Project Viking

Cenedd, Yeah there's plenty of room to add another LED but I'm unsure of how I'd be able to power it.
I did take a closer look at the construction and the LED part is just two tiny LEDS(about 2mm wide) that are directed to another piece of plexi that then spreads the light.
I see no solder joints for these LEDS though so I think it's out of my league to swap them out but that might be an option as well(or just swap one out for a blue LED).
(Might show an image later today)

Thanks Zeeflyboy!
You are quite correct, those bends with multiple direction changes in tight spaces are quite troublesome but with freehand bending and some patience it ain't as bad as I suspected. :)


As of now the loop is running trying to cycle out the air which is a major PITA.
There is one issue though... The inlet port on the res is at the top and there is no pipe from this inlet that goes a little bit into the res. That means that the water goes straight from the fitting into the res, creating bubbles(at least with pump at full speed).
I could fill the res entirely but that leaves no room for air or expansion when I finally seal the loop so I'm not sure that is such a good idea.
Any advice on this part?
 
If you can get your hands on a G1/4 die, the 13mm tube is perfect for threading directly.

Assuming you have a small section of thread free behind your inlet fitting, you can then just insert that pipe on the inside of the reservoir and tighten it up so it backs up against the inlet fitting.

Thats what i've got on mine - it also stops any backing up of the air gap when the pump is switched off.
 
just looking at your led issue - is that just a big diffuser over the led on that white PCB board?

I think you'll find a surface mount led (or several I suppose) lurking behind it if so - it would be a simple case of de-soldering those and replacing with colour of your choice.
 
Good idea about the G1/4 die. I'm hunting high and low right now to see if there's a place in town that has one in stock.

As for the LED. Yes there is a diffuser but the LEDs are mounted by it's side and I see no solder joints on them. But yes, they can probably be swapped out.
I'll try to show an image of them later today.
 
If not this is the one you need (parallel) http://www.aliexpress.com/item/FREE...50&btsid=faa4c775-b984-49c2-a4f9-8609955bd481

I'm amazed none of the water-cooling shops stock them actually. A few stock the taps, but never the dies.... go figure.

Everything can be swapped out if you are determined enough :)

At worst that's just a simple PCB - a scrape of the paint off the traces and you have the power supply ready and available for a small surface mount led.
 
Do the EK internal tubes use G1/4? Could be worth checking out but doesn't seem to say on OcUK or their website
 
Zeeflyboy said:
I would say almost for sure... the ek reservoirs must be g1/4 on top surely?

That may be the easiest option :)

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-res-x3-internal-tube-12-16-40mm-wc-837-ek.html


edit - although 12mm ID is awful tight on a G1/4 thread... not sure that is realistic. Perhaps they have for some reason chosen a larger thread inside the reservoir?
Click to expand...

The top definitely is, although after the hassle of having to use an extender in order to fit non EK fittings, then needing a 9mm allen key to fit the extender, I wasn't 100% if they'd find some reason to be a complete PITA regarding the inner tube thread as well!

Ohjay said:
Found a G1/4 die.. off to buy it. This build will be done this weekend #(¤%/&24!!!! ;) :D
Click to expand...

Hope so, want to see what it can do! #Beast
 
When life gives you lemons...

I bought a whole set of dies just in case... and it turns out I got it all wrong and none of them works. *sigh*
So it's either ordering a new die, the EK internal tube, or going full ghetto on this.
I struck me that I could fit a fitting inside the reservoir and fasten the tube with an o-ring and not install the compression cap. That way I won't get any "bad" metal in my loop and I can have it done today. But I'm really not sure it's a wise move.

Ah, the greatness of water cooling :D


Or well, there is yet another solution. Make a new inlet tube that goes to the bottom of the reservoir. It can be done but it will be a major, major PITA.
 
Setbacks are only troublesome when they happen. Brush it off and just go at it again, right? :)

So, the mistake I made yesterday was that I was unaware of that there are different dies depending on what they should be used for. The ones I bought were not for pipes but for rods.

Thinking about various solutions yesterday I finally decided on trying out the idea of changing inlet port on the reservoir. I was a bit worried that I might just move the problem though since I might end up with the vortex effect by doing this.
After I woke up and had some morning coffee I got to bending. It's not perfect, there is a slight angle to it, but I'm happy with it for now:
pT3J5Gn.jpg

Filled the loop again and have had it running for 20 minutes now with no apparant leaks. No vortex either which was a major surprise.
Now I'm trying to vent the loop which seems even harder now than last time. I'll get it done though.


And I promised some LED pictures yesterday.
This is the basic construction of it:
cvp4C7O.jpg

L1 and L2 are leds and upon closer examination there might be small tacks of solder at the edges. Either way I will not bother with trying to swap one out at this point. I might down the road though.

This is what it looks like naked but lit up:
D01wIsM.jpg
It is more red in real life, way more red.
 
Excellent news about your leak test but a shame about the LEDs as they look like they are going to be a massive pain to replace if you wanted to use white/violet LED units. Still though the system looks great and I hope the rest of the leaktest goes smoothly.

Great work and I can't wait to see it without the kitchen roll :)
 
Yes, those are some form of SMD - either designed to be sideways firing or just mounted on their side. Those are solder points on the side and you could desolate one and change it - or both - if you can find SMDs the right size and have a steady hand and a fine - tip soldering iron.

