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Scratch Build – In Progress The Mineral Oil PC - 3/24/2011 - More leaks :(

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by legoman666, 29 Jan 2009.

  1. Odin Eidolon

    Odin Eidolon What's a Dremel?

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    really nice work, especially with the cristalfontz :thumb:
     
  2. legoman666

    legoman666 Beat to fit, paint to match.

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    Thanks ;) Filing those little holes to the correct size took an entire morning. I'll try to come up with some ideas for the copper.
     
  3. Guest-23315

    Guest-23315 Guest

    ^^ For your temp sensons, a guy on XS did a very nice mod using some G1/4" 8/10mm compression fittings...: Linkeh.
     
  4. legoman666

    legoman666 Beat to fit, paint to match.

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    Those do look nice.... but I bet he spent $100 on all of those fittings. My polypropylene T's were cheap ;) (and won't be seen anyway)

    edit: Wow holy crap. I wish I had that much money to spend!
     
  5. NysoO

    NysoO Handcrafted

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    Although I'd never submerge my own PC, this is still a sick build! Nice design and great execution. Looking forward to see this in action.
    A thought though, sure the pumps will handle oil?
     
  6. legoman666

    legoman666 Beat to fit, paint to match.

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    Thanks. I will be using a single Eheim 1250. See here: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showpost.php?p=1926830&postcount=136
     
  7. Editor22

    Editor22 E22 | Hex-Gear

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    Nice to see someone doing a oil scratch build and not just using an old fish tank and so far id say its the best oil PC build out there so far.. keep up the good work dude:rock:
     
  8. legoman666

    legoman666 Beat to fit, paint to match.

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    Thanks!

    Working hard at work, or am I hardly working? Anyway, here's an idea I came up with for the front of the case:

    [​IMG]
    The two circles on the top section are the power and reset bulgin switches. The slit is a slim slot loading dvd burner. The black square is a 8" LCD screen I just got hooked up. The detail is all copper. And of course, the LCD at the bottom is the Crystalfontz screen.

    I'm not 100% set on any of this, but I particularly don't like the curvy thing I drew in between the two screens.

    [​IMG]
    Here's a crappy pic of the 8" LCD panel I have. Nifty little thing is 640x480, has VGA, composite and s-video input.

    EDIT:
    [​IMG]
    Or maybe this better. Power button on the bottom, reset on top. The power button I bought has a black housing which will match the color of the grills and screws. The reset switch still isn't decided yet.
     
    Last edited: 24 Feb 2009
  9. sortableturnip

    sortableturnip What's a Dremel?

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    Watch those cables...when you install the other res you might have an issue with the cables impeding the airflow around those fans. You might also have a problem with the cables touching those fans!
     
  10. legoman666

    legoman666 Beat to fit, paint to match.

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    Each rad will have its 3 fans tied together and connected to a single channel on the Crystalfontz SCAB pwm controller. I will take the RPM monitoring from one of the fans The wires will obviously be tucked out of the way so the fans don't eat them.
     
  11. Odin Eidolon

    Odin Eidolon What's a Dremel?

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    did you see the new MCR stackable rad series? i bet you could fit 4 or 5 of those there :rock:
     
  12. Mino

    Mino Ganzerli Mino

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    From your two drawings, I preffer the first one for the copper curves, and the second one for the pwr/reset switch position.
    Just a question...
    how do you plan to isolate the rear portion of the lcd?
    Keep up the good works!
     
  13. legoman666

    legoman666 Beat to fit, paint to match.

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    Weekday Night Modding

    This is an aggregate of the work I've done in the past few days. I don't get home early enough to get any serious modding done during the week.

    [​IMG]
    Specs of the MicroATX PSU that I'm considering using to power the lower compartment. It's left over from another mod (peltier drink cooler).

    [​IMG]
    It won't fit with the casing on, so off it goes.

    [​IMG]
    Barely has any clearance. I don't think I'll use it. I already have to run a few cables from the upper compartment to the lower compartment; USB, 2 temp sensors, and Reset. The PSU eliminates the need for 3.3v, 5v, 12v, and GND. But it also adds the complication of 1 more point of failure and the need for another relay.

