Project Light & Water

R.C.Anderson

R.C.Anderson

R.C.Anderson

Associate
Joined
20 Feb 2009
Posts
2,099
Location
Rugby
Ok, as some of you might (However, probably not) know, I have been planning a Watercooling build for a while. I have also decided, that I want to backlight my motherboard (I think it would look good, but we'll find out...)

I'm currently at work (Lunch break), so can't provide any pictures, but they'll be coming later on this afternoon, when I get back from work.

Most of the PC is the same as I built here, however I'm changing the case to a Corsair 800D, and adding watercooling.

That's all from me for now, however I'll be back this evening with a diagram of how I'm planning on backlighting my motherboard & with details on all the watercooling gear :D
 
I didn't think about acrylic, I was just planning on using LEDs, however if I have enough of them, and far enough behind the mobo, the light should be quite even, so don't think it would look a lot different to lit acrylic.
 
Didn't think about getting them off the bay, ended up getting them from an electronics supplier (Don't know if they count as a competitor, so I won't say the name), but I've used my Dad's trade account to buy it (Purchase is too low for credit/debit card purchases), so it has to be sent to him first, then he's forwarding it on, so it might not get to me till the end of the week :(

Anyway, here's a little sneak peak (Sorry for it taking longer than I was expecting) of all the watercooling gear:


DSC_3516 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

The reservoir that I've got, although it says single bay spin res, is actually one of these, not sure why it's not in it's own box, but there we go...

It's all going to be going into a Corsair 800D (you can just see the corner of it in the left of the picture) rather than my HAF-X (which I'll be selling on), as I prefer the look of the 800D for watercooling, especially due to the large, unobstructed window.
 
Oh, and also, a massive thanks to both rjkoneill & 5UB, for putting up with all the changes & request for stock updates in my CS thread. You both are truly Awesome :D
 
Last edited:
Apologies for the delay on this, been very busy over the last week...

Anyway, planning on soldering up my back lighting LEDs tomorrow :)

I bought 30 3mm red LEDs for the job, I'll be wiring them up in series sets of 5 (including a current limited resistor), and I've decided the best way to mount them, is actually to the back of my motherboard, so I'm going to use a single layer of card (To protect from the component legs sticking out from the mobo), then I will be sticking that to my mobo with electrical tape, then taping my LEDs onto that.

At the moment, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work, unless it works out to be too thick (although there's about 8mm of space behind the mobo, so with 3mm LEDs, and a layer of card should be less than that)

Hopefully once I've got all the LEDs soldered together, I can start dismantling my current system & re-installing it into my new case & then I can add the watercooling :)
 
Small update:

My soldering iron has broken, so I had to solder all the LEDs at work during my lunch, so only got them finished today. The result:


DSC_3559 by RCAnderson, on Flickr


DSC_3560 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

Going to flush my radiator this evening, then take my PC apart tomorrow morning to install it in the new case & check what the LEDs look like & install the watercooling, hopefully some more pictures up tomorrow :)
 
Flushed the radiator this evening, was surprised how clean it was, as even the first flush looked perfectly clear!

I haven't flushed any of my blocks etc, should I do? I'm thinking I might do that in the morning anyway, just to be on the safe side.

Going to try and get some nice pics of the individual components tomorrow as well :D
 
That is epic. Love the soldering skills!

No problem for the help, that's what we're here for.

Looking forward to seeing your system progress!
 
Just realised I don't have any screws to attach the radiator to the roof of the case, shouldn't the radiator come with some all the bolts required?

Going to have to pop to B&Q tomorrow to grab some 10mm M4 bolts to use temporarily until I order some nice black ones :)
 
The only screws that were in my SR1 box were the 12 30mm M4 bolts, which aren't any use to attach the radiator to the roof of the case, as they're the perfect length to go all the way through the fan then into the rad to hold them on. Need about 10mm (max) bolts to hold the radiator onto the roof of the case.
 
Just tried fitting my radiator compression fittings, and turns out I'm not going to be able to use the angled fittings I thought I was going to use, as the fans get in the way...

Going to start dismantling my PC now though to start installing in the new case, but I'll try and update on the way (with pics) from my laptop :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom