Basement Water Cooling Project (No More Remote Trigger - July/8/2016)

[Midnitewarrior4]

Very nice, I like the bin better then the bucket, looks a little better the a big orange thing

[Heesleemer]

been lurking on this for a while. Your temps, I want them. 

[AntVenom]

New update! New pump! Just awaiting ONE more QD-4 fitting for the inlet on the reservoir, and the setup will be finished again.

So this is the third pump I've had for this system, and I think this one is perfect. The first 2 were both 3-MDQ-SC's. I tried to order a 2-MDQ-SC to replace the first, grindy 3-MDQ-SC, but I was sent the same pump instead. The 3-MDQ-SC is a TERRIBLE pump for any system where noise is a factor at all. At first, the 3-MDQ-SC seems nice, but after a week, it will begin an audible, but not terrible grinding noise which will never go away. In this case, I could VERY audibly hear it when passing by my basement door, and listening carefully enough, it was quite audible through the floor. This new one (Koolance PMP-500) is DEAD silent when standing next to the basement door. The sound of the fans VASTLY overpower it. And while I couldn't really recommend this pump for internal systems where absolute silence is required, the pump is an entire floor below me. I just hope no grinding occurs on this pump either.

So, this pump requires 3a - 12v of DC current. The molex adapter that I had was able to supply 2 amps. An obvious problem. My solution? Take an old, coil-whiny-ish corsair 1050w PSU, and permanently keep it jump-started by bridging the green, and any black wire. Covered the exposed portion w/ electrical tape, and let it be. I also have the fans plugged into this as well now. Pretty neat!

 

The whole system draws about 53 watts, vs the 65 of before. not a huge difference, but the difference in acoustics is night and day. Just need to buy a fan-speed controller for the fans (coming soon), and all will be well! It's also worth noting that the temperatures didn't change at all w/ the new pump.

[VikingGaming]

-snip-

 

Great work, and you have some damn good temps to say the least! How much did this project cost you all together?

[I need a better name]

if you where a real ant, i'd f*ck you.

[brandishwar]

I wondered about the PMP-500, as I have a project planned for which I'm concerned about the head pressure on the D5 and whether it will be enough to provide good flow and overcome all the resistance it will encounter. In both systems in which I have one running, the D5 Varios are at 3 in one system, 4 in another. It looks like the PMP-500 though is speed controlled through voltage if I'm not mistaken, which means either fan controller -- one that provides enough wattage on a channel -- or voltage regulation to control its speed.

[AntVenom]

YET ANOTHER UPDATE! PROBABLY THE 2ND TO LAST EVER!

 

Just a week or so after installing a new bucket, I have completely ditched the bucket idea. I have bought an acrylic reservoir, which uses proper fittings for a water cooling system. It's the Phobya Dual 5.25" bay reservoir, and I love it. The system finally feels complete, besides me figuring out how to properly do fan speed control on the fans. Low noise adapters don't work, oddly enough. But my splitter accepts PWM control, so I may just figure out a solution with that.

I actually made a special video about this just for the forum, if you're interested! It's on my secondary channel, and primarily meant for this forum post.

https://youtu.be/WqyC3ESQzmc

 

 

 

Great work, and you have some damn good temps to say the least! How much did this project cost you all together?

For the finalized system, I'm not 100% sure, but I'll list the specs soon. A fair amount, but the only additional cost over a normal water cooling system is...well...the copper pipe / copper fittings for the pipes. Otherwise, it's the same.

[Midnitewarrior4]

YET ANOTHER UPDATE! PROBABLY THE 2ND TO LAST EVER!

 

Just a week or so after installing a new bucket, I have completely ditched the bucket idea. I have bought an acrylic reservoir, which uses proper fittings for a water cooling system. It's the Phobya Dual 5.25" bay reservoir, and I love it. The system finally feels complete, besides me figuring out how to properly do fan speed control on the fans. Low noise adapters don't work, oddly enough. But my splitter accepts PWM control, so I may just figure out a solution with that.

I actually made a special video about this just for the forum, if you're interested! It's on my secondary channel, and primarily meant for this forum post.

https://youtu.be/WqyC3ESQzmc

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the finalized system, I'm not 100% sure, but I'll list the specs soon. A fair amount, but the only additional cost over a normal water cooling system is...well...the copper pipe / copper fittings for the pipes. Otherwise, it's the same.

what about the uv filter ?

[AntVenom]

what about the uv filter ?

I have PT-Nuke on it's way, which will deal with that.

[Midnitewarrior4]

I have PT-Nuke on it's way, which will deal with that.

cool, just watched the vid, there was definetly some change from when u first set it up from having a big pump and a home depot bucket as your res, to have a bin then going to actual pc components and getting a dual bay res and pc pump, hope it continues to go strong and work good

[Sw0rd53]

Awesome custom loop. How long roughly did it take you to plan the whole idea and when you did get it idea planned, how long did it take you to do the actual work? To the first working setup, with the computer on the loop. 

[AntVenom]

Awesome custom loop. How long roughly did it take you to plan the whole idea and when you did get it idea planned, how long did it take you to do the actual work? To the first working setup, with the computer on the loop. 

Pretty much everything is documented in this forum thread. I've had the idea for a long time, I think pre-dating Whole Room. I hate computer noise, so the idea was to have a water cooling setup outside of the room. It was originally gonna be routed behind a stair-set, until I moved. I didn't REALLY get into it until I made this thread, and I had it working a week or so later. The biggest piece of advice I can give someone is, if you plan on using copper pipes use pipe tape / Teflon tape where needed, and use it properly. 3 wrappings, following the movement of the thread so it doesn't bunch up, and using tools to tighten the fittings. Otherwise, its pretty much a normal water cooling loop now, except w/ the components downstairs still.

