Project...my first Lian Li

[Hal]

well, i thought i should catch up guys up on a small side project that i have been up.

its my first watercooling adventure and its my first Lian Li. i know its an old ass lian li, but i like it and i got it for something like 9 bucks on ebay! well off to catch up up on what i am doing!

the obligatory first look, and take apart shots!

and what is happening to her. i planned to totally redo the look of her with plexi bezel plates and top panel plates. i went ahead and got all crazy and started cutting and making new bezel mounting sheet for everything. radiator up front! with turbine intake! wooo!

and the top also cut away:

mock up on how i wanted things

well, then i did a modder "no-no" i did not take pictures for the painting of the chassis and the mounting of the watercooling gear!!! oh noes!
but here are pictures anyway...

i then took opaq black 3/4" plexi and bevel cut it on my scroll saw and knocked off all edges with hours of sanding! it is turning out well!

and that is all for now! i have a few things i had questins on here...

well rock on and stay tuned...
oh this is the hardware going in it:

Asus A8N premium
AMD X2 4600+
XFX 7900 GT
2 gig DDR400

 

[UnphasedData]

Sweet! Subscribed!

 

[Dillusion]

Looks nice, that plexi is awfully thick tho- u get it that way on perpose?

 

[Hal]

Looks nice, that plexi is awfully thick tho- u get it that way on perpose?

hell yeah! i wanted it that thick so that i could bevel the sides like that. also that plexi, you cant see through. so its just like a part of the case now... gonna look sweet i hope, with gloss plexi plates on the top and front!

 

[Geo Fry]

Yay go Hal.... a side project!!

I love 'Trashed' so I have high expectations

Also I hope someone answers your watercooling questions as my next system will be watercooled for sure and have been wondering about the whole flushing situation as well

 

[Arcygenical]

What did you use to get your bevels so perfect? And where'd you get that plexi?

 

[Asian Dub Foundation]

nice work man!

 

[Hal]

What did you use to get your bevels so perfect? And where'd you get that plexi?

i used a scroll saw with the table angled at 45 degrees. then i just cut real slow. from there, i had real rough cuts, so i then took a sanding block with coarse grit and went to town! after that, i took off all the edges and corners and that is that.

 

[Arcygenical]

Did you order the acrylic online?

 

[TheBlueChanell]

That's sweet. I'm digging the thick tubing. What size is it.

 

[Hal]

That's sweet. I'm digging the thick tubing. What size is it.

its 1/2" ID with a 3/4" OD

Did you order the acrylic online?

yep... at www.delviesplastics.com

 

[cornelious0_0]

I'm definitely watching this one...my favorite part of this project is the customer front plate. I'm seriously thinking that I wanna find a way to integrate that idea into my next LiLi...as it'd let me have the radiator in front and would leave the top of the case open for case handles.

Hal, would you mind explaining (here or PM me please) how EXACTLY you went about dismantling the case to get the measurements and whatnot that you needed to make that front panel. If I could get a step by step all the way through the process I'd really appreciate it...because I really LOVE that idea...and really wanna adapt it into my next case.

 

[Hal]

just sent PMs....

oh, and the case is being filled today with the final mix and leak test again! i want to be sure with my first time!
i am popping my cherry!

 

[cornelious0_0]

just sent PMs....

oh, and the case is being filled today with the final mix and leak test again! i want to be sure with my first time!
i am popping my cherry!

Nice stuff, I can't wait for some finished pics.

 

[amd ati FO SHO]

uhm how do you open the optical drive? besides via windows

 

[CanonicalAbstract]

Cool stuff!

Maybe eventually, once I get into a house with an actual basement / workshop, I may get into doing some case modding. I have some old cases that I could hack up

 

[cornelious0_0]

uhm how do you open the optical drive? besides via windows

Well, I have seen some keyboard commands used to do it...I'm honestly not too sure on this one either though, and I probly would have left room for the full drive faceplate...ah well, I'm sure he's got it worked out.

 

[Hal]

i have a few things up my sleeve for the cdrom drive eject. i dont like software openers much, so i have a nifty thing coming up. look for it in my next update! which by the way should be soon.

i have been final leak testing and testing solutions! kick ass.

 

[cornelious0_0]

i have a few things up my sleeve for the cdrom drive eject. i dont like software openers much, so i have a nifty thing coming up. look for it in my next update! which by the way should be soon.

i have been final leak testing and testing solutions! kick ass.

Awsome to hear man...I can't wait to see it.

You've inspired me greatly for my next LiLi mod...thx a bunch, can't wait to see this come to completion.

 

[scrawnypaleguy]

That looks seriously slick dude! I love the interior paint job. Also, what kind of ram is that?

 

[Hal]

give you a little update to see where i am at now. lots of stuff going on.

so here we go! the solution i mixed. looks awesome now. but you will see later that it did not work out so well...

really nice in the tubing. sweet color and glow!

ok, after this, i have done some more to the faceplates and top panel plate.

but then after about 36 hours this is what happend to my tubes...

they turned a sort of brown uv. i dont know what happend. it was only the tubing though. if you look closely, in the res, its all a great color. its just the tubing changed. anyone have this problem before? i used that dyelite stuff that is used for radiator leaks. thanks everyone! as of now, i just ordered some more tubing and different dye from swiftech.

 

[cornelious0_0]

Nice stuff Hal...hopefully it's not too long before I can get started on a similar project...but with a couple added perks...needless to say, I'll be using a USB cdrom.

Thx for the inspiration, can't wait to see this finished.

