Project: Desk Rad

Moron · 15 Feb 2011 at 21:19

Small tip for braiding. Once you've cut the braid, use a lighter to singe the edge of the fibres as this stops it becoming all fraid - far easier to route cables through without loosing its shape then.

JohnTedd · 16 Feb 2011 at 09:00

Thanks for the tip. I don't possess a lighter but I did try that with the gas burners of my hob. I must have I left it in the flame too long as it caught fire!

Do you have any other suggestions for other suitable heat sources that won't cause a fire? Soldering iron?

Tomcat825 · 16 Feb 2011 at 11:54

Buy a lighter? Lol. It's always gonna want to ignite... the lighter is the easiest option though, imo.

Looks good... I really like the idea in all honesty as my Storm Scout lacks any room for a triple rad which is why my rig isn't watercooled as if I DID WC it, I'd either go double push pull or triple pull I guess.

JohnTedd · 16 Feb 2011 at 15:46

Tomcat825 said:
Buy a lighter? Lol.

I was waiting for someone to say that

But really I was wondering if anyone had used a heat source that still singed but was less likely to burn. Perhaps lighters are such a heat source, but I thought some electrical thing might be less likely to cause combustion.

Bubo · 16 Feb 2011 at 19:55

I used matches. Everyone has matches surely.

Gundog48 · 16 Feb 2011 at 19:57

Gas soldering iron. Useful for so many things...

domthecondom · 16 Feb 2011 at 21:35

hair dryer?

JohnTedd · 16 Feb 2011 at 22:21

domthecondom said:
hair dryer?

Is that hot enough to singe?

domthecondom · 16 Feb 2011 at 23:10

oh no

a lighter is

Jamiman · 17 Feb 2011 at 00:09

EDIT: Didn't read properly, was gonna suggest heatshrink

Me being a goon, sorry

JohnTedd · 17 Feb 2011 at 09:07

Thanks for all the tips. I'll give them a go next time I'm doing some braiding.

Gunslinger · 18 Feb 2011 at 13:19

you can get a small scoop shaped attachemnt for those small gas torches, that basically causes the heat to roll/curl back on itself, so you put the cable to be heat-shrinked in front of that section and it gets the heat all around it.....

Like this .....

or you could just get one of these.....

JohnTedd · 18 Feb 2011 at 19:23

Gunslinger said:
or you could just get one of these.....

I never knew such things existed, but I think that a gas soldering iron might be more useful, particularly as my electric soldering iron is pretty knackered. Thanks for the tips.

I did some searching for gas soldering irons and found one that had a hot knife attachment. Someone else mentioned to me that a hot knife is great for fusing the end of a braid, so perhaps a gas soldering iron with such an attachment is the way to go.

Gunslinger · 20 Feb 2011 at 15:02

quite probably, funny thing is you see those little cheap gas soldering kits at markets and bootsales and you can sometimes dismiss them as cheap market tat, but to be fair, they can be very very handy, and even if they do wear out, they are cheap enough to just throw away and get another one !

JW1993 · 21 Feb 2011 at 01:55

Hi John, just managed to puncture my rad which is the 360 version. Was the stuff you purchased from halfords and was it pretty good too?

Thanks, Joe

JohnTedd · 21 Feb 2011 at 08:24

footyfan93 said:
Hi John, just managed to puncture my rad which is the 360 version. Was the stuff you purchased from halfords and was it pretty good too?

Thanks, Joe

Hi Joe

The Plastic Padding's Leak-Fix is pretty easy to use. It does go off very quickly so you only want to make up a very small amount at a time (you mix two pastes together). And it is very stinky, so I recommend applying it somewhere with good ventilation. And use something to apply it that you don't want - I used the end of a zip tie. I put two coats on before I tried it out and I was able to get at the hole fairly easily once I'd bent the metal plate with the screw hole out of the way. I checked it out visually.

I also submerged the whole rad in the bath to make sure I knew where all the holes were before fixing (thankfully only the one). And I re-submerged it after the leakfix had gone off to make sure that it was airtight. Finally I borrowed by Father-in-law's compressor to really stress it. Otherwise you'd need to connect your pump to the rad.

The rad is now in my loop and has been working fine as far as I know for the last month.

Best of luck!

JW1993 · 21 Feb 2011 at 13:14

Thanks for the reply, did you find it awkward getting under the piece of metal where the pilot holes for the fans are?

Thanks again, Joe

JohnTedd · 21 Feb 2011 at 13:28

footyfan93 said:
Thanks for the reply, did you find it awkward getting under the piece of metal where the pilot holes for the fans are?

Thanks again, Joe

Luckily my hole was under one of the plates in the middle of the RAD rather than one of the corner ones. It was quite easy to lever the metal plate out of the way to get a good look at the hole. I was able to clean the area around the hole which is also a very important thing to do. I think I scratched it with something sharp. TBH I can't remember now. I also have a handy USB microscope which is great for getting a good look at the hole and later your repair. Failing that I bet a magnifying glass (or very good eyes) would suffice.

I do suggest building it up in layers rather than trying to fix it in one go with a large lump. I think I was lucky that my hole wasn't too big and so two layers were enough.

JohnTedd · 23 Feb 2011 at 14:37

More goodies have arrived.... In Piggin style, here's the unwrapping.

wc%20ram%20waterblock%20unpack%20001.jpg

containing...

wc%20ram%20waterblock%20unpack%20002.jpg

The main thing being the EK RAM WB:

wc%20ram%20waterblock%20unpack%20003.JPG

Which contains:

wc%20ram%20waterblock%20unpack%20007.jpg

and

wc%20ram%20waterblock%20unpack%20008.jpg

The block itself is very heavy, so I am pretty confident it is going to do a good job. Hopefully I'll get to fit it tonight....

More photos once it is fitted.

JohnTedd · 24 Feb 2011 at 16:25

As promised here is it being fitted. After the heatsink fins are removed you put on MX3:

Then put the block on:

I think it's already looking better than the fans...

And with the pipes on:

and from another angle:

The result is much quieter. Later I will try overclocking the RAM much more than before...