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This section of the forums is specifically for the support of Watercooling. Aircooling posts should be over HERE, and more extreme cooling methods go over HERE.

PRIOR to posting, please ensure you have checked "The Beginners Guide to Watercooling".

Many of the most frequently asked questions are answered within that thread, which was authored and published to minimise the recurrance of such questions.

 
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> Beginner's Guide To Watercooling, Part 2 - Practical
Marci
post Dec 2 2004, 02:50 PM
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Beginner's Guide to Watercooling, Part II




Putting watercooling into a PC seems quite daunting, especially for a newcomer. After deciding what you want for your kit, the next task is to decide where to put the parts. The size of the radiator and the size of the case etc, will all contribute towards determining the final location. In this part of the Guide we will be looking at where to place your components; how to assemble them together; and what you'll need if you want to modify your case to accommodate a watercooling kit better.



1. Tools for the job

Before we decide where we are going to fit it, it would be useful to list some of the tools which could be used for modifying your case.



*WARNING* always remove any components from the case when modifying your case with any of the tools mentioned below. If you don't, then the possibility of filings from the case will fall onto components and short them out. Always wear adequate safety protection clothing - gloves & goggles, and always ensure that your power tools are connected to a circuit breaker.



Always use a vacuum, to remove ALL filings from the case before reinstalling components! A damp cloth can also be used to pick up a lot of residue.



Firstly, power tools:



Jigsaw:

A powerful piece of equipment when coupled with the correct blade and technique will allow you to create virtually any shape that you can design. A blade with short teeth will be best suited for cutting mild steel and aluminium, which most cases are made of.





Souce: Marci


For some examples of what is achievable with a jigsaw, see Marci's section of the gallery. Every case shown had all it's mods and windows done by hand with a jigsaw.



Dremel:

This is THE tool to help grind down those sharp edges from the jigsaw. The versatility from this tool will allow you to do anything that a jigsaw can do but the blades will wear down much quicker.





Regular Dremel Promo Photo




Drill:

A standard drill is essential for screw holes to mount your radiators, fans, grills, etc to your case. There are also bits for the drill that can drill holes with a diameter of 120mm. This will give you a much truer circular shaped hole as compared to a jigsaw and a dremel. It is essential that the drill is not set to hammer action!







Next, Hand Tools:



Nibbler:

Although rather slow for big jobs, the nibbler can create a good edge to a cut. A light sanding from the help of a dremel will remove any sharp edges that shouldn't be there. (Note you can also get nibblers that attach to a drill to make life quicker and easier, as well as powered nibblers.... shown below)








2. Location of the components



Now we have the tools needed for the job, deciding where to put the components such as the radiator, reservoir, pump etc is essential for a number of reasons:



  • Easy maintenance

  • Best flow arrangement for temperature

  • Trapping air bubbles

  • Airflow through radiator

  • Minimising noise/vibrations




Radiator:

Depending on your case, the radiator is probably the most difficult part to place. They come in three flavours (80mm, 92mm, 120mm) and up to 3 sizes per flavour (120.1, 120.2, 120.3). In the planning stage of your waterkit, you should have measured and deduced the maximum size that your case can accomodate.



Internal or External mounting is very dependent on space available inside your case and the size of radiator that you have decided is best for your particular system.



External mounting will give you a number of options to choose from to locate a good spot. Remember when mounting externally, considerations such as transportation and safety of your system need to be considered. Last thing you want once you've got it all done is to knock the radiator of the top of the case whilst you load it into the carboot...



External mounting on top of case:

This option is best if space is an issue and most probably the easiest to mount. Blowholes may need to be cut to allow airflow, unless you use motherboard studs to raise the radiator off the surface of the case and mount the fans externally also. This way of mounting does not have the best aesthetic quality but allows for a larger radiator to be installed on some of the smaller cases. 120.3 would be possible even with a mini-atx case.





HE120.3 externally mounted on top of a Chieftec AH-01SLD MiniATX Case (Marci's old rig)



External mounting to rear of case:

Mounting at the rear is possible with the correct setup. If you have a 120.1 then you will need a 120mm fan mount on the back of your case to install it without any modifications. Setups can look very tidy if done correctly as shown in the picture below. Anything larger than a 120.1 is not possible unless another 120mm fan mount is available. So although this mount is better suited for small radiators, it's not ideal if you are looking to upgrade the cooling in the future.





