My project

[MIN_Roadkill]

I have been reading these forums for over a year and finally got everything I need to start my own Xtrerme system. I wanted to document the build so everyone can see my progress. I have an Iwaki on the way and my uncle is building my resovoir. Other than those 2 items, I have everything other than a few hardware upgrades which I will do at a later date.

The first thing to show is the case that will hold all of this. It is a 1987 model IBM server.




I have been grinding and sanding on this beast for a week to get it in shape. I didn't want a plain old square window so I copied a fan grill design.




I was going to set out all my purchases but I got tired and just snapped a pic of one of the piles I have.


After all of that cutting and grinding I got the chiller unit to fit into the case. The resovoir will have a 5" inner diameter and will be 10" tall.




I got my copper today so I thought I would try my hand at brazing. I took some closeups for you guys to inspect. If you see any problems then please let me know.



I am starting with 5.5 feet of .31 cap tube. I have a friend that does hvac and he is going to triple evac and charge my unit with 404 when I get it ready to go. I will post more pics as I progress.

[<Wouter>]

looks nice

[expansionvalve]

It must be a very stressful project, look at all them smokes in the ashtray lol..
Good luck and happy playing.

[MIN_Roadkill]

I finished my window. The picture doesn't really do it justice. It should look nice once I get some light behind it and clean the dust from the case.


I got my pump in the mail this week and I am ordering my motherboard, power supply and case fans grills and lights tonight. I am still waiting for my resovoir to be made, then I can finish brazing and get the unit charged.

[shinymod]

looks sweet i love integrated chillers ^.^

[saratoga]

Absolutely amazing. I love those old server chasis. I've got a huge fiber concentrator from the early 90s sitting in my garage waiting for a worthy project like this

[n00b 0f l337]

Looking good so far!

[Tonic]

Joints look very good

You may consider to use thermostatic expansion valve (TXV) instead of capillary tube or use pressure expansion valve (PEV) to make better calibration and lower temperatures

[MIN_Roadkill]

Tonic, I should have used a TXV but I just got done brazing the cap tube and evap inside my resovoir so that is not an option now. I will save that for another project on another day.

I got my resovoir back today and I think it was very well done for a freebee. I gave it to my uncle to do but ended up having my old machine shop teacher from highschool make it.



I also hooked up my pump to check it out so I can leave feedback on ebay.
It is an Iwaki MD-30ZRT and it cost me $53 shipped.


The seller will be getting positive feedback from me
I hope to finish brazing the chiller tommorow so I can vaccum it tommorow night.

[Jort]

looking very NICE roadkill, waiting for results.
It will be allright i supose, you got some extra in hand

[shinymod]

sweet looking HX interested to see how it performs

[Lotec25]

Nice cant wait to see it completed.

Lotec

[Xtasy]

i love xs you guys are amazing. i´ll watch your project to the end, i find it really interesting.

[MIN_Roadkill]

I ordered a set of guages and a vacuum pump today. I was going to have a friend do the evac and charging but I just couldn't resist the urge to have my own gear. I figure if I went this far then I might as well do it all. I also doubt he would want to spend the time needed to get the system tweaked just right. I should make some signifigant progress this weekend.

[sandman]

I'd try more like 8.5' of .031.

5.5' will give you some major capacity, but not at low temps.

[Special_K]

the first 2 images made K thunk "omg what an ugly case"

but you have transformed it into a work of art, inside and out - nicely done =D


what kit will you install when it is finished?

[MIN_Roadkill]

what kit will you install when it is finished?

Kit? As in light kit? Not sure on that I think I will install red green and blue and have them on a switch so I can change colors according to my mood. Or did you mean water cooling kit? I have maze 4 equipment with brass tops, 1 cpu, 2 gpu and a northbridge. As far as hardware, I will have a dfi sli-dr, 1 gig of mushkin redline, 2 XFX 6800 ultras and I am undecided on cpu. It is a toss up between fx-55, fx-57 4000 sandiego or x2. I don't see the 57 in my budget and the x2 doesn't appeal to my needs.

