Welcome
Welcome to my website. This site is dedicated to busting out the science behind liquid cooling, and becoming a resource for those willing to go to extremes and mix water and electricity.
News and Updates
- This domain and website will expire on 12/26/08. My domain is expiring and I've decided to let it go. Originally I just planned to pull the plug and be done with it, but you guys have convinced me to leave it up for a while so you can save some of the work. It's all yours, feel free to distribute as you wish. I don't want any donations and I'm not interested in maintaining this site any longer. For future reviews and testing please visit Skinneelabs.com.
- 10-25-08 Been busy rebuilding my system, started writing a basic worklog here. (Updated 10-25-08)
- 9-29-08 Completed my review of the OCZ Hydroflow waterblock.
- 9-24-08 Completed my review of the Swiftech Apogee Drive 350 waterblock/pump combo.
- 9-22-08 Completed my review of the Swiftech Apogee GT CPU waterblock.
- 8-26-08 Completed my review of the new Swiftech Apogee GTZ CPU waterblock.
- 8-3-08 Finished pressure drop and thermal testing on the Swiftech MCR220 radiator.
- 7-28-08 With the recent radiator testing, I started a new page for my Radiator Estimator spreadsheets here.
- 7-26-08 Thermal testing is done on the Bonnie Heatercore radiator.
- 7-24-08 Completed the thermal testing on the XSPC RS360 radiator.
- 7-23-08 Completed the thermal testing on the XSPC RS240 radiator and the new 3.1 flow rate estimator out.
- 7-21-08 Completed the thermal testing on the XSPC RS120 radiator.
- 7-10-08 Radiator Fan Orientation and TFC Shroud Testing are in.
- 7-4-08 Completed the TFC X-Changer 480ER, radiator testing. The new King of Quiet Cooling..
- 6-29-08 Complete the Swiftech MCR320 radiator testing.
- 6-10-08 Updated the HWlabs 480GTX radiator testing to include full thermal testing also.
- 6-4-08 Finished the DDC 3.1 pump top testing here. Also updated the Flow Rate Estimator to V3.0.
- 5-23-08 I have been miserably fighting with my Evga 680i trying to get a stable OC on my new Q6600 unsuccessfully, so I've decided to upgrade my motherboard (and CPU thermal testing platform) to the DFI LP LT X48-T2R.
- 5-13-08 D-Tek Fuzion V2 full review posted.
- 5-12-08 Updated the DDC 3.2 pump top testing with both inlet and outlet pressures measured for total pressure head results.
- 5-11-08 Updated the flow rate estimator to V2.9.
- 5-5-08 Another preview, this time the XSPC Edge Acrylic CPU block review. By popular demand, I included both pressure drop and thermal testing.
- 4-27-08 Top Secret Danger Den CPX-PRO pump testing complete, check out this great new competition for the DDC/D5.
- 4-25-08 Posted some of my experimental fan testing here.
- 4-23-08 Complete pressure drop testing on the XSPC X20 Delta Chipset block as well as the XSPC Razor 3870 full coverage GPU block.
- 4-20-08 Made my first round of radiator thermal testing and have completed the Thermochill PA120.3 thermal testing here.
- 4-17-08 Pressure drop testing done on the massive HWlabs 480GTX, thermals are next.
- 4-11-08 Finished up my XSPC RS240 and the XSPC RS360 radiator pressure drop testing.
- 4-9-08 I put the Thermalright XWB-01 waterblock on the pressure drop test bench
- 3-31-08 Just got my heaters for raditor thermal testing, just need to pick out my fans and build my testbox/sensor strings and I'll be ready for a new testbed!
- 3-26-08 Pump testing of the Iwaki RD-30
- 3-23-08 Pressure drop tested the famous Thermochill PA120.3!
- 3-22-08 Released the latest flow rate estimator V 2.7 which added the XSPC block, radiator, and pump. Also included a new flow rate effects chart to help with effects scale.
- 3-17-08 Complete Pump testing for the XSPC Dual Bay Reservoir Pump just released!
- 3-15-08 Flow Rate Testing for the XSPC RS120 Radiator is complete.
- 3-9-08 Flow Rate Testing for the XSPC X2o Delta CPU V2 out!
- 2-26-08 DDC3.2 Pump Top Shootout, 10 tops go head to head.:)
- 2-22-08 Aqua Computers Double Impact PD results are up, gearing up for some pump testing this weekend...
- 2-15-08 Danger Den 8800GTX test results are up.
- 2-13-08 EK FC 88 GT/GTS flow rate testing complete.
- 1-28-2008 The Danger Den IONE pressure drop testing.
- 1-21-2008 Posted the review page for the Danger Den TDX block.
- 1-20-2008 Been busy milling on a TEC chiller block, click here for more info.
- 1-11-2008 Photos and Pressure Drop testing done on the Danger Den MC-TDX, see the review here.
- 12/23/07 AlphaCool AP1510 pump testing done.
- 1/6/2008 Just finished the Danger Den MPC-Universal Water Block review, check it out here.
Lab Toys Tools
I call them toys, because I have so much fun using them, but I've actually started to gather a few good tools for testing and fabricating my ideas.
