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

[CptDreadFlint]

That "Temperature Control Horizontal Modular Unit" came out looking fantastic, Sharon!

I can just imagine how challenging it would have been for me to put something like that together. Twisting fittings, rotaries, and components round and round to make everything fit just right would probably cause me permanent vertigo.

Looking forward to seeing how she fits in the grand scheme of the Black Pearl

P.S.
I wanna do a cannonball in your pool.

[shazza]

very nice

Thanks for the continued support, melle

That "Temperature Control Horizontal Modular Unit" came out looking fantastic, Sharon!

I can just imagine how challenging it would have been for me to put something like that together. Twisting fittings, rotaries, and components round and round to make everything fit just right would probably cause me permanent vertigo.

Looking forward to seeing how she fits in the grand scheme of the Black Pearl

P.S.
I wanna do a cannonball in your pool.

lol - the "pool" is really just a large spa, so your cannonball might do some major damage. We had a nice soak tonight, in fact.

Thanks - you have no idea how difficult it was for me to put this together. I've already whined about being 3D challenged, but this was like Legos. I should have shown a pic of all the different brackets I tried

I forgot to mention, but obviously, a set of pretty red GTs go on the second rad. Got them all painted up today - tomorrow is sleeving day. Then I'll show where the TMS-200 is going. Another challenge for me.

[callen_1]

The rotaries turned out great, shaz! and like rick said, that must have been a challenge and a half - totally worth it though . So if tomorrow's sleeving day, does that also mean it's an update day??

[shazza]

Thanks, Callen. I'd prefer to not to use the fancy fittings, but - what can I say? It was the only way I could get it to work.

Got a lot done today, but not much photo worthy. Finished painting 8 more fans - got them put back together. Lost Two (2!) of those dang little snap rings ... arghhh. Figured out my mounting for the TMS-200, but it's still rough, so a pic in the next day or two.

I'll also share my latest brilliant move. CptDF (and aka_GK) have commented on zazzle.com - a company where you can get stickers and other customized stuff. I ordered some new stickers for the back sides of the painted GTs ... some times I just kill myself:




OMG ... how silly. I ordered the 3" stickers instead of the 1 1/2" ones (there's a joke in there, but you might have to be a golfer to get it). New ones on the way ...



Fortunately, I ordered a few custom coffee mugs just to see how they looked -




They came out really nice - the one on the right is mine ( I might be obsessing just a bit these days), one in the middle is for Lou, and the one on the left is for the dog.

[voigts]

You know your obsessed when you start decorating household things like mugs with computer modding shots. That's too funny.

What did we do before the rise of Bitspower? It's pretty bad that I've been watercooling long enough to remember the days before all of these neat little fittings came to market and you had to solder and bend copper to make pieces to try to do the job.

[callen_1]

You know your obsessed when you start decorating household things like mugs with computer modding shots. That's too funny.

+10 I had a goog laugh I like the mug with your dog on it, i think it's an awesome shot! Bummer about the stickers too.

[Liderc]

lol, nice stickers=P

....the mugs, good lord =P

[Church]

Better moding parts on coffee mugs then household items painted on case walls i'd say

.. as for stickers on fans .. wrong size is one thing .. but i don't like that those stickers have shiny/reflecting surface. Imho removing original stickers or matted painting would look better (IIRC i've seen in few worklogs removed stickers from fans .. looked good. Probably will break RMA-ity of fans though).

[shazza]

ummm ... guess I should really clarify the mugs - before you all think I've truly lost my mind. They are gag gifts - I won't bore you with the details. I will say they are very well done by zazzle - those were just photos downloaded from my smugmug gallery.

And voigts - yeah, I feel like I'm cheating with the BP fittings, but on the other hand, things evolve.


@churchy ... oh, the stickers have already been removed - I'm used to voiding warranties. Problem is the GTs have a very ugly backside. I have tried painting stickers before - didn't come out to well. We'll see how the right sized ones do. I agree on not liking them too shiny.

[Kibbler]

+10 I had a goog laugh I like the mug with your dog on it, i think it's an awesome shot! Bummer about the stickers too.

Bummer for her...hilarious for us (sorry but it is! I loled irl)

Loled when I saw the fan sticker. What a beautifully composed photo of this ridiculous looking fan.

Loled harder when I saw the 3rd mug.

Hey seriously though great idea on mounting the pump, I think it looks really nice like that. I assume the foam is temporary and you'll work out something a bit sturdier? Maybe something U-shaped that attaches to the res-top mounting holes proper.

Also, if you don't mind my comment here (personal preference), /cue simon cowell I'm not a *huge* fan of fitting-heavy connections, I find that too many fittings tend to visually "weigh" down a build. Referring specifically to the res to rad connection. Any intention to replace some of those fittings with tubing? May look nicer imho.

That said you know I'm already a fan and loving it.

[shazza]

Glad you got a chuckle, Kibbs - that was the intent of the share.

