Soldering a reservoir?

[AT0MAC]

I have a Alphacool Metal 10 reservoir that has brass bottom, I have a aluminum Lian Li case and Im going to place the res so it goes trough the middle plate and on to the other side

 

 

I just test fittet it and it got me thinking, can I solder the res to the case instead of using pass trough bulk head fittings?

 

It would be soo much easier to do and even also save me money, the solder would be right there under the res so no one would ever see it.

 

I know it would make it a permanent installation, but I dont mind that as I intend to keep this case for many many years

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, AT0MAC said:

I have a Alphacool Metal 10 reservoir that has brass bottom, I have a aluminum Lian Li case and Im going to place the res so it goes trough the middle plate and on to the other side

I just test fittet it and it got me thinking, can I solder the res to the case instead of using pass trough bulk head fittings?

It would be soo much easier to do and even also save me money, the solder would be right there under the res so no one would ever see it.

I know it would make it a permanent installation, but I dont mind that as I intend to keep this case for many many years

No that doesn't work the material first won't solder together easily being brass and steel not to mention you do not want any steel in your loop or your going to have a bad time with galvanic corrosion. You can simply drill to hole for the whole fitting or as you said use a pass through fitting.

[AT0MAC]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

No that doesn't work the material first won't solder together easily being brass and steel not to mention you do not want any steel in your loop or your going to have a bad time with galvanic corrosion. You can simply drill to hole for the whole fitting or as you said use a pass through fitting.

im not going to put the alu anywere near water, its the bottom of the res, the closed shell, i would place on top of the alu - just need something in between to keep it in place so it cant slide and wiggle when i move the case, thought soldering would be the best option

[W-L]

1 minute ago, AT0MAC said:

im not going to put the alu anywere near water, its the bottom of the res, the closed shell, i would place on top of the alu - just need something in between to keep it in place so it cant slide and wiggle when i move the case, thought soldering would be the best option

You can't solder to aluminum, If you just want it in that location as is you can use double sided mounting tape on the bottom of the res to mount it directly to the aluminium plate. That would be the simplest solution for what your looking to do. 

[AT0MAC]

Just now, W-L said:

You can't solder to aluminum, If you just want it in that location as is you can use double sided mounting tape on the bottom of the res to mount it directly to the aluminium plate. That would be the simplest solution for what your looking to do. 

i have some Gorilla double sided tape already, do you think it would hold enough?

the surface area under a HF10 res is very very small and its already quite heavy, even when empty

[W-L]

1 minute ago, AT0MAC said:

i have some Gorilla double sided tape already, do you think it would hold enough?

the surface area under a HF10 res is very very small and its already quite heavy, even when empty

Yeah that will do, your just holding in it place if you want something permanent you can always add a bracket or plate for it. 

[AT0MAC]

Just now, W-L said:

Yeah that will do, your just holding in it place if you want something permanent you can always add a bracket or plate for it. 

I was just thinking, have some model putty, for making little metal figures out of, could take some of that and make a 8 shape around the two fittings up against the underside of the alu from down below, so it acts like a bulk head  fitting would in combination with the tape. Easy to do and basically free, as I already have the materials for other reasons

[AT0MAC]

3 minutes ago, Pangea2017 said:

You can weld the parts. You still have to respect that you work with Al and Cu/Sn-alloy

I dont have a welder, and also, would prefer to get it as flush to the bottom as possible, if welding i would have to be able to "stitch" it together in the space between.

if soldering was an option i would just need to place solder and heat it up enough for the solder to melt and stick, but i guess the tape way is much easier

[Revamp]

JBWeld should easily hold this. get the like 3000lb breaking strength jbweld epoxy and it won't go anywhere.

 

Edit:

I literally use JBWeld for anything I can LOL. Use it around the house on everything and the woman gets mad smelling the epoxy everywhere

[W-L]

11 minutes ago, AT0MAC said:

I was just thinking, have some model putty, for making little metal figures out of, could take some of that and make a 8 shape around the two fittings up against the underside of the alu from down below, so it acts like a bulk head  fitting would in combination with the tape. Easy to do and basically free, as I already have the materials for other reasons

Could always 3D print or use modeling putting to make some support brackets if you like. But your not going to be moving the case around a lot I assume or subjecting to large amount if vibrations to where it would be an issue with the res falling off. 

[AT0MAC]

2 minutes ago, Revamp said:

JBWeld should easily hold this. get the like 3000lb breaking strength jbweld epoxy and it won't go anywhere.

 

Edit:

I literally use JBWeld for anything I can LOL. Use it around the house on everything and the woman gets mad smelling the epoxy everywhere

exactly why i am trying not to use epoxy of any kind, i have a wife and two little kids and would not be very popular if its smelling everywhere for a week, just because im building a computer

[Revamp]

3 minutes ago, AT0MAC said:

exactly why i am trying not to use epoxy of any kind, i have a wife and two little kids and would not be very popular if its smelling everywhere for a week, just because im building a computer

Well easy solution, put it on a table in the garage for the 24hr cure time with a little fan. Smell will be gone in 48hrs lol.

The smell actually dissipates shortly after the curing process is over. especially if ventilated. I just use it so often for fixing stuff/jerry-rigging.

And the smell would definitely not be "everywhere" it doesn't tend to spread much as far as area effected by the smell. it usually only smells right around where you mixed and used it.

[AT0MAC]

wait a second, when I lift the Alphacool HF10 Metal it feels like the whole bottom piece is solid brass - could I drill a few holes and tap thread them to screw the whole thing to the aluminum instead of using double sided tape?

There is room for 2-3 M3 or M4 holes there without disturbing the water channels.

 

[W-L]

6 hours ago, AT0MAC said:

wait a second, when I lift the Alphacool HF10 Metal it feels like the whole bottom piece is solid brass - could I drill a few holes and tap thread them to screw the whole thing to the aluminum instead of using double sided tape?

There is room for 2-3 M3 or M4 holes there without disturbing the water channels.

You can tap and drill some holes for mounting if you want given enough room. 

[AT0MAC]

2 hours ago, W-L said:

You can tap and drill some holes for mounting if you want given enough room. 

nice, that's what i thought but don't want to screw up my very pretty res if i was wrong.

anyway, i just found out it might not even be necessary to really do anything, because i initially thought i would use soft tubes under the res, thats why i wanted to be sure its stuck right, but after measuring more precise it looks like i can get away with some clever use of extenders and fittings and because they are very riggid i would not imagine the res to move anywhere... might maybe still do a few m3's just to be sure though, also easier to remove than gorilla tape