View Full Version : Plexi Resevoir
I'm working on my first water cooling setup right now.
I am building my own waterblock (I have access to a machine shop, working on the CAD design right now).
I am using a '87 Chevette heater core as my radiator.
I am going to use an inline system, however I still want to have a resevoir.
What I am doing is making a plexiglass resevoir, that takes up exactly 2 CDROM bays (5 1/4). The plexi res, when mounted will be flush with my cdrom and dvd drive. So it will be almost like a fishtank in my computer.
What do you think? Can you see any possible downfall's with this setup?
MajinSSJVegetto
06-20-02, 05:12 PM
That should work, but you will have to either make sure you have all bubbles out of the system, or add a small airtrap.
Hmmm, I have 3 drive bays open.. Think I might make a fish tank! for fish! =)
Despotes
06-20-02, 05:13 PM
Originally posted by Mobile20
What do you think? Can you see any possible downfall's with this setup?
Umm...you can't put any fish in your res???:D
Could I mount the air trap anywhere in the system?
I am building an external box to house my rad (and the 2 fans I just bought from silversinksam). I would like to add the air trap there, as it would be very easy to get to; the box will just sit on my desk next to my computer.
I am also going to add on/off valves to the box, so I can disconnect it from the system, for moving the computer etc..
gone_fishin
06-20-02, 05:16 PM
That's the size I made mine. Here's a pic. The thing that became evident right away is the need for highly flexible tubing to go down to the block area and pump and also for a fill tube.
I am going to be using silicone tubing...I am having a hard time finding it in canada though. All the local places i have tried (Victoria, BC) dont have it; and I cant find a single Canadian online store that carries it.
The only thing in my setup I havnt decided on yet is the pump.
I have a lian li PC65 case, so it isnt huge. What pump would be able to handle pushing the water from the pump, to outside the case to my rad, then back inside and up to my res, then to my waterblock and then back to the pump again?
EDIT: I dont want to spend 100 bucks on a pump ala Ehiem.
therapture
06-20-02, 06:34 PM
Put the pump IN the case, make it STEALTH...I love stealth h2o cooling....
I will post pics of mine next week after my loaned out digicam returns from it's European vacation.....
Mine is ALL enclosed in a LianLI PC60.....you can't even tell it is water cooled when the case is assembled. Looks stock!
Originally posted by therapture
Put the pump IN the case, make it STEALTH...I love stealth h2o cooling....
I will post pics of mine next week after my loaned out digicam returns from it's European vacation.....
Mine is ALL enclosed in a LianLI PC60.....you can't even tell it is water cooled when the case is assembled. Looks stock!
The pump is going in the case, the only think that gonna be outside the case is the rad box.
The Spyder
06-20-02, 07:11 PM
Originally posted by therapture
Put the pump IN the case, make it STEALTH...I love stealth h2o cooling....
I will post pics of mine next week after my loaned out digicam returns from it's European vacation.....
Mine is ALL enclosed in a LianLI PC60.....you can't even tell it is water cooled when the case is assembled. Looks stock!
I just did this to Sigma X's machine- pc-07- BUT theres a window-
SPyder
a maxijett 1200 can handle your pump needs. as for the air trap i don't really understand what you mean, if you are mounting a res. in the system then that will trap the air, especially that high up.
|PuNiSh3R|
06-20-02, 08:13 PM
Via Aqua 1300
You don't need a bleed valve.. just fill the system up through the resevior then once it's all filled up.. run the system.. all the air will go out through the open resevior top.. then close it up.. not that hard.
The only reason I was thinking about a bleed valve is because with the res where it is...it would be hard to get to. even harder to fill.
Originally posted by |PuNiSh3R|
Via Aqua 1300
You don't need a bleed valve.. just fill the system up through the resevior then once it's all filled up.. run the system.. all the air will go out through the open resevior top.. then close it up.. not that hard.
The resevoir isnt going to have a top; it fits snugly under my dvd drive.
