General questions regarding a very specific loop

You_are_a_cunt · July 17, 2017

I've talked about my intentions of watercooling my Intel SS4200 NAS and I've been lurking around eBay to find the cheapest usable parts for the custom loop.

Why exactly do I want a custom loop in a pre-built NAS with heavy space restrictions?

For shits and giggles. And to see if it's actually possible to watercool something under $30-40.

I intend to replace the current CPU in the NAS (Celeron 420) with a Pentium 630 (already owned, currently sitting in a pile of CPUs), taking the CPU TDP from 35W up to a mind boggling 84W. Due to the way the NAS is built, the current cooling solution is a passively cooled CPU and two quite loud system fans. Fully loaded, the CPU temps and general enclosure temps are quite toasty, with drive temps in the mid to high 40s and CPU running anywhere from low 40s to low 60s. That's pretty hot and it gets real loud real fast.

My current parts list (subject to change without notice) includes:

40x40x12 aluminium waterblock for the CPU. This will require some custom mounting solution (which isn't an issue)

80mm aluminium radiator. This also requires a bit of a custom mount, since I'll probably be sacrificing one of the HDD bays to mount it.

200ml acrylic res. Not much I can say about it. It's an acrylic cube with 2 barbed in/outlets and a third plugged hole for filling/draining.

12V DC pump, 240L/H. It's cheap, it's not PWM and it's supposedly submersible (doubt it and it doesn't really matter either, as long as it doesn't leak)

a yet to be calculated length of soft tubing (I considered hardline, but I don't have the tools or time for that. Plus, hardline would require fittings)

A handful of adjustable tube clamps

A buttload of zipties

A random 80mm fan for the rad.

Due to the very restricted space in the enclosure, using a custom loop or a low profile heatsink/fan combo would still result in having to sacrifice one of the HDD bays. Given that I'm already running 5 drives in a 4-bay NAS, that wouldn't be a problem. And, let's be honest. A low profile heatsink wouldn't be as cool as a custom loop.

My questions:

Is the pump good enough? 240L/H isn't that much compared to proper loop pumps, but this is a fairly short loop. I figure it should be enough, right? If it's too whimpy, what L/H should I look for?

Can I get away with not using a fan on the radiator, relying on the case fans to provide enough airflow? (fans are pretty good at pushing/pulling air, but they're quite loud when they ramp up)

Do I really want a reservoir or can I get away with basically making an AIO?

What additives am I looking for alongside the distilled water? Piece of 99% silver enough or do I need to step it up a notch?

What should I clean the loop with before setting it up? (I'm fairly certain the parts will need cleaning) Distilled water/vinegar mix or something a bit more strong?

The pump I'm looking at is single speed. Should I modify it and add a potentiometer to regulate the speed or just let it run full speed? Or should I be looking at adjusting the fan speed instead (assuming I can't get away with not having a fan on the rad)?

Bananasplit_00 · July 17, 2017

1: Probably not ok but it should work

2: no

3: either way is fine but you should use a res to not have to top of the loop too much.

4: biocide and anti corrosive stuff, silver works as biocide.

5: that's probably fine

6: just let it run wild, the pressure is probably shit as it is already so you probably shouldn't decrease it

You_are_a_cunt · July 17, 2017

3 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

1: Probably not ok but it should work

I've found a couple of 550L/H pumps that are just a bit more expensive and a few 800L/H ones that would need some modifications to be used in a loop (550 ones are barbed, 800 ones are screw-ons)

Bananasplit_00 · July 17, 2017

2 hours ago, revsilverspine said:

I've found a couple of 550L/H pumps that are just a bit more expensive and a few 800L/H ones that would need some modifications to be used in a loop (550 ones are barbed, 800 ones are screw-ons)

The problem isn't throughput, it's pressure and quality. That pump will probably die within a year. Probably all of them will. Getting a proper pump isn't all too expensive if you look on the used market though