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

Everything is looking good!

Question: You drilled 3 holes into the bottom compartment...I thought you were only drilling 2: One for the inlet and 1 for the outlet. Are you changing that to 2 inlets and 1 outlet?

 

One for the inlet, one for the outlet, and one more for the drain. Thanks

Indeed. Keep up the comments!

 

Another question:



Do you think the gap caused by the hinges is going to be a problem, such as dust collecting in the mineral oil or an increase in the condensation of the mineral oil due to the enclosure not being air tight?

 

oil shouldnt condense too much, dust could be a little problem. whay dont you put a thin layer of neoprene there, closing the gap?

 

The oil might also wick up and out of the case along any vertical internal edges. Very messy.

 

Yea, that is one of my concerns. I'm hoping to make the motherboard backpane as sealed as I can make it. It won't be airtight, but I'm hoping no dust will get in and no oil will wick out.

I don't think mineral oil evaporate too much, but you're right about the dust.

Damn good idea, sir. I think I will. I have a bunch of sound proofing insulation type stuff that I can use. It's the same stuff that I put on the bottom of the lower chamber.

Keep the comments coming!

 

Tnx a lot, legoman 666 , in italian the Methyl Chloride is called "Cloruro di metile" and I found several reseller of this product

 

With the excellent work you have done on this project so far, I should hire you to make the small enclosure box for my project

 

Instead of sealing the backpanel, don't fill the oil that high. It's not like you need to cool the connector housings.

When are you going to cap the holes in the bottom off and leak test?

 

awsome!! i love this projeckt!!!

 

Thanks! I love you too!

No problem, glad you found something that should work.

Thanks, lol. I highly doubt it would be worth it for you to hire me. Just buy some material and start modding!

I want to seal it as well as possible to keep the oil from wicking out and making a mess. I suppose I could do a leak test tonight

 

I filled the tank about 3/4 full with water yesterday and didn't notice any leaks. I'm letting it sit for a few days though to see if any drips develop. A leak with the oil would be very bad. I got some pics that I forgot to upload.

 

Read through the entire log just now, some very impressive work!

One thing bugs me about having both the inlet and outlet on the bottom though, convection in liquids is significantly harder to overcome than it is with gasses, I fear warm oil will collect at the top of the tank, and have difficulty finding its way to the radiator.

Would your design allow for an extension tube on the inlet to draw warm oil from upper part of the tank?

 

Thank you! Yes, I plan on outputting the cooled oil near the CPU and having the inlet draw in from near the GPU's.

 

The bulkhead has threads on both sides so I think it can accept a fitting on the oil side.

Nice work man I like the tank. Would be bad if u had to use sillicon or something else on the joints

 

good work, dude. i was also going to suggest moving your in/outlet pipes.

another thing that concerns me is eventual dust buildup in the oil. this could well gum up the works in your rads, so you might want to consider some kind of filtration on your intake.

4000th post

edit: i also had an idea that may or may not work out awesome. if you can find something with an approximate density to mineral oil but will not mix (and is nonconductive, of course), you could have a pretty interesting visualisation of the convection currents in the case. this is assuming that such a magical fluid exists, of course.

 

No leaks so far! Hurray! Maybe I won't have to put silicone in the corners after all.

When I bought them, I was under the impression that they were threaded on both sides. It turns out that only the bottom is threaded. But they're polypropylene and fairly easy to hand tap myself. If you look closely in one of the pictures, you can see that I did this to one of the fittings but not the other 2.

Thanks

Thanks. I'm hoping there will be no way for the dust to get to the oil. The top of the motherboard backpane will be covered and more or less sealed (not airtight) and then the lid closes on top of that. Besides this, there is no other spot where air comes in contact with the oil. However, if there is a lot of crap floating in the oil after a period of time, I'll drain it out and filter it. That's one of the main reasons I wanted a drain.

The double fluid idea would be neat, but they would eventually mix. Even if one didn't dissolve or dilute the other, the only way to separate them again would be to turn off the machine and the pump.

I poured water into my current water loop when I ran out of the non conductive fluid I was using. That effect was pretty neat, but it was thoroughly mixed after a few minutes. I even got a pic of it:

 

Here are those pics I forgot to post last night:











No leaks so far!

 

Wo hoooo! Really starting to come together! Looking great :-D

 

the last picture are cool!
wery cool case i love it!