EDIT: No "removable" top. It has a top. hehe
gone_fishin
06-20-02, 08:50 PM
Not having a top on the res would be unsafe. The case could get bumped and water would spill or just evaporation would be bad for the dvd above it.
Originally posted by gone_fishin
Not having a top on the res would be unsafe. The case could get bumped and water would spill or just evaporation would be bad for the dvd above it.
LOL, sorry, I meant no removable top.
Thats why I can't fill it from the top of the resevoir. It's going right under the DVD drive, and it has no removable top.
I would like to be able to fill it from the external rad box if its possible. Any ideas?
|PuNiSh3R|
06-20-02, 09:54 PM
Yea.. I ment having a top.. just putting it on after you fill and run the system.. getting all the air out..
But anyway.. the best way would be to get a 1/2" barb connection.. that has like a 1" thread on it.. and put a hole in the top of the resevior.. and use that to fill it. it will also be a way for air to go out..
On my one resevior that was completely sealed.. I just put a really really small hole in the top.. so air would escape while i filled it.
I filled it through a 1/2" barb with 1" thread.. I put the 1" thread opening at the top and put a funnel in there.
Yah but I cant do that because I dont have any access to the top of the res...I dont want to have to remove the res everytime I need to add water.
I would like to be able to fill the system from the rad box...possibly using an air trap.
|PuNiSh3R|
06-20-02, 10:48 PM
You have a nobel idea.. but it won't work the way you want it too..
You won't be able to fill it from the sides.. has to be from the top.
Ok to make things easy I guess I will incorporate some sort of valve hole on the top of the resevoir, near the front. So I can just loosen the holding screwes, slide the res forward a couple inches to access the fill hole.
That will work.
So just to clerify one more time, with this setup I wont need an air trap because the air can escape through the top of the hole in the res..then after running it for 10 min (the first time i use it), I can cap the fill hole right?
gone_fishin
06-20-02, 10:58 PM
Having your rad in a separate box will allow you to put a second resevoir for filling and bleeding on the intake line to the rad, just make the box big enough to accomodate another res.
Caution, paint skillz:eek: :beer:
Ok thats the type of idea of I was looking for, cool. How big would this second res have to be?
ElroyCarbon
06-20-02, 11:02 PM
fishin: Nice job on the res! I was thinking of something like that myself. You may have already answered this, but what are your thoughts on building with a hot glue gun?
|PuNiSh3R|
06-20-02, 11:02 PM
Like.. a quart.. or a pint..
Originally posted by |PuNiSh3R|
Like.. a quart.. or a pint..
eh?
I'm Canadian, so I have no clue what a quart or a pint looks like..heh
Think 500ml should do it?
gone_fishin
06-20-02, 11:13 PM
Originally posted by ElroyCarbon
fishin: Nice job on the res! I was thinking of something like that myself. You may have already answered this, but what are your thoughts on building with a hot glue gun?
I couldn't say for sure how long it would hold out with a plexi res. The best bonding is to use something that "welds" the two surfaces together, there are many epoxies made for the purpose.
If the rad box were made from wood then glue sticks would work fine for that.
gone_fishin
06-20-02, 11:16 PM
Originally posted by Mobile20
Ok thats the type of idea of I was looking for, cool. How big would this second res have to be?
For uniformity and ease of fitting, just make it as wide as the rad and as deep as the shroud and fans. A three inch height would be plenty as an example.
Yah you definatly would not want to use a glue gun to attach plexi. Use a glue that is especially made for bonding plexi, these special glue's actually melt the plexi together (like gone_fishin said), forming a bond that is stronger then the plexi its self.
Originally posted by gone_fishin
For uniformity and ease of fitting, just make it as wide as the rad and as deep as the shroud and fans. A three inch height would be plenty as an example.
Ok I think I got everything straight in my head now. Thanks for all the help guys.
When I get the cad designs done, I'll post them.