 

[bail_w]

I highly recommands you do not use any dyes at all, not only it kills your tubing it may also causes kills your waterblocks.

 

[cornelious0_0]

I highly recommands you do not use any dyes at all, not only it kills your tubing it may also causes kills your waterblocks.

Me fail english...that's unpossible.

Just kidding bro...good points though, I typically would prefer to stay away from most dyes...wouldn't necessarily say it'd "kill" your blocks, but it reduce the efficiency of the heat transfer and leave some kind of coating/residue on the inside of the block(s).

 

[Bbq]

might be the tubing reacting with the dye.

Try some Tygon, masterkleer, or clearflex.

 

[cornelious0_0]

might be the tubing reacting with the dye.

Try some Tygon, masterkleer, or clearflex.

I've always used Clearflex, and while I've never tried any actual dyes...I would assume that higher quality tubing wouldn't just "absorb" whatever colored additives were in the water.

 

[RCars2]

Myself i dont use dyes, i use green antifreeze. It seems to be somewhat uv reactive which is nice and plus its corrosion inhibiting so it wont cause any damage to any of your blocks. As for hose damage, none that ive run into. Actually in my buddy's case he had all kinds of corrosion buildup on his hoses from using tap water. We switched him to antifreeze and then drained and replaced the antifreeze after about 2 weeks and his hoses are mostly clear again.

 

[n00btard]

i have a few things up my sleeve for the cdrom drive eject. i dont like software openers much, so i have a nifty thing coming up. look for it in my next update! which by the way should be soon.

i have been final leak testing and testing solutions! kick ass.

let me guess... pressure-sensitive pad thingy like the one Sheldog23 used for Project 13 box?

 

[Hal]

wow, presure sensitive?! wow. i wish! haha, i am KISS. that is all. a few vandal switches thats all. sorry if i dissapointed! look for an update very soon! getting back to work on this thing tonight!

woooo!

E

 

[cornelious0_0]

Very good to hear, can't wait to see some updates.

 

[Hal]

ok everyone, thanks for waiting me out and hanging in there. i have done a lot to this machine, just been going real slow with the family thing in full swing and the Army! so here is what i have been up too.

i finally found a solution that will not dye my tubbing and mess it up. i endded up using swiftecs brand stuff. lets see, i then had to make sure all the vibrations of the case with the pump and fans/rad

for the vibration problem, i decided to use MNPC techs' very own kick ass channel stuff found here and only here...http://www.mnpctech.com/UChannel.html
great stuff it is!

after getting all the bubbles out, i might add, this loop with the layout, has great flow afterall, and the bubbles get out quick! thanks to all that helped me out!
as i was saying, after getting all the bubbles out, i went to the vid card (7900GT) and added some swiftec heaksinks, and finally put the whole system underwater! went without a hitch!
i also added a 3.5" fan controller internally to controll the fron 120mm fans. looked quite nice bracketed up onto the hard drive cage.

so all is well, this badboy is up and running.

next on the list is to finish the outside with plexi/alum mix and make sure everything wires up correctly. i have been having some problems with switches for CCFLs lately. dont know, they just dont like having the switch changed. hmm. ill work it out. but not long now. working on Trashed too, just about done. look for an update on that one too in the next few hours.

thanks for watching!

 

[Granthos]

looking good i love the black and green man

 

[uzor]

Not sure how I missed this so far, but I'll stay tuned for the rest.

 

[cornelious0_0]

Very nice to see some updates Hal...good stuff, can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Hal]

new mouse for my computer!

link:

mouse

 

[eleclipper]

C:\Eleclipper\Subscribed

 

[cornelious0_0]

Very nice paintjob there Hal...congrats.

 

[Hal]

i know you have been waiting patiently, i just got done in the basement! so i had to show!
Ok, pic heavy update here for yous guys!

First off, I want to say that the pictures you are about to see may disturb you. Just kidding. But it is a work in progress so go easy on me!

There are many things that I want to either change or do now that I did a almost complete build of the computer. Its looking pretty good now, but there are some things that I don’t like.

On to the pics and explanation…

I needed a light bus that switched off and on my CCFLs, so I just found a few switches and wired them up to the lights. However, I had a problem of where to put the switches, since I hate the visible… so, I put them on the back panel. Just the simplest place.

But since I had to cut out one of the support pci slots, I ended up having to make my own double pci bracket! That is where it got fun! Don’t even ask the trouble I went though to get it right!

I also removed the paper backing for the false floor.

Oooo nice!

 

[Hal]

Next was onto the front and top panels! Got some counter sink action going on the front and then worked on the top!

Switches courtesy of Bill and www.mnpctech.com



Lets remove some of that stupid paper why don’t we! I love this acrylic, because you cant see through it. It is opaque. So its just super gloss black! Nice.

Top panel here:

Front panel

 

[Hal]

And a few mock ups… keep in mind I still have to do the cd door, font bezel and various shits. And I don’t think I like the mesh in the front there. I just does not fit. Any suggestions. Or just take it away? I a open to all! ( and yes I know its crooked, I put it up there with tape!)

Like I said, I have a lot to do yet, but I wanted to get a feel for the whole case and what I liked and did not like. I am still not satisfied with the mesh in the front. Ill figure something out instead of that. She runs really silent so that is great, so all my silencing paid off! At the end I have to completely tear down to repaint the chassis, put it back together, and then do final fitting. Not hard, because I made this case fairly modular and everything comes undone easy.



I will leave you with a parting night shot!