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Radiical Pro Stand Off Kit Fitting guide. - page 2

Radiical Pro Stand Off Kit Fitting guide.

Thank you for all the mail and in response here is the second part, albeit quickly assembled and written article, of what now must be called the "Radiical Pro stand-off fitting guide".

Part Two....Tubing

Date Log; March 12, 2005

Please Note that for this guide 3/8" Clearflex has been used.

Solution One....... Bring out the Drill

It is highly likely that the greater percentage of people reading this article will adopt the easiest method of fitting tubing i.e. via holes cut in the case. The red colored squares shown in the picture below indicate the easiest hole cuts for tubing entry. These entry point provide level access to the CPU/water block area whilst also providing much needed space to create the radius turns for the tubing.

Hole Cuts for Tubing Entry

For those purists out there this entry point provides the least amount of bends and with a wide radii for tubing turns ensures flow rates would be kept high. Now if you don't want to cut holes you are left with a problem.

Solution Two..... The fan Grill

You could waste a Fan grill by cutting out the center and feed the tubing through the cut out segments of the grill.

Solution Three...........Cases and Cases

The unfortunate part of some case designs is the reality that they are simply not designed for water cooling. Some erstwhile water coolers have by necessity been obliged to carry out major case surgery to fit all of their water cooling components. The drawback of chopping bits out of your case is that it invariably reduces the cases value. With an expensive case a single Dremel runaway can reduce the project to a disaster.

For those case owners in the situation where no space has been provided by the case manufacturer it is time to look for a "universal" solution.

Some time ago a number of devices and add on cards began using the vacant PCI slots in the case. Such things as fan controllers, bios saviors extra USB ports and the like being examples. About this time a number of water coolers looking for coolant access points for such things as radiator boxes began eyeing off these same PCI slots. As a result the PCI water point entry plates appeared. The mock up plate shown below is provided for illustration purposes.

PCI Slot Plate

PCI entry plates have a dual function. They allow water entry and exit as well as a fan cabling point. In the example given here you can see that we have cut a small notch into the plate to allow entry of the molex cabling.

PCI Plate Fitted and fan cabling installed

Now that we have both power and coolant entry points fixed up it is a simple matter to prepare the radiator for fitting.

You will need a couple of 90 degree bends to attach to the radiator.

The next phase is to install the radiator with the inlet and outlet pointing downward.

Radiator Fitted

We decided to double pump the radiator with two Cooler master fans while we were preparing the radiator.

The tubing was then installed and the wiring tidied up.

Internally the tubing points for attachment to pump and water return have been laid out ready for connection.

Completed Views

Completed Rear View

Completed Side View

The final views of the tubing fitting means it is time for the delightful job of leak testing. A handy hint here is to fit the complete water cooling system. Then remove the radiator, laying it down flat during filling so that it can be bled of air while horizontal. Just flip it back upright when you are satisfied that it is free of air.

The ability to drop the radiator flat means that when releasing one or both of the radiator tubing clamps when the radiator is horizontal you have a very satisfactory way of emptying your water cooling system. This method reduces risk of damage to internal components.

Pros and Cons

What are the pros and cons of this type of radiator installation

Pros

Cool ambient air is always available for the radiator.... increased radiator efficiency.

Can be run passively or at extremely low fan speed.

Access to service fans is in the open......... simpler maintenance.

Varying sized radiators can be fitted to even the smallest cases.

Bleeding, filling and emptying the case is much easier.

Less case clutter......... neater installation.

All the hard drive and CD-ROM bays are available for their intended use.

In case noise is reduced..... no case rumble or echo.

Cons

People at LANs want to cool their coke cans off the radiator housing..... just joking

JSE