Project Smurf 3.0

[Smffy]

So progress is still happening whilst busy with life in general, much of the pipe has now been bonded together bar one section and one which was the only one to **** up... I say I was to blame but this stuff is not forgiving and you have a working window of about 5 seconds before its never coming apart again.

I might remove them all and clean again while testing with the Dr. Drop (yes I ordered it...) but some polished and bonded sections. Let me just say this stuff bonds incredibly strong, once its bonded you can't twist/move it within about 5 seconds at all. 10 seconds you can't prize it apart even with tools. Some snaps of the finished sections, mostly they've gone well:

Section om the right is one which I didnt succeed with, basically it bonded so fast I didnt full turn the 45 degree the right direction. Thus rendering that part useless... Also have no more 45s so either order more or i'll be remaking in 90 elbows later so the bit on the 480mm is not polished.

Rear of the case almost completed...

Properly mounted the pump this time at 8 points, mounting much more solidly with some extra padding. In order to mount like that I have it mounted a little narrow so it bows out causing it to be much more rigid...

And thats it for now, more cable and sleeving on order to do the custom cables but ahead of that i'll probably be testing it dry (no pumps obvs) just to power on and check all fans spin before its filled (cannot get to the fans cabling after its filled). Getting close now... Hope it all still works

 

[Smffy]

Did you ever get and measure any 15mm copper? Just that as I was randomly browsing OCUK I spotted Monsoon's new fittings and they claim to accommodate "Imperial O.D. 1/2" x 5/8" or any tube O.D. between 15.2mm and 16.2mm". If it fits, it could make sourcing tubing and bends easier or make it possible to bend it yourself.

I saw the same with the 5/8's, I actually had a solution for 15mm tube through using a tube expander you can easily expand the 15mm pipe 1mm at the end. I didn't order it because you need a decent one which is basically £100 or so, if you look around its called 'swaging' where you expand the end in order to minimise needing fittings joining two lengths when plumbing.

Nice fittings those though i'm tempted but in reality i'd need about 15 of them which is easily another £100 on fittings. I don't think they'd take the pipe as it comes though as its 15mm bang on, variance on my 16mm was 16.05-.1 for the smaller and the annoyingly slightly larger was 16.1-15. Unless I can sell my old EK ones for £4 a pop its going to be a no...

 

[Smffy]

So the coppers done and I spent forever cleaning it which included inside as best I could again with it all together... It always looks like not a lot for all the work when you lay it down which is depressing but to be fair I think I could do it again in no time now i've learnt more...

Cleaned, polished, washed, dried and waxed... Work much?

Bunch of sleeving on order to finish off all the cables but hoping to do some testing soon before filling and leak testing to make sure the fans all work before they're sealed in for good...

 

[Smffy]

Looking shiny. How're the arms feeling this morning?!

Better than the back after hunching over that...

 

[Smffy]

He looked OK to me...

Haha, damn wasn't ready for the face reveal just yet but you got me

 

[Smffy]

Crazy sexy copper work, actually digging the slightly industrial look of the elbows. Top dollar, dude!

Me too... quite like the way the edges slightly dirty up polishing it gives it a weird old feel but super clean and shiny!

 

[Smffy]

Might as well leave these here as well... Fired it up with no loop connected to test the fans, not for long obvs but the CPU block will cool enough for idle alone. Basically once its filled I can't get to the controllers so need to be certain it all works... Turn on. Only 3 spin. Haha! 3/17 ey, quick check one of the Aquaero cables was to blame so fixed that and all worked fine other than the front where 1 internal and 2 external didn't spin... This is what I was dealing with remember - braided in pairs:

Pretty damn difficult to figure out which is which on the splittys but got there in the end!

All back together again - few mistakes in wiring but not bad. I also tested the airflow with the front fan filters and decided the push pull seemed to struggle with them on (top and bottom were fine) so removed them. Also removed the blue rings as they will show through the front panel, probably find a decent magnetic filter and attach it to the case directly.

So all 17 fans firing up as they should and cables now hidden away again... I can tell you this thing shifts some SERIOUS air with them all going! Should be decent cooling the radiators once its all up and running.

