View Full Version : my microATX worklog pics
well, after more than a couple of years reading wc articles and playing around in my spare time, i've finally gotten serious (and gotten the time) to do it once and for all. of course nothing can be simple, so im doing a microatx self-containted wc system. now show and tell...(captions on top)
the case im going to wc with layout drawn in. this case is ridiculously small, though it doesnt look it from the outside. that big rectangle shapewith the 5 holes in it that takes up the better part of the right side of the case is the single 5.25" drive bay. I have planned to run the tubing (copper) in this way: pump>(under dvd and hd)>rad>(snake around the psu and the sides of the case)>maze 4 cpu>(follow the same path backwards)>pump. if that didnt make sense look here...
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/Water%20Cooling%20Project%20007.jpg
my "workbench"
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/Water%20Cooling%20Project%20001.jpg
tools i used... a (POS) dremel, a dull hacksaw, a pair of pliers, solder (also a propane torch and flux)
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/Water%20Cooling%20Project%20004.jpg
HEATER CORE MOD
my first (and only so far) thing i had to do was mod the heater core... i forgot to take pics of the original, so you'll just have to look at the cross-reference pic...
as you can see one tube comes out of the side and the other out of the front. i cut off the one that snakes around first (again no pics). then i decided to make a hole in the front of the other tank to have the outlets in the same place. the side outlet won't fit in the case.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/MicroATX%202-570%20Core.jpg
here's a pic of the semi-finished product. i still have to somehow take care of that original tube.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/Water%20Cooling%20Project%20002.jpg
i made that @#$$% hole with that little POS dremel only and soldered in a piece of the original curvy tube... he he that took a while. but its easier to cut the sheet metal than plexiglass blocks, surprisingly. another shot from straight on. notice the drop of solder on the fins of the core. i didnt get this thing on the first try (very little experience). i am still trying to figure out what to do about that. i guess i could just melt it and let it run down or try to suck it up w/ the bulb.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/Water%20Cooling%20Project%20003.jpg
well that's all for now... i thought i'd get some pics up and see what yall think. i think ill lay out my tubing and run down to lowes to pic it up.... or maybe tomorrow. this project might be pretty slow going.
jungle
the garynator
12-14-04, 06:10 PM
well, good luck with it...btw, why such a small case?
it's a TIVO clone using mythtv. i wanted to keep the whole thing small so that i could put it with a tv and not take up too much space.
i got to work modding the case just a little tonight after the heater core. i drilled the rivets and took out the very top brace and bent a couple of problem pieces until they snapped off. then i hammered the case back into shape he he. this lack of tools is getting annoying.
jungle
:\ i was hoping someone would have something to say he he. update, its now fairly late and i've made the core ugly... first i tried cutting the original tube out w/ the dremel but didnt seem to be working. so i had a small hole just above it (real smart). so i went ahead and tried the copper plate cover idea even though i couldnt get the entire tube cut off. instead of listening to my more intelligent side.... i did this. solder>leak test>mors solder>leak test>even more solder. you get the idea. anyway i'm trying to plug the last gap with some marine goop and i gave the seams a little too. im getting better at soldering...really. :( ill post a pic tomorrow.
jungle
ls7corvete
12-14-04, 11:58 PM
Post some pics of the case. I would like to see it ;) are you PCI slots full hight or half hieght?
BTW Im MicroATX too ;) Nice to have a challenge, although my case is not really that smalle only about 1.5" shorter than a lanboy.
next case will be this:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-112-047&depa=0
Having the psu on the side will give me the smaller size that I like and I will have space for a double 120 HC at the top in the optical drive bays.
they slots are full sized. its a powmax case. heres the link. (http://www.powmax.com/pics/micro/3304silver.htm) its probably about the width of a 2U server, but a lot smaller in the other dimensions. i wish id gotten the black one... maybe ill paint it too.
jungle
despite the apparent lack of interest in my project :cry: lol, i will post my progress if only for myself.