[Lotec25]

This is looking good. Cant wait to see if finished. Are you going to use Denatured alcohol? or some other sort of liquid?

Lotec

[MIN_Roadkill]

This is looking good. Cant wait to see if finished. Are you going to use Denatured alcohol? or some other sort of liquid?

Lotec

I am going to start with 50% Denatured alcohol 50% Rv Antifreeze(Propylene Glycol) and thow in a can of heet methanol gas line antifreeze if needed. I think that should be a fairly safe mix that will handle any temp I throw at it. The rv antifreeze has a nice red color to it so it should look good flowing through my lines.



I had my unit rivoted in and laid the insulation pad for my resovoir then realized that the prongs that hold the case shell on wouldnt fit in between. I then had to grind out the rivots and take out some more sheet metal so the resovoir would set further inside the case. I manged to get it out and sliced my thumb wide open in the process. I have spent so much time reading the safties of building a chiller that I forgot that sharp metal can and will cut you. Here is how my resovoir turned out once insulated. I used five layers of wrap insulation on the side and foamed the top then covered it up with thermo tape to make it somewhat neat looking. The insulation ended up being about 1 1/2 inches thick.

[Lotec25]

That looks sweet. The only recomendation i have is watch the denatured alcohol. when i had mine running i would open the res to check it and the smell about killed me

Lotec

[Tonic]

I wonder how you will connect two suction pipes without melting capillary tube

[MIN_Roadkill]

I wonder how you will connect two suction pipes without melting capillary tube

I should have a t fitting and my other shrader valve today along with my new vacuum pump, guages and a bottle of 404a. I will simply unwind the cap tube before I braze the suction lines. I just had it wound up so it wouldn't get crimped during the build. I will wind it back around after I get everything brazed.

[MIN_Roadkill]

I started reading about chillers many moons ago and then I started buying up parts several months ago. The first thing I bought was the actual chiller and it sat on my old computer desk reminding me of the daunting task that lay ahead. I had to put the project on the back burner until another day. And THAT DAY HAS COME!! I got my vacuum pump, guages and r404a yesterday and I was going to put up pictures of my latest gear but I couldn't fight the urge to put them to use. I did a 6 hour evac and then flashed the high side to 30psi of 404( my nitrogen regulator was clogged and I didn't feel like creating a missle). I then did another 6 hour evac and charged the high side to 30psi. When I got home today I did a 3 hour evac and could wait no longer. I wired up the system and did a high side liquid charge to 50psi then fired her up. After 15 minutes she wasn't getting cold so I turned it off and high sided it to 80psi. I then turned it on and started flashing from the low side. I started to see the evap temp drop and then came the white frosty goodness that we all love so much. I flashed and waited, trying to get it frosted to 1" before the compressor. I don't have a way of putting a load on it yet and don't have any fluid in the resovoir so I will still have alot of fine tuning to do but I just had to see this thing in action after all this waiting. Anyhow, here is some pics. If you guys see anything wrong then let me know asap. You will see that I had it overcharged in one or two pics, I have that corrected now I think.

I finished brazing then did a 150psi leak test with soapy water for a couple hours.


My latest gear.



One of the vacuum pics from the first evac.


My first picture of a negative temp.

and some frost.


I took this pic when it was overcharged(I think)


I had it undercharged here but the temp sure was nice.



These are pics showing what I think is the appropriate charge. If I am wrong then please let me know. This is my first build afterall and I have read so much contradicting crap that I am unsure of what is right and wrong.



This is just one step further in my project but a very satisfying step none the less. Keep watching for more to come.

[shinymod]

looking good cant wait to see that sucker with the liquid in ^.^

[MIN_Roadkill]

I ran back down to see how it looked after posting. It is at -41 after about an hour of running and the frost is about 3 inches from the compressor.