FormD T1: Unipanel & DDC Distro-plate

[eedev]

I'm "working on" / learning to design this at the moment. I wanted to share my ideas and progress.

I also want to know what you guys think?
Of course this is a work in progress, but if you already see something wrong please let me know

Current Status

Spoiler: Older designs

See you later!

 

[eedev]

I made some progress today!

Basically I added screw holes, o-ring grooves, adjusted some sizes here and there, had to redraw some parts, made the unipanel 1 piece instead of 3 pieces assembly, ...

Spoiler: Old Design

Render:

Design:

Reservoir Render (sorry we can't see much, I'll try to put a new render later) :

Reservoir Cut A:
Reservoir Cut B:

I think I need to design the threads for 3D printing a prototype, not really sure about that.
I also need to check screws lengths and where to find o-rings that matches.

See you around

 

[eedev]

Hey,

I have changed my design a little bit . I think it will be simpler using o-rings this way.

Spoiler: Old Design

I have ordered plastic prototypes because I wanted to see how it'd fit even if it's not 100% ready yet.

I saw the new prices for CNC machining online and almost cried, I don't know If I'll be able to make these to be honest...I'll keep looking.

Edit: I realize I have made a big mistake on the reservoir, the big o-ring can't be like this else the smaller part of the reservoir can't be machined.

See you

 

[eedev]

Updated first post with current status:

 

[eedev]

Hey mate!

I designed a few more things on the reservoir and I received advice / tips / requests from other enthusiasts (which makes me happy)

Today I wanted to discuss my concerns about the iteration I worked on i.e. the reservoir which is 120mm high.

As it turns out, this version won't work for people who don't have a thin, over-high radiator like mine (at least not with EK Torque fittings and 1 fan under the rad). In addition, despite the desire to add them, the filling ports that I planned would be blocked by the power supply.

So I started to work on a 104mm high version, this one allows to have any radiator in normal position. Unfortunately it does not look like anything (at least currently) and the fillport that I have planned is not very accessible.

One solution that I would like to explore could be to change the direction of the radiator to have the ports on the back of the case which could allow to have a maximum height for the reservoir (depends if you have 0, 1x15mm or 1x25mm fan underneath).

I also had an idea where I could put some ports on top of the reservoir (one part would be longer than the other and looking like a reversed L).

Tomorrow I should receive the first plastic prototype (120mm height). Since I like DIY, I have ordered a 3D printer so that I could tinker with more stuff (it should be delivered in 4 to 5 weeks).

I will keep working on iterations until I have one that I really like and that has the widest/most-common compatibility.

I'll keep you posted!

 

[NRG]

Hey dude, it’s Tysonchar. Love the concept! Admittedly I’m a little confused as to where it all goes and how it’s oriented. I’ve got a rough idea but I reckon a mock up with the chassis itself would really help to frame your mod better, similar to how I’m 3D printing mine to make it easier to interpret. Looking really good so far though, still not sure how you’re cramming all that stuff in hahaha

 

[eedev]

Hey mate!

You are right it could help! Today I took pics

Unfortunately I messed up on the front panel height so I'll have another proto. made the pictures can be confusing because of this...

Also this is the old reservoir design.

Here's the updated album!


See you later!

 

[eedev]

Hey mate!

It's been a while since I last posted here about this project, here's an updated album:


Let me know what you think about it!

 

[BaK]

Following this as I really like distro plates, nice to see how you project is coming along!

 

[eedev]

Thank you guys for the interest you have in this project!

Here's an updated album, where I fixed a few issues and recessed the external fill port (thanks Matt!).

It's the only fill port in this iteration, the other ports on the PSU side are used to route the liquid out of the reservoir, they act as an angled 90° fitting pointing to the next component for example CPU block.


To plug the distro-plate on the radiator I made mesurements and you should be able to combine fittings up to 21 mm, 21 mm are needed on this version.
I thought of EK-Quantum Torque Extender Rotary MM 14 + EK-Quantum Torque Extender Static MF 7 in my renderings.

It's not final of course, but I think I will be ready to 3D print another prototype in the next few days.

See you!

 

[oOflyeyesOo]

Following this one. What are the current size and mounting specs of the distro plate?

 

[SoSquidTaste]

Boy, just when I thought my brain had completely let go of custom loops anymore after my Aquanaut started leaking, you go and update your project like this...!

Your latest renders really help me visualize how this fits in the case. Following with great interest.

 

[ermac318]

If you are trying to get this built, @alauder made the distro plates for the Dice Flow and mine is working great. It uses a very similar concept (front of the case is a distro plate). I believe he's in the UK.

 

[eedev]

Following this one. What are the current size and mounting specs of the distro plate?

I would like to answer this but I'm currently redesigning for common compatibility with fittings, fans and radiators.
I will give you these later through blueprints!

 

[oldlee1234]

maybe you should consider the compatibility for 2 240 radiators as well

 

[Goatee]

Looks awesome.

Any thoughts on if you could integrate the HJ rad's directly into the front plate? If you positioned suitable holes you could bolt the rad directly to the front plate and avoid needing any fittings.

 

[eedev]

Looks awesome.

Any thoughts on if you could integrate the HJ rad's directly into the front plate? If you positioned suitable holes you could bolt the rad directly to the front plate and avoid needing any fittings.

