K then.
Full waterloop installed.
Same shot, one with flash and one without...)
I must admit that I'm conflicted. Although technically it's fine (ignoring for the moment the question of watercooling the HDDs), the install lacks the elegance I was trying to achieve. The tubing seems to drape all over the place and looks randomly routed.
I am also apprehensive about the utility of the tiny reservoir...it seems little more than a glorified t-line. I actually built another full size tube rez (much like the old one) and refined the construction details, but it ended up not fitting.
Imagine that, a case as large as the Stacker and I ran out of room!
Furthermore, this loop used almost the entire 10' of Tygon I had on hand (that stuff is wonderful tubing but brutally expensive), which is nearly double the length of the old system. Of course, this install has a taller rad and the HDD blocks, but even so, it seems excessive.
I could eliminate nearly 4' of tube by flipping the rad over and placing the barbs at the bottom (which I considered), but I was concerned about trapping air in the upper plenum and having difficulty bleeding it out. I may reconsider this decision...at the very least, try it out and see.
There is also no easy way to drain this loop, a feature I really wanted to incorporate.
My next day off is Sunday and I'm going to move on to the front bezel, an area that has it's own set of construction details to conquer.
I know what I want to achieve, I'm just not sure how to do it and I can't really afford to waste materials experimenting. Plexi doesn't bother me so much- it's cheap and available locally, but the mesh I'll be using was ordered in and cost $50 for two 19"x19" sheets. I've already used 1/4 of that doing the roofpanel and have plans for all of the rest, so screwing up is not an option.
Meanwhile I'll ponder how to alter the waterloop.
This is getting frustrating...I could just accept it the way it stands, fill her up with coolant and call it good. Sprocket would be up and running tonight if I did but I'm sure I'd end up regretting my haste and redoing it later anyway (like I've never done that before...).
*sigh*
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