i have nearly finished the heatercore mod. the soldering gods have looked down upon me and smiled. i feel like im playing chip's challenge and the girl has finally said "looks like your having some trouble would you like to skip this level?" anyway. i took the first patch completely off, ground down the tube to the side of the core and broke the patch in half. then i soldered it to the side of the core. it probably would have been better had it not folded over the top, but heres to living and learning. pics
a shot of the finished hc from the front. i am about to plunge it in some vinegar in an attempt to clean it up a make it pretty.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/Finished%20HC%20Mod.jpg
this is the patch that i made and soldered on. i made it from a piece of tubing from the original core that i cut down the center and flattened out. you can see the residual solder from my first attempt on top of the core. and yes i know its a horrible joint.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/Closeup%20of%20patch%201.jpg
will work more later.
jungle
Lookin good so far. Looks like the core could use a soak in some vinegar though.
its in the vinegar now... how long should i soak it?
Personally id say as long as it needs it. possibly up to and hour to make it fairly clean. It took lime juice about 45min or so to clean my maze4 which wasnt as bad as your rad is.
the garynator
12-16-04, 03:47 PM
don't worry, a few of my projects didn't attract too much attention post wise, but the views are what's important :) I haven't posted much cuz there's not much to say... seems like you've got everything under control
Viper2004
12-16-04, 03:51 PM
Can't wait to see the results of this! Good luck, :attn:
ha ha i guess i was a little whiny. thanks for the support. i borrowed a real dremel tool tonight from my girlfriend's dad (hopefully an eventual father-in-law). it looks like its gonna tear through my case, but i havent tried it yet. very tired. bed now.
jungle
Well i tried out the dremel this morning and d*** that thing can cut through some metal. it's ridiculous. i definately have to get one of these for myself. anyway, i modded the case just about as much as will be needed i think. it basically involved widdening the drive bays at the top so the core would be able to slip through... pics
the newly modded case posing with the beautiful dremel. notice the large hole at the top of the case in the front. heatercore will come out here.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/Modded%20Case%20Posing%20with%20Dremel.jpg
now the test fit in the case.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/HC%20test%20fit.jpg
after modding the front of the case, i decided to test fit the core with the psu. it didnt work very well. so i decided to mod the psu as well, which i had been wanting to do in the first place because the wires had to curve all the way around when they could have just gone straight out of the bottom of the box. so my new best friend dremel went to work again and cut some places out. i also removed the voltage switch and stuck it down inside to get it out of the way. then i bent the outer casing of the psu to get just a little bit more room for the core. now the test fit.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/PSU%20and%20HC%20test%20fit.jpg
you cant really see the end of the core sticking out in that pic b/c it doesnt go past the front of the case with the cover on. this im very happy about. the 53 bucks for the exact core i could use was worth it. here is a shot of the front with the silver cover on and a dvd case for scale. i had to dremel and saw out a bit of the front as well so the core could fit. i'm pretty sure i will be painting the case and the core black for the finishing touch.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/front%20of%20case%20hc%20in%20place.jpg
lastly let me give you a close up of the very latest mods to the case and the psu. even though its a little blurry, you can see where i cut out part of the bottom of the psu so the wires could come through. also there is a little cut out for the tubes from the hc to fit through.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/PSU%20and%20Tube%20mod%20closeup.jpg
i think ill take a break and get some lunch. that may be all for today. im running out of things to do before i go to lowes for my plumbing stuff. cheers.
jungle
after a long delay...i'm back. i've been to xmas and texas and such, so i haven't had a whole lot of time to work on my project. happy new year's eve to everyone. and now some pics, with captions of course.
the only real hurdle ive jumped(?) is part of the fitting issue. i went to lowes and got a whole bunch of plumbing stuff, but when i had put all the fittings together, i found that they were too big. here's a pic of the 3 things that i used to screw into my waterblock and pump.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/screw%20in%20parts.jpg
i would have had to put a small piece of tubing inside the to parts on the left to get them together. anyway this was much too big, so i cut off the hollow part of the middle piece and ground it down so that it fit inside the elbow. that gave me an elbow with a female thread. once i screw in the brass male permenately, i will solder it too.
