Hydroponic Chamber
-----------------

Strange name for a pc i know, but hey i like it & should fit in with the theme i have planned for this case. not sure if this counts as a worklog as most of the planning & fitting parts have been done already, but i still got a lot of things planned with some acrylics & led lighting. i dont have a camera or id have posted a proper worklog earlier. so i borrowed my sisters camera today and took some pics of the works so far. hopefully i might be able to borrow it again as i progress with this project.

System Specs
------------

mountian mods black U2-UFO optimax case



amd fx-55 cpu
asus a8n-sli deluxe mobo
dual xfx 6800ultra gfx cards
2gb corsiar 2-2-2-5 ram
2 x 74gb w/d raptors raid 0 for xp
1 x 250gb maxtor external firewire harddrive for storage
tagan 480 psu ( i might need to upgrade this b4 finishing pc )
water cooling all AquaComputer stuff
cuplex tx cpu block
cuplex chipset block
dual aquadrive h/d block
2 x fx6800 gpu blocks
2 x aquatubes black
2 x black faced aquabays
2 x flowmeters
2 x aquastream pump
2 x fmj metal jackets
240 airplex rad
360 airplex rad

here are the only few early pics that i have, taken with a very dodgy camera phone. after deceiding on where i was going to mount the rads, like removing the 2 x 120mm blow holes at the front for the 360 rad. it was then time to mask & measure up, ready for the dremeling.



i've never used a dremel before so this took me way longer to cut this hole than i had hoped for, but i was happy with how it turned out requiring very little filing & no cries of " OMFG NOOooooo "



this MMods case does have a few design issues, like not having any cable management system and having to fit tagan psu's upside down. but i can forgive it just for the monstrous size of this case & it's ablity to swallow W/Cing stuff hole. its like the hummer of pc's & i got a few mods in mind to sort out the cables / psu.



now its time for the 240mm rad which i have fitted to the rear, removing the 3 x 80mm blow holes just above where to psu will be fitted. this hole went much quicker as id started to get the hang of how to hold the dremel.



sorry my sister has not had a chance to e-mail me over the pictures yet, so i'll update this tomorrow with where i am so far.

lol you will have to wait & see but there are plants that like lots of uv light & warmer climates : but thanks for the kind words.

ok i got the photo's from my sister. as i have done stuff already im not sure where to begin. so i thought id start with the exterior and then move to the inside. this is the front as it stands atm. MMods optimax is the only case i know of that you can have a 360mm rad at the front and still have 10 x 5 1/4 drivebays free. though getting a pic of how glossy this case is was not easy, but take it from me its got a real shine to it.

the alaska 120mm fans are shown here fitted to the grill with the rad in place just behind it. i am going to swap this grill for maybe a custom made grill with some orange uv acrylic fixed to the back and then cut out to match the grill for a added effect.



the 2 anti vandal switches that came with the case have been swapped for the much better looking bulgin type. the 2 led lights that came with the case have been removed leaving 2 holes just under the switches that i need to disguise some how. so the left bay section has at the top a black faced aquaero which will have the 2 pump controllers mounted at the rear.then below that we have the black faced aquabay with a black aquatube. the aquatube has been fitted with a aquajet, 2x led plugs & a temp probe.
below that are 2 empty bays, im not sure what im gonna put here yet so im gonna blank these out for now with some black acrylic.



then on the right bay section at the top is my black faced plextor dvd drive. then below that is the other aquabay fitted out the same as the left side. althought the right has been fitted with the flowmeter, where as i need to order another for the left side. then under that is the dual bay aquadrive housing the 2x raptors. i need to order some black face plates for the aquadrive.



another picture showing the front bays in place, i plan to have orange uv acrylic fitted to the the rear of the border section of each bay to match the front grill for a bit of detailing.



now to the rear. by removing the 3x 80mm fans and fitting the 240mm rad shown here fitted with the same alaska fans as the front i have now the optimal air flow i.e. 3 fans at the front & 3 at the back. i am using the bottom psu mount for now but i may swap it later if i ever want to expand the system. you can just make out the tagan logo is upside down, which is really annoying this is a expensive case and makes wiring messy looking.



other that the fix for the psu, the rear is pretty much as it will be. shopping awaits so i will update again later.

