[Project] Overkill Water

[CJ145]

First up, I suck at naming things. I will take recommendations for names and will most likely pick the best one given to me by the end of the build.

It's finally time for me to get back into the watercooling scene. My last watercooled system was with a Swiftech storm block on an A64 cooled by a heater-core and a good old Eheim aquarium pump. Today I am going with a much more modern and extreme system.

This build takes place at my neighbors garage shop, who happens to be the best neighbor in the entire world. Thank you again Terry for all your help!

The original idea was to cram a 3x120 and a 2x120 rad into my CM Stacker ST-01 along with a Swiftech MCP35x and run only t-lines with no reservoir. Well that did not last long as I found a great deal on a Iwaki RD-30 and Meanwell power supply from utnorris on the classifieds.

After much debate with Terry and my self we decided to build an external watercooling system that would disconnect from the computer using Koolance quick disconnects. This would allow easy mounting of the pump, reservoir, radiators, and power supplies needed. The external system is designed to slide into my custom computer desk. It will sit on the bottom shelf and blow hot air out the right side, away from the computers.

The custom desk that inspired this build:

Parts list for watercooling:

Iwaki RD-30
Swiftech Komodo HD6900
Swiftech Apogee XT Rev 2
Swiftech MCR320QP
Swiftech MCR220QP-K
Bitspower G1/4 True Silver 1/2" x4
Bitspower g1/4 Shining Silver Sealing Plug
Danger Den Fill Port
Tubing Clamps for 1/2" and 5/8"
Yate-Loon 120mm D12SH-12 x14
PT_Nuke Biocide
Sunbeam Rheosmart 3 Fan Controller
Meanwell S-150-24
D-Tek High Flow 1/2" fitting x2
Tygon B-44-3 5/8" (8')
PrimoChill PrimoFlex PRO LRT Tubing 7/16" ID 5/8" OD (10')
Koolance QDC VL4N 5/8" male barb x2
Koolance QDC VL4N 5/8" female barb x2
McMaster 5/8" id to 3/8"ntp barb x10
McMaster 1/2" id to 3/8"ntp barb x10
McMaster 1/2" to 5/8" fitting x10
Acrylic Sheet 12" x 12" .357" thick
Acrylic Tube 6" x 12" 1/8" thick

It will be cooling my current main computer:

Intel Core i7 920 C0
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5
ATI 6950 2GB flashed to 6970
GSKILL 3x2GB DDR3 1600
Silverstone DA850
4x WD 750GB in raid

The first thing to do was finally cut the Stacker the way I should have when I bought it. Excuse the sloppy top fan hole, I had to Dremel it from an existing 80mm square hole. It will be covered by a fan grill someday anyways. The holes are all getting grommets from McMaster.

The last time it will be aircooled:

Is it just me, or is Delrin the best looking material ever?
Computer interior loop all plumbed:

I went with 5/8" ID quick disconnects to help keep the flow up. With the additional length between the case and the cooler I felt having as much of the loop be 5/8" ID as possible to be a good thing.
Exterior t-line and quick disconnects:

Now that the easy part is done, it's time to do the hard part! More to come shortly.

 

[Daemonkin]

Am I the only one wanting the design specs for that desk?

 

[jmh547]

Am I the only one wanting the design specs for that desk?

Umm..... no. That desk is kick @$$

 

[CJ145]

I think the desk is kick *** too! Thanks! The desk is made from 1" Thick MDF. It has integrated cable management with a separate run for the audio cables. It has a noise isolated outlet for the receiver to keep any computer components from interfering with the audio quality. It is 3' deep and 7' 6" wide. The speakers I'm running in it are Polk Audio Monitor 40's and a CS10 center. The monitors are 24" Asus VW246H. The keyboard tray is 1/2" and allows me to easily type on 2 different keyboards for fixing other computers or working on my server. Behind the keyboard try is a shelf for usb devices plugged into a hub. There is power run throughout with an outlet on the left, as well as a network outlet on the left for running laptops.

