View Full Version : glitter for visual flow indicator?
Posidon42
03-12-04, 01:21 AM
First of all, I did some searching and I pretty much already know what you all are going to say, but I am going to post this anyway.
THIS IS NOT FOR THE MAIN COOLING LOOP. This experiment will be used for external beautification as part of my next mod only. So what I want to do is to put visual flow indicator, like glitter, into the water cooling system. the pump will only be connected to itself and some tubing as I am going to use a small pump for this, and it is just for looks.
Are there any water pumps out there that would not have issues with this? I figured the Mags might work well since there are no gears and not many places for stuff to get stuck but I thought I would ask you all first.
Also, I wasn't sure if this should be in this forum or the alternative modding section, so mods please move this if you see the need. Thanks.
Originally posted by Posidon42
Are there any water pumps out there that would not have issues with this?
A peristaltic pump is about the only thing that comes to mind...for long term and low maintenance use.
Many mag-drive pumps can handle it okay I guess. The Laing D4 (Danger Den 12V pump) design would handle impurities better than most due to its "ball on a spindle" mounting of the impeller.
Diaphragm pumps can handle random crap fairly well.
Originally posted by Posidon42
external beautification
^^ made me laugh
I think you will be fine. I do not know how glitter acts in water so you may just want to test it out in a bowl or something. The last thing you need is for all the glitter to clump together.
I would also try to get the weakest pump possible b/c your flow rate is going to be very fast if you are only going to have a loop with no restrictions.
Posidon42
03-12-04, 03:19 AM
yeah, that is pretty much what I was thinking as far as the pump goes. I am going for an tubing-wrapped-around-my-case kind of look with some integrated lights and maybe a bit of UV dye. I haven't decided yet. I just wanted something that would look snazzy. Cause you know we are all secretly in love with computerized bling bling ;)
JFettig
03-12-04, 06:48 AM
I know someone tried it a while back and his pump died fast or something happened to it for the negetive effect.
Jon
Is there anybody that makes magnetic screw pumps, cheap?
As in an screw-impeller that will sit inside some tubing, and then gets held in place and rotated by a magnetic-drive body that surrounds the tubing.
I know that these types of pumps do exist, but I've never known of anyone that sells them, except for chemical supplies which are pretty expensive.
rogerdugans
03-12-04, 07:12 AM
A screw or diaphragm seem like the best suited, if you can find one cheap.....
Any of the "standard" pumps we use would be worn out fairly quickly by glitter, as it is a pretty hard impurity, relatively speaking.
The cheap/easiest option might be to just go with a regular but cheap (under $25) pump and not use it except when impressing others. ;) It won't last too long but with infrequent use might satisfy..........
Basically you want this type of pump:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/pics/pumps/anifin12.gif
The red/greed thing is just your tubing. The pump uses the peristaltic action to push water along. There is no contact between the particles and the pump.
use gold slauger
(hope i spelled right)
that would be funny!
Posidon42
03-12-04, 08:46 AM
heh, that would be cool, but then I would have to mod a "break in case of alcoholic emergency" section to the case as well. That would be hilarious. :)
But as for the clogging issue, I guess I just don't understand where stuff would pool to allow it to clog. Especially the mag series pumps where the entire impeller is floating in the housing and the only rotating part is the impeller itself. But I do have a spare lying around, maybe I should just try it for a while and see what happens.
Also, is the issue that maybe the glitter particles are too large? I used to work for a chemical company and they had micro scintillating particles used in the HPLC. Basically if I can get some 'micro glitter' I think this should be ok.
Your thoughts?
Big_Baller
03-12-04, 12:54 PM
Hrm that pump that cathar discribed in the gif would also be good for temps, as it wouldn't actually be putting any extra heat into your system since it dosen't have any contact with the water directly...how much heat does the average pump put in the water? Interesting.
I have also wondered about putting things in the water. What is a peristaltic pump? Pics?
