EMI shielding was something I hadn't given much thought to til this weekend. The case the PSU is built in is aluminium, I'm not sure what level of EMI shielding it will give. Alu isn't magnetic so I guess that may affect it. Anyhow, I'm just going to try it, if interference is an issue then I'll line the inside of the case with steel mesh.
Not much of an update as I've had other things going on, but here we go anyway. The auxiliary power supply needed finishing off with a power output connector. I used a regular power supply molex for this, which is simply glued to a slot cut in the top cover. Molex in place on the top cover... ...and secured with some hot glue The final thing was to sort out some cooling. I don't anticipate a significant amount of heat being produced but wanted to ensure there was air moving through the case. So I drilled some air holes and left it at that. If its gets to hot when in use I may have a re-think. Air holes drilled, 5mm holes on a 10mm spacing. Next I started wiring up the front panel. The panel before I started. You can see the temperature sensors have wires all over the place, and all the other controls need wiring up. The power connections to the panel were addressed first. Power connectors added From top to bottom, these headers are for power from the main PSU (for the fans), power from the aux PSU (for lighting and sensors) and the bottom six are for the temperature sensor probes. They're soldered to some stripboard which is attached to two self-adhesive PCB pillars. After a couple of hours this is what it looks like. A second PCB has been added for the PWM fan control. The components for that have been added, it just needs wiring to the pots and testing. There are two PWM controller channels (for the case and radiator fans), both chips will be plugged in to the 16-way socket (couldn't find any 8-way ones...). The temperature sensor power connectors have also been shortened and connected together.
The next aim was to complete the side panelling on the motherboard side, as this then allows the radiator outlets to be mounted which will then allow a bunch of other things to be sorted out. As is shown later on, I got 90% of the way there. First off, here's some other random stuff that got done in and around that. As mentioned before, the barb length on the reservoir outlet was a bit excessive, and shortening it will ease the radius to the radiator connector; so thats exactly what I did. 10mins with a junior hacksaw later... The barb screwed to the reservoir also needed attention. The problem was that theres an undercut on the thread where the O-ring sits, and because the res wall it screws to is quite thin theres only a fraction of the thread providing any grip. Hence it proved quite easy to strip the threads when testing the outlet pipe fitment. The solution was to fit spacers to take up the gap between the nut on the outer barb and the res, which then clamps the whole lot together. 2 spacers cut from 1.2mm alu in the foreground The whole lot assembled That made it a lot more stable, and a drop of silicone sealant around the inner barb also helped the sealing. The soldering on the front panel was also taken forward a few steps Gah, its all messy now All thats left is to sort some resistors out for the button LED's and wire the switches up to the connector on the bottom right of the board. Next was the side panelling. This was done in small sections, rather than one big panel covering the whole lot. Test fitting the centre panel Top panel, with cut out to clear a rivet head You guessed it, the lower panel The original plan was to cover the back of the motherboard with another sheet, but the tray itself is already doing a good job of that as it is. All it needs is something to cover the gaps top and bottom. A short panel added to the top... ...and a length of angle seal the top part up Now the panels had to be secured. This was done with the time-honoured captive nuts method. I now have a proper 6.5mm drill bit so fitting the captive nuts is now dead easy. Just drill a 3.5mm pilot, drill the panel hole out to 5mm, case out to 6.5mm, then dab some superglue on the captive nut, press it in the hole and tighten a screw into it. Tightening the screw with an electric screwdriver gets it nice and tight and pulls the nut into the panel properly; it aint goin nowhere. Captive nut in place on the case 3 of the lower panel screws in place. Theres a screw missing on the bottom left of the panel shown above, for the simple reason there's nothing to screw it to, yet... This little tab was added to provide that vital final screw. Panel cut to cover the area below the motherboard One final shot with the last panel temporarily taped in place. How it all looks at the mo
wow, very nice man love the custom circuitry, that takes research, know-how, and guts for power apps... industrial look of the aluminum is awesome, id say no polish no brush, just alum keep it up!
