Scratch Build - In Progress ⭐ Mini-Splash, less than a Gallon water cooled SFF gaming PC

Now that I think about it, using a 17 degree ambient temp is cheating. My ambient hovers around 25c.

 

Quite possibly, but I have loads of tinkering to do before I get to my final delta's!

Update time!

I did some tinkering over the weekend, I will have some screenshots and stuff up later today / tomorrow on the actual build.

I am however encountering an issue and I hope someone can maybe help me think of a few options I may have missed. Thanks to @aquelito over on the SFF forum. I have managed to trouble shoot the problem, now I hope to come up with a slightly less drastic solution!

The background;

I use a dell 330w laptop PSU, which runs from the barrel connector (powering the board @ 19V), and a HDPLEX DC-ATX (again at 19V). THe HDPLEX powers the following:

GPU - Katana 1070 - (single 8 pin)
Powered x4 PCIE riser - (Berg connector from a sata power connector)
The board is powering everything else.

To switch the HDPLEX on when the motherboard powers up I am using a mosfet from the 12V fan header. This mosfet, when powered bridges the neutral and PS_ON on the HDPLEX turning it on (like using a paper clip).


The issue:

The 12V line from the GPU (both when powered by the 8 pin connector or when using the powered riser) is flowing back through the PCIEx4 cable and is powering the board with 12V even when the board is turned off. This means that the fans, pump and HDPLEX all remain turned on even when the board is turned off.

To make sure this was the issue (not some random board setting) I created the following adaptor to isolate the 12v supply from the motherboard PCIEx4 connector. This plugs in and makes sure no 12V will flow from the board to the GPU (or in reverse). (Its too tall to be a permanent solution, and requires daisy chaining two ribbon cables)



When using the adaptor I no longer see the issue.

Now the solution!

I could just file / grind away the 5 x 12V fingers from the powered riser cable I am using, repeating the process I did on the 90 degree riser. This is a bit permanent, so I tried covering the fingers with tape, but this just causes the tape to come away when inserted into the motherboard.

I could try acrylic nail polish (perhaps a nice red shade) which should withstand a few inserts and would break the electrical connection and should be removable in future, but I'm not sure if this would work.

Anyone got any other clever ideas?

 

Some form of resin? I would just file it away. You can always get another connector.

You could also desolder the pin related to that connection.

 

@Goatee Plastic sheet! You know the flip files you keep documents in? That stuff is quite thin. Cut narrow strips to wrap under the connector and hot glue them on the ends just to hold them in place. Then when pushing the riser into the board, the slot should hold it firmly.

Anti static plastic would probably also work. Let me try to illustrate what I mean.

 

10/10 drawing

 

I’m just going to the stationary cupboard.....

Great idea. Thanks

 

Kapton tape would be my go-to thing here

 

@Nealieboyee @cobalt6700 used a combination of the techniques described, Kapton tape with a tiny drop of hot glue to keep it firmly in place. Works like a charm!

 

Most plastic will work, but anti-static plastic will not work as it is conductive. A static charge can only build up on insulators. To prevent a static charge from building on the protective material, a conductive material is chosen and labelled anti-static.

@Goatee Great looking case.

 

Update time number 11 (.... I think!)

I really liked the multiple temperature monitoring of the non-contact thermometer, and I wanted to play around with fan and pump settings in windows, so I decided to put an aquaero in as well. I have an an Aquaero 5 LT that I have used in a couple of builds over the past few years and I love the level of control it offers.



However, it adds lots of cables. I think I added at least 2 more after this picture was taken.



I made a side mounting bracket for the Aquaero, utilising the "white space" I identified previously.



After some cable tiding, heat shrinking, zip ties, and other magic, i ended up pretty neat. Im really pleased with how clean it looks.



I also found some more space, can you guess what this is for.....



Yep, another fan! I have an Aquaero to power it from after all. This fan will exhaust and is a 60mm Noctua. I had to do some real cable bending to get in in there, but it works just fine.



