The Waterbox is my nickname for an external water-cooling apparatus I created over the first half of 2004. Intending to watercool my computer so that I could overclock it further, I designed the Waterbox as an attachment to sit below my current case, which was acrylic (Plexiglas). So, in order to maintain the theme, I had to learn how to handle acrylic.
The basic components going into this project are:
- A piece of acrylic (cut into 7 sections)
- An Eheim 1250 pump
- A BlackIce Extreme Chrome radiator
- Three Y.S. Tech 120x120x38mm fans (thicker and more powerful than most 120mm fans)
- 7-12VDC, max 2800 RPM @ 125.5 CFM / 7.92W / 45.0dB
- Some acrylic adhesive
- Plenty of Plumber’s Goop
- ClearFlex tubing (which connects to a Maze4 waterblock up in the computer)
I also designed a pretty ideal layout for the Waterbox. In the back, there’s a large reservoir. The reservoir is separated by an inner partitioning wall which has two holes in it. One is the inlet for the water. The other is the outlet to the pump. It’s designed so that the pump butts right up against the partitioning wall, saving space and the complication of a short run of tubing. This also has the benefit of giving the pump as much water as it wants, since there’s no restriction ahead of it.
The pump itself, in addition to fitting into the inner wall, is attached to the bottom of the Waterbox by four rubber-insulated bolts. This is to hopefully minimize some of the vibration from the pump. To the front of the pump are two of the 120mm fans, mounted to the sides and both blowing outwards. And at the very front of the Waterbox is the radiator, with the third fan just behind it in a pull-configuration. This brings fresh air in through the radiator, providing maximum cooling to the water inside. The two side fans maintain a negative pressure which should provide a bit of extra vacuum to the intake fan. The whole configuration should change the air in the Waterbox very rapidly, and provide a bit of passive cooling to the pump as a side effect.
Water pumped by the pump goes straight up, through the top of the Waterbox and the bottom of the computer, straight to the waterblock on the CPU and back down. It then goes to the radiator to cool it, and is dumped back into the reservoir until it is needed again. It’s a simple pump -> CPU -> radiator -> reservoir -> pump configuration.
To begin building the Waterbox, I started with Plexiglas. To match the case, it’s quarter-inch, clear Plexi. I cut my sheet into the seven shapes I would need, and further marked off the cuts that would come next.
Once the necessary cuts were made, I had to use acrylic adhesive to glue the pieces together. A square and some clamps were very handy for this step. Once the sides were sturdy, I did some rough fitting of the components, to make sure everything was in order. Things were tight, but just right. Now I had to seal the reservoir. The acrylic adhesive, possibly in conjunction with imperfect edges, left that portion leaky. Very leaky. I tried silicone at first, but it was too far too rubbery, even when dry. I found a product called Plumber’s Goop, however, which performed much better. I also found that in order to run the tubing to the radiator, the fan partially got in the way. Some quick filing of the edge of the fan fixed this, though.
I set the rig up to test the seal on the reservoir every time I resealed it. I resealed it many, many times. There always seemed to be some small leak that I missed, requiring me to dry everything off and add another coat. I also cut the hole in the bottom of my case so that the two hoses could enter. Since I didn’t feel like removing all of my stuff from the case, but I knew there would be plexiglas filings all over, I used a CD spindle cover to catch all of these and easily remove them.
One of the next steps was to attach the front piece, which had the radiator/fan attached to it. This was to be the primary access to the Waterbox for cleaning and maintenance, so I toyed with a couple hinge ideas. One was a chrome piano hinge that would allow it to swing to the left or right. I decided against this, though, because it would have required more tubing to make the bend. A second option was two acrylic hinges attached to the bottom. I went with this one because it seemed to be the better choice. “Seemed” being the operative word.
The hinges presented two problems in particular: First, they were mounted on the bottom, which meant the radiator assembly swung down. However, it was large enough that the radiator hit the top of the waterbox. This meant the top wouldn’t be permanently affixed, which is probably a good idea anyway. But when opening the front, I would always have to lift the top of the waterbox so the radiator could pass it. Second, the hinges did not attach with the amount of strength I evidently needed. One in particular broke off at the adhesion point several times. I continued to try to repair it, but it would never hold well. A permanent solution to this would probably have been to put a small bolt through both sections, but I didn’t get that far.
Another unanticipated complication, albeit much more minor, was that I cut the holes for the tubing exactly to size. Or maybe even a little small. They definitely fit through, but there was enough friction on the edges that it made it hard to pull or push the tubing through. This one was solved quite easily, though, with a bit of sandpaper and some time. I gave the opening on the top of the waterbox a nice rounded edge, which made slipping hose through infinitely easier.
There ended up being four things running through the opening between the Waterbox and the computer: New water, spent water, 12VDC wiring for the fans, and the 120VAC plug for the pump. It added a decent bit of height to the computer, but man did it look good. Monolithic, even. I even made a video that pans along it with the 2001: A Space Odyssey music playing in the background. Yeah, I was feeling geeky.
Unfortunately, this is where the story draws to its tragic end. Even at this point, I had trouble with leaks, and had to take things apart to apply another coating of Plumber’s Goop. The problem with doing all of this is that, since it’s a viscous liquid, in order for it to actually fill the itty-bitty holes causing my leak, I had to orient the computer so that gravity would let it flow into them. This meant applying the Goop and then very precariously putting my computer/Waterbox on my bed, on a corner and leaning against the wall, just to get it at the right angle. It seemed pretty solid…and it was for quite some time. But after maybe 45 minutes or an hour, as I was sitting at my desk with my back turned, I heard a crash. “Oh no” is all that could run through my mind, already knowing what had happened. And I knew I didn’t want to turn around to see the result.
The case had toppled off the bed and hit the floor, apparently on a corner. The force of the shock broke the top, front, and left side panels on the computer. It also jarred the components and knocked the AGP card out of its slot, breaking the card mounting piece, too. The front of the Waterbox was torn off…at the hinges, of course. It also broke the adhesive bond on many of the panels. It was not a good day, and that marked the end of the Waterbox project. It also marked the beginning of the DiamondBox project–my next case mod with durability and strength in mind. I try to learn from my mistakes. 
All content ?2006 Tony Magri
