Waterkeg III

[njkid32]

This will be my first time with water cooling.. Thanks to Hard H20 and newls1 for hooking me up with this unit called the waterkegIII.. Hard H20 didnt have the time to do the review so he asked me to do it for him..

I am going to do a full review of this unit and its performance on a Q6600 and a X3210 that I have here. This Q6600 does seem to run a bit hotter than the X3210 but that could be the HS's. The X3210 is using a Ultra-120 and the Q6600 is using a Big Typhoon.

I am putting this thread here cuz this would be a GREAT solution for water cooling a rack system. All that would need to be done is drill 2 holes for the tubing to go into the case. So, lets see how the cools some Kentsfields.

First Impressions-

I opened the box thinking this was going to be a huge unit.. Well, to my surprise its really not. In fact I think its the perfect size. Looking at the workmanship of the case itself I was quite impressed. The only thing I would change is the screws.. Seth, (newls) said he had update the screws already though..

Another thing I thought about was the pricing of the unit. I was thinking that he had the price tag a tad bit high thats until I actually saw the unit.

Whats inside-

I opened the case to see what was inside and how well it was put together.. All I can really say is DAMN Everything was placed very well and looked great.

This particular unit came with the Swiftech 120.3 rad but he does offer an upgrade to the Thermochill P120.3 rad. The pump is a relabeled Laing D5. Honestly being a water n00b I dont know whats good yet but, I was told that is a great pump. Seth also offers a D-TEK Fusion block with the unit which he has included for me already. There are alot of accessories like the molex pci plate to put in your case for a much cleaner look. He's also included some zip ties and UV Reactive water additive to go along with the lights inside the case.

Here are a couple pics of the inside of the unit.. I'll be putting this all together tomorrow and running some test on it.. So look for more info soon








You can also find out more information on the unit in this thread.

Leak testing-




Starting temps on air-


Initial Water temps-

[SiGfever]

It is about time that you "Got Wet".

The D5 is a very good pump and I have one running in my main server. The FuZion is the waterblock that I use in my UFO and it does a great job. Make sure to use some MX-1 or Shin-Etsu thermal paste, they are much better than AS5 and safer than Liquid Metal Pro.
Good luck and leak test for several hours at the minimum.

[ShootStraight]

What are the dimensions of this thing? Equivalent to a 4U, or bigger?

-SS

[Ashraf]

I remember it. When I was planning to set up new water cooling system for my other rig. I saw his thread, I was like That is just awesome, keep everything in the box, a great way to keep it cleaned, organized.

When I have time, I will give it a try to make my own box similar to his.

Mad props to newls1.

[njkid32]

More pics added.

SS, I'll go measure it now.

Edit: Damn I can find a tape measure.. I'll get one asap though.

[Vapor]

So that's where all the D12SM-12s are going....

[njkid32]

It is about time that you "Got Wet".

The D5 is a very good pump and I have one running in my main server. The FuZion is the waterblock that I use in my UFO and it does a great job. Make sure to use some MX-1 or Shin-Etsu thermal paste, they are much better than AS5 and safer than Liquid Metal Pro.
Good luck and leak test for several hours at the minimum.

I know you like that mug I have in that pic

Vapor had sent me some MX-1 not to long ago so I'll be using that. Man, that stuff is great I have it on both Kentsfields right now.. The only thing I dont like about it is that its more clay like.. Doesnt spread to easy.. Its kinda dry and brittle if you know what I mean.

[ShootStraight]

More pics added.

SS, I'll go measure it now.

Edit: Damn I can't find a tape measure.. I'll get one asap though.

Thats cool, no worries...Thanks for looking into it for me.

-SS

[njkid32]

8" high, 18 1/4 long and 8" wide. The unit has a drain on the bottom so it has feet which make it 8" high or it would be 7 3/4..

[DDTUNG]

Looks like around 6' x 8' x 16'.

DDTUNG

[njkid32]

The unit looks much bigger than it is.. The pics are very deceiving.. I thought this monster of a unit was coming so I was very happy to see it wasnt so big

[ShootStraight]

Any sense that the unit could be squeezed down to 7" (4U height) or is it pretty tight in there?

-SS

[njkid32]

That could be a possibly but why? I think that if you want to cool something that is in a rack you could put this unit behind the rack or possibly have a rack for a couple of these to cool several 1u or 2u's.

[ShootStraight]

Just to be able to have it fit in between the server cases in the rack and not waste the space.

-SS

[njkid32]

Ahh I see what your saying.. Well, I'll talk to Seth and see if he could pull that off. I know he has these cases custom made so I am sure he could squeeze and extra inch or so.. So, is it the height your worried about and not the length or width?

[njkid32]

One other thing that concerned me about this unit is that he is using zip ties to tighten the tubing over the barbs.. I thought I had read somewhere that it was a no no to do that.

[ShootStraight]

If I could put 2 (or more) of these in the same cubic footprint as a 4U case that would be ideal. Height is the only thing thats outside those dimensions.

-SS

[Ashraf]

One other thing that concerned me about this unit is that he is using zip ties to tighten the tubing over the barbs.. I thought I had read somewhere that it was a no no to do that.

It is fine, really. But it depends on how quality zip ties are.

[njkid32]

If I could put 2 (or more) of these in the same cubic footprint as a 4U case that would be ideal. Height is the only thing thats outside those dimensions.

-SS

I see what you want to do.. I'll talk to Seth tomorrow and see what he can do.. He also builds these to order so he might just be able to accommodate you

It is fine, really. But it depends on how quality zip ties are.

Thanks! It looks like they are pretty good quality zip ties. He's included a few extra and they are the thick ones so they'd be ok.


I'm also pretty sure Seth will post in this thread if anyone has any questions for him.

[[XC] DragonOrta]

I use zip ties on all my watercooling loops never had any problems with them.

If you look at the 2 pics of my loop here, the pump is pretty much hanging from the tubing from the radiator, and the tubing is only clamped on using a zip tie. It held for a good month and a half, as I just redid the loop a bit and put worm drive clamps on all the barbs now.

[Ashraf]

I use zip ties on all my watercooling loops never had any problems with them.

If you look at the 2 pics of my loop here, the pump is pretty much hanging from the tubing from the radiator, and the tubing is only clamped on using a zip tie. It held for a good month and a half, as I just redid the loop a bit and put worm drive clamps on all the barbs now.

Nice!

[SiGfever]

I know you like that mug I have in that pic

Vapor had sent me some MX-1 not to long ago so I'll be using that. Man, that stuff is great I have it on both Kentsfields right now.. The only thing I dont like about it is that its more clay like.. Doesnt spread to easy.. Its kinda dry and brittle if you know what I mean.

The trick is not to spread it, just use a larger dab of it than you would with AS5 and let the material squeeze out when compressed. Since it is non-conductive and non-capacitive a little extra is fine. It does from my experience have a cure-in period before you see your best temps.

And I have never trusted tie wraps as they and tubing will stretch over time especially when heated and cooled. If I were to do rack cooling (more than one CPU) I would substitute the D5 for a Iwaki MD-30 @18v and use a PA120.3 rad or two. JMO

If the Iwaki is used you had better use good quality non-perforated worm drive clamps.

[[XC] riptide]

I use steel reinforced clear tubing. Very tough. When you push down on the barbs, the wound steel in it shortens like a spring and lets the hose widen. Once you stop pushing it realigns itself, and clamps down on the barbs.

[Martijn]

May I ask why the unit has 2 power inlets? They can't use that much power, right?

[njkid32]

Martijn, looking at the pic the molex on the left only powers the pump and the molex on the right powers the fans and lights.