I'm hearing you on the fittings ( I appreciate the Simon approach ). I may be able to use tubing once everything is firmly in place - right now, the "snake" gives enough rigidity to hold the res at the right height - and in order to screw it in, the whole pump assembly has to be rotated. I'm stuck with the D-plugs on the drain, I think, both because they make it possible to put it together, and because they are the right length - but, this is probably the last time that part will be visible. Also trying to come up with the permanent attachment for the pump, while still having some vibration dampening.

[illidan]

custom coffee mugs ftw!

[Liderc]

Wow Shazz, I totally missed the rad/res pics, musta gotten pushed back before I saw them, incredible as usual, but wow it looks amazing.

[Waterlogged]

Got a lot done today, but not much photo worthy. Finished painting 8 more fans - got them put back together. Lost Two (2!) of those dang little snap rings ... arghhh.

The closest ones I can find on Mcmaster are these.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#97633a110/=6ixjo3 (do a search for 97633A110 if the link doesn't work)

There are a couple minor size discrepancy's, but they are only by a couple thousandths, small enough to not make a difference. They could also be specific to the AP-15 I measured and not apply to the rest of the GT fans out there.

[shazza]

custom coffee mugs ftw!

lol ... Thanks for visiting illidan.

Wow Shazz, I totally missed the rad/res pics, musta gotten pushed back before I saw them, incredible as usual, but wow it looks amazing.

Thanks, Liderc - and I hope you know I always welcome your suggestions for improvements.

The closest ones I can find on Mcmaster are these.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#97633a110/=6ixjo3 (do a search for 97633A110 if the link doesn't work)

There are a couple minor size discrepancy's, but they are only by a couple thousandths, small enough to not make a difference. They could also be specific to the AP-15 I measured and not apply to the rest of the GT fans out there.

Ah Ha!!! Thanks much Waterlogged - I was hoping you might see my dilemma, otherwise I was going to bug you with a PM. I'll give those a shot - it's worth trying to save the fans.

[shazza]

Updates 2 days in a row ... just some odds and ends here.

Finally used the dremel to expand the opening for the PSU cable / sleeving (yes, I have been putting off my sleeving) - looks like a bit of cleaning and filing is in order:






What the heck is this?





It used to be the top part of a large Hammond box:





Both edges looked rough like the cut off part. I used a dremel cutoff wheel to cut off the top portion. Then used the sanding attachment to trim more of it away - actually shows some promise. I'll try again on another one, now that I have an idea of what it takes to get it even. This will be used as a cover for the TMS-200, if I can get it nice and even.





I don't believe I highlighted the fact that I picked up the Skil X-bench work table, since I didn't have a place to work in the garage here in Florida. While not for the professional, it's been a Godsend for me, especially with the jigsaw. It will fold up nice and compact when it's not in use.





With all the prowess with router tables being shown around here, I picked up a book to do some reading. There is an attachment available for the X-bench to use it as a routing table - not sure it's too sturdy, but I'm not planning on doing anything right now. Just, if I do router work in the future, I'd prefer the safety aspects of a table.





Admittedly a weird update here, but at least no new coffee mugs

[bentleya]

You've not been putting the sleeving off, you've just been preparing. The more preparation the better the outcome.

[sniperbob]

You should stop putting off sleeving and sleeve the handle to the coffee mug! Where there's a will there's a way Shaz!

[rootz0r]

Are you going to mod the mug into some kind of awesome reservoir?

[Wezly]

She can't do anything to it until it's powdercoated.

Althought, she hasn't posted the pics where she drilled and tapped a hole for the fittings, or the internals to make it a functional pump top

[CptDreadFlint]

<whisper>
psst! hey sharon...
I (almost) did the same thing in ordering 3" round stickers for me fans.
</whisper>

Haven't tried these myself but perhaps a cutterbee circle scissors may be fun to try.

Love the mugs!

[aka_GK]

wow, you've made a huge hole in the PSU, are you gonna sleeve each wire individually straight from the unit?

[shazza]

Thanks for stopping by, guys - lol, that dang mug has now become the feature

@ Cpt - I'll see how the 1/1/2" stickers look. Still not positive I'll use them. But if a $5 mistake was the only one I've made so far, I'd be happy.

@ aka_GK - I'll sleeve individually to just into the box, then cover with larger shrink. Something like I did here:

[NaeKuh]

[/CENTER]

Shazza i swear, if i didnt know you better, id think you'd hack my computer and somehow accessed its web cam to look at my new mcr320 stack.

Thats close to how i did it except, i have san aces in the middle, and instead of a bitspower T, i have an aquacomputers inline temp probe.

[Waterlogged]

Ah Ha!!! Thanks much Waterlogged - I was hoping you might see my dilemma, otherwise I was going to bug you with a PM. I'll give those a shot - it's worth trying to save the fans.

Let us know if they work out shazza. I almost lost the one I measured the second time I took it off the fan, good thing I left 1/4 of the sticker hanging on the fan because it caught the clip when it got away from me.