Mineral Oil PC - WIP

[>:() - Tiki Man]

So this is a thread i decided to make for my Mineral Oil PC project; I had made an attempt at this before, but later decided to scrap the idea because of crappy acrylic work on my part coupled with frustration. However, I decided to have an other go at the Mineral Oil PC idea over this spring break; free time + money = happy modding

Anyways, as the project matures I will take plenty of pics and keep posting

Right now whats going in:
--5gal mineral oil
--asus crosshair
--some ram... (probably cannibalized from other comp)
--amd 3400 single core
--530 hiper r psu
--some hd ... (also cannibalized)
--old radeon x1500
--and no cd drive, because of space/asthetics

for fun, heres a pic of the 5gal jug of mineral oil ~70-80 (shipped) usd:
http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/3...loiljugpd8.jpg

[>:() - Tiki Man]

The whole case is going to be made of .25" acrylic; my method is to first cut out basic shapes with a jigsaw, then clean up with a finishing sander and 50/80/120grit paper, here is a pic of it during the very tedious sanding phase:

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/90/...cpanelscd5.jpg


Things are coming along nicely, and here is a pic of the radiator front panel in construction; 120mm hole saw gets the job done quickly and cleanly:

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/9...ngholeslz9.jpg

[>:() - Tiki Man]

Here is the radiator front panel with the grills and fans in, to check the holes; lookin good

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/3...ngholesdk5.jpg

This is a profile view of the radiator assembly, now complete:


And this is a close up of the back part of the radiator assembly, where i have sorta pseudo panel mount barbs going on (on the other side of that wall is going the be the mineral oil basin):

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/4...orsetupeo8.jpg

[>:() - Tiki Man]

pic being stupid, close up of rad assembly?

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/3...closeuppp1.jpg

[>:() - Tiki Man]

Now then, here is a sort of mock up of where this is going, in case you were wondering; a psu bay on the far end, a mobo bay in the center (to be filled with oil), and a rad bay on the close end (as pictured earlier). the whole thing is about 18inches long, 6inches wide, and 11inches tall from this prespective (its actually pretty small compared to a reg case, because I wanted to keep the amount of oil used to a minimum - cause it gets really heavy):

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/7...mockup2uw7.jpg

[>:() - Tiki Man]

And this is my home crafted Motherboard tray, i found some scrap acrylic and traced the holes from an old atx mobo on it, then got the correct size bolts to fit the back side of the mobo standoffs; the frosted finish was achieved by sanding with a finishing sander and 120grit:

Front:

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/484...ayfrontnn1.jpg

[>:() - Tiki Man]

The PSU pictured earlier, i modded with a 120mm clear fan, and relocated the switches, only to have it die when i tested it (it was a crappy antec 400W that came with some ancient case); so i jacked the nicer psu from an old comp, a 530 hiper r - thats the discontinued style with the big screw in "aircraft style" chrome modular cable system, and it has a mirror finish - oooo.

Anyways, since i decided against modding this psu, i had to make a little support to elevate the psu about 2.5" from the base of the case, so that the power cable could be plugged in/removed, and so that the power switch would be accessible.

This support is made out of the thinner acrylic, not sure the exact size, but its the same kind as the mobo tray. I thought it turned out pretty spiffy:

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/1...supportah0.jpg

[Alaron]

Tiki_Man, thanks for keeping everyone informed about this interesting project, but please keep the pictures to links.

[shadowpr]

Looking good so far.

I'm waiting to get some money together to try this myself.

[>:() - Tiki Man]

srry, didnt kno about the pic having to be links; i be sure to do that next time

[>:() - Tiki Man]

So, heres an update, the acrylic power supply support cured over night, and here is a pic of it doing its job gloriously (allowing room for the power cable to run under it, and allowing the switch to be ... switched):

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/1...rtcuredpz2.jpg

[>:() - Tiki Man]

well, these next pics are actually of a mod thats going on simultaneously with the mineral oil one, and this is the modification of an old coolermaster server case. Its claim to fame is a thermochill pa 120.3 radiator, but this is actually a little custom housing i made for the oh-so-popular thermaltake water temperature monitor lcd readout. enjoy!

paint just finished drying today ^_^

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/5...edpanelyq9.gif

--and me testing it on my brother's comp (just in case it shorted everything out, hahaha)

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/9831/panellitjv3.gif