CAUTION: Leak Test in Progress!

[BobRoss]

Ok I am in the leak test phase of the project. There is still a small amount of custom fabrication to do in order to secure the cooling system but the flow part of it is as it will be. Specifically I need to make a piece to hold the reservoir securely.
I rigged the pump up to a temporary external power supply as I read somewhere that doing the jumper-short trick to the internal one for long periods may cause harm to them. That may or may not be true but since I have a 12v power supply anyway I decided not to risk my new two hundred dollar Mushkin one.
The pump has been running since about 3pm yesterday so I figure if no leaks by the time I get home today I am in business. I also hooked up the UV lights temporarily so I could check for leaks. (Actually I was just dying to see them and this is my excuse!)
I will post pics when I get home and find out if there is coolant all over my floor!

Incidentally are there individual UV LEDs? And if so are they as good as cathode ones? I would like to light up my reservoir from underneath and it would be easiest to stick some LEDs into the base of it.

[chrisbard]

Well that is great, sorry I have no water cooling experience but make sure you post a lot of pics

Welcome to TEAM 45

[Gizmo]

Originally Posted by BobRoss

Incidentally are there individual UV LEDs? And if so are they as good as cathode ones? I would like to light up my reservoir from underneath and it would be easiest to stick some LEDs into the base of it.

There are such critters, but AFAIK they are rather expensive.

[MONKEYMAN]

you can get the "UV" spotlights from a lot of e-tailers, they are not great UV but give a good effect.

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/52781

that sort of thing.

[BobRoss]

Well I am sorry to disappoint but my camera had dead batteries last night. I will do my best to get new ones in there and get some shots tonight. On the up side there are no leaks. Pump has been running for a day and a half as of leaving for work this morning and there are as of yet no signs of leakage. I still need to tuck the wires away and such but it is getting close! I have most of the air out of the lines now but not all. There are still some pockets that collect in and around the radiators.

[BobRoss]

It is worse than I thought. The batteries were not dead, the camera is. So I guess I have to keep you hanging until i can get a new camera.

[qwikride]

Hope it all works out. I use Dye-Lite (it's a leak detector dye for antifreeze) made by tracer products and UV ractive shows up a very bright green under UV light. Most good automotive stores have it. I got mine at the local NAPA store. will also show up out side anything if there is the slightest seepage or leak, not a bad idea I thought. It might work for you too.

[Favu]

Any news Bobross??

[Abdul]

Yeh,Im with Favu on this one, i wanna see the UV's!
Any LUCK?

[BobRoss]

Not yet, I think I am going to order a camera today. Any one have any camera suggestions? I'd prefer one that uses an SD card.

I have not powered the computer on yet. I’m still working on wire routing for the fans. But to be honest I turn on the pump and the lights and watch it pretty often It's kind of mesmerizing!

[BobRoss]

Ok Camera is ordered. Should be here by end of week.

[BobRoss]

Ok I have my camera now. This first pic has that parts I did this weekend. I took one of the floppy drive covers and drilled 3 holes in it and put rocker switches in it. These will control the lights. Also in the frame is an adapter fitting that I made by takign two other fittings, shortening them both and then welding them together. I sprayed some clear paint on them tho keep the rust away.

[BobRoss]

This pic shows the glow in the dark paint I laid down on the caps and heat syncs on the motherboard. I chose glow in the dark paint because that way if I turn off the UV tubes the paint would still glow. UV light charges up the glow paint really fast.

[BobRoss]

This is a shot of the back of the case. You can see the fancy green connectors on the XFX cards. Also you can see where I drilled 2 holes and installed grommets where the water exits and enters the case.

[BobRoss]

These two pics show the front and rear of my radiator stand. I welded some sheet metal to some plumbing pipes and attached the radiators to the plates. Then I got some feet for the pipes. I was having trouble figuring out where the reservoir was going to go so I decided to stick it on top of the radiator stand. The foot I mounted it to is bigger than the pipe I had been using and the hardware store I went to didn’t have a proper adaptor to make it work. This is the reason for the custom adaptor I showed earlier. I split the water coming out of the case into two with a Y fitting and then fed each into it’s own radiator. Then they merge back into one before they go to the reservoir. I am planning to cause the fans to turn on progressively as the temp rises. Each fan has lights built in and as each fan turns on it will serve as a visual temp indicator.

[BobRoss]

This is a shot of the pretty Danger Den CPU block with the brass top.

[BobRoss]

This one shows the dual XFX video cards.

[BobRoss]

Here is the upper part of the case lit up with UV lights. The lights are not yet installed in the case.

[Got EpOx]

You're gonna get some fantastic cooling from that system when it's fully functioning, well done BobRoss What's the spec of that PC system?

[BobRoss]

This one is a wide shot that shows the whole setup so far. You can see the reservoir on top of the radiator stand in need of the fitting that I made so that it will sit straight. Also you can see why it would be cool to have a UV light that comes from underneath it and lights up the reservoir water. In the foreground you can see the aux power supply I have been using to power the lights and the pump for the leak test. It won’t be part of the final setup though.