Reservoar like Tank-O-Matic (work in progress)

[trodas]

Everyone probably knows, that watercooling loop must be somehow filled with water and some aditives. When one gain experience it become clear, that the filling is not so easy and done it well and get all the bubbles out often took almost week to complete - in the worst case - no res/bad res, bad setup and tubing and restrictive look - well - could take month

I choosed external and beautifull Tank-O-Matic ( http://www.innovatek.de/contentServ/...php?StoryID=89 ) as the best solution, even it's not exactly cheap one - being sold for about http://store.over-clock.com/Reservoirs.html - 47.79 £ (that's x 1.84 in curently weak $ shocking 88$ !) - not conting the postage...

Well, at least it make filling my system easy job and cleaned the bubbles very well in very short time:
http://ax2.old-cans.com/show.php?p=w...&d=1&id=38&c=8 - bubbles, bubbles
http://ax2.old-cans.com/show.php?p=w...&d=1&id=39&c=8 - no bubbles

Everything was good, but just to date, when after month and something in service is CRACKED!

http://ax2.old-cans.com/show.php?p=b...&v=v2&d=1&id=5
http://ax2.old-cans.com/show.php?p=b...&v=v2&d=1&id=6
http://ax2.old-cans.com/show.php?p=b...&v=v2&d=1&id=7
http://ax2.old-cans.com/show.php?p=b...&v=v2&d=1&id=8
http://ax2.old-cans.com/show.php?p=b...&v=v2&d=1&id=9
...it happens very likely because my temps are too high and the difference in thermal dilation in materials caused this - as you can see, even the little tube, inserted to the AL bottom or this RES, cracked

So, I replaced Tank-O-Matic with Danger Den round reservoir ( http://ax2.old-cans.com/show.php?p=w...7&c=8&d=1&v=v2 ), however temperatures go up by 3 - 6 degrees, removing air get problematic and mainly - water constantly disapearing from the loop, witch I DAMN HATED

And because there is no other similar nice-looking and functional reservoir sold anywhere in this world (I even asked DangerDen, if they could produce a little bit bigger and a little bit different version of the round res for me and for what price - but no reply on this topic...), I decided to make my own res, even the cost of making just one will be likely to get prohobitive. There is my first draw of this one:




...and there is first testing piece on my machine:



As you can see, it prectically did not differ much from Tank-O-Matic, except it is optimized for the flow (Tank-O-Matic internal tubes are 8/10mm, mine are 14/20mm) and a little bigger too. The bottom threads are 1/4" NPT, witch is standard and allow connection of either 1/2" or 3/8" fittings. There is also not the 90 degrees bow, like Tank-O-Matic have, because it killing the flow (bending the tubes in longer diameter is not flow-resistant) and flow is all what matter in WC Thi bigger size helps as well, original is 240x50mm, and my version is 250x60mm (I even created a testing version that is 280mm long, but there is very little, if any benefit and the lenght is custom option anyway ) - more water helps to reach more flaflwss flow, perhaps even better filtration and for sure - less care about refilling

The top and bottom closings are made from 8mm plexiglass (as well as the holders), so the thread will hold very well. The NPT thread is also self-locking and used even in automobiles for oil pans so the sealing is perfect, just when I tighten these with my hand!
The holders could be also glued to "special positions" too

The top cap is the same (almost) as used in the DangerDen res, from same company, just using BSP thread instead of NPT. That's because BSP thread is not conical and self-locing, so ppls will not get troubles unscrew it (I get it and I have fairly strong hands) - and also the top cap is not as critical for sealing. I was somehow surprised that it never leaking anyway - it was never intented to be 100% nonleaking, it is supposed to stay "out of the water"

The pipes for this res are sold by only 2000mm lenghts (2m, aprox. 9 feets), so from one I can make 8 res pieces If anyone found this one nice and usefull enought, I will hapilly sell next nontesting pieces (at least when it's confirmed that decreasing the internal diamater of the closings eliminate the glue "cracks" witch just looking, well, nonpreffesional... tought it by testing apears to be just a design issue), so the one for me did not cost me all the work and stuff need to buy just for cutting the pipes

...to get some idea, how results from my work looks, there are couple of photos for you:

Work on my res project:
http://ax2.old-cans.com/galerie.php?p=res&d=1&v=v2

my watercooling history
http://ax2.old-cans.com/galerie.php?p=wc&c=8&d=1&v=v2

fanless server
http://ax2.old-cans.com/galerie.php?...c&c=8&d=1&v=v2

Enjoy ;D

[LANjack]

What we looking at price-wise here, and put me on the list for one haha.

