- Joined
- Aug 22, 2004
I had promised several days ago to post some pics of my copper cap water block. So here it all is. 
Many months ago I had decided that i needed to start with water cooling. The primary reason for
this was not so much that I was going to OC, which is what I do, but because my rig is
sealed inside my desk with low air flow. Temps there were just too intolerable.
I took a standard 2 inch Copper Cap ($1.95), a trusty Dremel and Cut about 1/2" from it. Like so:
For $2.50 at Home Depot I had found some Brass Finger Door Pulls that would fit exactly inside the copper Cap:
The next step would involve a little work! first the cleanup of the upper edges of the cap:
Then a little power lapping of the Bottom of the copper cap.
For this I used a standard belt sander with a fine grit paper. This is something that
I would never do to any more expensive waterblock. But for the purpose of getting
a nearly flat surface in a hurry this will do. It was Later lapped by hand using a 600grit wet/dry.
Another note: wear tight gloves when doing this, The copper material
will get very, very, very HOT!
With The extra material I had removed from the cap, i shaped into vanes and soldered
them in with a high grade silver solder, so that they would move water in a more or less outward circular pattern:
sorry about the blurred pic, its all i have on this one.
For most of the rest of this Pictures were lost, not sure where they are so bear with me.
At the Center of the Brass Door Pull I had Drilled a 3/8 hole and soldered in a length of 3/8"
copper tube with the end approximately 1/8 from the bottom. The outside edge of this
waterblock also had installed much of the same thing with about 1/2" Clearance inside for the
outlet tube. The whole thing assembled with a little JB weld and held down by a small bit of Acrylic stock and:
The picture is a little blurry and the camera flash obscured how even the surface for the thermal paste
was. But I assure you that it was VERY LEVEL and of an even thickness.
The Temps before the installation of this water block for me was very high. at the time I had 50+c
under load and 41c at idle. Now the Load temps will sit about 41c and have jumped to as much
as 47c. while I include a little Folding. Idle temps have been hovering around 36-38c
Cost of this project: $5.30 not including taxes
2" Copper Cap $1.95
Solid Brass finger pulls $2.50
Copper Tubing: had it from repair of the kitchen sink..
Plexi: A left over from I don't know what..
Nylon nuts and bolts: appx .85 (mostly leftovers from an auto repair project).
Edit: a couple of weeks after posting this, the price of the copper caps increased nearly twice what I orig paid: $3.95ea!! Inflation really messes with some projects!
Many months ago I had decided that i needed to start with water cooling. The primary reason for
this was not so much that I was going to OC, which is what I do, but because my rig is
sealed inside my desk with low air flow. Temps there were just too intolerable.
For $2.50 at Home Depot I had found some Brass Finger Door Pulls that would fit exactly inside the copper Cap:
Then a little power lapping of the Bottom of the copper cap.
For this I used a standard belt sander with a fine grit paper. This is something that
I would never do to any more expensive waterblock. But for the purpose of getting
a nearly flat surface in a hurry this will do. It was Later lapped by hand using a 600grit wet/dry.
Another note: wear tight gloves when doing this, The copper material
will get very, very, very HOT!
With The extra material I had removed from the cap, i shaped into vanes and soldered
them in with a high grade silver solder, so that they would move water in a more or less outward circular pattern:
For most of the rest of this Pictures were lost, not sure where they are so bear with me.
At the Center of the Brass Door Pull I had Drilled a 3/8 hole and soldered in a length of 3/8"
copper tube with the end approximately 1/8 from the bottom. The outside edge of this
waterblock also had installed much of the same thing with about 1/2" Clearance inside for the
outlet tube. The whole thing assembled with a little JB weld and held down by a small bit of Acrylic stock and:
The picture is a little blurry and the camera flash obscured how even the surface for the thermal paste
was. But I assure you that it was VERY LEVEL and of an even thickness.
The Temps before the installation of this water block for me was very high. at the time I had 50+c
under load and 41c at idle. Now the Load temps will sit about 41c and have jumped to as much
as 47c. while I include a little Folding. Idle temps have been hovering around 36-38c
Cost of this project: $5.30 not including taxes
2" Copper Cap $1.95
Solid Brass finger pulls $2.50
Copper Tubing: had it from repair of the kitchen sink..
Plexi: A left over from I don't know what..
Nylon nuts and bolts: appx .85 (mostly leftovers from an auto repair project).
Edit: a couple of weeks after posting this, the price of the copper caps increased nearly twice what I orig paid: $3.95ea!! Inflation really messes with some projects!
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