 

[TechtonicPC]

Yea, the desk is badass! Skip the computer build log and show me the desk build log!

 

[CJ145]

Let me start off this update by saying how awesome Swiftech customer service is. I am having problems with my graphics card and I sent an email to Swiftech to see what they would say about it. I left my number and Gabe himself called me back within 15 mins of sending the email on a Saturday! That alone is impressive! I do not wish to post details until I have the situation figured out, as Swiftech has been more than helpful with this entire build.

Now, on to the water side of this project.

I mounted the push side of the fans on the radiators:

My MCR320 is the old style. It has the glossy paint instead of the matte black. It also has recessed barb holes that prevent the Bitspower barbs from fitting. I was able to find some D-Tek high flow barbs that would fit, but they are not as high flow as the BP barbs. I suppose I could turn down the Bitspower barbs, however the pump I have is more than enough to deal with the lesser barbs.

Next up is the tray that will hold all of the watercooling components. It started off as a flat piece of sheet metal from a prison industries desk. A few passes in the brake resulted in a usable tray. After that a pump bracket was welded up from some angle brackets and spare steel. This was origionally welded to the chassis but I ended up cutting it off to reposition it. It was left detached to ease bleeding of the pump. Then the radiator holes were cut with a hole saw and ground to size with the trusty Dremel. Add a few coats of Rust-Oleum flat black to make it look okay and you get:

When I ordered all of the barbs and reducers from McMaster the parts diagrams were not even close to the parts I received. The reducing fittings from 5/8" ID to 1/2" ID were perfectly tapered when the diagrams showed a ridge. The 5/8" ID to 3/8" NTP pipe barbs had the ridge even tho they showed they were flat all the way through. Luckily I have access to a drill press so it was fixable. I present custom high flow 5/8" ID pipe fittings (left drilled / right factory):

Once the paint dried I mounted the radiators and fans to the chassis, but in my stupidity I did not order enough radiator bolts, so I had to make due till they came in.

 

[CJ145]

Now, on to the wiring side of things.

The tray is powered by an old 300w no-name PSU I had lying around. Thanks to it's cheap nature the PSU case is nearly empty and I was able to fit a relay inside. The relay inside this PSU will be to turn on the Meanwell power supply when the main PSU is turned on. The Meanwell power supply is wired to the AUX power out in the PSU. This allows me to unplug the two power supplies separately if I so desire. The relay is held on with double sided tape. Just after this picture was taken it was wrapped with electrical tape so that in the event it falls lose, it will not short out on anything.

After figuring out the PSU's I started wiring the fans, not without the assistance of some of the best beer on earth however! I do not think I could sleeve without beer, too tedious for me.

BEER??? Yes Beer, Spaten Oktoberfest to be exact. My neighbor keeps a keg of it!

The next day we made up the front panel. It is 3/4" chip board or whatever it's called. Pain in the *** to make look good, luckily I had some desk laminate left over. It has a handle to ease carrying and sliding it out from the desk. It also has a danger den fill port at the top, and a keyed switch at the bottom for turning it on and off. This way there will be no accidental melt downs.

 

[ChanceCoats123]

That kink looks nasty.

 

[CJ145]

The kink was just from tying the tubing back out of the way for the picture luckily. The tray mounting is very tight in some areas, but I lucked out as the Primochill Pro LRT tubing is very kink resistant. The build has been finished so shortly all the remaining pictures should be up.

First up is the PSU mounting and finally some pics of the monster Iwaki RD-30! The ATX PSU tucked in front of the radiator easily. There is airflow on all four sides even though it looks like it's hitting the case. The pump bracket was cut off the tray and mounted on a piece of 3/4" birch. This allows a straight shot into the first radiator. It also allows the pump to move around a bit to ease first time bleeding. You can also see the beginning of the reservoir in these pictures.