now here's a pic of the finished elbow screwed into the pump. you can see why i had to do that little unplanned mod. the card on the left is the video card and in the top part of the pic is the cd rom drive.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/tight%20fit%20pump.jpg
ok now a couple shots of the case with the layout just kind of sitting in there. i this first one you can see that the layout is exactly the same as the one in the first post.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/all%20parts%20put%20in.jpg
and finally, i thought id post a pic of the wb and its position in relation to the cd rom drive, psu, and hc. its really really tight in there. i'm not sure how i'm going to manage the routing, but i'll get it done somehow. thats all for now.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/tight%20fit%20wb.jpg
jungle
All I can say is nice job. You are doing excellent work. I'm looking forward to the finished product.
=ACID RAIN=
12-31-04, 02:11 PM
Damn that does look good.
I've been thinking about mythtv myself, and I even have my wife considering a mythtv rig over a tivo or dvr at this point. I'd certainly like to see this project come out successful! Think you might be interested in writing up a how-to on mythtv as well? :D
Cyrix_2k
12-31-04, 02:19 PM
Nice. Soldering those things is a pain. I'm able to make joints that don't leak, but they certainly aren't pretty.
Make sure you leak test that thing before installing all your computer parts. I lost an AIW 9800pro by not leak testing... I'm a very impatient person.
BTW, did you know there's no age limit on torches in walmart. I'm 15 and they let me buy my bernzomatic(sp?) propane torch by myself no questions asked... They won't let me buy spraypaint/superglue though :(
acid rain: oh i have no delusions of being a linux expert. here's (http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/fcmyth.php#intro) a great tutorial that will take you step by step through the process. and here's (http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/) a great place to find help. if you plan to make one, invest in a good capture card would be my advice. the money you save on cpu will be worth it if you dont need it for any other purpose.
cyrix: i think my problem at first was not using enough flux. that stuff is magic.
im glad to see that people are reading now lol.
jungle
Giblet Plus!
12-31-04, 02:57 PM
oohh, cool project
I've built computers in cases like that, I'm surprised you're able to get wc stuff to fit
Well, it has been about a year. I went off to LSU and had no time to work on the project. Happily, summer is here again. I had been dreading the next step, actually laying out the tubing in the case.
my beautiful 5/8" tubing bender (that fit 1/2" pipe) ended up not being so beautiful. It just tore the tubing. hmmm. luckily i had planned to use only elbows. So it was a couple hours of work, but i think i've got it ready to go. watch and see.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/Water%20Cooling%20Project%20022-small.jpg
This is the tubing layout i ended up with. Unfortunately, I had to let the hc stick out of the front of the case even more than planned. Dang i wish i could have found a shorter one, but i think it was the only one small enough in the other dimensions. If i were really good, i would hack off the end and resolder he he.
http://members.cox.net/agiboa/Water%20Cooling%20Project%20023-small.jpg
and this is a shot of the waterblock, heatercore part. Very tight fit. as you can see, i had to use 3 90's in that one part. it goes to the pump outlet. the system is a little bit backwards, but i did what i could. I have jb-welded about half of it together, that is just sitting there in that pic. It's going to be interesting trying to jb-weld it into this position. I had a hard enough time getting it there for the pic without worrying about the adhesive. he he.
funny thing, i almost forgot about the t'line. i would have flipped if i'd gotten all the way done and had no way to fill the system. luckily i had just enough room for the t right were you see it now. i was going to polish everything to a high shine like the top part of the t, but i got tired of polishing. :)
i thank you all for your help with this project. looks like the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight. any suggestions on how to cap the tline so that i can add water once it bleeds?
jungle
Cyrix_2k
06-02-05, 02:41 PM
looks nice :) Why not use a valve for a cap?
what kind of valve do you mean? I am very tight on space. actually, i had thought of just using a copper cap for copper tubing and using plumber's putty hold it on. will that keep the water in?
jungle
You should be abel to get a threaded end cap.