Externally mounted HE120.1 on the rear of the case - from O-CuK Members' Gallery - Kismet28



Internal mounting is a topic that does get debated quite often. General consensus is to mount in the roof of the case. This allows cold air to be drawn in through the top of the case via blowholes, and the warmer air vented into the case. Case fans should then be used to remove this warm air from the inside of the system so as not to detriment cooling performance of any aircooled components in there. Deciding on a cooling solution first will dictate the case you will need to house the setup and vice-versa.



A cheiftec midi case such as a BX or Dragon will fit anything UPTO a 120.2 in at best. A full tower case such as the LianLi PC75 or Chieftec Dragon FullTower will fit a 120.3 quite easily.



Mounting in the roof of case:

Mounting here is best way to use the space at the top of your case. It will however require 2 CD bays to be used to accommodate the radiator and fans. As mentioned in the above paragraph, the size of your radiator will determine the amount of space used in your case so measure carefully.





Internally mounted HE120.3 radiator in the top of a Chieftec FullTower (Another of Marci's old rigs)



Mounting at the lower front intake:

One or more fans at the intake can contribute to good airflow in a case. Adding a small radiator here will still allow airflow with minimum impact to available space within your case. Depending on the case then an 80.2, 120.1, 92.1 or an 80.1 will fit here with little or no modification. Although the temperatures will not be as good as a larger radiator, if space is an issue, then this is the best option, and can always be improved by adding further small radiators elsewhere around the case.





Internally mounted radiator at the front of the case - Source: Mark Phelan (O-CuK Forum Member MarkP)



Mounting on the floor of the case:

Mounting on the bottom of the case is another option. Basically, if your pump is mounted in any other place than the bottom of your case, then you literally have a lot of room to play with. Even possibilities of fitting a 120.3 in there! Main problem with bottom mounting is making sure there is enough clearance below your case so the radiator isn't starved for air. Rads mounted on the base of the case with fans sucking air thru the rad and into the case should ALWAYS have dustfilters attached, especially if stood on the floor on carpet.





Internally mounted radiator in the floor / base of the case - Source: Voyeur Mods



Reservoir:

Different reservoirs will fit in different places. The most ideal place is the top of your loop, whether that is internal or external. This is to help to fill the system and to bleed it. Also, any air in the loop will collect there, at the top of the loop. A Bay reservoir is easiest to mount as it only takes up a Floppy bay or a CD bay.



Again, internal and external mountings are the choices you have. External has the same issues as with the radiator as in safety and transportation; Internal has the issues of finding a suitable place to mount the radiator with added considerations of bleeding and filling. Alternatively, you can abandon the radiator and use a T-Piece and DangerDen Fillport on your loop. This simply provides a hole thru which you can add water / expunge air wherever you decide to fit it in your case. This could be the top panel, frontpanel, sidepanel... the choice is entirely up to you, but when filling or bleeding via this method, the whole case must be rotated so that the fillport is on the highest surface. It tends to be quicker and easier in any situation to do as much bleeding as physically possible by rotating the case WITHOUT the pump switched on, allowing the air to bleed naturally. With some T-Line setups and reservoirs, bleeding with the pump switched on causes the water to flow too quickly and carry the air round rather than allowing it to settle in your bleeding point. 90% of systems that Marci builds are bled this way. To make this method easier, it can be better to leave slightly more tubing to play with on reservoirs or fill lines so that they can be physically removed from the case whilst still plumbed up, so that you can lift them to the highest / most convenient point to catch the airbubbles.



Pump:

If you have chosen an impingement block for your cooling solution then a powerful pump is necessary. (See Part I for suitable pumps.) A powerful pump can mean a large pump, which again is another constraint on placement.



The most common place for a pump is at the bottom of a case. This allows the pump to be stood upright and allows the tubing to run unabated to its first destination in the loop (usually CPU block)



Smaller pumps such as the new C-Systems pumps are very compact but can be powerful for their size. This allows systems like shuttles etc to be water-cooled with ease in comparison to days of yore when small footprint pumps simply weren't available or weren't up to the task. When paired in parallel, two C-systems pumps are as powerful as an Eheim 1250 but still give a smaller footprint and thus more room to work with inside the case.