At the other side of the tray I found a great place to tuck the fan controller. When in PWM mode it does not get too hot in this location. I was impressed with how cool it runs for a fan controller. The Meanwell PSU sits here too.

I had just enough sleeve left to do the PWM run to the computer.

I ordered a 4"x4"x3/16" sheet of rubber from McMaster when I got the extra screws I needed in. I used it to reduce pump vibrations. It turns out this pump doesn't vibrate much once it's fully bleed anyways.

At this point in the build I was all done, except the reservoir tube had not been turned down to size yet. Fair warning for anyone who orders acrylic tubes from McMaster... the ends will NOT be flat at all. I had to have both ends turned flat in order to glue them. So after waiting 3 days for the tube, I decided to go ghetto reservoir.

 

[CJ145]

Once it was filled up I flicked the pump on. I started on 20.5v as that is as low as the PSU will go. Lets just say, it's a VERY good thing I had hose clamps on the pump outlet. I watched the tubing swell with pressure. Once the loop was mostly bled I set the pump up to 24v as it wasn't as loud as my case fans are! Then again I run high speed yates... I had a few leaks with some defective metal hose clamps, but they were all away from the computer! I guess my neighbor had a good idea with moving all this stuff out of the case.

Of course, the next morning the reservoir tube was ready. So I glued it up and pressure tested it. The glue I used was weld on #3. It is water thin and really likes to capillary in to the joints. Thanks to having perfectly flat ends it did not leak the first time! I had the tube cut to 9" long, leaving me a filled reservoir volume of 1 gallon. Having the extra spare water allows me to drain the computer side five or six times before I have to even think of refilling the reservoir.

It was stuck at my feet under the desk for more leak testing. I'm surprised I did not break any fans. I managed to stick my feet into it more than once.

Once the res was in and everything was leak tested again, it was time to put it in the desk where it belongs. Well the desk is made from MDF, and it's not easy to take apart. It does split into three pieces to make moving it possible however. So I ended up cutting MDF in my computer room, with a jigsaw. Now if you have never cut MDF before, do your self a favor and DO NOT DO IT INSIDE PLEASE. The amount of dust that MDF creates is overwhelming. I built an entire desk out of it and still thought it would be a good idea to do this inside. I also ran another outlet from the surge strip to run this monster. Excuse the tacky plate, it is just for protection and is the last one I had.

Once the touch up paint dried I slipped it in, and put the shelving back in. Yes, my jigsaw holes are not perfectly straight. It's 1" thick MDF and it was against the wall and the floor. At least the right side of the desk is not visible at all. There is a tv right next to it!

The gap on the left and the 3/4" top gap will get some kind of air filter so that I do not have to clean it often. Anyone have an idea of what I can use? It has to be removable.

Thats basically it! I have a few more pictures but it's more of the same. If there are any requests for a picture of something I will be more than happy to look or try to sneak one inside the desk. Thanks for looking at my build!

 

[Daemonkin]

ZOMG the RD30 is just making me .

Looking good so far, keep up the updates.

 

[Dooms101]

What kind of temps do you get?

 

[CJ145]

Thanks With the fans at 40% my CPU is full load 60c (via coretemp). For reference it's an i7 920 c0 at 1.36vcore, 1.375vtt, and 4.2GHz

 

[snowbrd]

That desk is so smexy. Its my dream desk. I WISH I HAD IT SO MUUUUUUUCH.

 

[wagex]

<---- jelly!

 

[Dooms101]

Thanks With the fans at 40% my CPU is full load 60c (via coretemp). For reference it's an i7 920 c0 at 1.36vcore, 1.375vtt, and 4.2GHz

From what I know of i7's thats a really nice load temp. I've noticed with my high speed yates that the difference between low and high rpm (~7v - 12v) is only about 2C.

 

[noxqzs]

I would go to home depot or something similar, and get a filter that is used for home forced air systems. Those are relatively cheap and easily replaceable.