Project Aqua

[bigchieftaco]

Shortcuts:
[post=32184209]Update 1[/post] - Received the first shipment of hardware
[post=32215327]Update 2[/post] - Received my acrylic
[post=32239735]Update 3[/post] - More items and assembled case
[post=32292187]Update 4[/post] - Started making rad brackets
[post=32300017]Update 5[/post] - Finished rad brackets
[post=32323945]Update 6[/post] - Mounted the brackets
[post=32347624]Update 7[/post] - Cut up the lid
[post=32348984]Update 8[/post] - Leak test part 1
[post=32374656]Update 9[/post] - PSU mounted
[post=32395675]Update 10[/post] - Leak test part 2



Hello everyone, this is going to be the start of my first custom case build from scratch, so bear with me on this one.

I am going to build an aquarium to house my computer and fish, if it all works out
I plan to use 1/4" thick acrylic. The tank is going to be 14"x14"x12". I am going to separate the fish half from the computer half. The computer half is going to be submerged in mineral oil and the fish half in water, of course

I got lucky and Directron decided to generously sponsor me on this build They put a new Intel DH67GD motherboard in the mail today! My RAM should be coming this week too. Tomorrow I am going to the local vet and picking up 5 gallons of mineral oil. I have a ton to buy yet but I know this build will take some time to complete.

Here is a quick model of what I hope to get out of it. Not the finished product.

I need to order a motherboard tray, radiator, pump, tubing, fittings, CPU, PSU, GPU, lights, and probably a bunch more I can't think of yet.

Do you guys think 1/4" acrylic will work for this idea or will I need thicker?

 

[bigchieftaco]

Here is an updated model of what I want this to look like.

A big thanks to my sponsors Directron and SuperBiiz.



And hopefully SVC soon.

 

[bigchieftaco]

Update #1

Still waiting for my acrylic to ship from ****** Ordered the 19th

I have been receiving a lot of packages in the mail lately.
But I can't do much without that acrylic.

Here are some of the items.

Mobo from Directron

Some cheap 8gb DDR3 1333

Mineral oil from the local vet

Mobo tray and 1/2" UV blue tubing

Fans and lights from SuperBiiz

 

[TheStu]

Keep the updates coming OP!

 

[bigchieftaco]

Keep the updates coming OP!

Thanks, will do!


Update #2

Hello again. My acrylic came yesterday!


I made some progress tonight! I got my acrylic yesterday and have successfully dado cut 2 of the sides and the bottom to fit the divider.

Here I marked lines and then taped one side, 5" from the front

My original plan was to use a straight router bit, but a dado cut seemed to work really well.

I eagerly assembled the pieces using some tape, I needed to see if it was the perfect fit!

Looks like I need to do a little sanding in the channeled area. The divider is a hair too long and pushes the sides outward.

Dogs thought they had to get their pictures taken too...

At this point, I am waiting for the weld-on to arrive in the mail. I will post updates when I can.

 

[bigchieftaco]

Update #3

Good Evening! I have made a good amount of progress since my last update.
As of tonight, I have welded the entire case. The welding process took some time and a few extra hands to help with clamping.

First off, I got some goodies again!

The center divider was a hair too long, so I figured I could sand enough out of the dado cuts.

About an hour into it, I finally realized I needed to do this a different way.

So my brother lent me his sander.

And then I began to sand the edges of the divider.

After a half hour it fit in place perfect.

Before I could weld anything together, I needed to get holes drilled and tapped for my fittings.

Lined up and ready to pilot drill. The end holes needed to be 7/16"

Time to tap these holes for my barbs!

One done

Both one

 

[bigchieftaco]

Time to test the welding cement.

I was shocked at how fast this stuff dried and became strong

Able to hold its weight within 45 seconds.

Now I was ready for the real deal.

My first 2 pieces.

Third piece added. I let this sit overnight.

The next day I began working on this after I got off from work. But I had a problem with my car on the way back from the hardware store, I had no brakes
After taking my tire and brake drum off, my brother noticed the brake cylinder was leaking.

Luckily he fixed me up in no time But it still put a hinder on the project for a day.

After all that, I finally was able to get the ball rolling again. I started by welding 2 more pieces to the case yesterday.

I let this sit overnight again.

Today, I got the divider in place and welded in. I plan to let that sit overnight as well.

 

[alfa147x]

Bookmarked... Looking forward to this!

 

[bigchieftaco]

Bookmarked... Looking forward to this!

Thanks! :thumbsup:

 

[aigomorla]

Love custom built jobs... hope to see more progress on this..

 

[bigchieftaco]

Love custom built jobs... hope to see more progress on this..

Thanks, me too. Looking at other peoples case mods is what inspired me. :biggrin:

Update #4

Good afternoon everyone. I have been pretty busy lately so didn't get much time to work on this project, but my brother and I made some progress last night and hope to finish part of this up tonight.

