? about fitment of 2-342 in dragon cases

I have a compusa case that's pretty much the same as a Antec/chieftec dragon case. I removed all the hdd cages and have the two 120mm holes planned out. I noticed the power button might be getting in the way if I plan on using the 2-342. The caprice heatercore would fit easier but I want the single pass

Anyone have pictures of their 2-342 in their dragon cases? It'd help me a lot in planning everything, thanks

i certainly would be impressed if someone fit the 2-342 into a cheiftec case.

Eh, I should be able to just find. Just gotta remove all the hdd cages

I easily fit a 2-342 in an antec 830sx with the HD cage taken out.

Well anyone who wanted a pic:



Now just waiting for my waterblock to come in. I'm pretty proud of that shroud I made from plexiglass and tape. Also planning on painting the heatercore black

Looks good, did you make a big hole in the front of the case? You may need to reinforce the front if you didn't leave much of a border when cutting.

Yeah, I still have to cut out the big rectangle in the front. I'll make sure to stay away from the very corner.

jlin453 said:

The caprice heatercore would fit easier but I want the single pass

Click to expand...

note for the record: you can convert a caprice core into a dual channel, single pass. You just have to drill a 9/16" hole in the center of the bottom tank, thread in a 3/8" NPT x 1/2" barb and then reinforce it with solder. the top two fittings become inlets and the bottom one the outlet - that way, water enters the top, moves down each side and then exits thru the middle fitting in the bottom tank.

I'm not exactly sure why it would be easier to fit though...must be a different year model than my caprice as the one I have is almost the same length and width but an inch taller than a 2-342. The somewhat massive '77 bonneville core dwarfs both in height at 12-1/2" with the tanks. Of course, it ain't single pass but you can mod it the same way you can mod the caprice if you find one with the right bottom tank. There is little that cannot be fixed with a drill, torch and dremel when it comes to heatercores.

Do you guys think I made the shroud too thick? Those 120mm fans are 38mm thick, Sanyo Denski's. The shroud is currently about 1.5" thick.

Weapon, thanks for your post

jlin453 said:

Do you guys think I made the shroud too thick? Those 120mm fans are 38mm thick, Sanyo Denski's. The shroud is currently about 1.5" thick.

Weapon, thanks for your post

Click to expand...

I didn't catch this if it was posted in the thread but are the fans pushing air or pulling air thru the core?

Either way, 1.5" thick should be fine provided the shroud has an airtight seal to the core. If you want a hair bit more performance, cut a divider plate and place it horizontally on the underside of the shroud between the fans so that it divides the shroud compartment into a top section and a bottom section. Each section will then have a 120mm fan working on 1/2 of the core area. Make the divider plate as thin as possible - 1/8" plexi works well for this.

Also, when I setup a heatercore, I try to get a good seal between the core and the case, the core and the shroud and the shroud and the fans. You can lose some performance if you have airleaks between any of the components. Vapco cork tape works great for making gaskets for the separate parts but it is a bit messy - thin neoprene also makes a great gasket. If you don't plan to take them apart anytime soon, you can seal em up with a bead of clear silicone.

Hm...interesting, first I've read about dividing the shroud. But yeah, the fans are pulling air through the heatercore and into the case.

Your shroud looks great, perfect size

I found when mounting my Two BIX radiators in the front of my Chieftec case, that you need to be *extremely* careful when planning the radiator mounting holes, and the two 120mm blowholes for your radiator fans.

Because of the 80mm fans that are supposed to be mounted in the front of the case, in the hard drive racks, those annoying 80mm grilled blowholes are in the front piece of metal. These can bodge your mounting without some precise measurements, I was off by a mm or so on one hole, and I finally had to use several washers to get a snug fit without the screw slipping into one of the gaps from those grilles.