Looks great, well done
Why thank you, although there still seems to always be more to do! Most nervous about the copper tube i'm about to get started on
Project Smurf 3.0
- Thread starter Smffy
- Start date
Why thank you, although there still seems to always be more to do! Most nervous about the copper tube i'm about to get started on
All that building and rebuilding has paid off, looking slick mate! Only shame is those pumps being hidden away on the PSU side, might have to go all redneck again and build Lian Li D80000
I am tempted to do that as there's a reasonable amount of space at the front, might be for a future mod though... Unless I get creative this evening while I do some copper work
Last night had about 30 mins and got this fiddly small section in, joins the top two rads from back to front:
Using this offcut with some white tape to mark on the pipes the fully inserted depth to make sure the fit is as perfect as it can be (its not as simple as PETG...).
The nice museum wax turned up so I can now finish off the pipes after polishing, wish me luck bending later
Good luck....and if we see you with one arm more developed than the other, we'll know it's from polishing your pipe
Haha, you will indeed... Polishing and waxing my pipe.
Blue touch has been replaced by Orange touch to match the incoming copper... Havent got to bending the pipe yet because long story short the 15mm bending guide needs modifying to squeeze the 16mm pipe in. Part way through doing that so concentrated on finishing up cabling stuff in.
New Aquaero front treated to match the res front:
Washers swapped out for the new copper Orange ones, i've also added some copper discs to hide the fan labels which look pretty tidy
Closer picture, still limited to iPhone though...
Cabled the rest of the fans in and since this picture i've added the pumps in place ready to start making the last few cables to the PSU. The old blue braid is staying for now, i'll probably order a load more that I need and either white as an accent or something lighter - copper brown looks shocking and orange is way to bright for my taste... Lot of cables hidden in there, occurred to me I cannot get to them as soon as its tubed so need to have everything spot on and probably a quick power on to test before filling.
More to follow when I get chance over Xmas, hopefully i'll do more Friday.
Looking sweet mate, loving the copper discs over the fan stickers. Classy touch
I am pretty classy....
Cheers folks, pretty good range of the discs on the Bay - if you're interested search for "engraving blanks" you can get a massive range of them. Plain steel and paint is probably a good option but some nice finishes like brushed aluminium are around.
Edging closer to completion... Hope it works after all this effort
Well, Merry Xmas / Happy New Year!
Back home and finally able to get going on this again, although almost immediately presented with more challenges... Basically starting on the copper pipe and off the bat its clear that when I bend this thick pipe it kinks like crazy - some pics below, note the inside edge.
Reality is this 16mm pipe is rare and the stuff I got is VERY thick compared to say a conventional 15mm pipe, its 1mm thick which makes it really hard to bend. To the point most people would not be able to put even a slight bend in by hand, the tools work fine. So i'm mulling over some options, which right now can be summarised like:
Other option I guess is finish this with all the PETG i've got which will mean its done in a few hours.
Pics for reference, the copper does look nice even this polished piece:
Back home and finally able to get going on this again, although almost immediately presented with more challenges... Basically starting on the copper pipe and off the bat its clear that when I bend this thick pipe it kinks like crazy - some pics below, note the inside edge.
Reality is this 16mm pipe is rare and the stuff I got is VERY thick compared to say a conventional 15mm pipe, its 1mm thick which makes it really hard to bend. To the point most people would not be able to put even a slight bend in by hand, the tools work fine. So i'm mulling over some options, which right now can be summarised like:
- Try the 'fill tube with salt/sand method to stop kinks, not convinced it will work on this heavier pipe
- Live with them... I don't think I can
- Admit defeat and buy a load of the new EK 90s and use this pipe but straight with fittings for the major bends (didnt want to do this originally)
- I have found some 16mm copper elbows on the interwebs, I could cut straight sections and then solder the copper elbows on like a proper plumber - what solder is not going to cause problems with the metals in the loop? Seen copper/phosphate stuff presume that is ok?
- Get some thinner tube, or a solution to fit 15mm pipe in the fittings/to G 1/4
Other option I guess is finish this with all the PETG i've got which will mean its done in a few hours.
Pics for reference, the copper does look nice even this polished piece:
I say solder copper bends on or just use petg mate
Providing you proper clean out the inner of the copper after soldering surly it will be fine.
Yeah leaning towards this as i've just found a site with a lot of end fittings in 16mm for about 50p each... also stumbled upon a lot of pipe in 5/8" so theres potential there too if I change fittings. I've used up quite a bit of the pipe with various tests anyway so need to stop doing that!
Morning...
So last night something rather dull (but secretly rather exciting) arrived... 16mm end feeds for my copper. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and finish:
I got a load of 90 elbows, some 45s and also a few female to male which I don't think i'll use but was curious... Bit of bed building with spare unpolished bits:
It was late and I'm not gonna lie I had been at the pub but I just couldn't resist building something... Which escalated as you'll now see in to the early hours
All just 10 second wire wool polished not finished and not sealed together just placed in situ:
Drunk me decided he didn't like the way this looked from the front... Thankfully sober me agrees:
Bit of a redesign:
And then it continued to grow...
