Project "CUBEIT"

[GeoffP]

Realy nice work, what did you paint it with was it 2K or somthing else, you must have some experance in the body shop to get a good looking finnish like you have done

Wish I was that talented. I bought the case from here

[GeoffP]

Fitted the fan controller behind the bay cover today. Thought it would take an hour or two, five hours later.

Measured up the cuts required on the bay cover, started cutting with my electric hand saw, WAY to strong. Would have broken the cover from all the vibration. Quick trip down to Bunnings to pick up a small hacksaw (Bunnings is a very, very large hardware conglomerate in Australia - you want it, Bunnings has got it. Kinda like Walmart).

Finished cutting some of the plastic work off the bay cover with the hack saw. HEAPS better cutting control - loved it.

THEN, out with my brand new dremel. Never used one before, but it made short work of smoothing the rough edges from the hack saw. Good bargain too I thought, came with the flexible extension, plus a mounting block and telescoping arm to hang the motor on, and a ton of fittings - all for AU$40


Then it was time to do some test drilling on the discarded offcuts. I was a bit dubious about how hard and brittle the bay cover plastic was. I picked the two drill sizes I needed to match the existing hole sizes in the fan controller front cover. Started to drill at very low speed (all drill bits were very sharp BTW), SNAP, , plastic clean snapped in two. tested again at a higher speed, same result, bugger, bugger, maybe I can't drill this stuff out without destroying the bay cover.


Then I test drilled with a smaller bit, perfect every time IF I was very careful.

Next, mark up the holes. Used the fan controller front cover as a template.


Very, VERY carefully drilled out the holes (crapped myself the whole time - I could see bits of plastic flying off everywhere ).

Then, used the dremel and slowly expanded the small drill holes out to the required size. Used drill bits the same size as the required holes to progressively test the correct diameter of the hole.

End result, top LED holes successfully dremelled (is dremelled a word?) to correct diameters and only SO slightly out of alignment (the tape protecting the front face plate is actually out of alignment - LOL).


Next, push up the cover in the vice ready to do the bigger control knob holes.


All holes finished, test fitted the fan controller.


Finished product mounted into drive bay (which still has to be replaced by Mountain Mods due to bad scratching). There's still a bit of tape adhesive on the cover plate, still have to give it a good clean.


And that's it, what I thought would take a couple of hours, well, five hours later

For a boofhead like myself who couldn't cut a piece of string into equal halves to save himself I am actually rather pleased with the end result

Nothing more to add until the week after Easter. I am on holidays from next Tuesday until the following Sunday. Hopefully the remaining parts will have been delivered to work next week so I can continue when I get back.

[IanY]

Hey.. I like women. Do you think my wife will allow me to install bay cover plates with "fronts" and "rears" on them?

Glad to meet a fellow flight sim junkie, although I'm sure you're much better than I am

On Lock On, I tend to fly the MIG-29

I use a combination of Thrustmaster and CH equipment.

http://www.thrustmaster.com/product....1&PlatformID=5
http://www.thrustmaster.com/product....8&PlatformID=5
http://www.chproducts.com/retail/pedals.html
http://www.chproducts.com/retail/y_vpp.html
http://www.chproducts.com/retail/t_tq_quad.html

[dinos22]

THEN, out with my brand new dremel. Never used one before, but it made short work of smoothing the rough edges from the hack saw. Good bargain too I thought, came with the flexible extension, plus a mounting block and telescoping arm to hang the motor on, and a ton of fittings - all for AU$40

.

i'll get the same one tomorrow....bunnings right??

[GeoffP]

i'll get the same one tomorrow....bunnings right??

Yep, I got it in the power tools section at Bunnings - Cranbourne. Of-course all the stores should have it.

Just checked the receipt - Exact cost was $41.96. (Rotary Tool - RTG-920VK) is the part number. Another reference number on my receipt is "9319510003090".

"Always remember to keep your receipts please customers"

There are more expensive units available and they may perform better, but I have nothing to compare against so for me it is a great tool.

[GeoffP]

Hey.. I like women. Do you think my wife will allow me to install bay cover plates with "fronts" and "rears" on them?

Glad to meet a fellow flight sim junkie, although I'm sure you're much better than I am

On Lock On, I tend to fly the MIG-29

I use a combination of Thrustmaster and CH equipment.

http://www.thrustmaster.com/product....1&PlatformID=5
http://www.thrustmaster.com/product....8&PlatformID=5
http://www.chproducts.com/retail/pedals.html
http://www.chproducts.com/retail/y_vpp.html
http://www.chproducts.com/retail/t_tq_quad.html

Jeeez, you have some good equipment there...