I have the following left to do:

* Shorten and make the HDPLEX power connections low profile so I can fit the back panel.
* Add connector block to fix the back panel
* Beat the **** out of the plastic panel supplier who still hasn't got me my window panel in the correct size, I only ordered it at the beginning of December and they have sent it twice in the wrong size!
* Add a power button (I found a donor case in my cupboard)
* Add mounting should the window ever arrive
* Fix a couple of niggles
* Prep and finish the surfaces of the panels.
* Tweak and finalise Fan and Pump settings then do final bench marks
* Take some nice pictures outdoors

Not much left to do. Its going well

 

You even managed to embed an Aquaero ... you can be proud of the result, I absolutely love it myself, can't wait to see final pics ...

 

Still room for an ssd if you take the casing off? -Why not?

 

Right? We keep torturing ourselves packing equipment into tiny case spaces, and then THIS GUY shows up.

 

Now that is a wedgie !

 

Thanks for all the comments, really nice to know others are interested in what I'm doing.

Update 12 inbound!!

I needed to replace the mosfet that switches the HDPLEX on when the board powers up. I one I had been using failed (most likely damaged when I was trying to figure out the 12V flow back down the PCIE cable). So I ordered a new one from RS and got soldering, shortening cables and cutting up connectors. The mosfet is this one if anyone is interested in the future: MOSFET N-Channel 55V 47A TO220AB






Next was to fit a power button to the case. I was fed up of sticking a screwdriver in to short the motherboard to start it up each time. A step drill and power button from my bits box and it looks really nice.



I did notice when I tightened everything up that it can make contact with the radiator. I will need to isolate it with heatshrink as tts pretty tight (not that I have said that much in this build!!)



Next I moved onto start tidying up the cables at the back of the build. The had just been left flapping in the wind the entire time and I wanted to try enclosing the case to see thermals. so some shortening and




I have run out of zip ties, so its not quite complete, but I can now get a back panel on.




Stuff left to do:
* Shorten and make the HDPLEX power connections low profile so I can fit the back panel.
* Add connector block to fix the back panel
* Beat the **** out of the plastic panel supplier who still hasn't got me my window panel in the correct size, I only ordered it at the beginning of December and they have sent it twice in the wrong size!
* Add a power button (I found a donor case in my cupboard)
* Add mounting should the window ever arrive
* Fix a couple of niggles
* Prep and finish the surfaces of the panels.
* Tweak and finalise Fan and Pump settings then do final bench marks
* Isolate the power switch terminals to stop accidental contact.
* Take some nice pictures outdoors

 

That's just amazing engineering! Love the trick with the pegboard too, thanks for sharing!

As far as the rear-end of power button hitting the radiator, maybe a metal spacer or flange on the front side will lift the button off of the radiator? Though I'm not sure if that would fit the look of the case you are going for...

 

The switch is the type with screws in the back of the contacts, right? Just solder the wiring and remove the screws.

Also, remove two mating panels, clamp them together, and file some slots into those edges. That poor case needs all the airflow it can get.

 

Love the suggestion, but have chosen the more difficult and complicated/ unnecessary option.

That’s a really simple but decent suggestion that would totally work. But I have just cut my switch it in half to see how it works, so that’s not going to work this time. Mod a vandal time!

P.S. Window arrived! Woohoo. It’s still the wrong size at the third attempt, so just going to put a PayPal claim against the idiots. Total muppets!

 

Post pics. I'd never do that since I can't replicate the crimp on the tail of the switch.... Or can I? FWI: The connectors should be brass, so you can file them down pretty easy too.
Plexi: That sums up how 90% of us got into DIY in the first place. They were probably throwing scraps they had lying around your way instead of cutting. Some suppliers sell with 1/4" or more tolerances on the cuts, and even charge extra for more accurate cuts. I got a batch that wasn't even square!
I never got that. It takes me 10 seconds to set up a saw and cut to half a millimeter accuracy.

Edit: I have an upholstery button making press. If I made a new die, I could do that crimp. -Kinda a "throw money at it" solution, but hey...