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Project: Lian-LI PC73SLB - Aluminum Fabrication!

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unixadm

Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2001
Location
Sacramento, CA
Project: Lian-LI PC-73SLB - Aluminum Fabrication!

I've started on a new case project in an effort to have water cooling, quietness and cleaness in my case. I currently have a Lian-LI V-1200B and while it's a nice case, it lacks room for a really good water cooling system. It also does not cool well internally and is kind of loud.

So I ordered up a Lian-LI PC-73SLB. Those of you not familar with this case will find that it resembles the more popular PC-75B in size and internals, though it does differ quiet a bit. I went with the case because I'm not all about 'flashy' computers. I'm more about having something that looks professional and/or has been professionally built.

Since I'm a fairly mechanically inclined person, I decided to look at cases and come up with a plan. My plan is to make a plenum that is 5 1/2" deep and mount a BIX 3, 3 Sanyo Denki Fans, MCP-350 Pump and a small resevoir. The radiator will also be configured with a custom made aluminum shroud that I'll bend and cut myself. Having a power shear and a power nibbler makes this job very easy. This plenum will be built from .050 aluminum and I will bend it on my box/pan bending brake.

The top of the case is cut for 3 openings that will house 120mm black stainless mesh filters. The filters will be flush with the top of the case. Air will be pulled in through the filters, into the radiator and will be expelled by the Sanyo Denki fans into the plenum. That warm air will be expelled out the back of the case through 2 modified 80mm fan holes. The idea of the plenum is to keep the warm air from affecting the ambient in the rest of the case. I will also be sound proofing the interior of the plenum to gain even more quietness. The only parts of the cooling system that you'll see are the pressure and return lines.

The top of the case will also be configured with a rear hinge so that it tilts back for easy maintenance of the internals.

If everything works out to plan - I'm going to start making on the side affordable custom built shrouds, fan deflectors, modified cases such as what I'm making here and custom aluminum external enclosures that can house your equipment. I support enterprise servers during the day... but I've really started focusing on building things as it gives you a sense of accomplishment. I'm not out to make a fortune - but for those who do not have the equipment, experience or the time - it may be a win/win for both of us. We'll see.

Pics of work so far. I just began work last night - this is about 2.5 hours of work thus far. The filter holes are roughed out and I've measured and cut my plenum encloseure.

http://www.dmwtech.com/gallery/pc73slb
 
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Interesting, I have the V1000 and it gets tremendous airflow. I did, however, drill 2 120mm holes up top to achive this. I've also seen people do the same thing you're doing to the V1000, for WC'ing.

In any case, excellent work thus far.
 
Thanks guys for the compliments. I've updated my album with some new pictures. I got the plenum bent and installed this evening along with the fan shroud bent. Both pieces need a little trim work to get a 100% perfect fit, but overall I'm very happy. The fan shroud I bent is unusual because it wraps around the BIX3 and will mount using the screws at the very top of the case. I did this to give the shroud maximum durability and plus it should make the radiator look a bit different that what everyone is used to.

Once I get all of the trim work done and the 120mm fan holes cut - I'll sand the pieces with 800 grit wet/dry and then polish them up with Blue Magic to give them a factory appearance. I won't be going for a mirror finish as I want the parts to appear to be part of the case.

Overall - I'm very pleased with the results thus far. Now I have some brackets to make and some riveting to do. :)

Updated pics are here: http://www.dmwtech.com/gallery/pc73slb
 
I'm going to get the PC-75 myself and I was just wondering what you used to cut the blow holes in the top. I have no experience with a dremel or anything of that sort and since you've done such a great job, I'm sure you can help me in this area. =D
 
For the holes on the top of the case I used a Jigsaw and a fine tooth blade. I intentionally cut back from my line by about 1/16th of an inch so that I could use a Dremel with a sanding drum to clean up the cut. Due to the irregular shape, I could not use a holesaw for these holes because I'm flush mounting 3 of those black stainless mesh filters. Future plans call for me to make oversized templates out of wood to act as a guide when using a power non-profile nibbler. For my fan shroud I used a 4.5" Milwaukee Bi-Metal hole saw and a drill press to cut the 3 holes.
 
Pictures have been updated. I have completed the fan shroud and got all of the fans mounted along with some test fitting in the case. Everything is on the right track at this point.
 
lomend said:
looking good man! take some side pictures if you can.

also, what's this: http://www.dmwtech.com/gallery/pc73slb/IMG_0091 ?

Thanks. I'll get some more pictures today as I did some additional work last night to the fan shroud. I ended up using Rivnuts installed in the shroud that allowed me to use thumbscews to install the radiator assembly in the upper plenum.

That link is actually the pass thru for the lines. It will be mounted in the bottom of the plenum just behind the 5 1/4" bays. It will allow the power and cooling lines to pass through into the interior of the case at a gentle angle - not a 90 degree on that could cause kinking. I'll get the hole in the plenum cut today and get that all mounted up. It will have 2-3 1" holes cut and gromited for the lines.
 
Thanks guys. I got my email from Stew today about the G4 Storm, so I paid for that and it's on the way. That will delay this project a little bit because I don't want to do work twice. Since I ended up going with the G4 over my existing MCW-6000, I'm going to go from 3/8" ID to 7/16" ID for the system using 1/2" OD barbs. I'll shim up the outlet barbs on the MCP-350 with some 3/8" ID 1/16 Wall Tygon. The tubing I chose was based on Stew's recommendation of 7/16" ID with a 3/32" wall.

