Project "Fuel Injected" Stacker (No 56K)

The point of my "Fuel Injected" Stacker Project was to build the highest-reliability, industrial-strength water cooled PC, without superfluous decoration or frills. The project was completed last year but I haven't had a chance to take the final photos and process them for posting. To the best of my knowedge, this is the first and only PC made completely with true aerospace stainless-steel braided hose line and fittings.

Russell Performance #6 stainless steel hose is used throughout, with Russell 6AN Full-Flow aluminum fittings. This hose has a 1000 PSI rating, is extremely resistant to all chemicals, and withstands -40F to 350F temperatures. The fittings use a 37-degree bevel aluminum sealing surface. There are NO hose clamps, NO hose barbs, and NO O-rings in this setup. All fittings are easily removable and reusable. One essential find that made this possible was Kinsler Fuel Injection's -6AN to G1/4" adapter fittings.

Creating these hose assemblies requires cutting the stainless braided hose with a hacksaw equipped with 2 blades, one facing each direction, so the stainless wires are not all bent in one direction while cutting. The hose is held in a vise during the cutting procedure, then the fittings are attached using hose lube and wrenches. I used a water-based hose lube to avoid contamination and flushed the system with a filter installed for 48 hours before use.

The front bays of the Stacker have been replaced with 3 Silverstone 4-in-3 drive bay units with integrated 120mm fans for a cleaner look. Two fan controllers are used to control the system's 7 fans (3 on the radiator, 3 in the front bays, and 1 in the back).

The drives currently installed are not the final hard drives. Note the LSI Serial Attached SCSI adapter in the lower PCI-e x16 slot, this will run the 15K SAS drive array. Likewise the RAM installed is not the final RAM. The mainboard is a D975XBX2 with a QX6800 but that will probably be switched out to an X48 by the time I'm done.

Anyway, without further ado, here is the overview pic:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-1.jpg

The reservoir is a billet aluminum power-steering reservoir made for hot rods. The weight of the billet part, plus the water it would hold, made me concerned about its mounting point bending the side of the case, so I reinforced the case side with heavy aluminum plates:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-1a.jpg

Here are the Thermochill PA radiator and reservoir being mounted on the case side. The Thermochill is attached with dual Swiftech RadBox units:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-2.jpg

The reservoir includes an integrated anti-foam inlet pipe:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-3.jpg

Installing the EK full coverage block on the 8800 GTX. Both CPU and GPU blocks are by EK with black delrin tops.

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-4.jpg

The pumps are dual redundant Laing 355s using an Alphacool plexiglas dual-pump adapter, plus their 3.5" bay mounting bracket that I had to order from Germany:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-5a.jpg

Here I'm cutting aluminum bar stock with my metal-cutting band saw for the billet case feet:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-5.jpg

Machining the feet on my milling machine:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-6.jpg

3 nearly completed feet:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-7.jpg

All 4 feet are done! I'm going for an art-deco look here.

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-8.jpg

Angle shot of the feet mounted to the case. They spread the center of gravity so the large radiator and reservoir mounted to the side do not cause the case to be unstable.

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-9.jpg

Since all front bays are filled, I removed the power/reset switch bay unit and installed Bulgin illuminated vandal-resistant stainless-steel switches in the case top:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-10.jpg

Artsy shot of the Bulgin switches. The lighting on the power switch acts as the power on indicator, while the lighting on the reset switch acts as the drive activity light.

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-11.jpg

Close-up of one of the Bulgin switches mounted:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-12.jpg

Overview of the radiator/reservoir side of the case:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-13.jpg

Showing off the polished reservoir top and switches:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-14.jpg

The reservoir mounting mechanism clamps from the inside of the case side, so there is no visible mounting hardware (screw heads, etc.) on the outside.

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-13b.jpg

This shot illustrates the exterior plumbing. One line from the reservoir goes into the case through a bulkhead adapter, the other goes directly to the Thermochill. Note that these are full-flow fittings so a right-angle adapter doesn't have the flow restriction that you would expect.

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-14.jpg

Here is the plumbing exiting the reservoir. This reservoir uses two different size tapped openings so I needed to use two different -6AN adapters. Note the trick billet hose-separator clamp.

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-15.jpg

Another shot of the exterior plumbing:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-16.jpg

Window side of the case:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-18.jpg

Interior plumbing:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-19.jpg

Closeup of the GPU block:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-20.jpg

Hoses leading to the dual pump assembly in the lower front drive bay:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-21.jpg

CPU attachment -- note the CPU block inlet uses a 30 degree angle fitting to lessen strain on the EK CPU block:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-22.jpg

Fittings connecting to the EK GPU block:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-23.jpg

Another angle of the CPU block fittings and attachment:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-24.jpg

There is an integrated drain T-valve in the bottom of the case for flushing the system:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-25.jpg

Fitting detail on the bottom of the GPU block:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-26.jpg

Closeup of the mounted billet-aluminum feet, note the screw reliefs cut into the back of each foot, which allow the stainless-steel high-strength screws to secure the feet to the case:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-27.jpg

Here is a low angle of all 4 feet plus the drain valve:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-28.jpg

And some overview shots to wind things up:

http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-29.jpg


http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-30.jpg


http://www.pcdominion.com/images/FIPC-31.jpg

Wow, looks very nice!

But, mixing metals is generally a no-no. Hope you have some stuff to protect against corrosion.

Holy shast :slobber:

That is a SICK rig dude. I love the metal braided piping. The reservoir is sick. Any pix of it in action?

The fittings are all hard-anodized aluminum meant for mixed-metal applications in aerospace and automotive racing, it has extremely low galvanic reactivity. Oh, and the reservoir has a sacrificial anode.

:OOOOOOOOO that is intense!

is that the sieg kx3?

Wow........ (picks Up Jaw)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WonderSausage

The fittings are all hard-anodized aluminum meant for mixed-metal applications in aerospace and automotive racing, it has extremely low galvanic reactivity. Oh, and the reservoir has a sacrificial anode.

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Wonderful. Now all the party-poopers will have nothing to say. Wonderful, I like your use of braided metal hose : D

I love the res and the hoses. The blue and red fittings add a nice touch of colour as well. Excellent job on the feet as well.
Just a question though: How much did the res cost you?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Voo Doo

I love the res and the hoses. The blue and red fittings add a nice touch of colour as well. Excellent job on the feet as well.
Just a question though: How much did the res cost you?

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Thanks... none of this stuff is cheap :) The res is a Billet Specialties which runs $144 at Summit. I would have given a shot at making one, but I didn't have my lathe at that time, just the milling machine.

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

WS

Looking so so sweet, think that is the 1st time I have seen someone use Goodridge custom fittings for a wc project, kinda makes me wish I had stayed working for my local branch, but that was a very long time ago :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Boogerlad

is that the sieg kx3?

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The milling machine is a Sieg-made Harbor Freight/Central Machinery 44991. I chose it over the other Sieg variants because it has an R8 taper instead of the annoying Morse taper, and it's available locally with an inexpensive service contract.

I've since installed a 3 axis DRO on the mill and also acquired a Micro Mark 7x14 lathe (the Harbor Freight and Grizzly options are not nearly as nice).

Damn I can't stop drooling...

wow a job well done to the exterior solution. Love how you made it less intrusive by having all the screws come in from the inside. Kudos to that. And that 30 degree adapter on the cpu block, that is so ... :drool:

ODENS BALLS !!!! your case looks really cool.. personally i would have (and i have) painted the interior of your stacker.

Awesome

great case :)

Love the look of the hoses but really dont like the fact the Rad and Res are hanging off the side of the case. I think it would look alot nicer with the rad on the back and the res on the top. Thats just a personal preference thing though.

:clap: :slobber: Oh wow. That is one nice case with the parts you used. I wish I had the skill to do something like that.

whoah that is a nice setup ! Clean up all cable man, and sleeve them, because this looks hot.