For flow rate testing I finally landed on a King Instruments 0 - 5 GPM, 250mm scale 7520 series flowmeter. This has been an extremely pleasant addition to my testing tools. Prior to this, I was measuring flow rates using a graduate 4 gallon bucket and a stopwatch which is accurate, but very time consuming. This flowmeter with the larger 250mm scale is supposed to be accurate within 2% of full scale and I have confirmed this with some bucket tests. The 0-5 GPM seems to be just the right range, although most water cooling will never see beyond 3GPM, it's nice to capture a few points up the the 5GPM range when possible.
PRESSURE AND DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE
My next favorite tools (or was that toys?) are my Dwyer digital manometers. My first is a Dwyer Series 475 Mark III digital manometer. It measures pressure differential between two points from 0 - 200 inches of water at .5% of F.S. accuracy. This is a great range for testing pressure drop on common water cooling products although it's a little short on the maximum when testing larger pumps. I've also since acquired a second Dwyer for more heavy duty pressure testing. A Dwyer Digital Manometer Series 477 Mark V. This is the same family/brand manometer, but rather than 0-200" of water pressure, it's capable of reading 0-553" or 0-20.00 PSI which is more than enough range for any water cooling pump even dual DDCs or Iwaki pumps. I've since ran both manometers together side by side on a few tests and pleasantly suprised to see they are spot on calibrated the same. At 150" of water pressure, I get readings from both manometers within about 1" which is less than 1% so I'm very happy with the quality and accuracy of these Dwyer manometers. A good digital manometer is an excellent tool for both pressure drop testing and pump tests. The only thing better than one...is two of them!..:)DC POWER SUPPLY
I've also have a Samlex PSA-305 variable DC powersupply that is capable of producing 0 to 30 Volts at up to 5 amps and infinitely variable. This is a must have for pump testing. There are alot of pumps that can be run at voltages other than 12 volts, and a variable DC powersupply is the only way to explore those other areas and ensure testing is done at accurate voltages. Typical pump testing I can very accurately tune and monitor the voltage of a pump to within about .03V.
AC POWER SUPPLY & RADIATOR HEAT LOAD
I've also aquired an unbranded 3amp AC variable autotransformer (Variac). This will allow me similar flexibilty in a variable AC power supply which is particularly usefull for my future thermal testing. My intent with the variac is to power aquarium heaters in my test reservoir to apply varied amounts of heat load to a radiator and better understand how it performs with different loads. I can alos use it to power canister heaters for a CPU testing die I have plans for. MULTI-METERS
I have three, nothing terribly fancy but they do a reasonable job. One I hook one in series to the pump for measuring current draw in amps, and the second is parallel to monitor voltage. These meters are your basic types with current resolution to .01amps and voltage to .01V resolutions. I also have one multimeter with sound level capabilities for very rough sound level measurements.
MACHINE SHOP
I call it my machine shop, but it just my garage, my haven to fabricate and make substance of my many ideas. I have a Central
Machinery mill/lathe combo that does the job for most of my needs, it's really a fun tool and I've been slowly collecting the tooling I need for different projects. I spent a good portion of my younger years working for my father in a machine shop, so fortunately I've had a fair amount of experience already to "get back on the bike" and machine again. I also have a number of tools like a drill press, buffers, grinders, belt sanders, band saw, table saw, table router, miter saw ect. that I have collected over the years for home improvement projects. These all seem to come in handy for one thing or another in fabricating special parts or testing tools. I've also tried to make a few waterblocks with my mill and did so successfully, but I can honestly tell you it takes WAY too much time to ever be worth your while unless you really need something custom and don't mind spending all day or all weekend machining on one block, it really takes way to much time to ever become profitable. But regardless, it does provide me an invaluable tool to experiment with or fabricate that special "something" you just can't buy anywhere. You can never have TOO many tools!!I'm currently rebuilding my system, check out my worklog here....
CAMERA EQUIPMENT
Another side hobby of mine is photography. I've been shooting digital SLR's ever since 2003 and have litterally taken tens of thousands of pictures learning how to use the tool. I currently have a Canon 20D and have a good supply of prime lenses, filters, adapters, flashes, etc. I also have a small lightbox for taking small product photos. This is just another great tool in taking high quality photos. You'll notice I'm a visual person and prefer to keep most of my testing narration short and consice with a heavy dose of pictures and charted results. A pictures is worth a thousand words right?..:)
About Me and My Mission
I'm an engineer that likes to tinker, test, and more than anything...learn and understand. When I started watercooling I was completely lost and confused trying to make sense of what and how things work. Nearly a year later, I'm even more lost!! No not really, but I learn new things everyday and we're seeing great new watercooling products everyday. My mission is to tinker, learn, and share my findings. I take pride in helping other people learn and better understand our hobby.
Disclaimer
This site is intended to be a collection of educational documents only. The flow estimator spreadsheet and any other tools should be used for information and educational purposes only! The owner and author is not responsible for accuracy of the information, I provide this information to you as-is, without any guarantees. I do appreciate any and all feedback, a big part of why I do this is for my own learning experience, so if you see something you feel is in error, please let me know and I will immediately correct it.