Project: LavaStone Nimitz-03 (04-08-06)

[gr1mey]

Hi!

Well Ive been into my PC's for ages now, and Ive completed lots and lots of builds, but within the last year Ive become more involved with modding the cases that I own, my first project was to install watercooling into my lovely SilverStone TJ-03 case:

It worked excellently, temps were suprisingly low, and I managed to overclock my Opteron 144 from 1.80ghz to 3.15ghz, which I was quite pleased with

But now Im hungry for more! And after taking a lot of inspiration from projects Ive read on these very forums, Ive now decided to elaborate and embelish the rig that I already have.

The main mod is to build a radbox that will enclose a Thermochill HE120.3 rad and an ehiem 1250 pump that will dedicatedly cool both my CPU and GPU, this will be a 1/2" loop, based on 15mm copper pipe rather than tubing. As I already have a PA120.2 installed in the top of the case, I will leave this installed and eventuallly (in the future when funds allow) use this in a second, small-bore, loop to hopefully cool my Chipset, RAM, MOSFETs and HDDs.

 

[gr1mey]

04-08-06 - Work starts...

So I ordered the parts on Sunday last week and they all arrived on the Tuesday, at one point there were 3 different corriers literally queing at the door to give me my stuff! nice.

Parts I got were:

Sunbeam 4 Fan Controller
2 x Red LEDs
120.3 AquaCompter Black Rad Grill
120.2 AquaComputer Black Rad Grill
Sheet of A C Ryan UV Red plexi
FSP Epsilon 700w PSU (to power this new monster, as my old 400w SilverStone just wont cut it)
M3 Hex Head bolts + M3 nuts (45mm)
4 x 120mm Sharkoon Silent Eagle 1000 Fans

And so, this tonight, after having a damn good tidy up of my workbench I decided to get cracking with it! Lets GO!!!!!!!!!

First some shots of my bench (spoiler a bit because I took these post modding work, duh!)

Im a Carpenter by trade, but 90% of my tools are at the workshop, but I managed to remmeber to bring the necessaries back for this project . I like to have a nice fresh workbench, the top is actually a fire door that I bought for £25 - bargain, anyway enough of that, and on with the modding...!

First Job was to cut some of the UV Red acryllic to the exact same size as the rad grills:

dont worry about that glowing mark on the back of the larger piece - its not a scratch its just the glue that was left from the masking tape that I put on - didnt clean it off yet thats all

Rad Grills themselves:

For this I used my Tenon saw to carefully cut the acryllic, I actually left 1mm on the waste side of the cut line, I then filed the edges smooth, and created the curves on the corners of the piece. Then I used some 800g wet and dry to remove the file marks, and finally some 1200g with water to smooth the edges right down - not polishing at the moment that will be done towards the end

When put togther this is the result:

When they are mounted, there will be a black spacer inbetween the bottom of the acryllic and the top of the case, so hopefully creating the illusion that the grills are floating on a glowing red base .

 

[gr1mey]

The Second Job of the evening was to solder the two new red LEDs onto the Case plate, to replace to old Blue ones, here is the completed job:

just for reference (and the fact I forgot to post it earlier here is the empty TJ03 chassis that I am working with :

Work will continue tomorrow, I've got to felt part of my flat roof tomorrow, so will only be a half-days work unfortunately, but I hope to be able to show you some more detailed drawings of the radbox I plan to build

thanks for looking, all comments are welcome!....

 

[gr1mey]

pmubpmub

 

[Messiah Khan]

Looks very promising so far. Got to say I love the look of the TJ03. Are the rad grills still going to work? Ie, is there going to be a rad underneath, if so how is air going to pass throuhg/by the acrylic?

 

[gr1mey]

Yes, there will be rads underneath the grills.

Thats where the risers come in, by lifting the whole lot off the case by about 6mm, air will be able to pass underneath. I know the airflow wont be AS good, but Im willing to sacrifice the tiny drop in airflow for the look it will create...

I just finished cutting the first 4 risers out of a piece of aluminium tubing that I snaffled out of the offcuts bin at work

They will of course be painted black later on, but this should give you the idea on what I mean:

sorry about the bad photo had to rush it, camera battery was running out

 

[Ricochet J]

Very nice ideas. Very well put together. My personal opinion is, although you want the illusion of a floating rad grill on a red acrylic peace, leave the spacers the same colour and don't paint them black. I say this because i've seen a similar mod at a different website where someone lifted his rad grill (not on acrylic, just the whole grill) and it was double your spacer size. He decided to leave it a silvery colour contrasting his black case and he got better results.

Eitherway, still looking brilliant. I look forward to seeing more updates. Thanks

 

[Nix]

Looking good. Are you going to be placing LEDs under the grill?

 

[gr1mey]

well Ive painted them black now, I'll see how it looks, I can always wet n dry the paint back off as its only acryllic stuff

not decided on LED's yet, I plan to put some UV cathods inside the case, maybe mounting them on the underside of the rad will provide enough UV light to really set off the edge of the acryllic.

 

[gr1mey]

Main Radbox Built, good days work!