Love it! :)
Was wondering when you'd make another one/redo the previous.

Awesome.. love it! would like to have feets like yours to fit my case as well.
Great Job all together.

The pumps are dual redundant Laing 355s using an Alphacool plexiglas dual-pump adapter, plus their 3.5" bay mounting bracket that I had to order from Germany:

Can you provide a link from where you got the "dual pump adapter"?? I would like to see if i can use it on my rig as well.
I google , cant seem to locate the link from germany,,

Awesome Case!!! I like the use of the red and blue and the metal tubes.

I like the way the T was used as a way to drain the loop. :up:

woah - those braided hoses are epic.

is the wc tube inside? or did the hose come leak proof?

OMG, that is absolutely beautiful. I am generally a Lian-Li fan, but you did an amazing job. Gratz!

I think the alphacool adapter is no longer available.
There is an alternative adapter available from
http://www.watercool.de/
Look for "Dual DDC-Case".
Here's a review comparing the two (in german):
http://www.kaltmacher.de/topic74520-0.html
In short, with normal restriction the watercool adapter wins, without restriction the alphacool wins.

Silverstone drive cages on a Stacker? :rolleyes: ;)

Look good though, very unique. Paint the inside black maybe to show the lines off more? I might consider using elbows to clean up that big loop of line in the bottom... dual DDC3.2's can handle an elbow or two.

All in all, nice work. :up:

I liked the watercooler, very beautiful hoses andd reservoir!

The only point i can question about this whole build is:
Why a watercooler made to last for years and no "pro" hardware? you should have use the top server hardware, really good stuff, things that will last, not the ordinary stuff everyone can by at the supermarket. What I want to say is that you should have used Xeons, Raid 1(in case of failure), server mobos and memos, industrial fans, redundant psu's, quadro's....

That's seriously impressive work there, very pro. :up:

WOW :up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Junimrox

Why a watercooler made to last for years and no "pro" hardware? you should have use the top server hardware, really good stuff, things that will last, not the ordinary stuff everyone can by at the supermarket. What I want to say is that you should have used Xeons, Raid 1(in case of failure), server mobos and memos, industrial fans, redundant psu's, quadro's....

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I'm guessing because not everyone wants to spend that much or has a point for 8 cores, or wants to play games too. As it is, the hardware is high-end. A WC system like this will last through many upgrades. Just because you want a no-BS watercooling system doesn't mean you want to forgo regular applications.

And--I love your system! It looks very sleek--a no-BS designed. Only thing I'd change is that Stacker side-panel--I think the view of those 5" bays isn't so great. Other than that, awesome! :up:

:up: Love the case and the the tubing! - but like someone said here:

the Silverstone drive cages logo looks a little bit out of place, maybe
you could paint over them with black paint, or something?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boost

I think the alphacool adapter is no longer available.
There is an alternative adapter available from
http://www.watercool.de/
Look for "Dual DDC-Case".
Here's a review comparing the two (in german):
http://www.kaltmacher.de/topic74520-0.html
In short, with normal restriction the watercool adapter wins, without restriction the alphacool wins.

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Cheers!!

Is that a Hemi?

Love the details. Awesome job!

did you happen to use earl's fittings and russells hose's ?

Beautiful build! I shopped braided lines before I started my current project, then wussed out and went with Primoflex. I can always change later if the mood strikes. Great photos too! Did you list any temperature performance specs?

Wow this is an amazing job.

Damn i thought i had a great idea and was going to be the first one to do this :(.

Very cool. Kinda makes Tygon and barbed fittings look like kids stuff. Ive worked with SS braid before and its some really tough stuff. Better way to cut it though: http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku Kinda reminds me of a big pruners for trimming shrubs, but they do work.

Amazing cases for WC :up:

subbed to this thread, dude i like what you have done here. looks very well thought and planned out. do like the use of CNC's, i get to play with the bigger stuff at work. good work though. :D:shocked:

Freaking awesome man!