One on the top left needs a mm/2 trimming to make it perfect so that will be done... Its alarmingly good for a half cut late night effort and I am loving the way it looks already! Also occurred to me you could easily bond these elbows to the PETG tubing, which when held in the case was a really interesting look:
I'd call that progress after a long and frustrating month or so
So last night something rather dull (but secretly rather exciting) arrived... 16mm end feeds for my copper. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and finish:
I got a load of 90 elbows, some 45s and also a few female to male which I don't think i'll use but was curious... Bit of bed building with spare unpolished bits:
It was late and I'm not gonna lie I had been at the pub but I just couldn't resist building something... Which escalated as you'll now see in to the early hours
All just 10 second wire wool polished not finished and not sealed together just placed in situ:
Drunk me decided he didn't like the way this looked from the front... Thankfully sober me agrees:
Bit of a redesign:
And then it continued to grow...
One on the top left needs a mm/2 trimming to make it perfect so that will be done... Its alarmingly good for a half cut late night effort and I am loving the way it looks already! Also occurred to me you could easily bond these elbows to the PETG tubing, which when held in the case was a really interesting look:
I'd call that progress after a long and frustrating month or so
Industrial and interesting is the words, I also really prefer it which is funny but a good result.
Pretty sure some marine apoxy will bond it to PETG and these were 30p each, works on my old mans dive boat which gets salt blown at it constantly. I'm still looking at whether Just4Copper is a good option, solder free bends which don't really take and load like a household pipe. Mixed reviews but realistically the pipe is holding its self in place.
You could probably buy 20 fittings and have them nickel coated for £15... white fluid and it would look spot on
Just remembered how much cable and sleeve I still need and now I'm sad again haha!
Pretty sure some marine apoxy will bond it to PETG and these were 30p each, works on my old mans dive boat which gets salt blown at it constantly. I'm still looking at whether Just4Copper is a good option, solder free bends which don't really take and load like a household pipe. Mixed reviews but realistically the pipe is holding its self in place.
You could probably buy 20 fittings and have them nickel coated for £15... white fluid and it would look spot on
Just remembered how much cable and sleeve I still need and now I'm sad again haha!
Hmm, interesting product. Only question is whether it would react with the coolant. It's good for drinking water which implies it doesn't leach out or dissolve. It also doesn't mention that you can't use it on central heating pipes which may have Fernox or similar anti-corrosion/sludge additives so that's promising. Their website makes my eyes bleed though
Theres a big old PDF of tests and results and apparently its fine in catering so shouldnt be a problem between -40c and 120c or something ludicrous like that... Might just get some and make a few testers. I get most of the negative feedback from plumbers about strength but in this scenario its not likely to be an issue as its short self suspending sections and doesnt have 60 gallons of water pressing down on it.
Yep! Realistically given the amount of radiators and fans in the build the pumps are going to be running pretty low RPMs... Will order it and build a few pieces to see how it seals and how strong it is. This copper lark is more complicated than you'd think
Bit more tinkering and the front of the loop is basically done (need to trim the right hand pipes but both mini pipe cutters are now broken, 1mm pipe was a bit much for them so just picked up a sturdy Barco cutter). Tonight i'll hopefully have all the plumbing done ready to start cleaning up all the parts properly in preparation for fixing together permanently.
You did indeed miss the bit about that, I broke both pipe cutters last night so its just resting on top and needs about 15mm trimmed off. Now got a new one so after work time to crack on! To be fair to them they were £2.99 minis I was using on PETG so they did pretty well on 1mm thick copper!
They are damn handy ports but I do dislike the way they stick out on the front/back because mounting flat against the case is difficult (not on this one). I've got a drain on the lower 240mm rad at the front if you look closely, its connected to an EK 90 so swivels round when you need to use it and back hidden when you don't. All the other rads are at the top so drains would probably be useless, also these rads seems to drain like a dream compared to the EK previous installation.
Evening all... So how much do I regret not buying a quality pipe cutter in the first place, new one is simply ace. £20 well spent.
Ploughing on with the copper work ahead of getting the bonding agent next week, massively pleased to say its all done, cut and ready to be taken apart and properly wooled, reamed, fine wooled, pickled, rinsed and then finished with the wax... Boring task that lot will be but not for this evening!
Finished front layout:
And the piping routes over the back in to the res:
More work on the back, whats really annoying is the 2nd 3m pipe I had seems to be every so slightly larger than the 16mm first. Basically its a hell of a fit in to the elbows so very annoying to work with.
And the most important thing to do now:
Hands broken, back aching... but pretty pleased with the result finally!
