Project Slumber Parties UPDATED 11-19-09 10:05PM

[scgt1]

Final powder and ceramic coated parts 10-23-10

Well picked up the last of the parts today from Michael at Specialized Performance Coatings.

Everything looks great, but one part which is the bottom of the case. This is the second time he has coated it from scratch and it seems to keep having this pooling effect in the powder where it seems to fold up and collect on an end. So bad to where two spots on the side appeared to resemble actual wrinkles like in bed sheets. My solution for that was to scratch off the wrinkle and I will attempt to match the sheen of the powder color with some paint and see what happens.

Also on the edge there is some ungodly looking mess with the same effect. Thankfully this will be covered by the plastic front panel pieces. Hopefully everything goes together smoothly and the build up on corners wont effect the fitament of the case panels. Only time will tell.

On the other end of the material coating with the ceramic matte black on all the coolant fittings. Some look spot on awsome others show signs of where he had to hang them. Others have minor nicks already in the ceramic (which he warned me about prior to me saying I wanted them ceramic coated since there are o-rings inside the 45s) along with some scuff marks. I received the fittings all wrapped up in newspaper and opened them this way.

Its just something that goes along with the territory of trying to save a buck and get cheaper fittings and paying 50 bucks to have them coated. Next time around I will just order BP matte black and call it a day. They will be coated from the factory and much more durable.

Now I had a serious problem with the no spill fittings. Considering that its such a close clearance with the closure on the inside of the fittings we decided to coat them while connected. This unfortunatly caused them to somewhat fuse together from the ceramic. I had a fun time getting them to unlock then twist loose. After some work they now lock and unlock as well seperate just fine. Sadly quite a bit of fine sanding dust got its way inside and they were stuck open. I shot some high pressure 120psi air through them to blow most of it out then worked with them to get the closure inside to actually close once the male and female were separated.

I'm going to hook up a spare pump and tubing to them and try to flush anymore of the sand particles out as well using more air to try and clean them out. The near $40 fittings may not end up being anything else other then paper weights for my desk. Time will tell. They will have to actually clean out and function properly otherwise they will pose useless. Not to mention dangerous to hardware and furniture.

So enough babbling time to post up some pics:

The motherboard tray I had him redo


Outer front panel grills


The top and bottom panels. The last couple you can see what I was talking about with the pooling and the scratch marks where I removed the wrinkled line.







As you can tell its not very pretty. The more I sit here and think about it the more I want to take it back and have him burn it so he can remove the powder and have him redo it. The problem is the side panel meets right up with that outside edge and I think the non consistency in the finish is going to stick out like a sore thumb. My big problem in that is when I drop it off it could take another week or more to finish the one panel. I will have to see what it looks like while mocked up.

Next up the Radiator stand:


I purchase this from a member on XS forums in the UK which I had to modify for the G 1/4 nuts that are welded to the rad to clear. I've contacted him about this matter to make the adjustment in his cnc file so to allow for XSPC rads to be mounted in the future.

Finally the ceramic coated fittings:



Most look great unless you get up close and personal with some. Which I'm sure will show in the final photos on a couple. For this fact I may end up ordering BP fittings down the road. There are just so many factors that go into coating processes that you never know the outcome. Not to mention these guys aren't used to doing things like this. Most do car parts and wheels. Nothing really small like I took in and as complex as I took in.

So I'm contemplating putting what I can together of the case itself leaving the lower panel loose to see if I want to have it redone or not. I'm leaning more towards yes, but the damn wait to get it done is just killing the thought of dropping it back off.

[scgt1]

It looks good. Have you tested your ram yet?

Seems to be fine, but with this tuniq tower I don't want to push the numbers until I get it under water so time will tell.

[Church]

Ceramic coating? Any more info on this type of finish (eg. how does it compare to powder coating)?

[scgt1]

Its no where near as durable as powder. Its very scratch prone and can't be tooled.

Powder coating is applied via elecro static charge and then is baked at a high temperature which causes the powder to melt and flow out filling divits and valleys to create an almost smooth surface. Its very durable and extremely scratch resistant. You have to watch what you powdercoat on car parts though as it holds in heat much more then a ceramic coating will. Although it does have some chemicals in its properties that is said to allow some heat to pass through.

