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.
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.