This weekend I sorted out the connectors to the radiator. Most watercooling systems incorporating an external radiator just run the tubing through a hole in the case, which is something I've never liked and wanted to avoid here. After much searching around for bulkhead connectors I settled on the solution below, which uses off-the-shelf plumbing parts, available from all good (and possibly some bad) DIY outlets. Self-sealing connectors would have been nice, but seem hard to find, and I have it on good authority that they kill flow rates, as you'd expect. One of the connectors The connectors are male-male connectors for 15mm copper water pipe. The copper pipe is sealed to it and is joined to the internal water tubing, the radiator connector screws on to the left side of the fitting. This is screwed though the case side, underneath the motherboard tray, on a separate small panel. Two spacers were needed to take up clearance in the joint, similar to the barb on the reservoir. The panel and spacers Exploded view of all the parts From left to right we have the male-male connector, bulkhead panel, two spacers, copper pipe with olive and some PTFE tape, and the nut. These were all assembled together and tighterned up. Parts assembled A cutout was made in the case side for the connectors, and the above panel was then rivetted to it. Rivetted in place I've also added two switches on the panel, these are to control the AC mains supply to the two PSU's. The radiator side of the connector The radiator connectors then screw in like so. Some preliminary testing suggests they seal ok, have to wait until the rest of the tubing is installed before I can test fully. Finally, a piece of angle was attached to close up the gap to the motherboard tray. Despite what the above shows I have drilled and attached the 4th screw to the top and bottom side panels, so the major work on the panels for this side is done. Work on panelling the other side has started, basically a mirror of this side. I've also started laying out the tubing so I can leak test the whole lot and see if these connectors really work.
Its been a day of ups and downs. The aim was to see if the radiator connectors fitted in the last update would seal properly and not leak all over the place. This required two things; water pipework and some electrickery. I've been tinkering with the water piping layout all week, and have hit upon a solution that seems to work. People with good memories may remember the plan was to make a sharp turn on the pump outlet and head straight for the radiator. Although the bend was possible, the tubing runs right in front of the Tagan's modular connectors, making half of them useless. The solution was to jiggle the order of cooling bits around. From the pump outlet, the tubing now heads up for the hard drive cooler. It then heads back down to the radiator connector, then to the CPU via the flow sensor. The GPU block is the final piece, this then dumps into the res. Water tubing cut and fitted The GPU block is a NV68, supplied by the nice guys at CoolerCases.co.uk. The tubing lengths may need a little alteration, but the layout looks good. The flow sensor is taped in place for now, it will be more securely mounted with some clip-in pipe holders. You can see the ones on there have had some vinyl dye applied, which then promptly flaked off all over the place. I'll be using some plain white ones in the end.... I should also point out that I haven't got around to fitting the jubliee clips on the connections in the above pic. The radiator connectors were attached to either end of a short length of tube, as the radiator itself isn't ready yet. Next the power to the pump needed to be sorted. The only part of this that hadn't been fitted to the case was the circuit breakers, so thats what was done next. Circuit breakers mounted on the back panel... ...and the view on the flip side These two slide nicely in alongside the main PSU. One is for the water pump, the other for my 2nd PSU, just in case... The pump itself was ready to go as I'd added a connector previously. Pump with waterproof connector The opposite end of the connector mounted on the res was replaced after I cracked the last one when installing it. It just needed some wire on the end and a 3-pin plug. This then plugs into the AC supply. Res all ready to go With all the bits now ready, they were fitted in the case. Ready to test! The motherboard blocks were bypassed, I'm only interested in the radiator connectors and res at this point. The pump wiring is a temporary solution for this test, its hooked up via one of the PSU switches just so I can quickly turn it off if needed. The power was plugged in and the pump turned on for a split second whilst dry to check that it a) worked, b) wasn't shorting out to the case and c) didn't plunge the town into darkness. Nothing untoward happened so I then filled up the system. The pump was then turned on and water flowed. At this point two problems were found. The power switch was mounted upside down, and one of the radiator connectors was dripping. Its only a small leak so some PTFE tape will no doubt cure it. Otherwise the system was leak free. The water level in the res was just below the lid, so the return water was splashing in and creating a little aeration. So, I topped the system up a little, and thats when things went wrong... OH.... ...NOES!!!1 Once the water level reached the power connector it pissed out all over the shop. A very hurried power down and disassembly ensued. The problem is the hole for the connector cuts across a step in the top face of the cover, so the top O-ring isn't sitting on a flat surface. There's a couple of solutions to this which I will look into once I've cleaned up the puddles on the living room floor... (why didn't I test it in the bathroom?)