Cyrix_2k
06-02-05, 03:47 PM
what kind of valve do you mean? I am very tight on space. actually, i had thought of just using a copper cap for copper tubing and using plumber's putty hold it on. will that keep the water in?
jungle
I was thinking of a ball valve... You might have to cut down the T-line some, but it would fit. As far as the end cap goes, I think they make threaded ones, but it would be a pain to use compared to the ball valve.
Oh I forgot to add, FLIPPING INCREDIBLE!
Oh I forgot to add, FLIPPING INCREDIBLE!
i would like to second that.
that entire system disapates heat. except the pump.
great idea.... :cool:
sicloan
06-02-05, 09:09 PM
yeah it looks good. cant wait to see it in action.
big_dish
06-02-05, 09:29 PM
So, you aren't going to do a leak test on this before turning it on, with your system in there? I only ask, because you said you aren't very good at soldering yet, and you never know if there will be a leak, you know?
it's been a while, i don't even remember what post i said that in. i have gotten much better at soldering, but i decided that it would be too impossible to put all the parts in the case and solder them at the same time. this is fairly permanent, though i can take it all out if i take the wb off. in any case, i had to put it together with the mobo in the case, so i jb welded the whole thing. i am going to leak test it as well. actually, its the next morning and its all dry. and there is a big leak at the hc i think. bad news is its going to be really hard to get to. still working on that solution. can i get a copper ballvalve somewhere?
jungle
Cyrix_2k
06-03-05, 02:05 PM
it's been a while, i don't even remember what post i said that in. i have gotten much better at soldering, but i decided that it would be too impossible to put all the parts in the case and solder them at the same time. this is fairly permanent, though i can take it all out if i take the wb off. in any case, i had to put it together with the mobo in the case, so i jb welded the whole thing. i am going to leak test it as well. actually, its the next morning and its all dry. and there is a big leak at the hc i think. bad news is its going to be really hard to get to. still working on that solution. can i get a copper ballvalve somewhere?
jungle
lowes/home depot both carry them where I live. You could also go to a local plubing supply house.
everything is dry, so i decided to leak test. there was the one near the hc that i knew about already and one near the wb. i found out that i stupidly put the tline after the pump instead of before. filling it was not as easy as it could have been. anyway, everything's in the oven drying now and i'm gonna patch it later tonight
cheers,
jungle
pplapeu
06-07-05, 03:55 AM
I see!
Man, that looks like a lot of work.
big_dish
06-07-05, 05:07 PM
everything is dry, so i decided to leak test. there was the one near the hc that i knew about already and one near the wb. i found out that i stupidly put the tline after the pump instead of before. filling it was not as easy as it could have been. anyway, everything's in the oven drying now and i'm gonna patch it later tonight
cheers,
jungle
How did it turn out after getting it dried?
i'm really not very good at staying with one project. i havent had a whole lot of time lately. i was working a pole vaulting camp for my high school track coach and working on my new tablet pc i got from ebay. i was also considering using some stop-leak stuff (anothe thread), so the jury was out on that one. i guess i'll just have to stick w/ the jb-weld
jungle
REVIVAL... well the stopleak was both a good and bad idea. it stopped the leaks... but it also completely clogged the system. so now i'm back from school (winter break) and working on it again. i had to cut the tube that ran into the pump intake and flush it all out. from what i can tell, i've got it all clean now. no telling whether or not the whole system is coated with that stop leak stuff, but i don't think it is. a tip for anyone who is thinking about stopleak in a copper pipe system.... i think it should work, but definately go with the perscribed proportions of stopleak and water b/c if you just kinda guess and pour it in, it will clump up like crazy and kill everything. i think that it would have been great if i'd mixed it properly though. it certainly is leak free now. anyway, i'm now really considering a res at the pump intake because it would make filling a lot easier. there's no room for a t-line in the right place, but a real low profile res would work fine. anyway, merry xmas to everyone and wish me luck as the saga continues.
jungle
y2jed_2000
12-23-05, 09:01 AM
keep up the good work
Awesome plumbing!!!
Me and My dad are going to have to do this soon in our, yet again furniture themed/stylized case, using a coffee table-like thing instead of an actual case...
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