Project the Phantom Bee, reborn.

[paulstung]

Seeing as though I need to change my pump/res combo, and my gpu is being rma'd, I thought this would be the perfect time to do all the mods I had planned for the future, all in one go possibly over a couple of weeks.

My plans are, to add a mid plate, for a place to hide cables, and possibly for the pump, I'm still undecided on what pump/res combo to go for. the plate needs to be placed in first so I can get a better idea of space. Also I have drilled out the rivets of the drive bays, and added it to the scrap pile, in it's place I'm going to mount the 240 Monsta up higher, above the mid plate.

As well as the mid plate, I need to add a panel to the front, where the drive bay, and fan mounts were. Once everything was removed, and the rad mounted it just looked awful, so it will be to cover up fan mounts, and the big hole where the drive bays used to live. It will also make mounting the rad, a lot more stable.

That's it for now, I'm off to source some acrylic sheet, that is bigger than 500 x 500, I need a sheets that is 502, any recommendations ? Also NZXT in their infinate wisdom, didn't powder coat, the pieces one at a time they done it whilst it was built. Has any body got any tips / tricks on how to paint the bare metal ?

A quick mock up of my initial idea.

A little update. I got up nice and early, and put an order in for all, my nice lovely new parts. Pump, res, and some black/yellow acrylic. The only thing missing is the coolant, as I ran out of pennies, so that will be next week.

So far I have removed the drive bay cage, and trimmed it down, just to just one bay. I need a bay for a fan controller, the Phantom has a three stage one built in, but I find that it is only really a two stage and off, plus the pump I'm getting the Koolance PMP 500, is not variable, but can be run through a controller. The rest of my day was put to use in, mocking up, how the mid and front plate will be added.
It is now mocked up, and just waiting on my supplies to come. I can get on with tidying up the cuts, and figure out how to mount the front rad, to the new panel. The bottom fan will make contact with the chassis, but not the top one. So I need to get a piece of mild and make some sort of bracket, to make sure it is nice and strong, most of all, no rattles.
I'm still undecided on where to mount the pump,my first thought was under the mid plate, but the PMP 500, is such a sexy looking pump, it would be a shame to hide it away. Also it will be a shame to brake up the sleekness of the plate, with some holes and grommets. It just looks so clean.

The fan controller will eventually will be boxed in, as stage two will involve, adding a shroud, around the front rad, with just the front fans visable. I might even, give removing the fans shroud to just leave the blades. As seen on another thread. I think it will look sick . performance won't suffer as it is in push pull any way. ( can any one remember, the thread, with the shroud less fans ? )

 

[Gurt11]

I like that'll make it look nice and clean hopefully ;-)

 

[paulstung]

Cheers mate, that's the plan. Everything arrived today, except for the acrylic. Sods law what you need first comes last.
A quick pic of the pump and res set up for testing. I went with the black nickel res, as when it is in the case it should show as more black, also with the matte chassis, and the black acrylic it should give a nice contrast.

 

[The Orange One]

That res looks great!

 

[paulstung]

Cheers mate. It's just a shame that the color is only that intense because of the bubbles. I'm thinking of trying another Mayems yellow dye before I splash out on 2 liters of pastel. The yellow is nearly there . Then again, I think it's the depth of color with the pastel, it's just so rich.

 

[alpenwasser]

Bloody hell, Paul! You only just started w/c and now this.

If you keep this pace up you'll be doing your first scratchbuild within 2 months :lol:

Seriously though, at least in the pics the yellow looks pretty awesome. Looking forward to your ideas' implementation

 

[paulstung]

Cheers mate. I no mate I've been bitten by the bug. I wan't to get cracking but the acrylic has been delayed till next week. I'm making do with an old battered laptop and it aint pretty.

 

[alpenwasser]

I'm making do with an old battered laptop and it aint pretty.

Yeah I'm currently in the process of setting up my laptop so that I can take apart my main rig and distribute the parts over the new ones. My current rig will be scaled down and go to dad as his office PC, most of the HDD's and some of the W/C bits will go into an R4 to make a file server/HTPC/BOINC rig and some minor parts will end up in my new main rig.

Right now I'm setting up the web server (writing some image scripts and such) for hosting the pics (the R4 and my new main rig will have build logs) and doing general prep work for starting the logs.

But before I gut this baby I want my laptop up and running smoothly. Might have to get by with that for a few weeks or even months .

 

[paulstung]

My laptop is in a sad state. I was stripping it down a few weeks ago, for a good clean, and as I took out the last screw, there was a loud bang. My dog, a 10 month old American bulldog, was sleeping beside me. And the bang woke him up in a panic, a sent the laptop flying. It ended up in 3 bits, screen, keyboard and base. Both of the screen hinges have broken, and is fixed in 1 position. The track pad works, but the keyboard is dead. I can only put 1 stick of ram in as the 1 sod dimm clip is broken.