JFettig
06-21-02, 12:27 AM
i think that would be a really sweet rez especially if it was like the front drive bay covers too, so you could see the water flowing around from the font of the case! and some lights....
Originally posted by maskedgeek
i think that would be a really sweet rez especially if it was like the front drive bay covers too, so you could see the water flowing around from the font of the case! and some lights....
Thats exactly what I'm doing, the front of the plexi res will be flush with the faceplates of my cdrom drives above it. A light will be installed behind the res.
JFettig
06-21-02, 12:48 AM
sweet! i mite have to do that also sometime.... but i am only gonna use 1 bay, unless i have a full tower with a lot open bays....
|PuNiSh3R|
06-21-02, 01:06 AM
Uh.. hot glue is real good on plexi.. just to put it in place..
I used it.. worked fine.. but I just used the hotglue to put it in place.. then I used a bunch of silicon sealant and goop to seal it up tight.
Some JB Weld or somethin would be good.
Originally posted by |PuNiSh3R|
Uh.. hot glue is real good on plexi.. just to put it in place..
I used it.. worked fine.. but I just used the hotglue to put it in place.. then I used a bunch of silicon sealant and goop to seal it up tight.
Some JB Weld or somethin would be good.
If you just use it to keep it in place, then thats ok....But I meant, I wouldnt JUST use a hot glue gun.
Warlord2
06-21-02, 02:07 AM
go to a hobbie store and ask for some acrilic glue I just used it and it melted the plexiglass together and thin I used some silicon to seal off any leaks.
MajinSSJVegetto
06-21-02, 03:18 AM
It would be cool if you either put a old fan in there that would spin from the water, or even weirder; some sort of moving fish tank toy thing.
I do think I am going to build a 3 Bay plexi bay just for fish, thats not in my system.
My case has a nice open area right above it, where I could fit a little door to feed them. I could put some tubing behind them to light them up(uv lights in tubing). Ahh, those fish that kill each other would be great for this! Have weekly death matches! Hmmm, I could fit my old web cam behind the tank=)
Hehe, sorry if I am being weird=)
I could always tell people it was part of the system, and it has a filter that stops the uv liquid from getting in or something=) or not...
I am going to go research small fish tanks!
edit: I think Betta fish would work good!
Two males will kill each other. They don't need aerotors in the water, as they can breathe from the top of the tank.
They eat small fish, so feeding will be fun!
Now my new search is on, UV affected fish food! I am going to make these killers glow!
How are you going to supply oxygen to the water?
They wont live very long in a sealed tank, food or no food.
JFettig
06-21-02, 10:22 AM
you could rig a small arrorator to the tank, and just have it go from the inside of the puter...
madcow235
06-21-02, 01:21 PM
why not get some drive rails put them in the side and then you could slide the res out or put it back flush with the system
Originally posted by madcow235
why not get some drive rails put them in the side and then you could slide the res out or put it back flush with the system
Thats not a bad idea! I'm gonna look into doing that. Thx.
JFettig
06-21-02, 01:50 PM
and have a popup filling tube, so you can push it down into the rez after its filled! lol, or just make the cap level with the rez.... if your gonna make it that way, i suggest you do then itll be much easier to fill..
MajinSSJVegetto
06-21-02, 01:59 PM
For the fish thing, you don't need to arerate the water.
IF you use betta fish. You just need part of the top open to the air, as they can breathe on the surface.
And, how would you attach, fish tank or just res, to the case? Screws through the sides would leak...
I'm thinking that half way back or somethign you add a second layer of plexi on the inside, so the outer layer could have screws. How else could you lock it? Maybe have a rail for it to slide on, and then add a notch in the rail for it to catch in?
madcow235
06-21-02, 01:59 PM
try this make the fill valve like what they use in basketballs so it is closed untill you stick the funnell into fill it
Originally posted by MajinSSJVegetto
For the fish thing, you don't need to arerate the water.
IF you use betta fish. You just need part of the top open to the air, as they can breathe on the surface.
And, how would you attach, fish tank or just res, to the case? Screws through the sides would leak...
