Scratch Build – Complete Puddidium235 - Feb 2023 Complete +Final pics

-Chopping the frame up. Between the scrappers that cruise the neighborhood, and a trash crew that will take anything in a can, I've obliterated the camper. I even found a 1990's 2 liter of Diet A&W. No, I didn't taste it.
Now I'm in limbo getting rid of the hacked up frame because my contractor wants to take it to a scrap dealer... eventually.

-I did get some work done on the case in the meantime. I even managed to screw it up. My blind *ss didn't notice two of these fins are in the wrong place. -Oh, well. There's no changing it now.

-Here it is placed on the case. Now I have to make a way to mount it.

 

I just catched up with the photo's fixed... this stuff is next level

 

That distro is like a maze the whole build is so complicated , I like this "brutalism architecture" kind, quoting you, this huge reservoir connected to the manifold is brillant
Looks like you're also overwhelmed by responsabilities and work, snatching time for modding out of a well-stocked schedule, this is adding difficulty to this over complicated build, so even a little update is so awaited

 

Thanks, Tom&Kim.
I made it a little TOO complex.
This is the first time I've had "free time" in a decade, so there's a ton of projects on my own house that have piled up. Yesterday, I painted the woodwork of a bathroom, last week I re-routed the water main and got rid of a water softener tank. Next is to re-brick where the tank 'melted' the adobe brick on the house.
-And I'm straightening some warped 1/2" plastic to cut the bottom manifold from.

 

Just worked my way through all of the repaired logs/pictures. Fantastic work Cheaps!

 

Thanks.

 

The fan cover is mounted. I didn't think it was pic worthy.

-I milled up the bottom half of the reservoir-thing. You can't see it, but the center of the res area has a .5mm hole drilled through it. -Hell, I couldn't see them without a magnifier.

-Which made using the holes to center the flipped part rough. I got a lot of oil in my hair trying to get a magnifying glass in there.

-A test fit including the pump.

-And again, but with a lot of the parts sanded and buffed.

-Here's a shot of the hole I dremeled out for the pump outlet. It's still rough here. Just above that you can see I drilled a divot in the blue spacer, so I can put it back in the way it was sanded.

-Since the material I'm working with is warped, the O-ring channels I milled this time were worse than the last batch. I shaved about .028 off both parts, then gave them a half-*ssed sanding and buff.
Now I'm waiting for my super-old silicone glue to set up on the O-rings I made. If THAT ever happens, I can slap all this together and give it a leak test.

.
.

 

Looks fantastic - can't wait to see it plumbed in! Is it upside down there with the pump top/distro plate? (Presume the top and res sits above the pump?)

 

Thanks.
Yes. The whole thing is upside down since I'm building from the top down. The tolerance chain meets at the bottom, and you can see a discrepancy in the bottom of the panels in the back. Now that I have this plate I can finish this missing space. I had to add an 1/8" spacer plate to the tank to get these to fit in what I have built so far.

 

this put a big smile on my face today!

 

Regarding your O-ring and silicone is the O-ring necessary ? I used to make Aquariums a lifetime ago and do consider just using silicone to glue my reservoir ends into the reservoir. Do any of you have any experience with this alternative in reservoirs?

 

BIIIIIIIL!

@No X -I want to be able to take it apart. -Also, it would be impossible to get the smushed excess out of the insides.
If you want to do this, make sure the whole thing is held together with screws also. The amount of pressure that can form has popped a lot of silicone reservoirs in the past. I'm using a thick-wall res tube for the better contact area, and because extruded tends to craze/crack a bit when fusing.
I switched to O-rings because my first waterblocks failed by corrosion creeping under the silicone seal.

 

I have been semi-idle. That idle-ness has lead to some dangerous experimentation:

-Yep! That's a box cutter blade in a fly cutter. It worked pretty well, but taking .004 inch off was too much for it. It made a lot of noise until it suddenly didn't. The tiniest end of the point broke off. Otherwise, the results were pretty good.

-On to crazy idea #2: Oh, and the results of the first fly cut test is under this Frankenstein.
Anyway, At some point I had picked up a shiny new lathe bit... from the carpet of a vacant rent house. It's been calling me to try it. A little scrap metal, some screws, and some HDPE to brace it in place, and we get the 'vibromatic de-fingerer'. It worked fantastically, but I can see it wearing my spindle bearings out if it gets used too much. Results: Plexiglas cat hair. A LOT of it.

-Next up, I made a quick and dirty vacuum table, leveled with my new fly cutter. For sealing I picked up some purple latex sheet... from the carpet of another vacant rent house. I don't want to know what she bought this for.

-Next!: Yep... I'm THAT cheap. I'm so sick of the switches on these going out, I opted for something a little sturdier.

-What? the mod? I guess there's... Wait. One pic? This session has been really fiddly. It's been, 'mark hole, tear down, drill, re-assemble, repeat. I guess I got sidetracked and didn't take any pictures.

 

DAMN! That's cool though!

 

@ifohancroft - Long time, no see.

 

I've mostly been lurking

 

Post more, lurk less. -That should be the forum title page at this point.


-I owe you guys some pics of progress, so how about a leak test?

-Obviously, there's a big void in the middle to fill, but the outside stuff is done...Except for that one pesky triangle in the round side panel area.

-I realized the cloudiness of the middle layers could be removed by slathering them with silicone grease before assembly. Obviously there would be a ton of goo cleanup afterward, but it would make the view crystal-clear.
But, do I want to suffer through taking all this apart?

-On last pic with the side slapped on. My missing triangle is front and center. I'll probably place the cap for the barrel section with a less than permanent glue. I need to add some hardware so this will stop trying to fall over.

Thanks again.

 

Looks like a very technologically advanced moonshine machine?

 

Damn, great work, so much details.. what is the actual weight of the case? Guess it's not easy to flip the case around a few times to get the air bubbles out