What about submersible pumps? I would bet that they are able to handle moderate ammounts of junk in the water. I'll ask my bro.
ghettocomp
10-09-04, 02:01 PM
Basically you want this type of pump:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/pics/pumps/anifin12.gif
The red/greed thing is just your tubing. The pump uses the peristaltic action to push water along. There is no contact between the particles and the pump.
At the Hospital where I work we use this type of pump, but at the cost of replacement of the tubing each day, the ridgid silicone although good is not made for continuous flexing. another factor is noise, these things are loud
ghettocomp
10-09-04, 02:03 PM
First of all, I did some searching and I pretty much already know what you all are going to say, but I am going to post this anyway.
THIS IS NOT FOR THE MAIN COOLING LOOP. This experiment will be used for external beautification as part of my next mod only. So what I want to do is to put visual flow indicator, like glitter, into the water cooling system. the pump will only be connected to itself and some tubing as I am going to use a small pump for this, and it is just for looks.
Are there any water pumps out there that would not have issues with this? I figured the Mags might work well since there are no gears and not many places for stuff to get stuck but I thought I would ask you all first.
Also, I wasn't sure if this should be in this forum or the alternative modding section, so mods please move this if you see the need. Thanks.
try this stuff (http://www.novostar.com/Rheoscopic.htm), I am currently working on a window mod with it, and it looks promising.
Edit- Get the flow down low enough, with turbulence from somewhere it should look fairly cool
CPUonNO2
10-09-04, 02:07 PM
Is this for aesthetic purposes only? If there is no cooling involved, why not use something like rheoscopic fluid (http://www.novostar.com/Rheoscopic.htm)? Could probably run that through a more "standard" variety of pump.
Archer36
10-09-04, 03:06 PM
What would be interesting is somehow UV Dye the Glitter Particles, but not the water, so you would see glowing things flowing in the water!
Hmmm, a snow globe look for the PC. Never seen that in the gallery pics...
greenman100
10-10-04, 12:20 PM
not gonna be good for the bearings in the pump
Borisw37
10-10-04, 01:10 PM
how about heat convection flow, put a heater (resistor) at the bottom of the loop, that will heat up the water slightly, cause it to rise to the top of the loop, and then circulate back down. No moving parts.
CPUonNO2
10-12-04, 12:17 AM
how about heat convection flow, put a heater (resistor) at the bottom of the loop, that will heat up the water slightly, cause it to rise to the top of the loop, and then circulate back down. No moving parts.
Well, I think the last place you want more heat is near your computer. Unless of course the heat generated to create the convection currents is less than the heat output of an additional pump.
Borisw37
10-13-04, 04:38 PM
ok, then route the tubing so that the bottom part goes over a hard-drive or a video-card, a natural source of heat, unless you already have a waterblock and/or heatsink there.
Sean Lindstrom
10-13-04, 04:58 PM
You could very convincingly fake it by rotating a hoop of clear plastic past a window. You'd need a little toy motor geared down, and some rollers to support the hoop.
felinusz
10-13-04, 08:47 PM
If you had a very fine mesh filter at the inlet and outlet of a reservoir, you could conceivably put glitter into it, where it would swirl around and look cool in the turbulence. The mesh filter would allow you to use glitter without having any escape into your loop, and cause havok.
The filter would probably affect your flow rates somewhat however.
ls7corvete
10-13-04, 10:04 PM
Look its simple, you just leave a bubble in it and turn your computer over every couple minutes, kinda like one of those glitter wand toy things.
Sean Lindstrom
10-14-04, 12:40 AM
Aquariums are typically full of sand and pebbles. Even stray charcoal pellets from a filter must be chewier than glitter. I'll bet a cheap aquarium pump would give at least one year of service.
Pond pumps will handle continuous duty with sand in the impeller. They sit in gravel pits surrounded by mud, never filtered except perhaps by netting to keep the leaves and koi out. I have one in this setting (1cm mesh screen filter) and it's still happily digesting muck after 3 years. It lives in a hole at the lowest point of a concrete pond, and when I clean the pond annually there is about an inch of sand lining the bottom. This ogre replaced a pump which had been running 20 years. It growls though.
Glitters are super-light aluminum foil with a plastic coating. Softer than sand.
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