Like I aid it aint pretty. I'm debating to make it my next project. Some kind of media center, maybe I'll make a custom case, or mod a slimline htpc, to take the motherboard. It's a shame really it's only about a year old and used to run like a dream, with the ssd for boot. Now it's just horrible and laggy

A quick update of not a lot to report. I'm still waiting on the acrylic, but I have managed to mock up all the panels, and rad positions and holes. I've also mocked up my first thoughts of the loop order, still unsure, but it is my first idea. I quite like the idea with there only being one long run between the top rad and the front rad, but I've got some 1/2 inch pipe clips so i could hide it beside the rad and it will come out buy the fan controller. It is still early days so it all will more than likely change.

 

[alpenwasser]

My laptop is in a sad state. I was stripping it down a few weeks ago, for a good clean, and as I took out the last screw, there was a loud bang. My dog, a 10 month old American bulldog, was sleeping beside me. And the bang woke him up in a panic, a sent the laptop flying. It ended up in 3 bits, screen, keyboard and base. Both of the screen hinges have broken, and is fixed in 1 position. The track pad works, but the keyboard is dead. I can only put 1 stick of ram in as the 1 sod dimm clip is broken.

Any chance of getting pics of the damage (not that I'm reveling in your
misery, but that sounds kinda interesting)?

Luckily the hardware of my laptop is still ok (it's a Dell XT2, quite a fine
machine I must admit). I had installed FreeBSD on it as an experiment.
Worked surprisingly well, actually. Sound, WiFi etc. good. But if it was
to serve as an actual working machine I needed my usual setup back
(Arch Linux).

I have to admit, that Koolance Pump looks more awesome each time I
look at it. I might have to get one myself just to give it a try (when
funds allow, of course ).

 

[UkGouki]

looking good do like the mockups its a great way to get an idea of where you want things. but if your anything like me after you bite the bullet and do it like planned you always find something else you want to change lol

 

[paulstung]

Any chance of getting pics of the damage (not that I'm reveling in your
misery, but that sounds kinda interesting)?

Luckily the hardware of my laptop is still ok (it's a Dell XT2, quite a fine
machine I must admit). I had installed FreeBSD on it as an experiment.
Worked surprisingly well, actually. Sound, WiFi etc. good. But if it was
to serve as an actual working machine I needed my usual setup back
(Arch Linux).

I have to admit, that Koolance Pump looks more awesome each time I
look at it. I might have to get one myself just to give it a try (when
funds allow, of course ).

I would love to show of Gabe's handy work ( that's the dog ) but I have just about got it taped up, with gaffer tape. So I don't wan't to tempt fate and un tape it all. It is just about holding on for dear life as is.

The koolance pump is a little beast, good value for money too, considering. There is no need for a top as it has a built in high power top included. The heat sink is a nice touch, plus you can mount the base on any side. From reviews it out performs both the D5 and DDC's,and is smaller. But the trade of is it's a little louder. But I'm looking into either running it through a fan controller or a molex extension .

I just hope my acrylic turns up soon, I'm getting itchy fingers, and have run out of things to be getting on with.

Any tips for removing a stubborn extension of a 45 degree fitting ? I have a stuck extension on a 45 degree that I need for a 90 degree. I don't really won't to put an order in for one £2 fitting the postage will be more than the part.

 

[alpenwasser]

I would love to show of Gabe's handy work ( that's the dog ) but I have just about got it taped up, with gaffer tape. So I don't wan't to tempt fate and un tape it all. It is just about holding on for dear life as is.

Yeah I get that. Although a pic of the taped up patient would also be of interest.

But I'm looking into either running it through a fan controller or a molex extension .

As long as the starting voltage isn't too high this should work imho.

I just hope my acrylic turns up soon, I'm getting itchy fingers, and have run out of things to be getting on with.

Don't I know that feeling :lol:

Any tips for removing a stubborn extension of a 45 degree fitting ? I have a stuck extension on a 45 degree that I need for a 90 degree. I don't really won't to put an order in for one £2 fitting the postage will be more than the part.

A bit tricky to tell without pic, but for stuck extensions and such I usually
use two pliers (flat head or the plumber's kind) with some soft protection to
avoid scratches.

 

[paulstung]

I've tried the 2 pliers trick, the problem is the extension is smaller than the fitting it is screwed into. I'm going to try my mates vice. If all else fails, bring out the big guns.

 

[alpenwasser]

I've tried the 2 pliers trick, the problem is the extension is smaller than the fitting it is screwed into. I'm going to try my mates vice.

I like vices, they're such handy things to have around.

If all else fails, bring out the big guns.

You mean these? :lol:

 

[alienware]

Loving that big fat rad

 

[paulstung]

You mean these? :lol:[/QUOTE]

I leave those to plan c .

 

[alpenwasser]

I leave those to plan c .

Post pics if it gets to that :lol:

 

[paulstung]

Not a lot to update, as I'm still waiting for the acrylic to arrive. But in the meantime, out of being so bloody bored, I have done a quick mock up of the hose route, out of old parts. I've tried loads of ways, and this is by far the best, with only the one long run. Sorry for the picture quality, I'm using an old phone, and the screen is smashed.

 

[alpenwasser]

That actually looks pretty reasonable. Only thing I would try is to somehow tuck that
long run either right up to the radiator or even behind it. But the feasibility of that is
tricky to judge from here