Black Ice, My way :)

I have been looking for a decent cooling solution for a while that will fit into the Antec Sonata that will soon grace my wife's desk, and I had a v.1 BlackIce sitting in my desk for a couple of months now, bought from a nice gent in our classifieds.

I looked at it's 5 (4 pass) endtanks and knew it just wouldn't do, and a new BIX is too much moolah, and still doesn't solve the problems that I'd found in this one. The tubes through the core were so long, that it's a miracle they got water down them at all. They were nearly up to the inside of the tanks!

Go ahead and rub your eyes, that's not PhotoShopped. That's a single pass BlackIce. I removed the old tanks, and cut down the tubes inside (flared them some too, and removed a bunch of solder beads wedged in them).
I then built new end tanks from fiberglass/epoxy and proceeded to make them threaded so I may change things as I wish.
There's solid brass (.090") plates added to the lip of the endtank that reinforces it, and keeps me from destroying it when fighting with a stubborn hose. That way, the thin fiberglass becomes a usable solution.
Hope their maker is watching....

Let me know what you think!



Testing will be soon enough, though it is leak tested.

Wow, now that's one blackice rad I can respect . Nice work

That is beautiful...excellent work! I'm with Soja on that.

Are those 3/8" ID or 1/2" ID barbs?

Thanks guys!

Those are 1/2" barbs I'd picked up from DangerDen a year or so ago. 1/4" NPT. I'd planned on making a manifold (never did), and bought a dozen of 'em.

Wow - absolutely lovely work! Looks really sturdy and professional, and as good as the original.

As a BIX "fanboy" myself, I have to say that it should perform admirably - have you considered making shrouds for it?

Wow, now that's one blackice rad I can respect

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That is beautiful...excellent work! I'm with Soja on that

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As usual, I'm the only one on the forums who likes these rads .

Since it's for a Sonata, I have to use a shroud of sorts. I was thinking of placing the BI in the back of the case (the only decent fan hole), and would have to use a 1/4" foam gasket because of rivets that stick up in the way, and also another on the fan placed on the outside back of the case. The rivets hold the backplane in, so they need to stay.
I might also use plexiglass, and edge-light it with blue.

That in effect would be an additional 1/2" shroud.
I do plan on cutting out the punch-hole grille as well.

Thanks!

I made my BIX radiator shrouds by gutting (yes, gutting!), and sanding out some old 120mm server fans. The black plastic is sturdy, and has a good structure, and is perfectly sized for a shroud. It is also slightly flexible, and doesn't vibrate the radiator mount.

I tapped threads in the existing holes, and they mount perfectly to the BIX, with a fan screwed onto the shroud. They aren't sturdy enough to support the radiator suspended from the case, but are fine for a sideways mount with support. They also have an attractive industrial look to them, and after adding a light coat of UV reactive red spray paint and they look really neat .

I use bycicle inner tubing for vibration dampening- which is really cheap, and attractive as it is invisible with the Black radiator, and black shroud. Get the fattest tube you can find, and chop it up for as much rubber as you;ll ever need

I think Plexi would work well for your idea, and look cool, although I am worried that the weight may be too much.

At a monthly local computer swap meet around here I can usually find what looks like steel/metal framed 120mms for 4 bucks each. I think I'll grab some next time.

I'd love to see your Sonata with that, as its what I've got and want to throw some h2o in 'er.

Installed water cooling in my Sonata few months ago. Single fan BIX to front fan mount, Panaflo M1A, maze 3 on cpu, and becool's maxijet pump/res combo. Adequate to maintain an xp2400 at 2400 mhz on vcore of 1.9v. I believe there's room for BIX2 for the large rad afficinados. Seen many say Sonata a poor case for oc'ing. I say we just keep this our little secret while still enjoying our nice looking cases.

9mmCensor said:

I'd love to see your Sonata with that, as its what I've got and want to throw some h2o in 'er.

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You will, but it may take some time yet. This is just the first of several parts that I'm fabricating myself for lack of solid retail solutions. Plus the fact that retail solutions are what everyone has...the new beige box, ya know?

I have a waterpump and the bottom half of a waterblock, the rest is up to me. Even those probably won't go untouched.

I'll be making my shrouds myself, partly because of size matters and partly for the hell of it. The fan shroud is a decent idea (done it before) but that would make the assembly too thick on either side of the case's back wall to work well.

I have a plan in my head, just wait a while longer

Calvin wrote:

believe there's room for BIX2 for the large rad afficinados.

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I've got an SLK-3700 clone that I want to put a big rad in (dual 120mm fans). I think these are pretty much the same size inside (as the Sonata). Anyway, how do you envision this fitting? I was looking at my case last night and I thought that it could fit at the bottom of the case perhaps, as long as I cut out holes in the bottom of course (and cut out the hard drive mounting block). But with shrouds on the fans, I think I would lose all but the top AGP and PCI slot, but it may work. Just wondering if you had a different idea that I could ponder.

Marc999

When it comes time (ie when funds become available ) plan to place in same location as the BIX - ie up against hdd rack.

BIX2 wll extend up over the mid 3.5 rack but floppy drive is short enough anyway so no problem with routing wires. Nice thing about the Sonata is the sideways orientated hdd rack making this possible. Does the SLK share this feature? If not precludes this approach unless you mod drive rack to turn it sideways. Otherwise leaving bottom of case option you mention.

cheers....

I think I know what you mean. I never thought of doing it that way. To answer your question, no the rack doesn't mount sideways. However, I don't need to put my hard drive there anyways, I can always mount it in my acoustic dampener that mounts in a 5 1/4" bay (Smart Drive 2002). Food for thought. Thanks for your input.

:tup: wow what a great work! Im impressed

DUDE! Thats awesome!!!! I want one!!!!


That sure would be cool if they would start making them like that.

Jon

I made a super quickie webpage with a few photos in progress.

The way the fiberglassing is done, you can make just about anything, including ducts, reserviors and such. Use some epoxy putty to make a more complex mould, and roll your own fan grilles and other modding parts too.
I've not seen any fiberglassing how to's here, maybe it's time...


HERE <56K friendly!

Have a good night ya'll.

Hey are you thinking about putting a How-To for that? That would be so wonderful...

Nice work