DIY Watercooling Rig with DIY Waterblock

[l19bal]

Hello all.

Well, my first attempt to make a DIY watercooling rig has turned out not so bad, although not fully complete and I am still considering some changes to it.

Firstly to begin with, I started making the waterblock which is the main thing in the whole rig. This was made using:
- 20mm thick acrylic (couldn't get hold of 40mm thick otherwise I would have used that)
- aluminium heatsink
- M4 screws
- clear sealant

So the basic idea was to make a little 'reservoir' out of the acrylic, sandwich the acrylic, slap the heatsink in the open gap, sealant it and voila. However, it was much more complicated than that, and I really wish I documented the whole process until the final product!

Here are the basic steps:
1) I cut the acrylic to the size of my original heatsink for my mobo. So i had 2 pieces of acrylic 20mm thick, 79mm x 69mm. In the fisrt piece, I had a square cut out the center so I was left with a 10mm thick border onyl, if that makes sense. (Hard to explain I think or it may be cos it's almost 4AM now and I'm tired but anxious to get this up on here before I forget...). And the second piece, I had the same done BUT it wasn't cut out, it was milled out only 5mm deep. So it was like a little bowl ? Then, the heatsink was a bit too large, so I cut it down until its height was 25mm, and it fit inside the first piece. Now, in the second piece, I threaded 2 barbs, on opposite corners. This piece would obviously be the one on the top. Sandwiching both pieces together with just selotape, I drilled holes for the screws to hold them together using a pillar drill. In the bottom piece, I threaded the holes for the screws (M4), so they could sandwich together. Then I threaded two more screws on the bottom piece so they would hold the heatsink (see pictures), put sealant all over, screwed everything tightly, let it dry for 2 days then put it for testing. And it seems to be good as it's been running for two weeks now and there are no leaks. Phew, waterblock explanation done...

Now the radiator, this was taken from a Vectra. It's a heater core thing that my dad managed to get hold of for £20.

The pump, it's an Eheim adjustable one. Cost £23.75 off ebay.

Reservoir? I'll be using a tupperware box, or should I say modded tupperware box! You'll see what I mean soon.

Yeah so that's it really. Tested it on an experimental PC (AMD 3400+ @ 2.21GHz), was reaching temps of 53 degrees celsius on full load, but with the watercooling it was only reaching 43 degrees celsius! I was actually amazed, considering I haven't even got the correct fans for it yet.

So, just to sum up, the total cost of the DIY rig.

Waterblock:
acrylic + cutting on CNC - £9.00
heatsink - £0 - found in garage!
sealant - dad's...
barbs - £4.00
screws/bolts - £0 - found in garage!
total for waterblock - £13.00

Radiator - £20
Pump - £23.75
Reservoir - £2.49
Fans (soon to come: 2 x 140mm) - £8.49
Brings the total to - £67.73


Changes I am considering: using the same waterblock design, instead of using a heatsink, use only a 3mm thick copper sheet the same dimensions as the acrylic and have it flat on the bottom in place of the heatsink? If I can get hold of any thicker copper, then mill some channels out in the top. Or I could use slightly less thick acrylic for the bottom piece, and use like 10mm thick aluminium sheet in place of the copper/heatsink...


Please check the pictures. And here is a short video of it running NOT on the PC though.

Will be updated soon, when I get back from holiday! I will be away from this Thursday, and will be back by next Friday!

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read through this! And please can anyone recommend any improvements, suggestions, problems you spot or anything?

 

[QuietIce]

Nice job! I'm definitely into (what is commonly called) the ghetto aspect. I've always used heater cores for my loops as well. Truth be told heater cores are some of the best, if not the best, rads available.

I've heard most heater cores in England are aluminum. If your heater core is aluminum then I would also use aluminum for the block material. Sure you'll get slightly better heat transfer from copper but you'll also have to run some type of anti-corrosive to prevent problems created by mixing aluminum and copper, which cuts down the heat transfer of the water. If your heater core is copper as mine are (well, brass actually) then a copper block is perfect. In short, match the metals and stay away from water additives (except for a biocide/algaecide) - it's not worth the trouble if you can avoid it ...

 

[l19bal]

Thank you QuietIce .

My heater core is copper :O Well I think it is because some of the black paint has peeled off the fins and it looks like copper. So it must be copper. Well that means I'm going to have to add an anti-corrosive to the liquid!

I'd like to use a non conductive coolant, with anti-corrosive properties in there. Would you be able to recommend me one?

Thank you.

 

[jr1]

First off
WELKOME to the forums
Best colant i think will be plain destilled with some biocide in it if used in a copper only loop
With mixed metals i would add 5 to 10% ( someone with more experience correct me if i'm wrong on the mix here ) of the red antifreeze used for VW cars since that one is made for alu
I take it you are in UK since you use £ and therefor it probably will be cheaper and easier to find deionized water ( i think that's what it is called

And well done )

 

[Automata]

Very nice! I missed this portion of watercooling and am very glad to see someone still sticking to it. Subscribing to this thread so I can get updates.

Also, as a side note, please make the pictures a tad smaller (1024 across seems to work well) so that it can fit our tiny work monitors.

 

[l19bal]

Thank you jr1 and thideras

Yes I am in the UK, and I actually think my dad has some deionized water in the garage! Should try that out soon.

Will be doing some more testing as soon as I am back from holiday. I am starting to make the box for which the radiator, and the pump/reservoir will be sitting inside. I would have had it all inside my computer case but its not big enough and the wiring isn't organised. Need to sort that out soon!

Will keep you updated as often as I can.
Thanks for looking

 

[QuietIce]

Thank you QuietIce .