Ceramic coating is applied like a paint. Then air dries. Its not durable at all and can simply scratch very easily. I have the fittings ceramic coated due to the 45s being pressed and having an oring inside them. I honestly after seeing mine don't recommend ceramic coating anything for your computer unless its an install and forget piece that wont be touched or messed with much. Many people choose ceramic over powder for things like headers and intercoolers and their tubing. Due to the heat that needs to transfer through the metal. Ceramic wont hold in as much heat as powder coating.

[malkiewicz]

Very nice...

[scgt1]

10-24010 Case Assembly

Well I started the assembly venture this morning around 8am. It started out rough after I installed the wheels to the bottom panel installed the rear I/O to the rear panel, and installed the drive rails to the bottom panel.





The pooling I was afraid of causing problems caused problems alright. I wasn't able to install the front and back panel without removing most of the powder from the corners. Thankfully these parts are hidden once installed. After I messed around with the dremel getting the front and back pieces to fit I had to get my fiancee up then feed the animals.

Well her $40k service dog (whom had pancreatitis (sp) in april this year) started showing the same signs again. So we took him to Banfield at Pets Mart to have him checked out. While there he got sick again for the third time right in front of the vet tech. So they did blood tests and tested his pancrea's (sp) which he was right in the middle of ok at 707 in a range of 500-1500. All his blood seemed fine so they said he probably just has an upset stomach.

So we brought him home for him to rest and did a bunch of running around and didn't get back home until this evening. I needed to pick up Halloween costumes for my two girls and some rivets anyway since I ran out.

So I finally got back to messing with the case sometime around 9:30 pm and have now gotten it all put together minus the acrylic and front drive covers.

Man did I run into more problems with things fitting due to the powder coating thickness. I had to grind down the 3.5 drive slides because they wouldn't slide into the drive rail due to the coating thickness. What a PITA!! Grind clean retest rinse and repeat. I must have spent 3 hours on this alone and I still have two more to grind on. It never dawned on me that this could have been a problem.

Oh yea while out shopping around I picked up my intake fan at Frys since I had to drill new holes in the front panel to mount it and that was keeping me from continuing with the case assembly.


Then installed the PSU support


Put everything else together (That of which I can only take pictures of certain things. If anyone remembers I have a nice little reveal to shed light on soon enough so those other shots will just have to wait until a later date.

Here are a few of the shots I can show:

I promise they are the same color. Its how the light was hitting the angled side grills that makes the center one look darker. Not to mention there are the plastic pieces all through the center that shadowed the center grill.


Those are the only two I can really show that are of some significance in the case assembly without showing too much.

I installed the top I/O panel also today right before i cleaned up a bit to post an update. Its really late actually 3:40am late so I really need to go to bed.

I did notice one big problem that I don't know how to fix it or work with it. The original side panel I had cnced well the opening of the big window is actually partially over the rear panels sid upright. Therefor the clearance is only about 1/8" between the back of the side panel and the side of the rear upright panel. This poses a problem that I have no idea how to fix. I've thought of just cutting away the part, but that is going to open a whole different can of worms. I've also thought of mounting acrylic on the outside, but thats not going to look very appealing. So I will have to crack open a Shiner early tomorrow morning and sit and ponder it.

Well its now 3:44am so I'm going to get to bed. Until tomorrow...........

[neonatas]

You thought about doing an lay-in side window. thus making it flush with the sidepanel. Imho its the best looking, but also the most difficult solution

[scgt1]

You thought about doing an lay-in side window. thus making it flush with the sidepanel. Imho its the best looking, but also the most difficult solution

I did that one time many many years ago with a set of those snips. Took forever to cut out the window. Although the window is already cut obviously I don't like the look of the thick rubber that you have to use to secure the window. So that wouldn't really work. :-(

[scgt1]

11-5-10 Update time

Well I left off with the rad grill issue. I'm going to go ahead and use the 480 rad grill I have because it complements the rad stand well and fills in the void on the sides of the rad to the stand uprights. Now for the inside I picked up some round mesh grills that are red. Although they looked much better in the photos then they arrived. They are of a much darker color red then the photos lead to believe. Along with the order of the grills I picked up some locking window mold strip. Unfortunatly Directron cut the said to be continuous length into two pieces.

These guys are hell to get ahold of to fix a problem, but other then that a great company. Turns out they are out of it and crediting me. So I took the longest section I had and went to town trying to install it. Unfortunatly the cnc work was done to remove the raised parts of the panels and wasn't adjusted for clearance of molding so the curves are too tight for the locking molding strips. I wasn't going to use this because I already had ordered some of the c channel stuff from FrozenCPU.