That said, it looks like the only function of that white board is the lighting so you could remove it (for the space) and replace it with something else. Would you have enough space without that board for a 3mm LED? Or even a COB LED (Chips-On-Board) as used in cars? Something like a small festoon COB LED might work if you cut the festoon caps off - they're 12V DC so fairly easy to run. Just a different angle to think of.
 
you could swap out those leds fairly easily - just a good pair of tweezers and a fine tip soldering iron is all you need. They are just small side emitting SMD leds.

you would need to check sizes of course but basically you'd just swap out with something like this... http://www.plusopto.co.uk/led-products/side-emit.aspx

I'm a bit confused by how a die can be different for a rod vs a tube... at the end of the day it's the same external thread. Are you sure you didn't just get tapered by mistake instead of parallel (i.e. BSPT instead of BSPP)?

Anyway, glad there are no leaks!
 
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Thanks all.

Good tips regarding the LEDS. I'm sure I'll swap them out at a later point but right now I just want the build finished. :)

Zeeflyboy, I only have my own stupidity to blame but I didn't stop to reflect that G1/4 is vastly different than 1/4 :rolleyes: :(
So when I researched this a bit later most sources said that the G[measurement] dies are mainly meant for tubes/pipes/etc and mainly for plumbing use.



Yesterday was mostly spent trying to vent the loop. I think it's as close to vented as it can get. The top radiator was really stubborn with letting the air pockets out. It probably took a couple of hours just to vent that part. The rest of it seemed quite fine from the get-go though.
There are some tiny bubbles stuck on the reservoir wall that refuse to move, but apart from aesthetics I don't think they're an issue.

Speaking of venting by the way, what I haven't mentioned is that my drain port works a charm. I partly drained the system yesterday so I could install the new tube and it went really smoothly.

While the system was venting yesterday I decided to mount a couple of things. To do that I had to drill a couple of holes:
eh2ze3C.jpg

Installed in an unorthodox spot:
OHaay8D.jpg

I also needed a place to mount the fan hub where it wouldn't be visible and the cables wouldn't be as well. Said and done:
MSOb2U5.jpg

Late last night I started to do the cabling, I still have some left to do but most of the tricky ones are done.
Getting the 8- & 4-pin 12VATX connectors in behind the Monsta rad was a pain but I still managed by just being patient.
The 24-pin was extremely tricky to get in, mostly because of the tight spaces and the PCIe cables were a breeze after that. :D
Here's a little sneak-peak:
bKOhPDj.jpg

There should hopefully be an update tonight with some finished shots and perhaps some benchmarks.
 
Looking great... The tiny bubbles in the side of the reservoir will probably go away over the next 24hrs. I had similar and they just vanished overnight with the system turned off and haven't returned.

Yeah that'll explain it... The "G" threads are a bit odd in that the size designation is not the OD of the thread itself but rather the size of the pipe it was originally designed to be used in. It is indeed a plumbing thing, originally gas I believe.

Yet another beautiful example of horrendously confusing imperial type measurements!
 
Great to see more progress, must admit that the Aquero mount is pretty good although I'm a bit surprised that it didn't fit the standard DVD mounts as I just assumed it would. Also how come you aren't mounting the fan controller behind the motherboard tray. :)

Also I thought the cables were already routed?

Still though, nice to see the build progressing :D
 
Zeeflyboy, Thanks.
Well the "G" isn't specific to imperial but used for metric as well. But either way, I was unaware and I'm definitely not comfortable with the imperial system which didn't make things easier ;)

TechMinerUK, I'm sure it would fit the standard DVD-mounts but I didn't mount it on a 5.25" bay but rather on the side of the 5.25" cage. Unnecessary maybe but I like it.

And no, I had done no cable routing earlier, simply because I did not want to risk the cables getting wet upon a disastrous leak. In hindsight it would've made things so much easier if I had at least installed my custom extension cables before installing the water cooling. Another lesson learned ;)


Back to the cables I go :D :D
 
You can mount the Aquaero 5 LT with some extra brackets that make it mountable in the 51/4" bay but the main advantage of the LT (without screen) - apart from the price - is that you can mount it like this wherever is convenient.
Ohjay: If you have a minute, would you mind measuring how much space is needed from the flat metal that you have mounted the Aquaero on to the cables plugged in? I'm planning a build for a friend and we're thinking of mounting one on the back of the motherboard tray but I'm not sure if there will be enough space to close the side of the case once the cables are plugged in. Cheers.
 
Of course Cenedd. These are the measurements I got:

From the mounting surface to the top of the power connector: 2 cm.
From the mounting surface to the top of the plugged in connector: 3.5 cm

I would imagine you would need about 4 cm of clearance from the mounting surface to accomodate the cables(because a 90 degree angle of the cables directly from the connector might be hard to achieve).

If you remove the standoffs and have a thin isolating material between the aquaero and the mounting surface you could gain a few millimeters as well.


In other news...
Cabling is done, photos have been taken with everything assembled apart from the case exterior. Photos will be shown tonight. :)
Going to boot it up in a minute and hopefully all goes well.
 
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