We got the Skilsaw out.

Time to make the brackets that will hold the 2 radiators, but allow them to be easily removed from the tank.
We marked the 3/16" acrylic at 1"

We cut 4 2"x1" brackets and 8 1"x1" brackets.

Cutting the notches out with a dremel.

And here is where we quit for the night.

You can expect an update tonight or tomorrow, which should clear some confusion up as how these will work.

Thanks for looking!

 

[bigchieftaco]

Update #5

After we cut out all the little brackets, it was time to assemble them.

Here is 2 sets of them being clamped.

After all were made, we needed to sand them down to make them as even as possible.

This is the finished product. They don't need to be too pretty because they wont really be seen.

 

[bigchieftaco]

Now, you may be asking, "But how are those going to work?"
Take a look at the radiator mounts.

Now look at the brackets with the mounting hardware.

Now you may be asking, "But what about the bottom brackets, they look different?"
Well, we had to make special brackets for those.

Thanks for looking!

 

[rtbluver]

Wow this will be a really cool pc case, I bookmark'd and will be following!

 

[bigchieftaco]

Wow this will be a really cool pc case, I bookmark'd and will be following!

Awesome! Thanks man.

Update #6

Evening all! Got some work done today! But first, I got a package in the mail!

Hmm, whats inside?

3 items? What could they be?

Oh, nice. A sleeving kit, 2x120 black ice pro 2 radiator, and some 120mm fans.

A big thanks to *** for all this. Thanks Richard

After all the excitement it was time to make some progress. First we had to trim the nuts that were going to hold the radiators to the case. They were a hair too thick.

For some reason, the black ice pro didn't come with the correct sized holes for the fan screws I bought. So I had to go buy a tap and tap the holes to the correct size. Here is after I tapped the holes.

After that little speed bump, my brother and I were ready to get some more progress made. Here is a mock up of how and where I wanted the radiators mounted.

 

[bigchieftaco]

After we marked where I wanted the mounts to go, it was down-hill from there. The welding didn't take long at all.

I am going to wait a day or two before I put the full weight of the radiators on the mounts, hope they hold up

I also got the inside of the fish side caulked with fish-safe silicon.

 

[bigchieftaco]

Update #7

So, I left off last having completed mounting the radiators to the rear of the tank. The last big step is to get the lid fitted for the PSU and motherboard tray.

Trip to the local hardware store to pick up a tap, jig-saw blade, and some bolts to mount the lid to the tank.

The top of the tank needed to get sanded down. The divider and a couple other pieces weren't exact size, so their edges were sticking out.

Then we marked out where I wanted the tray to be, in proportion to the lid.

I wanted the lid to mount over the end of the tray, so that's why there is an extra line

We then set up a ghetto fence for the jig-saw. Wanted the line to be straight but the fence failed me

More sanding, woo hoo. :doh:

After I got that cut out, we marked where the PSU plugin and rocker-switch will be. I had to drill a couple holes in the corner of the square to fit the jig-saw blade in.

 

[bigchieftaco]

I couldn't get a picture of the hole being cut out because I was doing the cutting, but here it is after.

Got a very nice shot of the hole being trimmed up by my brother.

And that's all she wrote!

Oh, and if you didn't notice, I got a brand new camera! Canon EOS Rebel XS. Now I can give my mom her point and shoot back :thumbsups

 

[bigchieftaco]

Update #8

Leak test! Time to perform a leak test, but only on the fish side.

Hope it holds up

 

[Bryf50]

:thumbsup: Very cool. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[bigchieftaco]

:thumbsup: Very cool. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Thanks man. Hope I don't come home to my kitchen full of water

 

[Rinaun]

Nice! Can't wait to see this finished, haven't seen it done like this since the a64 days!

 

[lehtv]

Wow so many projects going on... Nice. I want to do a project some time too ! ;D

 

[bigchieftaco]

Nice! Can't wait to see this finished, haven't seen it done like this since the a64 days!

Haha, thanks man. :thumbsup:

Wow so many projects going on... Nice. I want to do a project some time too ! ;D

Awesome! I'm glad I can inspire you. That's how I got started on this, looking at all the other mods. It made me really want to do one too.

Leak test part 1 = FAIL

I took the silicon off the fish side so I can apply some more weld-on. I hope that will fix it. Could get ugly pretty quick.

I also applied more weld-on to the computer side.

This will set me back a little because after I apply the silicon again, I have to wait 2 days before I put water in.
Guess I better get to work!

 

[bigchieftaco]

Update #9

I left off with the failed leak test, I have gone through and re-glued all the edges. I started the new leak test on Sunday night. It has been leak free for 3 days so far. If nothing shows up by Friday, I will begin the leak test on the mineral oil side.

As far as progress goes, I finally got the PSU mounted to the lid. Oh, and don't mind the nuts being used as washers. I will eventually replace those with grommets or nice looking washers.