My heater core is copper :O Well I think it is because some of the black paint has peeled off the fins and it looks like copper. So it must be copper. Well that means I'm going to have to add an anti-corrosive to the liquid!

I'd like to use a non conductive coolant, with anti-corrosive properties in there. Would you be able to recommend me one?

Thank you.

Non-conductive coolants are, well, a waste of time. They'll stay non-conductive for a week, maybe a little longer, until they absorb some of the copper. May as well stick to water - in your case, de-ionized water. I don't know how close to distilled the de-ionized water is, but distilled water is also non-conductive ... for about a week.

For an additive, just plain old anti-freeze works fine. If you get the anti-freeze premixed then you need to make it 10% of your water solution. If it's the concentrated form you'll only need 5%. Some people like the VW stuff because it's blue, they Toyota stuff is red, and they both cost a lot more than regular anti-freeze.


BTW - There is a truly non-conductive fluid out there and neither one of us can afford it ...

 

[l19bal]

Hello all,

This is the basic design to my external box where I will be putting the radiator, pump and reservoir in. Not the best design I don't think, but it's just for starters. Still have quite a while for it all, and please if anyone could give me suggestions or alternative ideas, do so!

The pump has a head height of maximum 2 metres, if that helps with the layout of it. And the radiator has no moveable outlets and inlets, as I wouldn't wanna try and solder new shorter ones! I've heard that heater cores are very delicate when it comes to soldering with them.

Please check the pictures out!

Thanks for looking.

 

[l19bal]

Non-conductive coolants are, well, a waste of time. They'll stay non-conductive for a week, maybe a little longer, until they absorb some of the copper. May as well stick to water - in your case, de-ionized water. I don't know how close to distilled the de-ionized water is, but distilled water is also non-conductive ... for about a week.

For an additive, just plain old anti-freeze works fine. If you get the anti-freeze premixed then you need to make it 10% of your water solution. If it's the concentrated form you'll only need 5%. Some people like the VW stuff because it's blue, they Toyota stuff is red, and they both cost a lot more than regular anti-freeze.


BTW - There is a truly non-conductive fluid out there and neither one of us can afford it ...

Thanks for that! Looks like I'll be going for the red stuff from Toyota because I'm changing my colour theme from blue to red.

What's that called then

 

[l19bal]

Wait, I just realised that I'm gonna need some anti-corrosion substance, and I want the final liquid solution to be red. So would that be possible? Are you allowed to mix the biocide with the red coolant stuff?

 

[QuietIce]

Wait, I just realised that I'm gonna need some anti-corrosion substance, and I want the final liquid solution to be red. So would that be possible? Are you allowed to mix the biocide with the red coolant stuff?

Any anti-freeze is anti-corrosive as far as we're concerned - that's the only reason to add it to our loops. The VW and Toyota stuff is just their own high-priced brand of anti-freeze with extra this or that for their specific cars. I can't remember off-hand what either of them are called.

Biocide is as simple as adding a little first-aid iodine to the mix. It takes 8 drops per gallon for the common 5% solution, half that if you have the 10% iodine solution. Just use whatever is readily available to you - you've probably got one or the other around the house.


In reference to your comment about the pump head. Pressure is important in our loops to overcome the resistance of the blocks and other components but "height", as in vertical distance, doesn't mean anything. In closed loops like ours there is no "height" inside the loop once it's full of fluid ...

 

[l19bal]

Ok I've got it now thanks! Fair enough then, I'll get around it somehow

I've got a question for you. (yes another one!) I noticed your setup says you have an ASUS 7900GTX? Currently I've got an NVidia GeForce 6600GT, and I'm looking to upgrade that too. I've been recommened the 7800GT quite a lot, as it's fairly priced and performs well. Seeing as you've actually got the 7900GTX and are using it, would you recommend that instead of the 7800?

 

[||Console||]

I would grab a used 8800gt or 4850/30 . should be like 60-75$

 

[l19bal]

What do you think of these?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Asus-Nvidia-8...raphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item3caf99419f


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BFG-GeForce-8...raphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item2eaf203549

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XFX-NVIDIA-Ge...raphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item27b4075faa

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MSI-Geforce-8...raphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item3a5d94320c

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Genuine-Nvidi...raphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item23092d859f

 

[QuietIce]

Ok I've got it now thanks! Fair enough then, I'll get around it somehow

I've got a question for you. (yes another one!) I noticed your setup says you have an ASUS 7900GTX? Currently I've got an NVidia GeForce 6600GT, and I'm looking to upgrade that too. I've been recommened the 7800GT quite a lot, as it's fairly priced and performs well. Seeing as you've actually got the 7900GTX and are using it, would you recommend that instead of the 7800?

When it comes to video cards I'm not too interested or up-to-date since I don't run super-fast games or anything. When I assembled my sig rig, which is also my only gaming rig, the 7900GTX was THE card so there wasn't much to think about. I needed a card that would last for awhile and it has - four years and counting ...

 

[||Console||]

The 8800gt's put a stoming to the 7900s . Plus they oc like crazy

 

[m0r7if3r]

I may have missed this, but are you using mixed metals? If not, you don't need an anticorrosive, the only corrosion you'll get is galvanic and that's from mixed metals.

 

[QuietIce]

I may have missed this, but are you using mixed metals? If not, you don't need an anticorrosive, the only corrosion you'll get is galvanic and that's from mixed metals.

The DIY water block is made from an old aluminum heatsink and the heater core seems to be copper (probably brass) ...

 

[l19bal]

Yes m0r7if3r, I'm using mixed metals. The waterblock contains an aluminium heatsink and the heater core radiator is made of copper.

 

[hokiealumnus]

This is awesome old school modding. Would you be willing to write something up on it for the frontpage when you're done?