The wiring is fine, it's the water spraying over it that's dangerous! How about revising the res/pump system and just settle for a T-line with the pump mounted on some rubber washers. I know it won't be the silence your looking for, be it's not that noisey, honest
The wiring is (very) temporary, it'll be much tidier, honest I've always preferred the look of the pump-in-res approach over the T-line. I hear priming the system is a bit of a pain. This way as you say is a little quieter, and also takes care of pump cooling. If/when I upgrade the pump I may try a T-line out, I can't try it with the Eheim as it has a slight leak around the outlet barb Sealing up the connector isn't a huge job, hopefully it'll be all back together tomorrow.
Its one pretty new and interesting ide with the canabalised parts from the radiator to the res... The idea of having a totally DIY watercooling rig is a good one, and it looks like you know what you are doing, anyone else with little or no knowledge in watercooling could ruin alot more than a living romm carpet! But it looks like the leak is temporary and did'nt ruin any hardware... Looking ofrward to a few more posts and seeing the whole thin in action...
At least Im making it look like I know what Im doing muahahah Anyway, after yesterdays disappointments, I soldiered on and fixed the leak around the power connector. The proper solution would be to mill out a proper, flat surface for the O-ring to seal against, but as I was lacking the tools to do a good job of that I turned to the silicone sealant instead. A bead of that was applied around the connector on both sides. Whilst it was curing I tidied up the AC wiring. Th wiring to the switches was done properly and heatshrinked. The wire in the forground is the main feed from the socket on the rear of the case, the wire on the right leads to the pump. I'll be using some cable clips and the like the secure the wiring once I buy some. I actually ran out of wire which is why theres nothing soldered to the other end of the switches at the mo. The power in socket on the rear had this length of wire attached, cut from the end of an IEC cable. That then attaches to a female connector and then leads to the power switches above. This way if the motherboard tray isn't fitted I can plug in a regular power cable to test the system. Once that was done, the water system was re-assembled and tested. No dramas this time after a couple of hours running, although the radiator connectors were still weeping a little on the external side. I'll have to have a look at the O-rings in them once they're dry, check they're OK.
Must say you have guts.I've been too chicken to try WC and your title "water everywhere" didn't do a whole lot to inspire me to give it a shot Maybe if I can find home insurance that covers my PC for "third party,stupidity and ineptness" I might consider dabbling in the dark arts Really hope you pull off this job succesfully as you deserve it.
Thats a great looking case and good luck with the wc issues, ill be looking foward to the next update
Thanks for the comments guys Germonicus: Don't let me put you off jakenbake: I will osrt one out this week and put it in my next update
First off, heres the promised schematic for the power supply. Its a very simple set-up, I only expect to pull about half an amp out of each of the outputs. The minumum value of 3500uF for the smoothing capacitor assumes an amp is being drawn from each output. Basically, the more you have there the better, I used 4700 as its the next standard size up Moving on, the flow sensor has been seen previously, crudely duct-taped to the case. It was time to change that and mount it properly. This was accomplished quite simply with some screw-on pipe holders. Flow sensor in place. Each clip is secured with an M3 screw and bolted through the case. The next job was to complete the side panelling on the other side of the case. I had already made a start on this, so all that was left was to cut out the final panel, drill mounting holes and screw them into place. The 3 panels being marked for the holes. 6 screws done The panels were attached in the same way as the opposite side, with captive nuts in the case frame. There's 2 screws missing, as on the opposite side I need to make up two small brackets. The last job was to see what the case looked like with all the panelling in place. As the last opening will be covered in thin plexi, this is pretty much what the exterior of the case will end up like. Saying that though the side panels need some air holes added to give an inlet for the top fan, so it won't be exactly like this...
Yeh, if I could start again I would make it an inch or so longer and taller. The PSU turning out to be bigger than I thought really screwed me over space-wise