 

[Smffy]

Yeah I have an adapter but for whatever reason it wasn't working and I couldn't be bothered to sort it so just connected the 24pin and CPU. It's not so bad as I used the three splittys for each bank of fans so New where to start at least... but all good now

 

[Smffy]

This week, I are been mostly eatin... CABLES. If you don't know the Fast Show its lost on you .

More work to do making up the GPU cables this evening but some progress on finishing the build in the form of braided cables. Gone for Shade 19, Titanium and Platinum in the colour scheme.

Crap film on whilst making a mess:

CPU done...

24pin Done, just need to do the bi-wired pin and connect to the PSU connectors...

Slow progress but getting slowly better at making them up. Maybe.

 

[Smffy]

it's a nice more subtle combo isn't it - played with the idea of a colour accent but with the amount of copper it's just not needed. One thing I do dislike is the cable combs, way to wide compared to some of the tighter 8 way ones I've got.

Will sort that later though, final 16 cables to crimp up after work and I'll have the GPUs done. Cenedd owes me £80 now coz I just bought the EV2 fittings... unless they don't measure up then they're going back.

 

[Smffy]

Some more exciting cable pics... Over the course of doing this I've got slowly better at it so my tips for it being less of a pain are:

1. Get beer in
2. Work on a flat surface, mark out your measurements with tape on it for speed
3. Batch the wires, then the sleeves (I did my sleeve unstretched the same as the unstripped wire which I found bang on once sleeved). Always melt the cut sleeve slightly immediately.
4. Use proper wire strippers for the same length at speed
5. Fold back the stripped wire end when you feed through the sleeve so it doesnt stab you and get caught constantly

Once the kit is all prepped literally start making them up, I found I got faster and faster and doing it this way allowed me just to focus on the task at hand not flit between cutting wire, sleeve then making it and going back and forth. Probably obvious but why not say it for anyone else.

Batching stuff:

Part done GPU sleeves:

A few now in place:

I've decided I don't much like the central highlight so its probably going to get swapped over later on to have the lighter shades on the outside and a thick middle section in shade 19.

More to come, almost done...

 

[Smffy]

Nice. You could always try the lighter shade between the black and grey - 4th in from each end to give 3B/1P/4G/1P/3B (where B=black, P=platinum, G=grey).

Looking good with that stripped down board. Much classier

I shall give it a go... you missed the part where you owe me £80 mate

 

[Smffy]

Full write up to follow but: almost same size, look good, feel cheap, instructions for the Ikea of fittings are terrible.

Firmly repeating step 1 now though so don't care.

 

[Smffy]

I think you may need to make it clearer in your instructions when to stop repeating step 1 and move onto step 2!

Haha, its often a good idea to repeat it... Here's my efforts, need to do the power cables etc but you'll see below things got a bit sidetracked. 24 pin reconfigured and looks much better in my opinion, still probably going to get some new cable combs to keep it under control but that will be an order later down the line.

Notice the new fittings... Still waiting for the cheque Cenedd. Size wise they are almost the same as EKHD when fitted but ever so slightly taller, the double O rings are good at gripping the tube and it comes with the two sizes so depending on the tube diameter you fit whats required. Its got some stupid piece of card that you're supposed to stick the tube in and figure out which bag of O-Rings you need which is frankly badly described so i'm not sure why they dont just write the sizes on the bag. You have to build every fitting, bottom O-Rings, internal x2, looks like its going to be annoying but its not too bad.

Summary of the fittings in brief, might consider posting up a bit of a review in the WC thread:

1. Look really nice/premium but feel quite cheap/light
2. Instructions are a bit rubbish for the tube guide although obviously I didn't need them
3. The tool it comes with is not strong enough, it bends vert easily which results in you killing your hands/risk of scratching the fitting or other parts
4. The fit is good, I would definitely say they should stick to a large Alan key to tighten the threaded piece as the using the tool in tight spaces is annoying
5. The fuzzy box they come in might look nice but it sheds all over the inside of the fittings so just a bit unnecessary
6. CRITICAL especially for PETG: When you fit the compression cap you MUST, MUST make sure the tube is 100% straight before trying to screw it down with larger tube. The internal edges are quite sharp and it will scratch the tube if not, as everyone knows they are often slightly off but just to get the cap screwed you need to be really careful or your tube will look like crap. Mines scratched but I can sort that, can't do the same with plastic can you...