Well I didnt get a lot done yesterday, but I did go and get all the materials for the radbox that I plan to build, they were:

18mm x 18mm prepared pine
6mm thick MDF
3.5 x 35mm screws
Wood Glue
Wood Filler

so this morning I crashed straight into getting on with building the radbox, its exactly the same dimensions on length and width as the case, and it stands at 200mm high.

Basic frame was assembled with the 18mm x 18mm battens, all the joints held with one screw, but glue applied to give extra strength (I tell you its suprisingly strong this structure). All was cut by hand with a tenon saw and using a bench hook, no chopsaw at home unfortunately

I then clad the frame with the 6mm thick MDF, pilot drilled and countersunk all the screw holes and then filled them with the wood filler and gave it a jolly good sanding - the far side panel and the bottom panel are removeable, so it will be easy to install the rad and pump when I get them (hopefully tomorrow).

pics:

the front of the box pretrudes a bit at the moment, but dont worry one the front bezel is back on it will be flush with the front of the case. I will secure the case to the radbox via 4 bolts in the positions that the case feet were.

 

[gr1mey]

I had a little bit of extra time, and things had gone well so I decided to make a few discs from the UV plexi to sit above the nice hi-fi-style chromed silverstone case feet. these will, in the end be on the bottom of the radbox, Ive already drilled for these and test fitted them

Last job of the day is to soak the old PA120.2 rad and blocks in a soultion of boiled water and some vinegar; they will be left overnight and flushed out tomorrow.

Next thing on the agenda is to get my hand on that HE120.3 and the Ehiem pump that I really hope arrive tomorrow, so I can drill and mount all that, and cut out the side of the radbox for the rad - then its a case of painting the thing black - I did think about using some of that fablon as a quick way to get it black, but even though it looks good and is quick to apply it doesnt have the right finish against the sprayed panels of the TJ-03. I will have to go and splash out on a few cans of black spray and a clear and just graft on with it and spray maybe 4-5 coats on the thing, it will be a pain to do but hopefully worth the effort in the end.

comments of course welcome

 

[SoliD]

Last job of the day is to soak the old PA120.2 rad and blocks in a soultion of boiled water and some vinegar; they will be left overnight and flushed out tomorrow.

what is the purpose of this out of interest? to get all the gunk that builds up in systems?

Other than that the workmanship on this project looks amazing, cant wait to see the finished article, makes me realise i need to get a 120.2 and get my top panel drilled.

 

[gr1mey]

yeah there was a residue left from using the rad, think partly my fault for using a bit too much coolant, but the water ande vinegar solution should do the trick and remove all the muck

 

[Ricochet J]

Thanks for the updates gr1mey.
I can see the rad box coming together, although, i'm a bit dissapoint your choice of material for the radbox is 6mm MDF. You're a carpenter, it's going to be a walk in the park for you! Did you consider some of the stronger but thinner metals?

Also, how about getting away from the box and trying an interesting rad box shape?

Either way, looking forward to seeing updates and the finished product!

 

[SoliD]

yeah there was a residue left from using the rad, think partly my fault for using a bit too much coolant, but the water ande vinegar solution should do the trick and remove all the muck

ah right definitely think i will use that when i eventually get round to upgrading my loop, ta.

 

[gr1mey]

Thanks for the updates gr1mey.
I can see the rad box coming together, although, i'm a bit dissapoint your choice of material for the radbox is 6mm MDF. You're a carpenter, it's going to be a walk in the park for you! Did you consider some of the stronger but thinner metals?

Also, how about getting away from the box and trying an interesting rad box shape?

Either way, looking forward to seeing updates and the finished product!

I did plan to make the radbox out of aluminium, but the main factor that put me off was cost, at about £20 per sheet its far more expensive than MDF.

I want the box shape because I hope to make it really look like part of the existing case, with the original case feet on the bottom and the box actually fixed to the existing tower

Im dreading painting the damn thing as my spraying skills arent really up to scratch

 

[Ricochet J]

Im dreading painting the damn thing as my spraying skills arent really up to scratch

You need this guy:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17609232

 

[gr1mey]

he lives at the other end of the country to me though lol

 

[gr1mey]

Well there is some progress to report today...

Thankfully at 9am this morning my HE120.3 rad and Eheim pump arrived, nicely packaged and it good condition (thanks Gurdas from OcUK Forums).

First job of the day was to mark out where to cut the opening for the rad in the nearside panel...

not the neatest markout ever, looks like multiple choice from the photo - which it was, but I knew which lines to follow! It was trickier than expected to mark it out without a template (printer broken )

There was a hole drilled in each corner for the jigsaw and then the opening was cut.

I also cut a larger hole on the offside to allow for airflow, and inspection of the equipment, this panel is removeable (holes wont be filled).

The cut is straight on either side, just my poor camera skills lets it down tbh

 

[gr1mey]

Next I test-fitted the pump and rad, there is enough room for the fans to be attached on the back of the rad.

Then I quickly marked and drilled for the pump mounting holes, easy job, it'll be secured with hex-head bolts and nuts...