Unfortunatly I had a clearance issue with the original window panel to the back of the case and the molding as it was touched the rear upright inside the case. Therefore no way would a piece of 1/8 acrylic going to also clear. So.......

Modding time!


Finished work 4 full disks and a half later....


Now I kept talking about artwork from Cangogh in New Orleans done by Hugo Montero the last of the original spray paint artists.

Below is some of his work that I ordered which I received about a week and a half ago.




Now those last two are incorporated into the build which is something I was going to withhold from everyone until the build is finished, but I'm still looking at a bit until that happens do to other matters I'll explain after the first of the two big reveals in this project. I was wanting to hold off on the following one due to revealing what I feel is a very HUGE reveal but I think I was successful in hiding any hint of that one. So below is Hugo Montero's work on a piece of acrylic which is why I had to do the mod above due to clearance issues. Now to dig out the model paints again and touch up the cuts. There is no way I will drill the rivets to have the rear panel re coated. I would risk hot shavings sticking to the coating elsewhere in the case or getting mixed up in things that are already installed.



I will try to get a shot of a night effect with this piece of art on the side panel if I get some lights in the case. Its rather late and I have to get up early tomorrow and have a busy day ahead.


Now onto some time constraint parts of the build. Not that I've had anything set me back before or anything. The ceramic fittings have caused a real serious problem. All but two of the fittings were ceramic coated while the locking nut was tightened all the way down. How is that a problem you ask?

They would not come loose. I had to use a pair of channel locks and socks to break them loose. In turn some of the fittings coating and grip teeth were damaged. Honestly I'm not worried about the teeth. I am worried about the coating though. So they were dropped back off at SP Coatings sometime last week. I also had a fun time with the 45s having small fragments of blasting sand inside the joint. Lots of wiggling and blowing with the air nozzle. Then I ran each fitting through the spare mpc-355 pump I have to clean out any extra. They all swivel just fine and none of them leak. Which is what I was worried about after the sand got inside the joint.

I also had a serious problem with the Koolance quick disconnects. We decided to have them coated while connected due to keeping ceramic out of the shaft to allow them to work properly. Can you guess what the problem was I had with these expensive s.o.b's? You guessed it. They were stuck together also. Finally I got them loose and then noticed one was stuck open on both sides. The other wouldn't come loose once unlocked.

Finally I got it to seperate to find that it too was stuck open. after about a half hour of jamming on them with a key to open and close them they finally let loose and started functioning again. With the help of some air. This all was prior to noticing about the other compression fittings. So I ended up flushing the koolance fittings out also just for good measure. Of course they were full of sand also. they function and don't leak anything so all is good with the large investment in fittings. Next time though its BP matte black. Too much trouble jacking around with the ceramic.

Monday the 8th is my big 29th and I should have a delivery from FrozenQ. Just a little thing him and I worked on through pms over the last few months. So I'll be getting a nice little b-day prezzy.

You know the crazy thing this morning I sent an email to my fiancee with links and cost to thinks I want for my b-day. Which includes like $13 bucks in button head screws so I can put the RX480 together and the RX360, The Samsung F3 1tb drive which is on sale at newegg with free shipping.
Total of less then $100 bucks right?

I told her tonight I understand with shipping and short notice, but if by chance she ordered the screws that if she would tell me by Wed (my next pay day) that she didn't order them for my b-day so I could order them myself. What does she tell me? I won't be ordering you screws for your b-day. Wow!:eyebrow:

I mean cheap its what I want. I've gone through hell hunting down the 6/32 button head black finish screws I need. Took like two days scouring the internet and wow. :waah: she said I wont be getting you screws for your b-day. WOW. See if she gets what she wants for xmas then. :rock:

So Mudgey on XS Forums credited me back for the re coating I had to do on the rad stand due to a design calculation flaw so that money is sitting in paypal. I guess I'll order my own screws in the morning. That way I can make some progress somewhere anyway. LOL Although tonight took quite a while to finish.

Until next time.......

[scgt1]

11-9-10 Water Cooling AWSOMENESS!

I received a package yesterday from PA which contains by far the best quality, design, and originality in water cooling I have ever seen.


I believe all I'm at liberty to say is FrozenQ is an AWSOME gentleman.