So not perfect but they fit well and look nice.

Close up:

All fitted, basically I made the tube filthly doing this because I should have worn gloves etc... Needs to be cleaned AGAIN.

Tested, using Mr. Drop:

All good, no sign of it dropping at all... Surprising.

GPU cabling:

Probably going to arrange them some how so that they dont look so crap:

And then just when you're making loads of progress you remember you haven't tested the LEDs, time for some more cable nightmares round the back... Basically 3 of them worked, WOOHOO! After a bit of messing about its clear the little hubs are a bit of a pain, first thing to learn about them is that they don't work at all if you don't follow the ports in order - so if you plugged one in to 6 because it was easier time to rethink. After a lot of testing and fiddling I've concluded that 3 of the fans just don't work (LEDs), can't see why and didn't have time to figure out how the hell you get in them so I decided to swap things about so the visible fans at least are all good. I'll then have another go fixing them outside the case next week when I've got time, not sure where I stand on them given I've removed the connectors a few times with the warranty and the cables are less than 'new'.

Heres the front with them set on the light purple static colour, the yellow/gold/orange looked ok... White and purple also looked good:

So thats it for now, notice the 24pin adapter to test the fans... Bothered to look why it wasn't working and even though I bought it on OCUK (I think) pre-made the pins where plugged in wrong so move it over 1 and all good. Almost time to fill her up.

 

[Smffy]

That's shocking the ATX jumper was wired wrong. Good job it wasn't sending power somewhere dangerous!
Fittings are looking good as are the fans. GPU cables look good and nice that the ATX cable echoes that.

Yeah no idea really, the pinouts seem to suggest either side of the PSU on is a COM port but the 4th in wasn't having any of it so wired the other side and works a treat. Was the same on the stock cable so can't be my dumb ass wiring

 

[Smffy]

And the saga continues... Spent an afternoon making the last of the cables and sorting out the fans with dead LEDs (mounted in the rear with no LEDs required anyway). Dare I say thats all the cables done now, I think?!!

Wired the GPU cables as extensions which I forgot to mention last time, the reason for that was mainly to avoid having 4 single cables to the PSU whilst avoiding having doubled up pins in to connectors which is a pain with braid. It was also partly just to make life easier if I changed the supply in future... So basically I rewired the stock cables to create some tiny short versions to plug in to my long extensons:

And again for some of the braided pump cables decided not to directly wire them in but I might change my mind... Created some short Molex connectors, losing 2 of them from the stock configuration:

Next up, SATA cables... Needed literally 3, two for LED fan modules and 1 for my SATA dock so instead of using the annoying chain of crap they PSU comes with where you end up with 5 evenly spaced connectors I made this one with two side by side (LED modules) and one for the dock. Braided it because I don't know why it was frankly pointless but there you go:

So everything in the back is pretty neat and tidy... Tested the power cables and they work so thats always nice

Finally recleaned the piping and finished it AGAIN after my stupidity in man handling it before it got totally filthy so now its all shiny once more ready to put back in CAREFULLY and wearing GLOVES lol.

Once thats in its pretty much there, the rear fans are back in and working (-LEDs) so the only job left to do is get some new SATA cables to replace the old ones (probably slim ones which are less ridiculous to run) and then buy 3 vandal switches to mount on one of the 5.25" panels which i'll connect the LED controller too so the lighting can be changed at the front of the case.

I think it might even get some water in it this week... HOLY. CENSORED.

 

[Smffy]

So yeah, if you ever buy extensions/adapters etc from anybody always check they are wired correctly. I would surmise that the person who is far worse off than you who has to spend twelve hours a day making them can make mistakes..

Rig is looking stunning fella.

Yeah I should have checked to be fair I'm just lazy

Currently humpty is back together again so sat here while Dr. Drop is a stable 8PSI thinking about getting the wet stuff out...

