MaxxxRacers Test Rig WorkLog
TimeLine
2-27-06: Recieved Haake A81 Chiller, Abit Test Motherboard, Video Card, and Cycline Fusion HL Waterblock
2-28-06: Recieved Waterblocks from Swiftech (Storm Rev2, Apogee, & MCW60)
2-28-06: Recieved Omega HH506RA and 36 Gauge Probes
2-28-06: Recieved parts for RBX to be able to test it on A64 Test Rig
3-01-06: Retrofit of CPU Failed
3-02-06: Retrofit of CPu Successful
3-03-06: Snowwie agrees to send me a Mountain Mods mobo tray
3-03-06: Recieved Sper Scientific dP meter.
3-05-06: Cleaning the Haake with 2 gallons of Heinz Distilled Vinegar
4-06-06: Haake Chiller confirmed dead with no means of repair
Current Test Equipment
Haake A81 Labratory Chiller A81 Manual
Omega HH506RA Dual Input Data Logging Thermometer
AMD Winchester 3000+ CPU with Embedded 36Gauge Omega T-Type Thermocouple
Sper Scientific 840080 Dual Input Data Logging Manometer
KLM Dual Input Manometer
SwissFlow S800 Turbine Flowmeter with Data Logging (motherboard)
Iwaki WMD-20RLT
Abit UL8 Motherboard (for CPU Block Testing)
MSI MX440 AGP Video Card (not for waterblock testing)
DFI nF4 Ultra-D & X800GTO (16pipe, 1.6v) (for GPU Block Testing)
4-05-06:
Well After much testing I found the Haake chiller to not be usable due to a wierd problem with the thermostat. when you hold down the button to set the temperatures it just shoots down to -14C and then slowly goes even further down despite what the termostat dial is set to. I will probably sell it on ebay as a partially working unit. In any case, this means I am back to using a radiator for cooling the water. While this is far from optimum it will have to suffice.
3-05-06:
Its 2:30am right now and i have the Haake filled to the brim with distilled vinegar.. It has a very strange reaction to being in the chiller.. beyond the fact that it is cleaning all the parts, it seems to turn white and bubble rather dramatically when it is pumped around by the pumps built in circulation system, which unrestricted does 3.6gpm. While the vinegar does wonders for cleaning the stainless steel of the haake, it does not do very good things for the smell of the house... as you could imagine, vinegar that is being churned about in the way that it is spread the smell VERY well.. in any case, the entire house now reeks of vinegar.. yum!
3-03-06:
A BIG thanks goes out to Snowwie for offering me his Mountain Mods motherboard tray. I have been looking for a cheap mobo tray to use for the test rig, and the MM one (while not cheap by any means) is the perfect selection. :toast:
Also recieved the Sper Scientific differential pressure meter today. Looks like a good unit and I will be testing it out relatively soon.
tonight I will also test the CPU for the first time. I finished up the lap job. the thermal epoxy isnt perfect, but its the best one can hope for without having a machine do it.
UPDATE: I tested the 3000 winchester and everything looks good. At 2.25ghz ~1.6v I get idle temp of 22.7C and load temp of 25.8C. Thats an increase of 3.1C from idle to load... Ambient was 17.8C with fluctuations between 17.8 and 17.9 during the brief test.. To be honest I am quite shocked at the incredibly low temperatures. 8C over ambient for full load temps for as close to actual core temp as your gonna get is pretty dam good in my book..
3-02-06:
Today I retried with the installation of the thermocouple (in the IHS) and it was successful. I was much more careful this time and it turned out great. Tommorow I will finish the CPU by lapping it with 2000 grit sandpaper, and then isntall it in a system to see how the temperature measurement goes.
Tommorow I also plan to dip the tips of two of the termocouples in the OB-101 thermal epoxy and then epoxy each one in the differential pressure meter housings.
3-01-06:
Well I got the thermocouple epoxied into the cpu but all did not go well.. in the process of sanding down the excess epoxdy I dammaged the Thermocouple, rendering it useless.. Now I am having to remove the epoxy from the cpu as wel as the TC... I conacted Omega and asked them if there is any solvent to remove the epoxy but no word yet..
As you might suspect this is a huge setback as prepping the cpu to recieve another TC will be a rather large task considering the epoxy has fully hardened and that the groove is very small.
Some good news thankfully.. I was able to get all of the thermal epoxy out of the groove and will be trying for a second fitting of a TC tonight... will be trying a different technique this time.
2-28-06:
As the timeline shows, I got some new goodies today. Wont be home until 11:30pm today, but when I get home, the winchester will be modded with the omega thermal epoxy and the other sensors (for water temp) are going into the differential pressure housingings (so as to take the dP and dT with the same unit, thus reducing restriction and making my life easier)
2-27-06
I recieved the Haake A81 Chiller I bought on ebay last night. The unit is rather old, and I had to talk to a haake rep who actually had to get the manual out of deep storage and scan the pages to send to me. But despite its old age, the chiller/Heater is in good working order, and is currently undergoing a bit of restoration.
It seems that the casing of the chiller has acquired a bit of rust, so I have been taking the sandpaper to it to remove the paint and rust.
Will also be using CLR on the waterbath and cooling coils to remove any residue. After the CLR a quick run of distilled vineagar should completely clean things out.
The chiller is actaully quite a nice unit, and surprisingly powerful. It weighs in at 75pounds and has a 9litre tank, with a pump that does 4gpm max and 7 ft of head max. The compressor unit it uses is a 1HP Danfoss unit, which is surprisingly compact for being 1HP.
The cooling capacity is 300watts at 20C and it can cool down to -30C and heat up to 100C, via its 800watt heating element.
According to the manual the unit has a temperature stability of +-0.01C and has a digital display that reads XX.X units in C.