[The_Dark_Hacker]

that is pretty sweet. i want one

[saaya]

wow, nice work!

if you guys wanna ask him to build one for you please post in the for sale section

[LANjack]

wow, nice work!

if you guys wanna ask him to build one for you please post in the for sale section

Trying to get my 100 posts lol..

[Biffsta]

must say it looks very nice dood well done

[LANjack]

must say it looks very nice dood well done

Yea I had an acrylic worker custom make me one, but it doesn't look near as nice as this one here.

What method are you using to attach the acrylic, iirc there was a couple different ways to fasten acrylic.

[trodas]

LANjack - nice kitty Glad you like it.

The_Dark_Hacker - glad you liked it, Im just about to fix the glue cracks created in the final assembly process and then - let's mass product

saaya - should not this thread fit better, when talking about suggestions and questions about this project?

Biffsta - thanks Trying to improve the imperfect glue process still yet


About the material is simply glued. And the terminilogy acrilic is far from being descriptive. The problem is, that there are too many types of plexi glass, so the problem is to find the "nice looking" and also not very hard one - the precise material type I used is "acrylon"


Anyway, since I retired ma DangerDen round res, I could show what my temps have done to it and where it leak - please note that I not screw the fittings too tight and at first I leave it "as it come", I tighten them a little when it start leaking - but look now!!!
http://ax2.old-cans.com/show.php?p=b...0&c=8&d=1&v=v2

Im affraid that DangerDen used the wrong plexi glass type. It's definitively the hard and maybe shinier/nicer, but sure prone to cracking one!
Not used in my case, that's why my res holding pretty well my temps right now


EDIT: yhpm
-saaya

[saaya]

saaya - should not this thread fit better, when talking about suggestions and questions about this project?

you mentioned a price, at this point its no longer talking about the product but advertising

[trodas]

saaya - good point ...well, it's just estiminated one, anyway

[saaya]

its still a price

wait some more until you have 100 posts and then post in the classies and offer them for sale or make a thread in the for sale section and tell people you offer to make custom reservoirs

[Holst]

Oucher. That dangerden res cracked in an odd way.

Were you using brass or plastic barbs?

I think plastic barbs are better for use in perspex and plastics.
I had to be very careful not to do the same thing to my new dangerden res... in theend I just used loads of PTFE tape and its undergone a weeks leak test now with no problems.

[trodas]

LANjack - now I understand your need for 100 ports

Holst - I was not that surprised at all by the crack Remember, the Tank-O-Crap got 5mm thick tube and still cracked badly... DD res got only 4mm one, but seems the material is slightly better. At least mine works well now
I used plastic barb - I was aware that at high temps, differences in expansing rate could made a problems. I find that the tape did not help me at all, the NPT thread is self-locing and work w/o the tape as well. But I discover this in my res, the DD one I used with the tape, as it come.
And one more thing - "statical" test for leak did not prove a thing. You got to test the thermal cycles, eg. from 20C make your water 60C and then back and repeat 100x
(be prepared to buy new res then )

[trodas]

It's getting better, I fixed the flue-crack-looking thing, so by beta 1 res is visually pretty fine. (I keep my alpha 1 anyway, works fine, survived pressure test as well - and the cracks are virtually invisible from half meter up away) There remain only slight glue-maps but Im just a guy - not a automat. I can't made always 100% right amount of glue...

Anyway, nice, one, is not it?

http://ax2.old-cans.com/show.php?p=r...&d=1&id=45&c=8

...and testing by almost 5 atm:

[Entity_Razer]

talk about your everyday stresstesting!

wel I'm to in a hurry to get my 100 posts because by the looks of this that for sale section is pretty sweet

Nice work dude!

BTW with what did you stick it together?

chloroform?

[trodas]

Entity_Razer - hehe, no stres now 100 posts - that took some time, tough As glue I using UHU allplast - it was choosen after many experiments as the best way to glue acrylon plexi glass (there are many typed of plexi glasses and everyone is different... tough):
This is the glue:


And now some update









...rest is there:
http://ax2.old-cans.com/galerie.php?p=res&d=1&v=v2

...and Im kinda happy with the resulting temps. They are recorded at 12:30, and the machine was folding (100% CPU load) from 8:30 + music + surfing and so on...
Damn, I beat fanlessly most of the normal WC guys with fans!!!

[idleuser]

Looks awesome, by the way I too have the Innovatek TAnk-O-Matic Rev 1.1 which version did you purchase? I've been using the reservoir for a few months now and I havn't had any problems so far. How did yours crack? I'm just curious.

