ABS/Tagan Black Pearl - evolution of a water-cooled rig

[millertime359]

You guys should come visit me in MI then.

[ward0]

Yeah - those fan holes are close together (course, I could have figured that out from the template ). The Aluminum is thick enough that it doesn't cause an issue, but I can imagine a misplaced cut would have ended in disaster. In retrospect, this would be a good use for the older thermochill PA series rads with larger fan spacing.

Hi ward0 - was just wondering the other day when we'd see an update on your build

@Incredible - I certainly can't complain about the price of the case, and it is high quality. So far, I'd say the two negatives are the tiny space behind the motherboard tray for cable management, and I'm not all that keen on the front design. I think I've got the first issue mostly worked out. Some ideas on the second, but that will take a backseat to everything else.

Ran into a speed bump on the build. Just got word that the movers are coming next week to haul our stuff to Florida - a week or two earlier than planned. This means I need to spend all my time sorting and packing stuff for the move, and I'll get skinned alive if caught messing with the build

You have seen some updates so far? I'm getting my drains today. Then i'l start filling.

[Sobus]

New to the site here. Loving your build. Your doing a great job! Hope to one day (within a year) do my own and pray its as good as yours.

[kgtiger]

Welcome Sobus to XS nice to have you here.

Really sorry Shazza to hear your leaving your friend behind, I know it would gut me to leave Gus my staffy.
However you are doing the right thing by him.

Love the idea miller had about working on your build during the road trip to Florida.

Hope it want take to long before your back on line with another update Sazza.

Good luck to the both of you and be safe.

[shazza]

Thanks for the well wishes, guys. Sneaking back in with a liquid-cooling related update.

Tearing down my MM cube build for the move. Finally had a chance to open up my GTZ. This has been running since last March/April time frame - mostly 24/7 at 3.8 GHz, temps around 60 degrees C - with Feser One UV Blue.


The overview:







A look at the bottom side of the top:








The money shot:







A shot of the fittings - just showing there is not a lot of gunk on them:






A caveat here - I recall that I did find bits of tissue in my GPU blocks (probably residue left after painting the radiators), so can't rule that out for sure. Although I do see what looks like crystal growth, there is some fibrous stuff. It's actually not as bad as I expected. One of the reasons may be that the coolant was not subjected to a lot of heating/cooling cycles.


If I do use colored coolant again, it will only be for a short period - e.g. for the glamour shots.

[Wezly]

Gross....
The stuff on "The Money Shot" looks like chewed meat that was just removed from teeth with floss or tooth-picks.

I wonder what my GT looks like after all the Red UV Feser I've put through it....

BTW, I've been following this, but I don't think I've posted yet. I really like your work and all the learning you're sharing!

Your mistake:success rate totally wrecks the curve.

Good luck with your cleaning.

[dingdong555]

IMO it's not too bad, maybe coloured coolant just isn't for crunchers? I mean, both in yours and sniipe's case, you had very high temps and ran it 24/7 which looks like is the main cause to gunk.

[Chicken Patty]

Thanks for posting that Sharon, that's actually not that bad at all. I know somebody showed us the internals of a GTz I think on here and it looked way worse than that.

[Weevil]

Shazza, is that stuff in your block fibrous? It almost looks like bits of paper towel that stuck and then absorbed the dye, the reason I'm asking is because I use paper towels to plug my hoses while I'm changing loops a such, and I've wondered if any of those fibres ever get in my loops.

[kgtiger]

Gross....
The stuff on "The Money Shot" looks like chewed meat that was just removed from teeth with floss or tooth-picks.

I wonder what my GT looks like after all the Red UV Feser I've put through it....

BTW, I've been following this, but I don't think I've posted yet. I really like your work and all the learning you're sharing!

Your mistake:success rate totally wrecks the curve.

Good luck with your cleaning.

"chewed meat " what are you eating that looks like that?

Thanks for the show and tell Shazza.

I have read that distilled water and kill coils are all you need, Have you use the kill coils before?

[Wezly]

If meat was blue, and you plucked it out of your teeth, it would kind of look like that.... kind of.... :P

@Weevil - Yes! That's what I was truly thinking! Paper towel bits! Good call.

[shazza]

Hey guys - from my post above:

A caveat here - I recall that I did find bits of tissue in my GPU blocks (probably residue left after painting the radiators), so can't rule that out for sure. Although I do see what looks like crystal growth, there is some fibrous stuff.

As I said, there is some residue that is obviously not related to any possible tissue bits - I'll show pics of the reservoirs later. But again, this wasn't so bad that I would vow never to use the stuff again - just would be much more careful. That said, I think distilled water is easier for long term use And to kgtiger - yes, I have silver coils that I will use when I do my next clean loop.

[Weevil]

Hey guys - from my post above:



As I said, there is some residue that is obviously not related to any possible tissue bits - I'll show pics of the reservoirs later. But again, this wasn't so bad that I would vow never to use the stuff again - just would be much more careful. That said, I think distilled water is easier for long term use And to kgtiger - yes, I have silver coils that I will use when I do my next clean loop.

Sorry shazza, I missed that, I looked at the block picks and hurried to the reply button.

[Liderc]

Shaz, didn't we decide not to drink blue Gatorade while filling your res? =P

[ohms]

She drinks Pepsi!

[Wezly]

She drinks Pepsi!

I thought polar bears were coke ads....

[kgtiger]

Here in Australia polar bears drink bundy rum, or at least thats what the ads show.

[shazza]

Actually, I'm drinking scotch right now ... just survived the day with the packers. All my goodies are packed safely (I hope!) - should reach Florida sometime next week. Gosh, I cleaned up so much stuff, and still soooooo many boxes. Dang --- I can't wait to get back to my project. It's so much fun cutting stuff up.

[Wezly]

You know, metal grows back when it's being shipped.

You're gonna need to work on it on the way.

[kgtiger]

To be honest I am looking forward to seeing the photos of what you have cut up, pulled apart, riveted back together, painted, polished and tested.
Have a safe road trip Shazza and may the scotch flow freely,(not if your driving but).

[ohms]

Come back to us Shazza!!! We miss you.

We need to see more power tool mayhem!

[shazza]

Power tool mayhem - a good description !!

We made it to Florida late last nite - stuff should arrive here on Tuesday, then it's a matter of unpacking and getting back to the project, so it will be a few days yet before there is any action.

[Chicken Patty]

Thanks for keeping in touch Sharon

[ward0]

yes thank you for updating us

[voigts]

I feel for you moving to Florida. My dad lives near Ft. Lauderdale. My wife and I went down there 1.5yrs ago when he had open heart surgery, and I can truly say that there is nothing in Florida that I have seen that would make me want to live there. I've been to Pensacola and Orlando before also and came away with the same conclusion. The humidity alone is killer.

Those pics of your block are enough to make me want to stick with distilled. That is nasty.

As for the drill press, I don't know what I would do without mine. I really need a full size floor model however as the tabletop I have like yours simply doesn't provide enough depth, and I've ended up having to drill a lot of stuff by hand when it would have been a lot easier and cleaner to be able to use a press.

What I would like to know is what you do with all of these rigs you build? How many rigs can any one person use? I've still got to clean up and hopefully sell my last case as after all of the time/money that went into it, I don't want it to endup as a doorstop.