Whats up with the Aquaduct?
I know I have been interested in seeing the new AC Aquaduct so I suppose perhaps others might as well. It took a while to get the moula up as these go for about $550 here in the states (colonies for you brits), but I have one now. Now most people want to stick it into their rig to see how well it works. Since I take the road less traveled my first thought is to take it apart and do some modding. More on that later. So for now let's see what we get. This monster hunk of German engineering is really quite heavy even without water. I didn't weigh it (scales are bad to have in the house) but it appears to be about 25-30 lbs for the main unit.
The rest of the stuff comes in the other box and seems to be well packaged for transport around the world. From what I understand the units shipped from Germany for local use come pre-filled with H20 and AC Fluid. The USA distributor (Sharka) asked that they not be shipped filled due to worries about leaks and adding substantially to the freight costs.
The first item here is the CD that comes in the box. You might not be able to see from the pic, but it has been tested on XP Sp 2; Vista x32, and Vista x64. If you happen to be a penguin fan they also have software for the Linux OS as well. In addition the CD also has Samurize and some videos showing the making of various AC components. One thing to keep in mind is that the software requires version 2 of the .NET framework. If you need software that will run on version 1 there are several back versions of the software you may find usable here at the Aqua Computer site. You can also find version 1 & 2 on the CD as well. One thing I forgot to mention is that the Aquasuite software is open source and the SDK is included on the CD as well.
You used to have to run the Aquasuite in the background if you wanted to use Samurize, but now someone has made a hack that allows you to print operating conditions directly to your screen without the Aquasuite being on.
Next you see the rest of the stuff in the box.
A bottle of AC Fluid. My math calculates about 343 ML of distilled water + 7 cc AC Fluid in my Feeding Frenzy Interlude project. So I figure you can make about 2.5 liters of coolant with this 50 cc bottle. From what I have been told the whole Aquaduct system (including blocks) holds about 2 liters of coolant.
Here the slot device through which the hoses can go through your case into the computer. The serial is not really a serial port, but only to carry power to the Aquaduct and for some assorted accessory use in case you want to add standby power or a relay output to your ATX break line.
Some more closeup views of the circuit board.
Here is something that always comes in AC kits and pumps. I know the paper clip routine is more ghetto, but this works well too. Don't let your friends see it or it will disappear.
These are the handles that go on the bottom of the Aquaduct to turn off and on the ball valves.
The next little bag is for the G 1/8 6mm x 8mm push-fit connectors. Don't lose the black pin connector! If your not using the standby power the Aquaduct fans will not work unless you have this! The hex key is to open the top so you can fill the unit. If your not into 6 x 8 tubing you can get up to 3/8" barbs here.
About six feet of USB and serial cables.
About 9 feet of what looks suspiciously like Legris PUR double tubing.
In case your wondering why the dual colors it has to do with making the install as painless as possible. See the screen shot below as it helps you make sure you get the intake and output right. Hooking it up ass backwards will probably result in you having to drain the system and refilling it to get all the air out.
And of course what manufacturer doesn't include a nice full color manual with their products?
Getting back to the Aquaduct here are some more pics. The first one is a stock AC pic that shows the system lit up when it's running. I'm using the AC pic because it might be a while before I get this modded to my own liking.BTW, the reason they call it an Aquaduct is because the water comes up on the right and flows over the top bridge before falling down on the left side.
Here are the pics I shot a couple of months ago when Sharka put my Aquaduct on the lay-a-way plan.
Another bow wow here as I hate it when I'm not supposed to open little black boxes up.
However, I guess when it's difficult to put together the manufacturer just wants it understood that they ain't paying to fix your inability to put it back together.
So here is where we get off till I get a chance to do some reverse engineering later this week. The three Aquaduct units (that I know of here in the states) that were taken apart were never successfully put back together and to a one they all leaked. So I took it up on the AC English Forum and got some straight answers to my questions of how to disassemble it correctly from the CEO of AC.
Originally Posted by dengyong
Or better yet give her one for her birthday. She will be so happy she won't bug you about your clod hoppers. 
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