[Scratch Build Log] Challenge - An Abnormal Case - Growing the Acorn

[ChainedHope]

Welcome!

To preface this you should take a look at the Acorn build log here: https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/the-acorn-mitx-2-matx-evga-hadron-conversion.715/

Since then a lot has happened (gpu issues, complete failure of the water cooling loop, ssd failure, hdd failure, etc..) but I have the need for taking my machine to a convention that starts in a week. So we are going to take a shot at a very unconventional (albeit abnormal) case design to take with me to the convention as I will need it for the LAN setup we are running. I wanted to do something unique but we have a problem. I only have 2 days to finish this case before I need to leave for the Con.

Heres the plan:
We are going to make a wooden "case". I use the term case loosely as it is going to be more of an open test bench than an actual enclosure. The lack of time is going to be an issue so the build is going to be done on a zero dollar budget with things I can find at work, home, or friends houses. I am going to construct an I-beam or Z-beam out of old plywood and 2x4's to create the case and then work with it as much as possible to get it asthetically pleasing for the show as it will be running as the VR machine to run an HTC Vive at the LAN setup for people to try out. There are a few guidelines as follows

1. Needs to look decent (cant have something wierd looking surrounded by all the alienware machines that we are being sponsered)
2. $0 budget, I cannot buy anything to make it. That means tools and materials. Everything must be free.
3. I need to be able to support my watercooling setup.
4. There needs to be a way to easily move the setup as it will need to travel 100 miles there and 100 miles back in the cab of a uhaul. Which means it must be SFF.

I will be starting the build tomorrow after work and taking photos/videos along the way. Hopefully we can finish this by the time I leave on August 1st.

 

[Phuncz]

I'm looking forward to this !

 

[ChainedHope]

Figured I should give a quick design (or 2) for what I am going to be working towards.


The outer shell will be made from wood and plexi (if I can find it) with the inside motherboard tray being salvaged from an old Dell chassis. For wood we are either using some light colored wood that I have in my garage (no clue what kind) or from salvaged pallets from the workshop. Plexi I can salvage from old pc case side windows. I should be able to find a few decent size plexi sheets that I can weld together using acrylic aquarium glue (bit toxic, need to be careful with that stuff). The hard part will be finding thermal paste for the gpus. Im not sure I have enough to put both waterblocks back on the cards. I might be able to find some nonconductive paste to use at work but that is a bit iffy. No where in town sells the stuff so that might be the hardest part.

Design 1: Standard upright tower with offset rads (roughly 20.9L)
Design 2: Angled design with "back" compartment for hiding things. (roughly 22.3L)

Niether of the sizes are what I want (<20L) but they will work for the limited time I have. I can't spend too much time on case development on this time crunch.

Look forward to the next update tomorrow. Will post pics along with a small video introducing the challenge, talking about how im going about everything, and how I am cutting/modifying components.

 

[ChainedHope]

so my time window just took a turn for the worse. Just had to work 2x 16 hour shifts and now have about 10 hours before i leave. Im gonna jump in the shower and start a youtube stream of me working on it (caution: I will be smoking during the stream, its been stressful) and hopefully i will get it finished before I have to leave using only hand tools (household is asleep so I cant bust out power tools until 7am which is 8 hours form now). We are going for the most basic of basic I-Beam wooden cases since it will be the fastest method for me to do right now other than a wall mount with a removeable travel cover. (actually that doesnt sound too bad.... we will see when I get out of the shower)

Scratch that.. my internet is being bad... Look for a timelapse in the next day along with a writeup.

 

[ChainedHope]

So Im about 40% of the way done... but i cant find any standoffs but the old plug style... this is getting interesting to say the least... Never let me do a <10 Hour build again guys. My grand master plan for a case has become *How can I make a wall-mount case out of this 1 piece of wood that is the correct size* because it is late so no power tools (will wake people up) and I just dont have enough time to go through any kind of process... No pics right now but a time-lapse is being recorded. I will have some pics of the before/after/at-the-show/if-it-survived-the-ride moments at the end.


Progress:
[X] Get "Case"
[X] Get Waterblocks on CPU / GPU(s)
[X] Figure out Orientations
[ ] Mount componentes
[ ] Run Tubing
[ ] Leak Test
[ ] Benchmark

 

[ChainedHope]

Well I got things mounted but I'm not gonna have the time to run tubing and do leak testing... so it's all coming with me to the hotel lol. That also means the time lapse is going to be cut short at the installation of components. Sorry about that. I'll have the footage edited when I can. If I can manage to borrow someone's laptop while in the hotel I will finish the time lapse, but there's no guarantee... also I'm not sure you can call 25.5 inches by 6.5 inches by 9.9 inches SFF lmao. It's the smallest wall mount I've seen in a while tho.

 

[ChainedHope]

Some updates.

Bad news, I was too busy at the con to do any work on it so it didn't get finished.

Good news, I can now make the case I wanted for it. So I'm restarting the build and time limit. Also restarting the time lapse. I will go ahead and upload the time lapse of the original wall mount in the mean time. I have two days off so the 48 hours are reset to the time of this post and you will see small updates throughout today and tomorrow as well as the video time lapse for the new design. I have all of my materials and tools ($0 spent) and will be starting after I finish eating.

 

[ChainedHope]

Small update:

So I did finish the build in the time limit (actually finished it up in 5 hours and 46 minutes) but because of my pump failing Im not able to complete it. Also due to an issue with OBS and the laptop I was using to record the timelapse, I lost most of the footage. Im going to tear it down and rebuild it when I get the new pump to redo the timelapse video (with a better camera than the one used in the above video, I just happened to be on my tablet and though "I should post something")

In the video you can see what layout I went with and how everything connects. Hopefully that will tide some of you over until I get the replacement alphacool DC-LT pump.

 

[jeshikat]

That's a bummer on the pump. Hopefully you get that sorted out soon so you can get it up and running.

 

[ChainedHope]

I think this will be my last attempt at a water-cooled build for a while. I recieved my pump yesterday. Got it switched out, filled and aired out the loop. Today I was going to take photos but I noticed a leak. While trying to fix the leak I managed to crack a piece of the thin plexi between the radiators which caused the leak to turn into a waterfall.

I was going to just go back to air and use the plexi case as a test bench but now that I started putting back together the air coolers, I noticed one of the x-brace tension brackets for one of my nanos is missing a screw and a spring. This thing is so tiny I'm probably never going to find it.

Most likely going to turn 1 nano back into the reference air cooler and try to pawn/trade off the other nano somewhere with the waterblock attached, all screws and mounting hardware, but with the explicit warning that one screw is missing for that x-brace mount. Hopefully I can get something worth while for it.

Sigh

and with that this project is officially dead. Thanks to all who liked the idea of a time-limit based scratch build, but I just dont have the patience to do it again any time soon lol. (Unless I sell everything and go for that tiny 3.3L AIO Case idea... maybe)

 

[Phuncz]

Sounds awful, I've experienced something similar with my last watercooling setup so I can understand. I went to air-cooling and will not look back for a while. Join us... join usssss.