3. Guides for Radiator Mounting / Blowholes




Blowhole Cutting Tutorial - (see below for necessary guides & templates)



The O-CuK Blowhole Cutting Tutorial takes you thru all the steps involved to get from this....



to this...



To This...!



And if you did the HE120.2 template, then it'll look like this!





The full guide with walk-thru pix can be found here: http://www.over-clock.com/articles.php?act...p;showarticle=6




Radiator Guides:


  • Cut n' fold paper model of HE120.1 series rad





    Shroud Design for HE120.2 series Radiators





    Shroud Design for HE120.3 Radiators



  • 60mm fan blowhole template

  • 80mm fan blowhole template / HE80.1 rad

  • 92mm fan blowhole template / HE92.1 rad

  • 120mm fan blowhole template / HE120.x series rads






    • 4. Installation and Assembly Guides






















































    Img 1
    Water Kit Assembly




    All waterkits should be assembled on a bench outside of the PC and leak
    tested for 24hrs... this guide deals with this process, and installing
    the hardware onto your mainboard. Installation into your case is down
    to you, but most people tend to mount the radiator in the top of the case,
    and sit the reservoir in the bottom... it's entirely up to you how you
    do it, but it is advised to keep the Reservoir at the highest point to
    act as an air trap (all air rises to the highest point)
    Unpack all components and lay them out in
    your case in the approximate positions in which they are finally intended
    to be placed (Img 1)... Then roughly measure out your tubing lengths from
    pump to block, block to radiator, radiator to res, and res to pump (Img
    2) Remember, at this stage it is always best to OVERESTIMATE the lengths,
    then you can trim them shorter when it comes to the final installation
    within your chosen case.


    Img2
    		Next take your ThermoChill radiator package.
    You should have a radiator core, 2x barbs, shrouds for each side (default
    color is black, blue are shown to distinguish them from the core in pictures),
    2 screws per shroud, and a spare bleed valve screw as shown in the image
    to the left. Place a shroud on each side of the radiator, then using the
    small selftapping screws enclosed, screw them to the radiator as shown
    to the right. The barbs that came with your kit should already have PTFE
    tape on them. If they don't then you will need to PTFE them first. PTFE
    tape is used to seal threaded joins in plumbing applications, and stops
    water leaking up the threads of the barbs... The picture sequence below
    from left to right takes you thru the process of PTFE-ing your barbs...
    3 to 5 wraps of PTFE tape is usually sufficient for the radiators... but
    some devices such as the Eheim 1250 pump (where the thread is sunk into
    the inlet shaft of the pump) can require up to 8 wraps for a sufficient
    seal. Once you have PTFE'd your barbs, screw them into your radiator,
    and you should be left with something rather strikingly similar to the
    picture shown at the end of the sequence!
    One of the main features of the ThermoChill range of radiators
    is the bleed valve incorporated into the end cap (shown Left). To utilise
    this fully the radiator should be positioned so that this is the highest
    point, ie: Barbs to the floor or, alternatively, the rad can be positioned
    for easy bleeding whilst the rig is laid down on it's back. In which case,
    you should mount the radiator with both barbs towards the back side of
    the case so when laid down the bleed valve is visible, as can be seen
    in the picture to the right.

    The next step is to mount your fan to your radiator...!

    You should now have left 4 small thin self tapping screws, and 4 fat
    self tapping screws. Use the small thin screws to attach fan to shroud
    using a small tipped screw driver (shown Left). Use the fatter self tapping
    screws to attach the guard to the fan (and ultimately, thru the guard,
    thru your case into the fan to mount it all after leak testing is complete...
    which is the next step now that the prepwork is done!!

    Clear your workspace and lay out all your equipment on a towel (to catch
    any spills)
    Next, fill your jug with battery top-up water...
    It's always easier to pour it into the res via a jug rather than
    straight out of the bottle. Pop this to one side for a few minutes, as
    you're going to need it after the next step.

    Lay a towel on a surface... This should be of a big enough size to allow
    you to lay out and assemble your kit on it... Pay attention to the flow
    direction at all times. Using the PUMP as a starting point, you ideally
    should go from the top of the pump (it's OUTLET) to the block, from
    the CPU Block to the radiator, from the radiator to the res, and from
    the res back to the pump as illustrated below.