 

[Smffy]

Well, i've had a VERY productive evening... No water involved but basically spent time sorting the cables out after refitting the pipes, including threading in the newly matt black'd GPU cable comb from my old build which looks very nice in my opinion:

With lights:

And further away, nice and clean with some decent 24pin combs coming for when I connect the ATX cable to the board for good:

Tidying up behind the scenes, ignore the random turquiose molex cable, need to redo it longer and with the platinum accent:

All ready to connect up once its leak tested... Decided I might as well shove the panels on and see how it actually looks once its together:

Havent got my vandal switches to connect up yet but the stock controllers for the fans are in the back so keeping on static mode a few of the other colours, the sort of golden Orange and oddly the light purple seem to look the best with the copper:

Awful blue:

Nicer...

And thats it for one evening, few bits arriving this week so nearly time to see how many components i've murdered in the battle to build it

 

[Smffy]

Nah, the GPU cable comb looks terrible....you should post it to me; it'll look much better in my case! I promise to be very gentle when I cut it in half for my non-sli setup

You're right though, the blue looks awful. Purple is better but I think of the lot I prefer the light orange (one before blue). White's good too but could be construed as boring. Colour change based on mood perhaps? Rig it up to a breathalyser and have it change colour based on number of repetitions of step 1?

I've actually got a spare comb but its literally 8+6 sent in error so no good for the majority of modern GPUs. Think they're like £4 though...

Following some techy thread elsewhere where someones developing software control for these LED fans, the Corsair logic was seriously lacking considering in effect you can control every LED individually it makes no sense to have preset effects. The key issue being that all the cool breathing or motion effects cycle EVERY colour with no option...

 

[Smffy]

Think it's fair to say you've got this build race in the bag mate, and it's looking bloody beautiful as well!

Definitely think the light golden orange is best for lighting, really shows off the copper without being overpowering like some of the more bold colours. Might just be as I've never really been a fan of the whole "make everything shine like a nightclub" thing, and the subtle tinge on the gold really works for me

Oh you might be right mate... incoming updates!

I'm a fan of that yellow/gold/orange too - looks a bit like a sort of Sepia tint to it which I like with the oldie industrial feel. One thing i've defo decided is i'm going to order a slab of plexi cut to size and replace the small window with that - just way to much hidden with the stock cover on. Not a fan of the RGB acid disco.

New OCUK cable swag arrived... Slim Sata cables to hide away - seriously slim. Product feedback: incredibly small and hide-able, but there is NO way that picture on the product sitting side by side is legit. All are right angled and its literally a case of force them in side by side which I don't feel is right.

New kitchen roll mod arrived, installed lots of it for those long gaming sessions where you can't be bothered to go to the toilet. That or I prepared for Dr. Drop being a little liar and it actually leaks like a sieve...

Before filling it I noticed I was a total retard and didn't connect a fan to the 'RPM' slot on the splitty................ FML. Opened all the back AGAIN to literally move a fan 1 slot over. #Dumbass. So once it was back together I filled it up - oh my god it was the most effort I've ever had to physically put in to a PC. Things to note:

1. This thing WEIGHS. Like i'm not kidding, pretty sure it is over 30kg comfortably.
2. Rads much? Getting the pumps totally free of air is essential with that bitspower dual top - any air means one pump just spams bubbles at the other and they dont get any kind of flow going...
3. Had to spend about 1.5 hours filling, picking this massive thing up, turning it over (whilst running), filling, repeating, until eventually all the air was gone

But its done, full, running, and most importantly as yet is not leaking...

Whilst messing with the fans I've also decided the old SP120s at the front at quite a bit louder than the nice HD120 magnetic lift, noticeably higher pitch too. Soooooooooo i'm probably going to buy MORE fans and swap those out, i'll time it with draining this de-ionised out and replacing with the actual fluid - of which I might need more because this just drank 3 litres of water in one sitting. I plan on draining partly and topping up with the de-ionised for a few more litres at least (2-5lt) to flush it out before finally filling with the good stuff and cooking up my nice copper orange fluid.

Probably going to have time for that on Friday all going well, then we can see how much of it i've killed making the thing. (pls work 1080s and delid 6700k)...

Progress.