Ploughing on with the copper work ahead of getting the bonding agent next week, massively pleased to say its all done, cut and ready to be taken apart and properly wooled, reamed, fine wooled, pickled, rinsed and then finished with the wax... Boring task that lot will be but not for this evening!
Finished front layout:
And the piping routes over the back in to the res:
More work on the back, whats really annoying is the 2nd 3m pipe I had seems to be every so slightly larger than the 16mm first. Basically its a hell of a fit in to the elbows so very annoying to work with.
And the most important thing to do now:
Hands broken, back aching... but pretty pleased with the result finally!
So this arrived while I was away this weekend...
Had a quick play with it before heading to work and made a join between a random offcut and elbow. Followed the instructions, the two pieces were relatively loose fitting unlike some of my joints but after about 10 seconds you can't shift the elbow... Left it 10 mins (after 7 mins its supposed to be safe to turn on water supply again and withstand 200 PSI) to cure and I cannot prize it apart.
Creates a really neat seal and from the small initial test it will definitely stand up to the forces within a custom loop. The main question is really if it creates the air or rather water tight seal it looks to... Considering I couldnt twist or move it after 10 minutes its pretty tough stuff! Initially I was worried about some of the bits I can't rotate 360 once bonded (within 5 secs) but there are actually instructions for that in the guide so all good. Left it submerged in some spare EK fluid while i'm at work so will see if anything mental is happening when I get home later...
Had a quick play with it before heading to work and made a join between a random offcut and elbow. Followed the instructions, the two pieces were relatively loose fitting unlike some of my joints but after about 10 seconds you can't shift the elbow... Left it 10 mins (after 7 mins its supposed to be safe to turn on water supply again and withstand 200 PSI) to cure and I cannot prize it apart.
Creates a really neat seal and from the small initial test it will definitely stand up to the forces within a custom loop. The main question is really if it creates the air or rather water tight seal it looks to... Considering I couldnt twist or move it after 10 minutes its pretty tough stuff! Initially I was worried about some of the bits I can't rotate 360 once bonded (within 5 secs) but there are actually instructions for that in the guide so all good. Left it submerged in some spare EK fluid while i'm at work so will see if anything mental is happening when I get home later...
Looks superb man. I've not been around much but you've made some excellent progress
Ta mate, been a long old slog but getting there...
Considering it is food safe, drinking water safe, hot and cold safe it shouldnt... But we will see. Be home in a few hours so i'll either be immediately going for a beer because its gone weird or cleaning up tons of copper to crack on.
They do make another product in the US which looks to be the same but guaranteed to be safe with all refrigerants - presumably for AC pipe/actual fridges. Guess I can always just stick with distilled and bio/corrosion inhibitors as a worst case.
I don't have one but might order one... Pretty sure this test piece is water tight, you can see the bonding agent inside it. First glance I thought it had gone funny in the coolant but its just I put a bit much on, tested again with dionised and same result the bond is set white inside visibly sealing the pipes even from that edge.
Just took it apart and remade a few loser sections with the slightly bigger pipe (idk why it is...), not sure how much i'll get done this week as I basically need to dedicate time to cleaning them all and i'm quite busy so the Drop might get bought while I wait.
Just took it apart and remade a few loser sections with the slightly bigger pipe (idk why it is...), not sure how much i'll get done this week as I basically need to dedicate time to cleaning them all and i'm quite busy so the Drop might get bought while I wait.
Boring updates but updates none the less... This is the bit i've not been looking forward to, taken apart the sections and bagging up (so it doesn't get confused given its about 40 bits of copper...). Everything needs cleaning up a lot, done the most soul destroying bit with the coarse wire wool and then ultra fine first go.
Bagged ready to be sorted
Many blisters and aching hands later... Cleaned up:
Copper soup... Pickling the copper to remove traces of oxidation etc before a good rinse in de-ionised. Using a home brew of vinegar and salt basically. Still attempting to keep all the stuff in the right batches!!
Not around this evening but the next job will be starting to prepare and bond sections, some will be done outside the rig and probably the final connecting join inside to make sure it sets in the perfect angles. Also making it easier to fit it back in, not forgetting there isn't a lot of flex in 1mm copper like you can with a PETG pipe. Once its in place it will be a final buff up and then copper polish ahead of the micro waxing to stop it tarnishing. Then if it leaks i'll cry
Bagged ready to be sorted
Many blisters and aching hands later... Cleaned up:
Copper soup... Pickling the copper to remove traces of oxidation etc before a good rinse in de-ionised. Using a home brew of vinegar and salt basically. Still attempting to keep all the stuff in the right batches!!
Not around this evening but the next job will be starting to prepare and bond sections, some will be done outside the rig and probably the final connecting join inside to make sure it sets in the perfect angles. Also making it easier to fit it back in, not forgetting there isn't a lot of flex in 1mm copper like you can with a PETG pipe. Once its in place it will be a final buff up and then copper polish ahead of the micro waxing to stop it tarnishing. Then if it leaks i'll cry