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[Project Log] Liquid cooled "U" desk

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zryder

Registered
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
So I am re-making my desk, because I do not like the lack of storage with my current set up.

So, here is the design.

PC%20Desk.jpg
 
I decided to use 3/4" Melamine board, because it was cheap, and looked like it would be easy to work with and keep clean. That and the fact that it would simplify the finishing had absolutely nothing going for it either!

So, here are a few pics.

The raw materials, aside for 1 or 2 cuts.
IMG_20110903_144949.jpg


My very simple setup
IMG_20110903_144959.jpg


My very patient and forgiving wife is helping me out as much as she can on the project
IMG_20110903_145006.jpg


All of the parts for the PC case and drawers cut, minus the hardboard drawer bottoms
IMG_20110903_151348.jpg


Trial fitting with an old motherboard.
IMG_20110903_164237.jpg


That's all for now. Time to go back to work.
 
That is a heck of a lot of wood for one massive desk. Looking forward to this one; subscribed!
 
That is a heck of a lot of wood for one massive desk. Looking forward to this one; subscribed!

Thanks!

The one whole 4x8 sheet will end up being the desk surface. I have an L shaped desk now, with the monitors in the corner. there are some things I like about an L, and others I don't. One thing I don't like is with the desk being as long as it is, the back leg of the L gets piled with crap. The hope is, if I am sitting in the middle, most everything will be basically within arms reach at any one given time.
 
Well, A little more progress was made this evening.

After another run to the hardware store for stuff I had forgotten before, I was able to get a little bit more done.

By the way, for those interested, the sheets of wood cost $25 each. After the drawer pull's, the drawer rails, some pocket hole screws, a 12 piece router set, and a new B+D router (yay! finally!), the total bill was about $150.

After I found I needed another router bit, some longer clamps, and I had forgotten about the hardboard for the bottom of the drawers, the 2nd trip cost me another $50.

$200 on the project isn't too bad so far. we will see how far it goes from here.

Anyhow, POIDH.

This is the side panels being cut. the top circles were cut with a circle cutter (a scraping bit on the end of an arm, attached to a drill bit). the bottom radiator vents were cut with the sabre saw.
IMG_20110903_194736.jpg


The new router bit made a groove for the plexi to sit in on the front panel.
IMG_20110903_224201.jpg


and the side panels have been cut, and attached to the base of what will be the motherboard/drives section. The plan here is to have the 2 fan's on the left side be intakes, and the 2 on the right side be exhausts. If I can keep the rest of the thing somewhat sealed up, and have the 4 fan's run off the same PWM channel, I should have a pretty good consistent airflow across the board. All of the hot components are water cooled, so this is just to keep drives and the board happy.
IMG_20110903_224901.jpg


I think that is all for tonight. I hope to get more done tomorrow.

Enjoy.
 
Looks awesome so far...I'm jealous of your shop :D

Lol! Thanks. My shop is not much of a shop though. Just part of the garage.

Got the table saw from a guy a few years ago. He loaned it to me when I was working on a project, and when I tried to return it he said "you can store it for me, forever if you would like! I know where to find it if I should ever need it."

The rest of the shop is a router, and a sabre saw. The router was purchased yesterday! Oh, and of course a cordless drill. but, that's about the extent of it.

However, compared with what you might have in Japan, I suppose it is pretty significant.

Wanted to thank you too. Your build is the one that inspired mine!
 
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I do have one question for you folks though.

You can see the triple rad hole on the side panels. The original plan called for the radiator to be on the interior, and the fans to be on the exterior of this panel. The fan's would have been in push, though could have been in pull just as easy. the wood serves as a 3/4" shroud in this case. However, because this hole turned out pretty well, and looks kind of interesting, I had thought of putting the radiator against the wood, and the fans attached to the other side of the radiator.

So, where would you put the fans?
 
I do have one question for you folks though.

You can see the triple rad hole on the side panels. The original plan called for the radiator to be on the interior, and the fans to be on the exterior of this panel. The fan's would have been in push, though could have been in pull just as easy. the wood serves as a 3/4" shroud in this case. However, because this hole turned out pretty well, and looks kind of interesting, I had thought of putting the radiator against the wood, and the fans attached to the other side of the radiator.

So, where would you put the fans?

If you go with the rad + fans on the inside, you should do the same with the two top fans aswell. Use LED fans and you've got yourself an awesome smiley that somehow reminds me of the ghosts in Pacman xD You'll take a small performance hit by loosing the shroud though.

Really nice project though! Subscribed and good luck :salute:
 
If you go with the rad + fans on the inside, you should do the same with the two top fans aswell. Use LED fans and you've got yourself an awesome smiley that somehow reminds me of the ghosts in Pacman xD You'll take a small performance hit by loosing the shroud though.