As you can see from the pictures, much of my fabrication work for the upper plenum is now complete. I used rivnuts to hold things in place with thumb screws so that I can remove everything in a jiffy with NO holes being drilled in the case chassis. The radiator assembly is done and I sealed everything up with some general purpose hot glue. I went with hot glue because it seals well, is semi clear but is easily removeable and replaced. Silicone would look better, but it's harder to get off.

I went with 3 Sanyo Denki fans on the radiator, but even at 6 volts they are louder than I would like. Since I bought a stock of Delta fans about 2 months ago, I'm going to switch to some 3 Wire Delta 1212M's that are only 25mm thick. Less flow, but much quieter even at full speed. I'm using a Sunbeam Fan Controller.

I have yet to modify a one of the 5 1/4" bay aluminum panels to accept two back lit compunurses. One has a blue backlight and one has a red backlight. Blue will be the water temperature, red will be the processor temperature or there abouts.

Overall - I have been extremely pleased with how everything has turned out. I've learned a lot from this project. Fabrication is not my forte so to speak - but it's something I want to be good at. Luckily I have some natural talents for getting stuff like this done.

All said - this project should be completed in 2 more weeks due to the shipping delays of the G4. I will finalize the pump mount as soon as the reservoir I ordered shows up. It's the trickiest part of the equasion because I have limited space up top with the BIX3. If it was a BIX2, it would be no problem at all.

I fired up the MCP-350 pump yesterday for the first time and it's nice and quiet with good flow. I think it will suit the system well. I also did some light polishing on the plenum and once I'm done I'll degrease the case to remove the finger prints that are inherent when you work with metal.
 
I have 95% of the fabrication work done now. I built a two part piece. I changed the design of the plenum due to clearance issues trying to get the pump and reservoir mounted in the upper plenum I built. So I hacked the front tray off the thing and built a new box that sits about 5/8" lower than the rest of the plenum. I designed it to be the same size as a normal CDROM so that it would slide into the 5 1/4" bay. I also put a front lip on it so that it would interlock with the plenum and have smooth edges so that a hose wouldn't get cut. Then I built a shelf assembly to sit in the box.

So in the bottom of this new box will sit the MCP-350 pump. There is actually enough room in the box to house two of these pumps side by side if you remove the small side mounting arms that I won't use anyhow. For now, I'll only be using a single pump so I won't have to modify the pump what so ever. Once the pump is mounted, the tray will drop down into the box. The tray supports the reservoir. Clearance from the fill cap to the top of the case is only 1/16" of an inch - but it clears. I think the setup is going to look VERY clean when everything is plumbed up. I have some barbed fittings and 7/16" Tygon arriving tomorrow so I can start the plumbing process.

Again, updated pictures can be found at: http://www.dmwtech.com/gallery/pc73slb
 
Probably. I've really gotten very little feedback on the project. But that's cool - I'll probably get more feedback when it's done.

I got my G4 Storm block - so now all I need to do is wait for my replacement MCP-350 pump and I'll be set to install. The only fab work I have left is the wire runners which I'm almost done with.
 
unixadm said:
Probably. I've really gotten very little feedback on the project. But that's cool - I'll probably get more feedback when it's done.

I got my G4 Storm block - so now all I need to do is wait for my replacement MCP-350 pump and I'll be set to install. The only fab work I have left is the wire runners which I'm almost done with.

Don't worry, plenty of people are watching. Usually people don't post in project logs unless they have a question or a suggestion. Keep up with the great work!
 
New pictures posted. I'm going to move my components over this evening. I had to get a replacement MCP-350 pump as my first one had a random startup problem. The new one I got has RPM sensing which is even better.

I'm using the following components...

Pump: Swiftech MCP-350, RPM Sensing Revision
CPU Waterblock: G4 Storm
GPU Waterblock: DangerDen MAZE4
Radiator: Black Ice Xtreme III
Tubing: Tygon S-50-HL 7/16" ID, 3/32" Sidewall (NICE!!!!!!)
Barbs: All 1/2 OD Barbs
Motherboard: Asus P5AD2-E Premium 925XE
CPU: Intel P4 3.4F w/ EM64T
Video Card: BBA X850 XT PE, Dual DVI
Memory: 2x512mb OCZ 3-2-2-8 DDR2
Hard Drives: 2x300gb 16mb Cache Maxtors, 2x200gb Seagates
DVD-R: Pioneer DVR-108
Displays: 2 x Dell 2001FP 16ms 20" LCDs
Case: Lian-LI PC-73SLB
Me: HAPPY
 
I see you've drilled 3x120mm holes on top of your case but then you place your radiator all the way to the end, you're not using top 3 holes for mounting? by the way I like your shroud on that radiator, post your temps when you got it done! I would like to know add-on shroud makes any differences
 
The radiator assembly is actually secured to the upper plenum. This allows me to remove the top of the case for easy maintenance. If had mounted the radiator assembly to the top of the case then I'd have to contend with all the lines and such if I wanted to clean out the plenum or top off the coolant. The holes were not drilled, but cut with a jig saw. :)

I won't have any before or after temps because this is a whole new setup - but I can compare my temps to my previous MCP-650 and a BIP single 120mm radiator with a Swiftech MCW6000 waterblock. I'm pretty confident the temperatures will be very good.

The shroud was actually fairly easy to make - all things considered. I'm going to start producing some home built shrouds when I complete this project.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
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Got one question to ask you - how much for "Black Ice Xtreme III" radiator? I'm curious about its cost and where do you buy that from? Err, that's 2 questions now - oh well, lol!
 
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