[VikingGaming]

-snip-

 

For the finalized system, I'm not 100% sure, but I'll list the specs soon. A fair amount, but the only additional cost over a normal water cooling system is...well...the copper pipe / copper fittings for the pipes. Otherwise, it's the same.

OK, it has been really interesting to follow the development of this

[AnonymousGuy]

 

For the finalized system, I'm not 100% sure, but I'll list the specs soon. A fair amount, but the only additional cost over a normal water cooling system is...well...the copper pipe / copper fittings for the pipes. Otherwise, it's the same.

 

The trick also is you have to have a building you can set this up in.  If you're in an apartment you're not going to be able to do this for obviously reasons   You can also get away with using a smaller pump since you have a straight show to the basement beneath you.  One story house you can end up using 150 feet of hose pretty quickly and needing a large pump to drive it.

 

But largely it's as you say...it's a giant external watercooling loop that I always advocate for.  You get unbeatable performance, less noise, and potentially less time and cost since you don't have to worry about buying components based on what will fit in your case and you have plenty more room to route tubing around.

[Benji_w]

Needs more rads, shame you couldn't find some blocks for the motherboard, could you not fit universal ones instead like so?

 

[chitownbob]

Pretty much everything is documented in this forum thread. I've had the idea for a long time, I think pre-dating Whole Room. I hate computer noise, so the idea was to have a water cooling setup outside of the room. It was originally gonna be routed behind a stair-set, until I moved. I didn't REALLY get into it until I made this thread, and I had it working a week or so later. The biggest piece of advice I can give someone is, if you plan on using copper pipes use pipe tape / Teflon tape where needed, and use it properly. 3 wrappings, following the movement of the thread so it doesn't bunch up, and using tools to tighten the fittings. Otherwise, its pretty much a normal water cooling loop now, except w/ the components downstairs still.

I hate to revive this thread but had considered something like this. My office is in second floor of two story and is oppressively hot in summer. Water cooling only delayed overheating room. Silly me. Had issues finding a wall to go down (will have to use exterior wall).

First, absolutely beautiful job. Brilliant.

But I would have used Pex and sharkbite. I also would have gone through wall instead of damaging your nice floor. I actually did this installing icemaker kit. Pex is cheaper.

Something to throw out at you. I am considering buying a coil of copper, putting it into my sump pit (under sump pump) where rainwater drains. It is always cold. Summertime temps should be about 50 or 60.

Winter temperature is never freezing even when 10 degrees. I admit I have not taken temps but would only use this in the summer, as my office gets chilly in Midwest winter.

It would of course go through a heat exchanger to keep fluids separate. Ie. http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g30/c95/s1056/list/p1/Liquid_Cooling-PC_Water_Cooling_Radiators-Plate_Exchangers-Page1.html

Do you think that this is a good plan?

[AntVenom]

I honestly can't believe I'm updating this, but until the system breaks, this is it. I might update this ONE more time when the wiring inside the case is neater.I have removed the remote trigger for the pump. For a while, I wanted to find a wireless solution, but I decided to just give in. At the moment, the fans are still plugged into that, but they won't be soon. The pump now starts up with the computer. So woo!

In the last picture, the power supply used, and the battery backup will be removed once I get a decently lengthy y splitter. The 6 foot molex extension doesn't reach as well as I had hoped, but at least it does.

Below the rig pictures are temp pictures. temps are a little bit higher than they used to be, and I'm on Windows 7. The BIOS however, reads the same temps as usual, so I'm not sure what's going on there.

 

ALL OF THESE TEMPS ARE WITH THE FANS OFF! The fans being on...just doesn't make much of a difference. I keep them on anyways, but still.

[AntVenom]

Even though it's a double post, I'm gonna give this one last reply. But this is actually the last one. I found a Molex Y-cable sitting around, and a molex to sata connector too for the fan speed controller. So now my fans are also on the automatic system. I have removed the remote control from upstairs, the downstairs power supply, and downstairs battery backup unit, as they're not needed anymore.

 

Not sure if I explained this before, but I found a PCI molex connection bracket on amazon, and I am using that as a way of allowing me to disconnect the water cooling elements from the system. If I just fed a molex wire through the PCI bracket, it would be stuck there, and moving the PC would be a pain in the ass.

I did order a new 6 foot cable as I botched removing the pins in order to feed it downstairs. They work, but one of the ground wires showed signs of being frayed. They're like 5 dollars anyways, so not a huge deal. Also ordered a new fan speed controller to replace the current one, as the current one sometimes fails to turn on the fans at ALL if they're not set to full power, which is really dumb.

Well that's it. The project is done. One day, I may transfer the stuff from downstairs to my bedroom closet in case I ever plan on finishing the basement. It would be quiet enough in there to have the same effect. And typically, if I'm in my bedroom, my computer is off, so I won't have to listen to it. We'll see. That wouldn't be for quite a while anyways.









 

[Dschijn]

Awesome project!

How did you get the air out of the system? Normally that is the job of the reservoir, but I wonder if you managed to push all the air into the res in the basement?!

[AntVenom]

1 minute ago, Dschijn said:

Awesome project!

How did you get the air out of the system? Normally that is the job of the reservoir, but I wonder if you managed to push all the air into the res in the basement?!

The pump is just powerful enough to handle it on it's own. That pump has 20 feet of head pressure.