The Rebirthed Cascade

[[XC] gomeler]

This cascade has had a troubled history. It sat in my garage for 6 months after initially being built, spent another ~5 months at YellowBeard's(Corsair Forum Rep) house in storage as I moved house, and then it spent the last 3 months sitting on my desk taunting me. It was never quite finished, it was about 90% complete before I just started using it.

Now I've decided to start my foray into autocascades and hit a funding wall. Eyeballing my cascade, I decided to make it a little less ghetto, drop in a stronger 2nd stage compressor, drop in another condenser and build a shroud, use a solenoid for the oil separator, and hopefully make it attractive enough to lure in an owner.

To kick things off I stripped it naked, cut up the entire 2nd stage into separate components, and re-plumbed part of the 1st stage. Here's what I've accomplished so far along with a part-list.

Stage 1:
Compressor: Panasonic 2P16C3R126A 15.6cc/rev 10,750 BTU/hr rotary compressor
Condensers: DetroitAC Condensers x 2
Metering device: 2x 8' of 0.031" capillary tubing
HX: Steel brazed 10-plate
Fans: 2x 120mmx120mmx38mm Sunon 25w fans

Stage 2:
Compressor: Panasonic 2P14S3R126B 13.2cc/rev 9,165 BTU/hr rotary compressor
Condenser: Chilly1 Litte Blue
Metering Device: 8.5' of 0.031" capillary tubing
Oil Separator: Temprite 340A unfloated oil separator
Solenoid: Sporlan Normally Closed solenoid with 110vac coil
Suction line: 4' of 3/8" flexible steel hose with braided sleeving.
Evaporator: Chilly1 spiral with scoured internals


Getting the cascade all nekkid for surgery


Cascade in the buff, ready to get chopped up


1st stage testfire with R290. Just testing for functionality.


It is currently mad ghetto but it works.

Tomorrow I'm tuning a single-stage that was delayed due to me getting sick. If I have time I'll assemble the 2nd stage, brazing in the compressor, desuperheater, oil separator, solenoid arrangement, and attach the suction-line. That will then just leave me with attaching the 2nd stage to the 1st stage.

You may note, the condenser was the one I was using for my autocascade. Well, I tracked down a larger condenser for the autocascade and suddenly had a nice condenser sitting around

[runmc]

I'll be curious to see how it does with the i7. Where did you find the better condenser?

I think your cascade will turn out to be a good one.

[sdumper]

Chris, pm me if you need to borrow my torch for any steel brazing I don't mind a bit.

[Gunslinger]

Mad ghetto is good! Keeps it affordable.

[Moc]

If you would use a pipe bender, you would save money because you can make the pipes short.
Also why do the american builders first start with brazing and THEN bold the components down to a plate? This is not good for the pipe work (stiff).
I made this in the past and learned from my failures.

[[XC] gomeler]

If you would use a pipe bender, you would save money because you can make the pipes short.
Also why do the american builders first start with brazing and THEN bold the components down to a plate? This is not good for the pipe work (stiff).
I made this in the past and learned from my failures.

I still need to buy a pipe bender but copper piping is cheap for me. I got 50' rolls of 1/4" and 3/8" for under $30/piece In this particular instance I haven't adjusted must of the piping from the original cascade, just modified it a bit.

Mad ghetto is good! Keeps it affordable.

It'll look much nicer when I mount it all and attack it with zip-ties and bolts

Chris, pm me if you need to borrow my torch for any steel brazing I don't mind a bit.

All the difficult brazing is complete, I'm a master with MAPP torches.

I'll be curious to see how it does with the i7. Where did you find the better condenser?

I think your cascade will turn out to be a good one.

The better condenser will be a chilly1 Big Blue This cascade just needs to be average and then be sold to cover parts on the autocascade, anything extra is food on my table

[[XC] gomeler]

Removed the solenoid I had installed entering the HX, brazed the oil separator back in, connected the oil separator to the desuperheater, and brazed in a new filter/drier for the HX outlet. Later tonight I'll attach the evaporator capillary to the filter/drier, braze the solenoid to the oil-separator oil line, and then braze in the new compressor. I should hopefully start vacuuming down the 2nd stage late tonight She's still quite ugly, will beautify her later this week

[sdumper]

Chris what are you going to mount everything to?

[[XC] gomeler]

A 22" by 22" chunk of 3/4" cutting board unless I can chat up a local sheet metal shop to sell me a decent piece of steel for cheaper.

[sdumper]

Are you going to also build a case around it?

Might help the resale value because a lot of folks get nervous having the beast visible to them

[[XC] gomeler]

Are you going to also build a case around it?

Might help the resale value because a lot of folks get nervous having the beast visible to them

Nope, no case. If I attempted to build a case it would be shoddy by my standards and I'd be embarrassed to sell it. I'd rather have everything properly mounted and secured to a plate for this build. This is a cheap build, I don't have a $2,000+ budget.

[sdumper]

I can relate my first attempt at building a case is an embarrassment and I have been reluctant to show the finished product.
Im hoping that it will look better after painting.

Back on topic I really look forward to seeing the completed unit and know it will be a beast!!

[teyber]

monster rotaries here, should have some NICE performance

[Jor3lBR]

Wanna see the results!

That doesn't need a case just do something like this with wheels:

[sdumper]

Wow that is a clean looking build. I dont see any cuts or gaps in the insulation nor any insulation tape wrap.
I am very envious of that work!

[[XC] gomeler]

Wanna see the results!

That doesn't need a case just do something like this with wheels:

Egh, coolerexpress I plan on using casters though, use 5 casters, 4 on the corners and one in the center. Want to have at least two casters with wheel-locks though, so I need to start searching for sufficient casters.

[Yellowbeard]

She's looking good Gom! I need to find out exactly what head I have on this LS-1 I have here and find a proper Nehalem mount for it.

[Gunslinger]

Any updates?

[[XC] gomeler]

I had a single-stage to fix but I just boxed that baby up and it's going out the door tomorrow. Now I've got a GTX260 55nm and two GTX285 reviews to churn out and then I get to work on the cascade again. I've in my spare time bent the suction-line piping for the 2nd stage and I've got everything set to attach the last pieces, just need 45 minutes to braze it all together and start pumping down. Just a busy college student with too much on his plate

[[XC] gomeler]

Just a start. Nothing is insulated and this is just straight propane on the 2nd stage. I was checking the solenoid valve and the compressor, looks like both work Now I'm going to clean up all the piping with sandpaper and start insulating.

[aenigma]

Ever notice how you can always tell when something is really cold based on what the frost looks like?

Can't wait to see more!

[teyber]

haha, as aenigma jokingly said your second stage is currently a liquid propane pump!(sorta) lol

[aenigma]

Yep, that's the first kind of cascade I made. You can get a nice vacuum going that way!

[[XC] gomeler]

The evap was only around -25C as the 1st stage wasn't even running Was running 120psi discharge and a super deep vacuum, this was just a functionality test. I've started insulating the 1st stage so R1150 tonight if I have time.

[tiborrr]

Just out of curiosity as i never tested R290 in 1st & R290 in 2nd. What are the lowest idle temps you can achieve in supervacuum? :P -70°C?