i7 Water cooling system

[Jonathan]

Have you got the parts anodised, i have just started anodising my self with some great results.

I have anodised several parts myself before with good results, however this sadly is not one of them.

This is:

i think you might have sealing issue with the o ring groove due to surface finish.

I chose the correct sizes for the O-ring slots to ensure it seals properly. I will confirm this by submerging it in water and pressurising it with compressed air. If I see bubbles then either there's a problem or I'm using a much higher than operating pressure.

i would avoid nickel plating the copper as it will affect the thermal transfer.

While this is true, the effect is rendered neglegible by the several micrometre thickness of the plating. This is widely accepted as the best solution to galvanic corrosion, confirmed by nickel plating throughout the majority of high ended water coolign components.

Some more pictures showing the copper block and assembled parts:

[luke11cnc]

I've seen it and it look really really good

James

[fragger6662000]

you did well machining the copper as it does have a tendency to work harden and snatch tools. i was sure you were going to pressure test it, but o rings do need a good surface to seal. I designed something similar and it let in coolant like there was nothing there.

[Jonathan]

Making progress with this...slowly!

Cut the connectors for the water tube, nothing special here. Cut the M14x1 thread on the lathe to ensure it's not wonky.
Also nickel plated the copper which worked well, but forgot to take a photo.


Plus some bits for the motherboard, started these ages ago but still not finished:

[luke11cnc]

That's really quite cool Jonathan well done

out of interest how long did it take to cut the mother board components out

James and Luke yes Luke is still going strong

[wiatroda]

Looks good Jonathan
Looks like we both use the same method for mounting material and parts to the table.
First mount material, do all insides and holes then mount parts through holes and cut outside profiles. Pretty simple and good way to hold the material.

[Jonathan]

That's really quite cool

That's the general idea.

out of interest how long did it take to cut the mother board components out

It was so long ago I can't really remember (they're still not fully cut out as I've been doing other things). Do you mean to make the whole profile, or just cutting them out once the inner profile is complete?

Looks like we both use the same method for mounting material and parts to the table.
First mount material, do all insides and holes then mount parts through holes and cut outside profiles.

Almost - I generally get it to drill the holes first, then put screws in those holes and then cut the inside and outside profile. Doing it in that order means the material doesn't have to be clamped to the bed particularly well to start with.
It gets annoying when, as I have today, there's 180 parts to screw down with 2 screws in each...tried double sided tape but that left a bit of a mess and still needed one screw in each to be sure.

[Jonathan]

i was wondering in order for them to be re-anodised would they need to be taken back to bare metal or can they just be steel wooled then re-anodised?.

Anodising oxidises the outer surface of the part, then the dye bonds with that so to re-anodise and dye you need to remove the previous layer of aluminium oxide. If you submerge it in sodium hydroxide (NaOH / caustic soda) the aluminium oxide layer will be dissolved. However you have to be careful since that will reduce the size of the part, especially if you leave it in too long. If there's fine threads they could disappear...

[wiatroda]

http://astro.neutral.org/anodise.shtml - pretty useful website about DIY anodising.
Fabric dye not always work and fade with time. Commercial dye gives way better results
I must try it some day

[wiatroda]

That's the general idea.



It was so long ago I can't really remember (they're still not fully cut out as I've been doing other things). Do you mean to make the whole profile, or just cutting them out once the inner profile is complete?




Almost - I generally get it to drill the holes first, then put screws in those holes and then cut the inside and outside profile. Doing it in that order means the material doesn't have to be clamped to the bed particularly well to start with.
It gets annoying when, as I have today, there's 180 parts to screw down with 2 screws in each...tried double sided tape but that left a bit of a mess and still needed one screw in each to be sure.

I found it is good way to mount when cutting lots of small parts. I use drywall screws + power screwdriver- quick and easy. Drywall screws have sharp threads and cross-groove which locks perfectly with screwdriver bits- no slippage thou. And obviously no need to worry to match mounting holes/grooves in machine bed.