    [​IMG]
    So I cooked this up real quick as a solution. I'll place a few of these down the back of the case to guide the wires nice and straight. 1 on the bottom aluminum section made out of alu, 2 on the plexi section made out of plexi, and 1 more on the top section.

    [​IMG]
    All nice and done. The wires will all be sleeved the same color so they look uniform and neat.

    [​IMG]
    I cut some of the remaining aluminum sheet metal to 18.5" width so I can rip the pieces for the upper section from it.

    [​IMG]
    The two long sides.

    [​IMG]
    And the rest.

    [​IMG]
    The top section will be removable. It's still up in the air whether it'll be hinged or not though. I want to hinge it, but I can't think of an obvious place to attach the hinges on the lower section. I'll take a look at the different kinds of hinges the next time I go to the hardware store.

    [​IMG]
    The top section will simply sit on top of these pieces of 1/2" angle aluminum. The pencil mark is how far down the aluminum goes. The ~1/4" of overlap is intentional.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    And here it is all together. The top section is simply taped for now.

    What do you think?
     
  14. SkyLord77

    SkyLord77 Use your teeth not a Dremel

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    FANTASTIC work so far!

    Not that I doubted you but this is turning out much better than I thought possible.

    Great job! :rock:
     
  15. dark_avenger

    dark_avenger Minimodder

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    looking really good, makes me wanna do a oil computer :(

    would avoid using an extra psu if possible adds complications.
     
  16. talladega

    talladega I'm Squidward

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    Have you hooked up and used the SCAB yet? I was wondering how many fans it can control. Also can you use it to control other things like turning your pump or case lights on and off?

    I can't wait to see this finished. It's really amazing.
     
  17. Odin Eidolon

    Odin Eidolon What's a Dremel?

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    i like the first design you posted more than the second.
    why dont you etch on the front the name of the project?
     
  18. legoman666

    legoman666 Beat to fit, paint to match.

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    Really? I was leaning more towards the second. Straight lines are my style. This project doesn't really have a name yet. I'm no good at coming up with stuff like that. Besides, it would probably look tacky. There were a few suggestions earlier in the log that sounded not half bad though.

    Thank you sir!

    Thanks ;) Yeah, those were my thoughts. I would do it if I didn't have to run any other cables down there. But running 3 bunches instead of 2 isn't that big of a deal.

    Indeed I have. It has 4 headers. I'm going to wire each set of 3 radiator fans together and plug them into 1 header. Each NF-P12 is 1.08w, 3 x 1.08 = 3.24w. I'll take the RPM monitoring from 1 fan so I can still get an RPM reading too. I ordered a super ridiculous high speed 120x38mm fan for moving oil over the CPU heatsink. I will probably control this fan with the SCAB as well.

    As for controlling lights, pumps and such, I see no reason why not. I won't be able to use it for my pump since it's 120v AC, but it should be able to drive a DC pump as long as you don't exceed the maximum current rating for the SCAB. The SCAB is rated for 1.5A per fan header with the total of the 4 headers not to exceed 4A. So that's 18w per channel, not to exceed 48w total. The popular MCP655 uses 24w, so it doesn't look like you could control it unless you did some sort of fancy parallel connection over 2 headers.

    Indeed I did! I was poking around over on XS the other day and saw the preview that Gabe posted. The two XSPC radiators I'm using should be more than enough ;) I bet any existing rad could be modified for use in a stack. You would have to drill a hole in the tank for a new barb opposite the existing barb, but it could be done!

    Which LCD, the top or bottom? The Crystalfontz LCD's back will be left bare in the lower compartment. Nothing should touch it, however if there is a clearance issue, I'll cover it with a bit of plastic. The upper LCD will be in a sort of a "tank" to keep the oil out and allow for the removal of the LCD from the machine should I need to do so.

    Thanks for the comments everyone!
     
    Last edited: 26 Feb 2009
  19. sortableturnip

    sortableturnip What's a Dremel?

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    Now you're cooking with oil (figuratively) :thumb:

    One question...where are the hard drives going to go?
     
  20. legoman666

    legoman666 Beat to fit, paint to match.

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    If I go with SSDs, I'll just stick them in the oil. If I use regular platter drives, they'll be in the upper compartment.
     

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