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

[NaeKuh]

Oh i forgot to mention shazza becareful with those bitspower snake things.
I accidentally put torque on one, and ended up snaping it in half.

And no i couldnt get it back in, because of how they are designed.

[vistageek92]

wait wait..what are you doing with the Hammond box?

Hope the best for you and your sleeving! Im eager to see how it comes out!

[shazza]

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.

Yeah - didn't you get my message, "CLEAN YOUR ROOM." I don't think I'll need fans on the inside for this setup, but that is an option in the future.

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.

I will, Wl, and thanks again. I'm going to order them ($4.97 for a pack of 100 - shipping probably $10 ), once I see if there are any other screws / etc. I need from McMaster Carr.

Oh i forgot to mention shazza becareful with those bitspower snake things.
I accidentally put torque on one, and ended up snaping it in half.

And no i couldnt get it back in, because of how they are designed.

Will do. I'm hoping not to use the snake in the final version - we'll see.

wait wait..what are you doing with the Hammond box?

Hope the best for you and your sleeving! Im eager to see how it comes out!

Thanks, vg - that Hammond Box, well - mostly I'm hacking it up but a new one is on the way. It will cover the TMS-200 fan controller. Sleeving - yeah, I guess I should get that done sometime

[kgtiger]

Hay Shazza glad your back from seeing Beau, hope he is doing well.

It's excellent to see you have made a bracket for you pump out of the scrap ali, it is just as I had envisioned it to be.

As for mounting the pump I saw theses the other day and bookmarked them for a "Just in case I ever need them" day.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/RUBBER-MOUNTS...item1c1168eb0e
I am not sure if the bolt runs right through the rubber or if the rubber is solid in the middle and there is a bolt on either side, the later would be the better of the two.
As there is no bolt head I am hoping this is the case, you could email them to find out if you can't find some locally.
With two of these you would just need an L bracket to screw to the bottom of the pump, so it goes horizontal between the pump and the bracket you have already made.

As for the "T" fitting in between the rads for the drain, this is close to how I hope to the same thing for drainage, just may not have as much room between the rads as you have?

Keep up the excellent work Shazza.

[shazza]

Thank you, Graeme - I'm still working on my pump mounting.

Been doing lots of things - but here's yesterday's work. Finally got around to drilling out the replacement midplate (this is No. 2, so a bit of deja vu here):


Time to bring out Buck (Chuck's cousin):



(oops, I believe the shaft is not supposed to be resting that close to the end of the chuck - better fix that)



Happy to say, my drilling skills seem to be improving - and the lube definitely helps as well:






And the pass through fittings worked - I used the 7/8" setting, which is also the wider step on the unibit. Drilling 0.09 inch Aluminum here, with a piece of 2x4 underneath to stop any chatter:






The bulk of my time was spent setting up the template, using posterboard and confirming that the holes where in the right place - took me a couple of tries, but it was worth it. The notch on back of the midplate was done by drilling a couple of holes at the corner, than using the jigsaw - no filing yet.





Sorry these aren't thrilling updates - just showing my turtle-like progress. Betcha can't wait to see some more of my Hammond Box sculpture - coming soon

[Kibbler]

Yes update time!!

Holes (and photography) came out beautiful! Lube does make everything easier doesn't it.

uh...wait...ummm...

But yes, deja vu. I must have missed a detail somewhere, why 2 midplates?

About your Hammond box sculpture (situation), I can't help but think the TMS200 is one of the higher-wattage controllers. There's no passive cooling on the card itself so I wonder if heat would be an issue, even more so if you're boxing it up? What are your thoughts on that?

[shazza]

A quick response - 2nd try at the midplate, because I've changed the bottom compartment - and have a much tighter tolerance on where the holes have to go.

Yes ... I'm going to have to watch the heat on the TMS-200. But, it's going in the back of the case - bottom compartment, where the PSU cover is cut out with mesh. Also, the bottom of the box will be cut off. Nice thing is, I can put a temp probe in the box to check the situation (just thought of that - thanks). We'll see.

[Waterlogged]

Happy to say, my drilling skills seem to be improving - and the lube definitely helps as well:

Ooooo, so those holes were drill with the bit going in the right direction? Sorry shazza, I couldn't resist.

You get my return PM? I probably didn't tell you anything you didn't already know.

[shazza]

Yeahhhhhhh ... drilling in the right direction!!!! I think I've graduated from A$$backwards Hacker to Junior Driller ; And yes, thanks much - got your PM and that does help (and thanks for doing the research for me )

[Waterlogged]

Yeahhhhhhh ... drilling in the right direction!!!! I think I've graduated from A$$backwards Hacker to Junior Driller ; And yes, thanks much - got your PM and that does help (and thanks for doing the research for me )

NP

[kgtiger]

Come on Shazza, any day I get to read an update from you is an excellent day.
No matter what you have got up to.

If it's a new better fitting mid plate, then that fantastic, well done.