Several days ago I sleeved the 6 12 white CCFL's that I had. I need at least 2 more but have 4 red sitting around so i'm going to see if I can exchange them at Fry's today. I'm waiting for 9am to swing around so I can go to Fry's then stop by SP Coatings and see if he has finished re coating the bits of fittings I dropped off a week and a day ago. So I can start sizing up tubing and getting everything ready for testing so I can move all the hardware over to the actual case.

Now I'm going to sleeve the harness for the FrozenQ reservoirs so that's out of the way while waiting. One thing that kinda stinks about the reservoirs is the nylon screws. Unfortunatly when I unwrapped one of them and just sat it down on the towel in the light box the head of one just fell off. :-( Thankfully I don't believe I will ever need to change the Ice Caps out. I think the bubble wrap may have been put on a tad tight. Nothing a screw extractor won't fix though if I ever need to take the caps off for any reason.

I would have shot 6 CCFL lights and the inverter switch wiring, but I got impatient and just started installing the lights. I will need to order a couple extension cables then sleeve those also. This is mainly why I hooked up the lights to see what I needed to budget yet for ordering since I have to juggle x-mas shopping with computer build now that Black Friday is coming up.

One thing that sucks is while installing the CCFL bulbs I originally had the 8 channel Lamptron inverter attached with 3M double sided tape. That didn't last long. I was working on the opposite side of the case and heard a band. The inverter slide right down and took a chip out of the powder coating on the corner of the 3.5 rail cage. Right in front. Thankfully the side panel hides this. Funny thing is not one blemish to the paint that I did on the controller. Go figure. Powder coating chips and my paint looks unharmed.

Needless to say it is now attached via the velcro that comes with the ccfl light tubes. :thumb: Which I will also do for the OCZ SSD cage on the opposite side of the case. :thumb: Granted it wont slide down and can't but it will swing when the case is moved. Hence why I want to fasten the bottom so its not swaying. Not that I will be lugging this thing around much.

Now the decision of black or white sleeving for the ccfl's in the FrozenQ reservoirs......

[shazza]

Whew - just catching up on your worklog. Very entertaining. I do have some questions -

1) Is the dog okay?

2) Did you order the screws you needed? (I smiled when you said your fiance wasn't going to get them for you)


Nice panel art, and Happy Belated Birthday. Please keep the updates coming

[Raiden]

Nice reservoirs i wish i could use those in Resident evil build but getting them in Portugal from the Usa would be expensive

And getting them in Europe is hard , good project im folowing

[Frozen.Q]

The head of the nylon screw fell off????

Wow...first I've heard of that. I certainly could have tightened it to much when I put on your caps and it could have weakened during shipping. If its loose and causing problems let me know and I'll ship you a few first class mail.

[scgt1]

Whew - just catching up on your worklog. Very entertaining. I do have some questions -

1) Is the dog okay?

2) Did you order the screws you needed? (I smiled when you said your fiance wasn't going to get them for you)


Nice panel art, and Happy Belated Birthday. Please keep the updates coming

That's right I never updated about Ira. He just had a upset stomach. The vet gave him some pills to take and some ID food. Which he didn't touch for two days. He is fine now though. It was a real scare considering it was the same symptoms as back in April when he had pancreitis (sp). They said then that since he has had it once its very easy for him to get it again. Not only that the next time it could be much worse.

Haven't ordered them yet. I will get my check tomorrow so i will make an order then. I really wish I could get them local since they kill you on shipping at most places. Although I don't think it will be too bad from this ebay auction I've had bookmarked.

Thanks! I chose to go with black sleeving on the reservoir ccfl's. I figured it would offset the white ice caps some not to mention all the other ccfl's are sleeved in white so I wanted a bit of change. Some time I'll tally up what else I need and make another order with MDPC-X which will mainly be Sata Sleeving I presume since I've so far been successful in utilizing the remaining white and black.

I guess I'll have to order one more Lamptron controller for the FrozenQ ccfls since I really can't stand those bulky blue blocks. :-(

[scgt1]

Nice reservoirs i wish i could use those in Resident evil build but getting them in Portugal from the Usa would be expensive

And getting them in Europe is hard , good project im folowing

It shouldn't be too expensive to ship to the UK. I've ordered a couple things from EU and Germany and its not much more then here in the states shipping to another state. Its just the time for shipping that kills me. LOL

[scgt1]

The head of the nylon screw fell off????

Wow...first I've heard of that. I certainly could have tightened it to much when I put on your caps and it could have weakened during shipping. If its loose and causing problems let me know and I'll ship you a few first class mail.