Really nice project though! Subscribed and good luck :salute:

LOL! I was thinking the exact same thing about the hole's, and I said something to the effect yesterday to the wife!

The top fan's were always planned on being on the inside, and that's another factor to consider. It would be more visually appealing to have all the fans in the same way, inside or out.
 
So here is a little bit of an update.

The face of the cpu box got routed and installed.
IMG_20110904_105728.jpg

IMG_20110904_105742.jpg


And then I proceeded to assemble the drawers.
2 of them have been completed, I just need to cut out another piece for the back of the 3rd.
IMG_20110904_120539.jpg



They look like this. Next up is to put the rails on the drawers. I think I am getting somewhat close to putting the PC into the box.
I still haven't decided the best way to attach fan's to the wood, and their location. I think it would be easiest to mount the radiators to the wood, and the fans to the radiators. If that is the case, I will likely route the outside edges of the fan holes, to give it a cleaner look. If I do that, I will probally drill a bunch of holes, and drive some 1" 6-32 screws into the radiators and call it a day on that. However, the top fans would best be served by some brass threaded inserts, of which I have run out.

Decisions Decisions..
 
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If you go with the rad + fans on the inside, you should do the same with the two top fans aswell. Use LED fans and you've got yourself an awesome smiley that somehow reminds me of the ghosts in Pacman xD

Screw the [very minor] performance hit....that would be sweet :rock:
 
Ok, this one might be a little long.

Typing this from the laptop, as the PC has been disassembled, and has started being moved into the new desk.

The drawers were completed, rails installed, and handles mounted. Apparently the store ran out of 18" drawer slides, so the 3rd drawer will have to wait to be mounted.
IMG_20110904_162628.jpg


The fan's were mounted
IMG_20110904_163555.jpg


Using a template, I made the screw holes to go through to the radiator. 1" screws will go through the wood and into the radiator. The fans are going to be mounted to the opposite side.
IMG_20110904_182139.jpg


The motherboard was put in. Sorry for the crappy photo on this one.
IMG_20110904_182155.jpg


And the radiators were mounted.
IMG_20110904_200332.jpg


IMG_20110904_200352.jpg


At this point, I realized with the fan's on the inside of the radiator, I barely had enough room for the 2 optical drives to rest side-by-side. barely, but enough. However, the cross pipe between radiators wanted to go directly through the CD drives. Good thing I ordered an extra pair of 90* G 1/4 fittings when I got my parts. The tubes will run down, and under the drives.

Then I realized that I will not have any room for the vertical brackets I was going to put on the sides of the CD drives. After a little more inspection, I found some mounting holes on the bottom of the drives. Good thing too, as I was about to use foam tape to attach them from the top.
So, now I will make a little "shelf" for the drives to sit on. I don't know if I am going to make it the full width of both drives, or about half the width, and hit 2 of the 4 screw holes on each drive. That is likely what I will do, since the mounting holes are pretty darn close to the edge, and I don't want the drive shelf to inhibit water lines.

Back to work I go.
 
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Well, last night I finished getting the tubing run, after I made the little shelf for the drives to rest on

Here is a shot of the water lines
IMG_20110904_221642.jpg


And underneath the shelf, you can see the lines going to and from the radiators
IMG_20110904_221716.jpg


So I figured since it was about 10pm, this would be a good time to fill it with water, and let it run overnight to check for leaks.

Got some water in the res, plugged the power supply to the pump, turned on the power supply....

Wssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss BANG!

oh crap.

must have gotten some water in it or something from when I was draining the system.

Oh well. Whats another $100.

More to come today. I hope to be able to cut the desk surface, and get it installed today. Today is the last day of my 3 day weekend, so I want to get it into the condition where i can use it.
 
A good fast pace so far...keep it up :salute:

Thanks! That's what I am able to do when I have most of the day to work on it, while the wife is entertaining our 3 yr old. Lots of progress can be made when there is time to make it.
 
Thanks! That's what I am able to do when I have most of the day to work on it, while the wife is entertaining our 3 yr old. Lots of progress can be made when there is time to make it.

Thats right. You do the DIY stuff, let the wife take care of the kids =] then when the kids old enough, let it do the DIY stuff, and then you can take care of yourself. And you'll have a nice desk :thup:
 
Thats right. You do the DIY stuff, let the wife take care of the kids =] then when the kids old enough, let it do the DIY stuff, and then you can take care of yourself. And you'll have a nice desk :thup:
My son is the 3 yr old, and he already likes to "help" do projects. Often times he does as much harm as he does good, and he is typically just getting in the way, but that doesn't mean I don't let him "help" as much as he wants, just so he can learn.

But, it does make things go faster when he isn't "helping"
 
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