The glass-based polycarb is amazingly tough, and 10mm of it will stop a bullet from pretty much any hand-held gun, but it is still prone to cracking if one cuts into it (ala fitting a barb) and then applies outwards pressure through that fittings (ie. screwing the barb in too tight).

The newer DTek block poly tops, and the Cascade, use a non-glass based form of polycarbonate. This has the drawback of not looking quite as "glassy" as either the acrylics or the glass based polycarbonate, and it is easier to scratch. However it is tougher than most metals in terms of its ability to deal with stress and not crack. I did some tests with the polycarb I use and aluminium. It was actually easier to strip a thread in the aluminium than it was in the polycarbonate, and even after applying a LOT of pressure to strip the thread, the polycarbonate did not crack or fracture at all. The polycarbonate is amazingly pliable. The jet tubes on the Cascade can be bent at 90 degree angles, and then simply bent back into position again without apparant damage. Do it enough and they will snap off, and I don't recommend doing so, but that's the sort of material properties we're talking about here. If you did that to aluminium, the tubes would just snap off altogether.

I used to be like yourself, and avoided clear tops at all costs, especially as a block maker. When I designed the Cascade, I found that the only affordable way to machine it was to do it in a plastic material, and then spent a bit of time learning about the various plastics, what makes them different, and what makes them good, and why various block makers chose to use the material that they used.

Each material has its benefits/drawbacks. I chose robustness as a priority, and chose the material to suit.

[Spanko]

Right on, ill be ordering a cascade then this thursday(payday! yay!). After that long and detailed explanation id trust the stuff to save my life :D Thanks for the info cathar, i hope others see it, i know i wasnt the only confused person around here :D