Yea I was like aw %$$@#. All I did was very carefully cut the tape (Wow you sure got them packaged good. LOL) then set them on the red Tommy towel in my light box. As I set the first one down on bottom I saw the dang thing rolling off the side down to the towel. Then I got to thinking that well I shouldn't have to ever remove them and maybe when I screw them into the res tops they will be hidden. Thankfully that one was hidden and the other res caps were loose enough I could just twist the cap. So none of the nylon screws are showing now.

I'm not worried about you sending more screws bro. No biggie you have done enough. If I ever feel froggy for any reason I will get a tap and take it out then run to Home Depot. I know they have them there since I was looking at nylon screws since they were white for holding down the MCP-355's which I ended up going with socket head machine screws. I wasn't sure if the nylon would hold up over time with the heat the pumps produce mixed with the vibrations.

Truthfully though thank you so much for what you have done!

[scgt1]

11-10-10 Picked up more supplies and parts
Well yesterday I picked up the extra bits of fittings that needed to be redone at SP Coatings. Attempted to pick up the other two 12" white ccfl bulbs I needed at Frys. They had the large diameter ones so no dice I'm about to order those, a lamptron controller, some extension cables. I picked up 4 gallons of distilled water yesterday at Walmart for $.83 ea and just placed an order for 12 6/32 x 1/4" and 48 6/32 x 1 1/4" button head black machine screws for the radiators. Total shipped was under $25 I actually only need 44 of the 1 1/4" but they come in packs of 12.

So I'm contemplating pulling the boxes out of the garage for my internal hardware. Well the rest of the boxes anyway considering half of them are laying around the house and never made it to the garage. LOL Then taking apart the temp setup so I can install it in the case and get all my tubing lengths. Then remove the blocks from the hardware to run the loops for a few days to check for leaks.

I'm really thinking I wont be able to clear the board when I go to pull it out if everything is hooked up. I really don't know about running the pumps with the other hardware installed either. I guess if nothing is hooked up to power it shouldn't matter as long as it sits for a good several days before use?

Can anyone verify the above statement since its my first attempt at water cooling?

At this point and time in the game if something has a nuclear meltdown I will be forced to scrap the project until around April of next year. Due to everything that is coming up in the next several months; concert this month, x-mas, new years concert, my oldest daughters b-day (turning 10), my fiancee's b-day in feb, valentines day, convention in New Orleans for my fiancee's work in march, and my youngest daughters b-day (turning 9). As you can see my plate is pretty full financially from here on so buying parts that cost $100+ is next to not happening. Which is what anything that would fry while sizing up tubing and testing the loops would be. :wallbash:


Another issue I'm being faced with is which rad to dedicate to what. I originally thought of the RX360 being for the NB on my Rage and the i7 920 then the RX480 being for GPU dedication. Due to the fact it would be larger to incorporate x-fired HD5870's or a HD5970 or for future upgrade paths. I've also toyed around with cooling the 9800gt that is for Physx dedication so that would be added into that gpu loop also. Although I haven't found a block strictly for it. Only the GTX cards. I can get a block that is for many things, but not an interesting specific model from EK or the like.

I'm really itching to start putting this thing together and contemplating the tear down process of the hardware in the temp setup. :eyebrow:

[Creekin]

I always leak test with blocks mounted to components, leaks are rare, if you double check everything b4 gettting wet.
I dont even put paper towel down, i find it harder to spot leaks, i just look through all the joints in the loop with a torch.
even if u do spring a leak, some paper towel and worst case a hair dryer, and your good to go in minutes not days.

for the very same reason you cant decide how to split your loop, and many others, i have decided to do a single loop with dual pumps, spread across the loop.
that way all rads/pumps are being as efficient as possible, worth a thought.

[scgt1]

Well Ive always had two loops in my head from the start. The case has been fabricated for two so to turn back well that's just not feasible at this point.

I think I will just hook it up with the cooled hardware hooked up just with no power. That way as you said above it wouldn't b an issue.

I'll update the build when I get home. Right now sitting outside one of my fiancee's customers house on my Captivate.

Since I hit 4.6 on the 920 under a cm v8. I think 5.0+- and the north bridge are fine on a RX360. Then for now the HD5870 on the RX480 outside the case will be plenty. I got the 480 for gpu expansion with xfire or running the HD5970. At this point in the game though its looking like the next line in 2011 instead of the HD5970. Also with the replacement of the 9800gt to something in the more recent offerings of nvidia for dedicated physx. Something that has a full coverage block.