I had the Cougar a few years ago. Had the "Uber" mod done on it. They are a bloody expensive unit but it was worth it. Sold it a way back and only just got back into the HOTAS setup last year when my normal joystick broke.

Here are some piccies of the pit I setup with my Kitty.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12


Funny thing with progression, they only two items I still have from all those photos is my speakers and desk.

IanY, I think with all that gear you have you are probably a bit more experienced than me

Do you fly on-line?

[IanY]

IanY, I think with all that gear you have you are probably a bit more experienced than me

Do you fly on-line?

Seldom fly on line, but I must try more. Time is an issue.

Naw, I'm an amateur flier. I'm better at MS Flight Sim than at combat flight sims. Yes, I have been at flight sims for a long time now. You can tell from my commercial jet equipment that I'm practicing for Jihad <-- what my wife says

I'm a much better driver. Formula One games and driving sims are where I can hold my ground.

[GeoffP]

Tried FSX, found it very, uhm, non-interesting - nothing to shoot
Need to fulfill mans primitive urge to build & destroy

I actually really like TOCA cars nice deformable vehicles

If you haven't tried it yet, look at the TrackIR 4 Pro. You can use it in flight sims, racing sims, etc. Once u have tried it u will never go back

[GeoffP]

Just got this reply email from Mountain Mods,

Hi,
Sorry about the scratches on the 5.25 bays hard to say if it was shipped that way or a result of shipping friction at any rate we will ship out 2 replacements as well as the grills and missing nut shortly.

We won’t ask for you to return the scratched pcs unless you should feel inclined. If you can make use of them please do so, but if not we hate to have things just tossed out and would appreciate them be returned as we can respray and reuse them.

Very good customer service - Thanks MM :thumbsup:

[GeoffP]

Finally have all the parts in.
Mountain Mods replacement drive bays and missing fan covers came in as well. (Thanks MM, I really appreciate the fast turn around on delivering the replacement drive bays.)
Polished both drive bays plus the F15 & F4 Phantom bay covers. Everything is nice and smooth now.
Anyway, put together the first drive bay this evening.



Pulled out the Thermochill PA120.3 rad. I had no idea they were so huge.



How has everyone found the plastic barbs? Any issues at all?

I will flush out the rad tomorrow, going to watch a bit of tv and relax.

[septim]

plastic barbs are pita to put hose on manually. usual soak in hot water then slip on plastic barbs. or buy metal G3/8 barbs...

i am in the philippines, almost same costing if ever i buy one of em UFO cases.

very nice shine you got going there. nice pic reflections too.
will have to/can't wait for more pics...

the dremel part, more cutting disks in reserved if ever you're goin modding holes. else simple drill with slow setting and appropriate drill bits should suffice.

[Patriote]

Wow! i wonder how i could miss such thread!

I like it! Thats going to be a hell of a case!

Oh you didn't got some Metal barbs for your PA120.3 huh ? If you wouldn't have been in Australia, i would have sent you 2 AquaXtreme High-Flow Fitting (G 3/8" Thread, 1/2" OD) for free! I bought 6 some time ago (Ordered them all the way from Cooltechnica to Canada, Montreal and paid 17$ USD For shipping!)) and thought of selling them to ppls in here as they were hard to get. But now that Petra stock them...

[IanY]

Incidently, if it matters at all, I use those plastic barbs on all my Thermochill radiators. They serve me very well. I don't use 7/16" ID tubing, so I don't have any hose issues. My Tygon slips right on, and when need be, come off after using a little force.

[GeoffP]

the dremel part, more cutting disks in reserved if ever you're goin modding holes. else simple drill with slow setting and appropriate drill bits should suffice.

No matter what speed setting I used when drilling the holes the plastic would snap because it was so brittle. The only way was to drill very small centering holes, then dremmel them out to the correct diameter.

[GeoffP]

Incidentally, if it matters at all, I use those plastic barbs on all my Thermochill radiators. They serve me very well. I don't use 7/16" ID tubing, so I don't have any hose issues. My Tygon slips right on, and when need be, come off after using a little force.

Ian, do you use the 1/2" ID Tygon on 1/2"OD barbs?

I suppose if you are using 7/16" ID (on 1/2" OD barbs) it is a lot harder to slip on.

Can you snap the plastic barbs if you apply too much pressure?

Also, would they become brittle after a while due to the heat incurred in the loop?

