homemade waterblocks

Hi,

Here are some homemade waterblocks.

The complete system inside the case. Pump (Eheim 1046) and radiator (heater core) are outside my computercase.




Detail of the hose.





This was a my second attempt at building a WC computer. The first one used the same waterblocks, but pvc tubing. I replaced the tubing because it would bend rather sharply and impede flow. The pvc tube would also fold on itself (the nice 'O' would become some sort of '8' (as seen through the tube)).

I didn't have that problem with these tubing. However, I will also scrap this in favor of yet another tubing method. The method shown on the foto's is too rigid, I have to measure the tubing very precisely to fit it all in one go. Later I discovered that my NB cooler was not pressed firmly enough to the chip.

So now I'm going to try to use some instant fittings from www.legris.com. They are made for compressed air, I hope they won't leak water.



Another problem I hope to solve is algea grow (brown color). I'll be using opage tubing now.

Some more foto's;



This is the CPU waterblock. Just a copper cap (35 mm) soldered on a 5 mm thick copper base. No pins inside (like surlyjoe's version). It is mounted with this plexiglas coverplate.








This is the NB waterblok. You can see I like those cap's . They are cheap and versitile. This is a 28 mm cap on a 3 mm thick base. Notice all the solder on the right mounting hole. This was because I made a mistake measuring the distance between the mounting holes. I had to saw the tab from the baseplate and reattach (solder) it at the correct place.




This is the video cooler. I lose one PCI slot. The base plate is 3 mm thick. Inside is a wall that is attached with a rivet to the top (see the small blob of solder almost at the top of the cap). The area that fits on the chip is composed of a baseplate, thick wall (left top) were pipes connect to, 1 mm thick copper sheet folded to make the rest of the top and a wall inside (to get the water all the way to the bottom of the cooler).


All these coolers will be scrapped because I find them to bulky (And I need another fitting on the video cooler). I think I can make the CPU cooler more efficient too.


Here is the new NB cooler. It still needs some cleaning and lapping...





Notice the 2 'circuler spots' in the second foto. This is because I have riveted a wall inside the 34 mm cap. The upper rivet was just the right size, the lower was a bit too short (thats the reason you see some solder there). I tested it with tap water (2 bar pressure), there were no leaks. It has a flowpath roughly the same surfacearea as the tubing. The baseplate is 1.4 mm thick. The hose I'll be using will be 8 mm id (50 mm2 as flowpath).

When I'll make the other blocks i'll make some step by step foto's so everybody can see exactly how to make one themselves (wait 1 a 2 weeks...).



All the 'homemade' blocks I see here all require a machine shop. Most people don't have that . The 3 most important items needed to make these blocks is a vise, a hand drill and a gas burner. No milling, no lathe needed and no drill press needed...


Meteor

I gotta admire your dedication Meteor. I wish I had time and the equipment to try this at home.

chuckerants said:

I gotta admire your dedication Meteor. I wish I had time and the equipment to try this at home.

Click to expand...

Ehmm. Thats just my point, you don't need any special equipment to build these (that is, not special if you don't live in an appartment (you surely know someone who has a vise in his garage)). Just time .

The cpu block costs about $10, NB block $3 and the video block about $5 worth of copper, the rest to invest is your time (a weekend).

Meteor

that is very good for that price! you may want to get a little more elaborate however with at least the cpu cooler. i imagine it would not be too hard to put a simple maze design in there and it might help equalize water temperature alot.

where did you get the copper blocks. I called every metal place in the phone book, and all I could find were ones about that size, but for 25 bucks a pop.
Also, for anyone who isn't good with soldering, you can use plexiglass and an old heatsink to make a wb. I did this for my GPU, and northbridge, it works well.

ed8150 said:

that is very good for that price! you may want to get a little more elaborate however with at least the cpu cooler. i imagine it would not be too hard to put a simple maze design in there and it might help equalize water temperature alot.

Click to expand...

That's the plan. I'll take step by step photo's when I'll make the cpu/video coolers. It will have the same maze/wall riveted inside as the new NB cooler.

New photo's will arrive in 1 a 2 weeks (I don't have a digital photocamara myself)....

Meteor.

tft said:

where did you get the copper blocks. I called every metal place in the phone book, and all I could find were ones about that size, but for 25 bucks a pop.
Also, for anyone who isn't good with soldering, you can use plexiglass and an old heatsink to make a wb. I did this for my GPU, and northbridge, it works well.

Click to expand...

Those aren't blocks, those are caps. See picture:



For the caps, search in the yellow pages for people who do plumbing (laying tap water pipes in houses, building badrooms). I have to say that not all of them have the big sizes (most have up to 28 mm, only one (I didn't look further had 35/42 mm types. Ask for 'endcaps' (in duch at least, used for terminating a copper tube (the smaller ones should be available in ervery DIY 'home depod' style shop (maybe the bigger ones to, I think SurlyJoe got his from there)).

The bottom plate is somewhat more difficult. If you need a thin one (up to 1 mm), you could try someone who makes roofs. The financially better equiped people here use sometimes copper drainage (thing that collects water from the roof on the side of the roof). You could also try the yellow pages, there should be some metal dealers in it (got the 5 mm thick plate (50 by 40) for $5). Ask around who has a small metal workshop, you can get it maybe there, or you could ask where they buy their metals. I get mine from a small local workshop (only one person) who does custom metal work (mainly welding). Got the 40x40x1 mm thick sheet for free, came the next day and had to pay about $1 for a 50x50x1 mm sheet (probably to prevent I would come every day for a small piece for free).

Finding the copper was for me also the hardest part (until I found that local shop)...

About soldering, there is nothing to it! You need a gas burner, some solder wire and some flux (will post pictures in 1 a 2 weeks).
Do some flux on the area where you wish to solder, aim the burner for a few minutes at the piece and touch the solder wire where you would like the pieces soldered together. Thats it! I personally wouldn't trust an epoxied piece (but I have no experience with epoxies either). I always test the copper pieces on tap water (about 2 bar pressure).

Meteor.

Very good, I like, I like. This shows great enginuity and probably a decent performance when you couple something like this with a very good radiator and pump. The block is only a part of the equation and these have a quick in and out of the water which would make the other parts of the system more important than the design of block channels and thickness of bases.

Thx for giving surlyjoe some credit! Me and him are good friends because i am now working for there website- and i have one of his behives- and using a 90gph pump- and the same heatercore as my maxe 3- i got the same temps!
Spyder