If it's an new designer mug then, well that kind'a, well, we'll just leave it as, All in good fun shall we.

[Liderc]

Ooooo, so those holes were drill with the bit going in the right direction? Sorry shazza, I couldn't resist.

You get my return PM? I probably didn't tell you anything you didn't already know.

Damnt waterlogged, ya stole my line, nice job shaz =P

[shazza]

Ha - I am so glad you guys are still enjoying my drilling debacle ( I still laugh at it myself). Thanks, Graeme and Liderc.

While I'm on a roll, I'll sneak my Hammond box cutting escapade in here:


Ahhh, cutting came out quite a bit better this time - still messy, but I used a more appropriate cutting wheel for the plastic - didn't melt it as much (thanks, my friend ) And, I used Tape as my guideline:










After sanding - first with 180 grit, then 400 Grit paper. It came out just fine.



(sorry - not the best photo. Battery died. I went to find my spare one - no luck. Lou says "Well - I can tell you one place it won't be ... that's in the cabinet with the camera equipment." ).


My hi-tech sanding board. Now, do ya really need a photo of this? No, but it might be valuable someday ...

[callen_1]

Nice cuts with the unibit shaz, i missed that update. The template you made matches the mid-plate perfectly! I think i'll make up one of those sanding boards too. BTW I forget to remove the stickers on the back of the sand paper too

[shazza]

Thanks, Callen. lol ... the sticker was actually on the board - I doubt it messed up this high precision exercise, but should be removed in the future. I used a quick spray of Krylon adhesive to hold the paper down - worked a charm.

I truly love the fact that, for me - drilling a nice hole is an achievement (you saw my first effort ); and you're so far above that - yet you take the time to support my efforts. That's why I keep asking people to share their work logs - we're all at a different point in developing our skills, but it's fun to see how everybody does it.

[callen_1]

you'd be surprised, i really struggled when i first used my unibit. I was expecting it to glide through the aluminum, smooth as silk. I was wrong . it started vibrating like crazy, i nearly threw it out. After Michael suggested using the wood underneath my experience with it has been much better.

+1 for people sharing their logs (work logs that is, geez you've got a dirty mind!). I'd still be modding with a hammer and running tap water in my loops if it wasn't for you guys.

[Liderc]

Plastic cut turned out nice, crazy what some time and sandpaper can do, looks perfect.

[voigts]

Reading all of your folks using unibits made me go out and buy a couple. I haven't used them yet though so we'll see how it goes when I get around to doing so. Keep it coming Sharon.

[kwscore]

Best Black Pearl project Ever Nice Shazza
Waiting for more

[Wezly]

Reading all of your folks using unibits made me go out and buy a couple. I haven't used them yet though so we'll see how it goes when I get around to doing so. Keep it coming Sharon.

Yeah, I bought a #9 just because I finally found it in the crappy home depot I'm forced to shop at...

Btw, MOAR SHAZZA!

What's "in the works" at this point?

[shazza]

Thanks guys - appreciate the feedback. Funny about the unibits - Lou just said to me yesterday, "Why don't you use a real drill bit?" But, it works for me.


Wezly asks, "what's in the works?" More midplate madness ( was it really worth it to do away with the stock plate ????!!!??&^%). I spent all morning on this part, so obligated to show you another boooorrrrriiiiiinnnnngggg photo:







I cut off the ends of the original midplate, so I could use the holes/bends, etc. in order to secure the new midplate in the case. Given my Xtreme Fab skills, I probably could have made the whole thing from scratch ( I jest ). After many many measurements and test fittings, I drilled a couple holes in each end and attached the "end" pieces. I drilled countersink holes on the top of the midplate, then used countersink rivets so they sit flush. This will all be prepped, primed, and painted.


A closer view of the end where the I/O plate slots in ...




Happy to say it all fits in the case. Thanks for hanging in here with me. I never intended to get this crazy with this stuff ...

[shazza]

A little progress ...


My modding corner - need more space!






The TMS-200 in it's new home (showing this now, because you won't see it once everything is in the bottom):







Fans are in test mode - re-wired them, 2 to a set, as these are 1850s. This shows the Hammond Box cover for the TMS-200:







And - a shot showing the midplate does fit. Can't paint it til' it stops raining. Also working on PSU cables, as they'll be cut to the right length - it's going to be a tight fit.





No cats or dogs here, so I had to make do with this guy, who visited this morning:

[taters mcgee]

You should have gone phase change with that case Shazza, who needs watercooling then?

[Waterlogged]

I don't know why but, I looked at the title of the thread and got a bit of a chuckle when this thought ran through my head.

"ABS/Tagan Black Pearl - evolution of a water-cooled rig. . .Hmm, if it takes any longer to evolve, it's going to be sentient by time she finishes."

I know I shouldn't talk about taking too long to build, I've got one that I've been working on since Dec'04.

[Raiden]

Shazza this is getting great, your doing an amazing job..

Looking forward to see more..