    Note, at EVERY point where tubing meets a device, you should use a wormdrive
    hoseclip to secure the hose and prevent leaks as shown in the pictures
    below...

    Once this is completed, we are ready to fill and leak
    test the kit. Leave the pump unplugged for now... This may require a second
    person depending how accessible your mains outlet is from the area where
    you work... For illustrative purposes, we have added some Deep Blue UV
    Reactive Dye to our water so that it stands out better in the photographs.
    Remove the cap from the reservoir, and fill
    it to the top. This should then fill thru to the pump and stop (shown
    LEFT). Now, switch on the pump and continue to top up the reservoir until
    the entire kit is full of water. If you aren't quick enough, the
    pump will soon empty the reservoir and run dry and the water will cease
    to flow, so you need to keep topping up the res until the ENTIRE kit is
    full. Once you have flow coming back into the reservoir at a fairly constant
    rate it can usually help to lift and tilt the res so that the outlet to
    the pump is at the lowest point... or alternatively, sit your reservoir
    on top of your CPU Waterblocks' box like we've done!
    Air-bubbles should be pushed from each component
    around to the res by the flow of the pump, where the air can gather and
    escape. The DangerDen CPU Block generally doesn't trap any air,
    and you can see thru the block to confirm this.... The Radiator however
    is normally the biggest culprit, hence the addition of the bleed valve
    on the ThermoChill. Simply open the bleed valve(shown right) and 90% of
    trapped air is instantly elliminated.


    You can quickly solve airblocks in tubing (shown to the
    left) by simply raising the proceeding item as shown in the image to the
    right. This will generally allow the air to pass round the system to the
    rad where it will be elliminated. Once the majority of air has cleared
    and the system is relatively full, place the top back on the Reservoir,
    close the bleed valve, and lie the radiator on it's side, with the inlet
    hose to the bottom. Any remaining air should leave the rad and enter the
    res where it should get trapped. Once all air is released remove the res
    cap, top- up and place the cap on your reservoir and put the kit to one
    side where ideally it should be left running for 12 to 24 hours prior
    to fitting to your mainboard etc. The reservoir should look quite impressive
    when full, as with the high flow rate that this pump provides you get
    quite a lot of turbulence...






























    Installation of the CPU
    Block





    Your kit should now look something like the image shown to the right of
    this text.

    Once you have made sure that there are no leaks in the system, you can begin
    to prepare your mainboard for the mounting of the Maze4 Block.
    You will need the mounting hardware that comes
    in a bag with the CPU Block, and specifically, you'll start with the
    parts shown to the left. Before we begin, it is advisable to check the area
    around each of the 4 mounting holes to ensure they are clear of other components.
    As you can see in the pictures to the left, the left hand hole is obstructed
    in each case. This can be easily bypassed by snipping down one edge of the
    plastic washers so that they site neatly alongside the components. The washers
    should be the correct size to sufficiently clear each component's height.
    The picture to the right shows the reverse side of the board, where (thankfully)
    EVERY hole is unobstructed. Now we're ready to begin.
    Take one of the metal rods and add one nut
    then one washer to the end. Rotate the nut down so that there is approximately
    6mm clear at the end of the rod. From left to right below, the picture sequence
    takes you thru the steps to mount the rods to the board. Take the rod, and
    place it thru the hole on the mainboard. Flip the board over and add a washer,
    then a nut. Finger tighten them. Repeat for the remaining 3 rods.
    You should now be left with a motherboard with 4 rods protruding from
    the front face as shown to the left. Before you mount the block, you need
    to check the orientation against the CPU socket, as the block will only
    mount correctly one way round. The base of the block has a lip in it, and
    this should be oriented to the labelled part of the socket where the lever
    arm pivots from. Take your Maze4 Block, and on the underside add a small
    blob of Thermal Compound to the base of the block. Using your finger tip
    or a piece of card, work the Thermal Compound out in the centre of the block.
    This serves to fill any irregularities in the copper base, and provides
    the best thermal contact. Remove any excess and you should be left with
    a discoloured area in the centre of the block... The pale appearance of
    this area is simply because any blemish in the surface of the block has
    now been filled with compound. An alternative to this is to "lap"
    the base of the block using a piece of fine-grit Wet&Dry sandpaper.
    This is not necessary for most users, so is not covered in this manual,
    and can often detract from the blocks performance if not done exactly right...
    therefore, we rarely recommend any user laps their own block.