[GeoffP]

Wow! i wonder how i could miss such thread!

I like it! Thats going to be a hell of a case!

Oh you didn't got some Metal barbs for your PA120.3 huh ? If you wouldn't have been in Australia, i would have sent you 2 AquaXtreme High-Flow Fitting (G 3/8" Thread, 1/2" OD) for free! I bought 6 some time ago (Ordered them all the way from Cooltechnica to Canada, Montreal and paid 17$ USD For shipping!)) and thought of selling them to ppls in here as they were hard to get. But now that Petra stock them...

I didn't even think about what type of barbs I would be getting with the rad. First wc build, kinda like building your first house, you ALWAYS leave stuff out...

If need be I can order a couple, it will just delay the build a few days..

just googled "AquaXtreme High-Flow Fitting" for Australia, NIL hits

[IanY]

Ian, do you use the 1/2" ID Tygon on 1/2"OD barbs?

I suppose if you are using 7/16" ID (on 1/2" OD barbs) it is a lot harder to slip on.

Can you snap the plastic barbs if you apply too much pressure?

Also, would they become brittle after a while due to the heat incurred in the loop?

Yes. I only use Tygon 1/2" ID tubing. I do not like 7/16" ID tubing of any brand and I do not use the smaller size, for my own reasons, which quite a few people in this forum disagree (notwithstanding the icon status and opinions of an industry expert who contributes to this forum).

Try snapping off a plastic barb. I can't and I haven't. I use plastic barbs exclusively, except for my Apogee GTX block, which I have not changed out. Otherwise, I refuse to use metal barbs and I dislike them.

You would think that I am one of those who puts the most intense heat on my water cooling loop. My Kentsfield loop is reported to have a thermal signature in excess of 280 watts when fully overclocked at 1.5 volts, something which no dual core Core 2 Duo can replicate, regardless of overclocking speed. I have also used water cooling equipment on an immensely overclocked AMD FX60 and FX62 systems. We all know how hot AMD Athlons can get.

You will have to make your own judgments. Don't allow anyone else to make decisions for you.

As for me, I am sticking to plastic barbs exclusively, except where Swiftech releases its product designed to be used with its own metal barbs. You know where I stand on metal worm clamps as well.

[Hard H20]

Geoff,

I'm pretty sure Petra has the AquaXtreme 3/8 > 1/2" Barb that you need for your rads in stock. Shoot Alex or Quoc an email I'm sure they will get you taken care of ASAP.

http://petrastechshop.com/aqhifig3th1o.html

[GeoffP]

Well,
My main concern is "would" a barb snap.
That aside, and maybe this is a really dumb question, but what is the performace difference between the standard plastic barb supplied with the Thermochill rad and, lets say, the AquaXtreme High-Flow Fitting?

[Chas_The_Man]

If those barbs are Nylon, they will not snap. Nylon is stronger than steel. Your more likely to snap a metal barb than a nylon one. If they are hard plastic then yeah, they can snap. I'm with Iany on the plastic. They provide more sealing area and are just easier to use.

[GeoffP]

How can I tell if the barbs are nylon or plastic.
They came as standard with the rad, so hopefully Thermochill ship out nylon barbs with their rads - or are the barbs provided by the retailer and they use whatever?

[dem1an]

i read somewhere else that thermochill allows vendors to supply their own barbs and buy the thermos without barbs. you would need to ask the vendor who sold it or did you buy it straight from thermo?

[GeoffP]

i read somewhere else that thermochill allows vendors to supply their own barbs and buy the thermos without barbs. you would need to ask the vendor who sold it or did you buy it straight from thermo?

No, got it from Danger Den.

OK, just checked their web site, they only have these available, so I imagine the ones I received are plastic.

I suppose I will give them a go and form my own opinion of them. I will have to remember to not be brutish when pushing & pulling tubing onto them, that's all.

[septim]

i would suggest ordering some G3/8 metal high flow barbs from petra's too.

well its your opinion that really counts. plastic/nylon or metal, you decide.

[GeoffP]

OK,
Small update tonight.
Boiled up some demineralised water, filled up the rad and shook the crap out of it, emptied, did it again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

Burnt my hands a bit even though I had heavy duty gloves.

Tools of the trade---


Will do it a bit more tonight, maybe pick up some vinegar tomorrow and do a couple of flushes with that as well, alternating with demineralised water.

The emptied water on each occasion didn't seem very bad at all - funny that..

I might pour the water into a clear glass container next time and gauge the clarity of the water then I suppose.