Project GoldrushHello @ all! Welcome to my Project Log! First of all I want to give you a short introduction of myself. My name is Silas, I'm 25 and coming from Germany. I just graduated as a mechanical engineer and began modding computers in 2016. My first build was an ATX Powermac G5 mod and it turned out like this: Being not only my first mod but also my first watercooling loop to be assembled, of course i made some mistakes. With a lot more experience I am starting my new build Goldrush. Why i chose that name will be obvious in a moment. However first of all let me list the components used: - Lian Li PC O11 Dynamic XL - MSI X570 Ace - AMD Ryzen 3700X + EKWB Supremacy EVO Nickel/Plexi - 64 GB Crucial Ballistix + EKWB RAM Monarch X4 Nickel/Plexi - Gigabyte 980 ti Gaming G1 + EKWB Block Nickel/Plexi - be quiet! Straight Power 11 750 W - 10x NB-eLoop B12-2 - Watercool Heatkiller Tube 150 D5 - 2x Alphacool XT45 360 - 1x Alphacool ST30 360 - Samsung SSD 850 Evo and 860 Evo Currently the computer is used with air cooling: The colortheme of the build is white and gold. The nickel plated blocks wont fit in very well so this will need some work. I already did the CPU and RAM coolers, GPU block is tbd. So let's have a look at some sweet Electroplating! Before: Plating: After: Hope you guys like it. Have a great day!
Today I got some work done in CAD and the loop design is progressing. The run comes from the top radiator into CPU block. The connection between CPU and RAM was especially tricky, as i want to avoid the straight connection between the two, most builders seem to use with the monarch. So I use a 45° and go with a 90 bend horizontally into the RAM block. Due to very limited space in this area push in fittings will be used here. Finally the loop continues from RAM block to the back wall of the case and enters a pass through fitting, which leads to the back compartment of the case. Got you two quick renders of the design.
I spent some more time in CAD but I think the work done to the Heatkiller Tube is a little more interesting. I made a replacement plate for the stainless steel plate in the reservoir to allow to install a internal tube to connet pump inlet with top Port of reservoir. This will enable me to top the reservoir off completely. A secondary reservoir in the back of the case will manage pressure and volume stabilisation. I also modified the Rods found in the Heatkiller Tube to house RGB stripes. One for each rod. The original lighting effect is a bit weak imo. I also made some mounting threads for the fans. Have fun with the pics! Working on milling machine and lathe: New Heatkiller Insert: Heatkiller Rods for LED: eLoop Mounting: Sorry for small pictures but i can't upload them any bigger.
Love what you are doing. For bigger pictures, you need to go to each individual picture in the album after uploading. There is a bb code to the right of the pic. You can copy the code and paste it in your post.
Well I was talking about the upload itself, but I think it will be fine. However yesterday was not that succesfull. I tried to paint the res components as well as the rads an one eLoop frame. I chose something similar to Plastidip spray, however the product i got was disappointing to say the least. Coverage was very poor and surface finish was not great either, a lot of bubbles. Maybe original Plasti-Dip would have been better, but there are many fake products around so I was hesitant to order. At some point I gave up and oversprayed a lot, just to see if this spray could achieve anything close to white, but it was hopeless. I will search for alternatives, maybe use my plotter to plot some skins (a ton of work).
If that block is acetal, you will be lucky to get anything to stick to it. It's similar to HDPE in that it can't be chemically attacked easily.
Yes that's the reason i chose the spray wrap. However i found primer for POM and will try it. If it doesn't work i will use the plotter.
Learned that one the hard way. Had some pieces cut for me, went to glue it and nothing would stick. Did the research I should have done first and discovered that I wasn't going to be able to glue the parts together. Good luck with the primer.
As I am wainting for the new paint to arrive, I finished the CAD model and completed the list of fittings. Not every single run ist visible on the model, as I will route some of them in the back chamber with ZMT tubing. There will also be a secondary pump res combo back there.
Yet, on your first post, there are 2 pics of the gold plated blocks nicely sized ...so you can upload bigger ones I think that the quality of your work and your photography would deserve that size for each of your pictures...IMHO
There is enough space between GPU an mainboard to allow the use of tubing there Yesterday I plated the GPU block, took me the whole day.
Sweet. Please go into more detail of the plating. We like the process side of things here. ...Mill porn gets likes too. -sexy, dirty, milling machines.
Since i was all alone I had noone to take pictures. And while plating i wear gloves and these are covered in electrolyte, so I don't want to touch my camera. Basically it was the same process as in the first post. So in the first step all parts need to be polished and get a good wash with soapy water. Then the parts will get a degreaser treatment. The next step can get a bit scary. At 2.8 V the nickel gets "activated" which means that the oxide layer gets removed. I have found that the polishing and degreasing is actually enough to remove the oxide layer most of the time. I had some Problems with the Backplate and Ram module adapters, since these are made of aluminium. This needs another technique for getting the nickel on there. My guess ist, that EK uses another nickel for aluminium parts, and the activator tends to leave ugly stains on this nickel. I needed to polish the stains out again, degrease and continue straight to gold plaiting without activation. As seen I got good results this way. Well and last step is obviously the gold plaiting itself. The specific gold electrolyte I am using is of course not pure gold, since gold itself is too soft. It is an alloy of 24K gold and cobalt for hardness. The gold ist applied with 5V-6V. I use a Lab Power Supply and the max currents used during the various steps is about 2 Amps (activation). Gold plating uses a lot less (about 0.2 Amps). I finish the parts off with a toothpaste polish an then destilled water. The blocks are hand dried so there won't be any watermarks left. I purchased the gold screws from Aliexpress and I am very happy with the quality. Wouldn't use them for the axle of my bike though, who knows what hardness these are The cathode clip I use for the plaiting looks pretty nasty. It's some standard cheap material and the activator oxidizes it badly. Need a new one for the few parts left as connection is very unreliable.