    Fig A    		 Lower the Maze4 block down onto the 4 metal rods so that
    it sits square on top of the CPU as shown here to the right, then hold it
    in place with a finger between the two barbs as shown to the left. Now,
    returning to the bag of mounting hardware, find the parts shown in Fig A.
    Using Fig A as a guide, start at the right of the image and work your way
    to the left, dropping each part onto each rod in the order shown... Washer,
    spring, washer, thumbscrew. Attach the thumbscrews gently to the tips of
    the rods but do NOT tighten them down fully yet. Holding the block in place
    with a finger in the center helps to prevent damage to the CPU Core. Now,
    working with opposite corners (see picture strip below), tighten the thumbscrews
    down. The simplest way to tighten these thumbscrews is to place your fore-finger
    on the tip of the rod to prevent the rod from turning as you tighten, and
    with your middle finger and thumb, tighten the thumbscrew down one rotation
    per thumbscrew at a time. Start on one corner, rotate thumbscrew 360 degrees,
    move to the diagonally opposite corner, rotate 360. Move up to the next
    corner... then do that corner's diagonal opposite. Keep working your way
    round the block, tightening one rotation at a time to ensure even downforce
    onto the core and to again prevent core crushing. Once the thumbscrews are
    tightened appropriately, you will be left with something similar to the
    pictures below.


    Other Guides

    Maze 4 Guides:

    http://www.over-clock.com/articles.php?act...p;showarticle=2



    Maze 3 Guides:

    http://www.over-clock.com/articles.php?act...p;showarticle=1



    5. Conclusion

    In this part of the Guide, we've looked at the practical aspects of installing watercooling into your computer, after looking at the theory in the previous part. If you've followed this guide and built your own watercooling setup, we'd like to see pictures of it posted in the forum! But in case you need more motivation or inspiration to make the jump to watercooling, here are a few examples of setups from members of the forum.






























    Bladerunner's ZeroFan PC - the best in watercooling engineering,
    every block is DIY Home Made.
    TC_Overclocker's Triple-loop system Firelord's Watercooled MountainMods
    DynamisDK's cube - Righthandside DynamisDK's cube - Lefthandside
    Combining multiple cooling technologies in one system - TC_Overclocker's
    Prommi




    6. Credits

  • Main writers: Dodgy-er Dave, Marci
  • Also thanks to: Rinsewand, kismet28, Twisted-firestarter, Freewill & Rockindaveuk



    7. A word from Marci

    I have to say I'm incredibly proud of these guys and the efforts they've all made to get both Part I and Part II of this guide together. It has been no easy task, and it's a been a pure team effort. These guides have been well overdue, and I'd just like to express my appreciation to those who inspired it, contributed it, and saw it thru to completion....

    Stay tooned for Part III - Pelts, PhaseChange and other ExtremeCooling methods!! (eta: 2005)

    PS: Any corrections, please let myself or Kismet28 know by PM!

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    Gav2k
    post Dec 2 2004, 03:04 PM
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    nice one lads! glad the bladerunner pic i put up made it in as he is THE god of wc!


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    anthonyi
    post Dec 2 2004, 03:07 PM
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    Awesome chaps - well done.


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    Twisted
    post Dec 3 2004, 09:10 PM
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    Heh Credit's to me biggrin.gif
    I can't afford W/C!!

    Tis top Quality I SHALL be using this!!


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    post Dec 6 2004, 02:57 PM
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    To all the guys or girls that helped put this together. You've done a bl**dy good job I have to say.


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    post Dec 9 2004, 05:24 PM
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    *looks at the w/c setup hes just bought to play with and thanks the lord for this guide*


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    Father-Time
    post Dec 10 2004, 10:04 AM
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    kinggost
    post Mar 20 2006, 10:10 PM
    Post #8





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    will the templates work with a pa120.2 rad
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    Rockin
    post Mar 20 2006, 10:25 PM
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    Rockin!
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    QUOTE(kinggost @ Mar 20 2006, 10:15 PM) [snapback]153762[/snapback]
    will the templates work with a pa120.2 rad



    Yep smile.gif


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