If anyone thinks the 480 is too much for the gpus in question and thinks that beast needs to be dedicated to the cpu and nb let me know. I believe the gpus will produce more head though.

[scgt1]

11/13/10 More Orders

Well I got home late last night so I'm updating a bit later then I said I would.

Since I screwed up and lost the resistor for the Bclk mod on my Rage I had to place an order with digikey.com for some more. I ordered 10 for good measure so maybe by the 9th I actually get it soldered and not loose another one. Total $6.21 shipping was rediculous since the 10 resistors were $.60.

I also placed an order with FrozenCPU consisting of:
Heatsink lapping kit
7 12" Cold Cathod extension kits
Lamptron 8 channel inverter "black this time"
4 12" white cathode's "2 as extra in case I decide to install more
Another kill coil so I have two shinny ones. "I have two already one new and one used but the used one isn't shinny due to it being using in a loop with green coolant"

I should be receiving all this mid next week.

I also picked up some black thumb screws at Frys last night since I forgot to order them at Frozen.
I will hopefully only have to place one more order to Germany through MDPC-X for some more sleeving. Although I do sometime need to pick up a Sammy F3 drive sometime. Maybe I can put it on my x-mas list. LOL The fiance told me that you get things you ask for for x-mas but on your b-day you get what people get you. Makes you wonder what the point of people asking you what you want for your b-day is. LOL


WOOHOO
I made it into the top 10 in page views here on XS for PSP. Hell of an accomplishment I believe. Means I have an audience out there and fans. Silent but fans none the less.

[scgt1]

11-13-10 Screw Arrival

Today the mailman dropped off some screws that I ordered from Ebay.
48 6/32 x 1 1/4"
12 6/32 x 1/4"


you can also see the thumb screws I picked up last night in this shot along with the next shot.


Of course I've had all the stuff for the following laying around the dining room and kitchen counter so It was about time it all went together.





Yes that's last weekends Texas Nascar Sprint Cup race in the back ground. I'm running a bit behind.

My FrozenCPU order shows to arrive on the 17th. I'm hoping the resistors show up at least the 16th if not sooner so I have time to fix the board then I can lap the board heatsinks reapply TIM and install the heatsinks and water block to the board and install it to start the rest of the tubing fitament so I can run the loops for a few days before I hook everything up and run power. After that it should be good as done other then some minor sleeving here and there and installing a Samsung F3 drive sometime. A future gpu sometime next year when ATI releases the 5970 replacement. Then there is my 32" Sony Bravia 32EX400 I've had my eyes on. Then I think it would be complete.


UPDATED 1ST POST WITH CURRENT SYSTEM PARTS AND TO BUY LIST.


So until mid next week...........

[jedihobbit]

...............WOOHOOI made it into the top 10 in page views here on XS for PSP. Hell of an accomplishment I believe. Means I have an audience out there and fans. Silent but fans none the less.

And you wonder why??????

[scgt1]

And you wonder why??????

Compared to some of the much better quality builds out there....Yes I do wonder why mine is viewed so much. Not that I'm complaining or anything. Since this is my first completely custom build Im rather surprised and extremely gratified in the audience I have. Now if only some of those great companies out there start noticing for my fiancee's build. This one well I'm affraid to see what the total cost is when I'm done. Frankly I think I could have fixed up the damage on my 91 camaro and changed the floor pans out along with replacing all the weather stripping by now with the money I have invested in this little project. Now the $18k crate motor and paint job well those are completely different stories. LOL

Thanks for staying with me Jedi through the thick and thin.
I highly appreciate it.

[jedihobbit]

........Thanks for staying with me Jedi through the thick and thin.
I highly appreciate it.

My pleasure as I tend to try and do things on the cheap and too many projects at once so am never satisfied. It is a pleasue to follow a project with direction (all things considered! ) and purpose! Keep up the good work and look forward to its completion.

BTW let me know how the fancy res's work as I've thought about them for a possible future build.

[shazza]

I'm really thinking I wont be able to clear the board when I go to pull it out if everything is hooked up. I really don't know about running the pumps with the other hardware installed either. I guess if nothing is hooked up to power it shouldn't matter as long as it sits for a good several days before use?

I think you are past this, but I am still puzzling over what you mean?