[caLume]

very nice dude

[Torin]

Damn, I beat fanlessly most of the normal WC guys with fans!!!

People with kits...?

[trodas]

idleuser - dunno, just Tank-O-Crap Maybe this is already rev1.1, but I don't know. I definitively mnever ever believe anymore in res, witch combine metal and plexi glass in such critical case as the top/bottom seal is It cansed me nightmare, as everyone now well know...
As you can see the cracks, it just happen when I tightening it, when it leak and leak and leak...
Futhermore, as you can see, even the internal tubes get damaged, so - mixing highly expandable alluminium with plexi glass is definitively bad idea. Not talking about how much Tank-O-Crap restricting the flow


caLume - thanks I trying my best


Torin - well, not only these. What is your clock and temperature afeter 8h of 100% load? (fold, prime + work) ...?


And now a little update. I trying to manage trully working solution, so it means that I have to test the res before shiping it
I first tried the testing my long water culumn, however the resulting pressure is small, and in the end, into the res stay some dirt from the dry water So I come up with this:





At first, I did not used the clamps, because the used DangerDen tubing is IMPOSSIBLE to insert by hand on the barbs, so I tought it's not necessary to use clamps. At first, I want to test the pressure w/o res, of course. So I started pumping and pressure go up. At about 1.8 atm the hose with manometer just fly out of the brass
I still do not realized what Im up to.
So, I added clamps and pressure can go up and up... but WTF?! My pump hardly can manage anything over 4 atm! I was seriously disapointed.
But then I realized that average pressure in car tires are 2.1- 2.2atm, and I get a bit shocked about it...
It's the same pressure, as in normal radiators in room, for example.
No res on Earth could must manage this - this is a bit overkill

So i sink the res in basin, and try the pressure as much, as it can go. Sadly, at about 0.75 to 1.25atm the top cap start leaking boubles, so ïn most cases, the leak test of the res body is limited to a little over 2atm.
The top cap is not intended to be as hermetic, and considering the mentioned usage, it can work as pressure safe release
After all, I did not know about single WC loop where pressure can reach such values

http://ax2.old-cans.com/show.php?p=r...9&c=8&d=1&v=v2

[idleuser]

I still have no idea how it cracks but I will be more aware of the tank-o-matic. The only thing I can see going wrong is the O-rings going back at the bottom. The top of the reservoir is threaded and can cause the reservoir to crack if you tighten it too much which I usually avoid.

Btw, when is your reservoir going into production? It looks really nice! and keep up the good work.

[OddOne]

Very good job on the res. looks great.

[trodas]

idleuser - I have no idea either, probably the temperatures are too high for the poor suxxka? I have to admit that I would prefer it do NOT crack. Especialy considering that this thing is expensive, however making my own one cost me 6,5x the price of the tank-o-crap, so... even price-wise is a bad thing it does cracked.
I can only hope I managed to produce enought ones to cover the expenses And ATM I won't look back on the tank-o-crap anymore. Too restrictive and the holders are too ugly Mine are simply better
(yet the design is borroved - or stolen, depends how you want to call it - from the tank-o-crap, so...)
You have the point - enathing you overtight is likely to crack. But I tightened it only becasue it leaks... Luckily, past months I don't know anymore what leak is, so... Im happy now - even with my pre-production res type Maybe later I made one fully featured one - during the production (I already made few pieces) I discowered some know-hows, like how to glue the parts that way the glue point looking better and so on
Glad you like it

OddOne - thanks, mate. Hope you like what come next too!

Now RadekB, who made the top closings and holders, come up with a little dirrerent holder type with holes, see there the old and news ones:



...on Epox 8RDA+ mobo

And for better idea, that it looks when I holding it by my hand to the funny testing reservoir made for fun from bad parts:

New design:


Old design:


The holes are 25mm from themselves and got a 4mm diameter - and now come my mad idea! 4mm is ideal for 1) making a M5 thread 2) inserting a smaller LED diode ...now wait a minute, what happen, when I enlarge the holes to 5mm? This:



At first I tought that it looks better that the smaller ones, however now Im not so sure. Anyway, the most important thing is, that into the 5mm holes one can tightly insert (push-in) normal, BIG LEDs and things could look this way:



( http://ax2.old-cans.com/show.php?p=r...&d=1&id=55&c=8 )

And this absolutely catched up my eyes!
I think that this is great ...and of course, I can optionaly increase the holes diameter for anyone for free...

[caLume]

looks great

[Tatewaki]

looking good. btw what kind of coolant do you use? it is exactly what I want my coolant to look like