Thanks mate!

Yes, I noticed you can do this with the HJ17 when I looked at /u/wispy-matt's reddit post about it.

It's the same concept bit-tech Alex used on his Aquaceras build I believe.

My thoughts are it would be awesome of course! But more on this below.

I will take advantage of your post to give updates.

maybe you should consider the compatibility for 2 240 radiators as well

So did I, and thanks for the advice! What happens is that if you have stacked HDMI or Display Ports on your GPU (eg: coming from a 2, 2.5 and more card) which most of us have, the DDC will require you to push the radiator at the back of the case. There, the fittings will be blocked by these hdmi/dp ports.

A simple solution is to rotate the radiator with the fittings at the front of the case, but even then, I will need to dig deeper in the distro-plate to put the DDC pump deeper in order to free up space.
Also, aluminium heatsinks are impossible in that configuration (stacked ports), the plastic one from EK I will make it work though (it even allows you to gain 1 millimeter or so).

I will show you a video with the old prototype so everyone understands:


There is something else.

I struggled with how you could connect the distro-plate and the top radiator, not all radiators have the ports at the same place. It means that you can not simply use fittings that extend and be done with it, you will need tubing or be lucky with couple angled fittings eventually.

To be able to use tubing you need at least 45~50 mm distance to be comfortable.

So I had to redesign the distro-plate making it shorter (about the same height as the PSU).
On the current design I also added 2mm in depth to the front panel (not certain it'll stay that way).

A few pictures to explain:


What I have been doing during the week is that I'm modeling everything I can (the case, the components) because I don't want to have to redesign the distro-plate everytime I add something new and I want to be certain either HJ17 or TX240 can be used as side radiators.

Right now I still have to model a few parts and then I will be able to focus again on the distro-plate depending on the fitment.

If you have stacked ports like I do and that you can access them to take measurements please don't hesitate as it will help me in my quest for maximum compatibility.

Now back to your initial question!

That would be awesome, and it would allow to gain some space. Can you give me the measurements on the moving parts?

But there are a few things:

• I have yet to buy that radiator (I plan to so that's OK!)
• I'm not certain it's the best idea for the project right now since I'm looking for wide compatibility here but then again I think there are only 2 radiators you can use as side radiators in that case so if we reduce to one does it even matter? Also the HJ will give better clearance for the fans etc...
• Where do I put the DDC pump then?

I will honestly think about how to do it but as I write this, I don't know how we can have both the DDC and the side rad directly mounted to the distro-plate on so little space.
But that's SFFPC for you right?

Edit: I have an idea, but it depends on the HJ rad length without it's moving parts.

I should be able to come with another update soon.

Take care

 

[ermac318]

Note that you can use dual 45 fittings to go between a plate and a radiator, and combined with a telescoping fitting (sometimes called an "SLI" fitting) you can pretty much make anything like that work:

This is going from a plate into a top rad, using a dual 45 and a Bitspower variable-length fitting.

 

[eedev]

Note that you can use dual 45 fittings to go between a plate and a radiator, and combined with a telescoping fitting (sometimes called an "SLI" fitting) you can pretty much make anything like that work:

This is going from a plate into a top rad, using a dual 45 and a Bitspower variable-length fitting.

Thanks mate, in our case the radiator is the same distance from the front panel as the distribution plate.

 

[eedev]

Hey mate!

I wanted to show you what I did during the weekend.


I redesigned the distro-plate and its mounts on the unipanel.
I think I redesigned it two or three times, major redesign then different depths.
Do you like it?

I lightly modeled the Hanjiang 240 mm - (17mm height) radiator.
It's the radiator most people with side radiators in the T1 use. I have one on the way. It's the grey radiator in the video.
With this radiator it seems there won't be a problem with video cards having stacked display ports (at least not mine).

If you have a 1 slot GPU then you can use whatever slim radiator you want (between HJ and TX240). TX240 is the black radiator in the video.

You might have noticed the front panel is bigger, it's now 10 mm + 8 mm (normal T1 is 6 mm + 8 mm).
This frees up space for the side radiator and allows me to pick standard size acrylic sheets.
Is this something that would make this mod less appealing to you?

I have also added mounting for an Aquacomputer Quadro PCB with enough clearance so that it's pins won't touch the front panel.
The place I put it might not be perfect for all radiators though...
Do you like the idea or would you prefer I did not add this?

Let me know what you think!

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Goatee, the 62mm of the DDC + HJ's 247 ~ 249 mm would fit within the 315~ mm wide between the rear panel and the outer edges of the front panel. This means that you can tie two distribution plates together at right angles (for example). This also means that you are going to need some really long screws (lol).
It also wouldn't work for people who have GPU with stacked ports.

Otherwise there is always the option of not using a DDC pump and there of course it would hold with a single distribution plate.

HJ being 17mm and the DDC cover being 21mm (plastic) (= 38mm) with my GPU block, I don't have enough clearance (36.42 at best).
It would work for people who have shorter GPU blocks like FEs though.

Edit: Nevermind that, I rebuilt today and I had like 39.3+ mm clearance! It would fit!

Maybe I'll get some more ideas about this.

--

See you soon!