Quoted from "Mr_modnaR"

you may find if you put some real plants in it, you'll eventually get some weeds  

lol u never know your luck

Pump Side
---------

now for the inside, i took the pc apart a bit for this shot. but the way this case & the AC parts fit it was no big deal and you can see better where everything will or is going.

so here we see the right side showing the 360 & 240 rads all fitted. i need another bent connector for the 360 rad & also need to touch up the black paint that has come off at the connections. the connectors for the 240 rad are at the top out of this shot, also the fan wires need extending & sheathing.
then we have the upside down tagan psu, i plan to make a reversing plate for this so the cables are at the mobo side rather than the window side. this will make hiding the cables much easier. for hiding the cables, i am gonna cover the back of the mobo tray with velcro and use that to fix all the wires. then make a black acrylic cover that will be velcro fixed over that to cover the wires.
last we have the 2 fmj's fitted but not painted yet as im not 100% sure what colour i want these to be. and as you can tell im a pump short.
oh and by the way if your wondering the blue cables draped over the fmj's are the sata cables for the hard drives.



this is a closer look at the fmj's showing how i plan to drain this beast. it will have 2 valves on each pump 1 going up & 1 coming off of the aquagrafix brass connector. the one coming off is the drain and will go to a bulk head fitting at the rear with a blanking plug fitted to cap it off. i am hoping that when i drain it all i have to do is close off the loop & open the drain to pump it empty. of coarse i'll have to fit a lenght of hose into the bulkhead fitting first or it might get messy.



another picture showing the bays back in position & the tubing in place. just really need to order that other aquastream and flow meter to finish the loop. things look a bit cramped but if i ever wanted to expand my system all i have to do is move the psu to the mobo side and i could fit another 2 pump in.



i still got some more pics but i need a little break.

Mobo Side
---------

so lets pop over to the mobo side. id better explain the loops at this point.

loop 1 = right side AT > flowmeter > AS > 240 AP > CPU > AquaDrive > AT

loop 2 = left side AT > flowmeter > AS > 360 AP > GPU > NB > GPU > AT

this pic shows the 240 rad in place with connections looking from the top. going into the cpu block, i did make the mistake of putting this block upside down so the inlet & outlet was the wrong way round lol dohhhh.



cuplex XT waterblock all fitted in and waiting to go, i do at some point want to get the replacement clear top as im not overly keen on the blue. this then is fed back over to the pump side to connect to the aquadrive before returning to the AT.



these next pics are the GPU & NB setup. this being fed from the 360 rad to the bottom card first then to the NB and onto the second card before returning to the AT.

drive bays
---------

starting with the left drive bay, as previously mentioned this will house the aquaero & aquabay which is connected to the 360 rad which feeds the gpu loop.



these next 2 pics show the rear of the bay and the set up. as you can tell i still need to wire up the bulgin switches. at the top is the aquaero with the pump controller mounted to the back using some nylon 30mm stand offs there is another set in place ready for when i get the other pump.



this pic was taken with the drive bay removed i was originally gonna mount the pumps on the rear of the aquabays but because i could not use the fmj's with the aquabays i sorta changed my mind. i have since found some pics of people who have done this but im happy now as it is. you can see i have mounted & sheathed the temp probe, the led plugs have been fitted along with the aquajet. i am not fitting the led yet as i want to experiment with the lighting first. all this bay needs is the missing controller & the flowmeter to finish.





now to the right drive bay, also as previously mentioned this will house the dvd drive, aquabay & aquadrive. this AT is connected to the 240 rad which feeds the cpu & the aquadrive below it.



i have removed the dvd drive to take these next pics. the dvd will either by painted or some vinyl applied to get rid of that nasty grey colour. this bay is done ready to go, the aquabay is set up the same as the left side but this has the flowmeter fitted in place. i just could not find a nice place to fit this, then i thought why dont i just mount it to the aquabay where the pump would normally be fitted. so i drilled a couple of mounting holes & used one of the existing pump holes. then i got some self tapping screws and the job is done. then there is the dual aquadrive fitted under the aquabay.



some more pics with the bay removed showing a completed set up.







and there you have it my pc as it stands today. my next step is make some cardboard templates for the acrylic stuff & do some more wiring. oh yeah i did put it back together again :p

thanks should be better once i done the acrylics

it had 2 vandal switches already fitted TN but they were very tacky looking, im sure they worked ok. but imo for the price i paid for the case they were not to spec. i gonna have the top button as on/off switch with power led. and the bottom button as the reset & hard drive led.

any1 know what thread #6/32 is in the uk ?

i need to replace the case screws with longer versions

i need them about 15-16mm. i have been looking for some in the uk. but i can only find standard socket head bolts in #6-32 here, where as i really would like to stay with the button head bolts. i did found out that #6-32 = unified coarse thread and is 3.505mm in dia. so im looking into tapping them out to a M4, but the recommend drill size for M4 is 3.3mm. as im not 100% sure if this will work properly im gonna test it on the hard drive bay that im not planning on using first.

Quoted from "Top_Nurse"

Google is amazing:  http://www.a2a4.co.uk/acatalog/6_32_SOCK…NC.html[/quote]

dont ya just hate a smart arse sometimes



thanks TN ;D