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"homemade" water block

J

Jeeter

n00b
Joined
Oct 3, 2006
Messages
12
I have been tossing the idea of WC for awhile but never really needed too. I do however have access to a cnc milling machine at school, and i dont have much time at school left. I was wondering if anyone knew or heard of anyone designing their own waterblocks before? I am looking for info on stuff like what makes a good waterblock, and how should i attach it to the MB. are their clip adaptors or something like that that allow you to bolt the waterblock to the mb if it doesnt have bolt holes?

also, I like the idea of being able to engrave cool stuff onto the top of the block :) maybe flames, or a little green hat.
I also know how to anodize, i was thinking shiny anodize the body of the block, then anodize the engraved (actually it would have to be embossed) stuff green (for green hat) or whatever colour.
 
thanks,
im kinda confused about the mad bashing of Al as a material in that article. Al has great thermal properties, just slightly less conductive than copper and lacking in thermal mass. but with a waterblock, thermal mass is minimal and has a limited effect on cooling anyway. Air cooling depends on thermal mass, but i find it hard to believe that water cooling does in the same way.
does anyone have some facts or experience to substanciate this?

also, plating copper with silver, omg best idea EVER.
 
Aluminum will react with any copper/brass in your loops and start corroding.

Silver plated copper is not a great idea, stick with solid copper or silver.

If you want to make a good block, just copy either the storm or aquaxtreme mp-05. Storm would be best but not all machines are capable of that.
 
chris.c said:
Aluminum will react with any copper/brass in your loops and start corroding.
Click to expand...
Anodizing the aluminum and/or using a bit of antifreeze in the coolant will stop the reaction.
 
sprocket said:
Anodizing the aluminum and/or using a bit of antifreeze in the coolant will stop the reaction.
Click to expand...

I will SLOW the reaction, but it won't stop it completely.

Yeah a 20/80 mix of antifreeze with anodized aluminum (assuming the anodizing doesn't get scraped off somehow, and it often does when attaching metal barbs) will reduce the chances of any corrosion... at the expense of good cooling.
 
Arcygenical said:
at the expense of good cooling.
Click to expand...

Right. So not only does the aluminum itself not cool as well as copper, you also have to run an anti-corrosive which just hampers performance even more.

If the price difference between aluminum and copper will make or break you, stick to air.
 
Arcygenical said:
I will SLOW the reaction, but it won't stop it completely.

Yeah a 20/80 mix of antifreeze with anodized aluminum (assuming the anodizing doesn't get scraped off somehow, and it often does when attaching metal barbs) will reduce the chances of any corrosion... at the expense of good cooling.
Click to expand...
I ran a 5/95 mix through my loop with an alloy rez for nearly a year with no sign of corrosion at all.
No impact on cooling efficiency either.
 
um, all aluminum, anodized or not forms an oxide. anodizing however forms a uniform oxide and prevents corrosion (breaking off of pieces of oxide) copper is quite reactive, and will react, less readily than al, however far more redily than anodized al. I dont understand how plating copper with an unreactive metal can be counter productive? have you got your head on right?
 
The resource you really want is www.procooling.com

I believe they have a section of their forums devoted entirely to designing and building your own homebrew waterblocks. Great stuff over there.

Oh and dont try to copy the Storm, there are so many tiny things going on in that design that you cant see from pictures that it isn't worth the effort, not to mention the cost.

IMO the simplest and most effective design is to make a micro pin-grid array. The more pins the better. If you want you can design the block to take an accelerator plate like the AquaExtreme, but it isn't necessary. This design is simple and has pretty decent performance.
 
Alu isn't the best to make a block from. it's damn easy to work with, it has decent thermal capacity, but it does have the corrosion problem. It's easier to stick with copper. I recommend you make a design like the AquaXtreme MP-05. Mini pin grid array, delrin top, o-ring.
 
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