I'm thinking that half way back or somethign you add a second layer of plexi on the inside, so the outer layer could have screws. How else could you lock it? Maybe have a rail for it to slide on, and then add a notch in the rail for it to catch in?
If I end up using rail's then the rails will be glued to the sides of the plexi res.
Originally posted by madcow235
try this make the fill valve like what they use in basketballs so it is closed untill you stick the funnell into fill it
That would be hard to do, especially since I want the hole large enough so that it wont take 2 hours to fill the system.
madcow235
06-21-02, 02:17 PM
the hole would be decent sized and it would take maybe 2min to fill a few liters but its your res
Originally posted by madcow235
the hole would be decent sized and it would take maybe 2min to fill a few liters but its your res
How would I go about making a valve like that?
madcow235
06-21-02, 09:50 PM
HMM a barb would do good if you put some silicone on the end and cut it like an X and then got the exact same size funnell
MajinSSJVegetto
06-21-02, 10:14 PM
Just put a rubber coark in the end of the tubing for the filler.
Ok I got my rad box designed. This design is withought any electrical plans, gonna have to make another one up for that; I plan on using a rheostat to control both 120mm fans.
JFettig
06-23-02, 02:28 PM
that thing is pretty big, why dont you just make some shrouds????
This is an external box. So it can be a good size, its gonna sit next to my computer on the desk.
I am just about to go down to my local hardware store and pickup some shutoff valves for the water supply to the rad. I want this box to be able to detach from the system fairly easily. I have incorporated the same idea when I desgined the electrical system for the rad box.
JFettig
06-23-02, 03:03 PM
why dont you just use shrouds and stick the rad inside the computer??????????????????
Becuase:
A) I have a Lian Li PC 65 case, and I would be hard pressed to fit this 87' Chevette heater core (6X6 cooling area) into my computer.
B) I would get better temps with the rad outside the computer, becuase the heat is instantly expelled into the room, instead of into the computer case.
I forgot to say that the rad box is gonna be made from plexi as well, with a neon light inside.
JFettig
06-23-02, 07:52 PM
thats pretty sweet, as long as its not blue:D
im hopin to make new shrouds for my rad, mine are for that radiator and i got a bigger one... so they are like 1/2inches too small on all sides... it kinda sucks..
madcow235
06-23-02, 08:07 PM
masked what rad do you have?
Mizzery
06-23-02, 09:01 PM
My plexi res http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=98613 Please post suggestions in the thread. The more people that post, the more things i know not to do.
Where did you guys go about getting plexiglass? I've been looking into designing a similar res for my upcoming system.
Originally posted by cackle
Where did you guys go about getting plexiglass? I've been looking into designing a similar res for my upcoming system.
I am getting mine from a buddy that has access to it at work; but I know you can get the stuff online, just do a search in google.
MajinSSJVegetto
06-24-02, 03:04 PM
Home Depot and most hardware stores have tons of it. Cheap.
JFettig
06-25-02, 08:20 AM
Originally posted by cackle
Where did you guys go about getting plexiglass? I've been looking into designing a similar res for my upcoming system.
some local shops have it, usplastic.com or maby its usplastics.com not sure, but they have it for a pretty reasonable price...
Hardware Man
06-25-02, 09:15 AM
Originally posted by cackle
Where did you guys go about getting plexiglass? I've been looking into designing a similar res for my upcoming system.
Go to your local hardware store. In fact, ask if they have any scrap pieces. Sometimes they can be be pretty good sized and I know the store will give you a deal on odd sizes.
My next project will include the following:
JFettig
06-25-02, 09:34 AM
i was gonna make something like that, but i couldnt find the rite pipe connections, and it would have been like 4inches tall instead of over a foot if thats what that ruler is...
You are right Masked. It was dificult to find the correct combination of pipe and fittings.
The overall length of the reservoir (includes pipe and fittings) is just under 20". Here are some more pictures:
Here is the other picture:
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