Aluminum Cyclops Water Cooling :D

[Qdeathstar]

Hi, so at first I wasn't sure i could make my own water cooler. But after talking to McHackney and others about it i decided that what i really wanted was dual extrusion water cooling, so it made little since to invest in water cooling for an E3DV6, when what was really needed was a water-cooled cyclops. I did some research and found a nylon version i could print, but unfortunatly after i got it printed (and that was quite a hassle, nylon is difficult) i realized that the dude that designed it ended up saying it leaked after a few weeks. Bummer . I looked at his posted and saw that he made an aluminum water cooler, and while there weren't any plans, after careful inspection of how it was made i figured it out. Cross drilled water coolers have been popular since the early 2000s but this is the first i have heard about it . Luckily i do possess a drill press and a table saw. ONWARD!

[img]http://i.imgur.com/3FgmCBy.jpg[/img]

First step was to turn a big block of aluminum to a 30mm x 30 mm square. 30.14mm is close enough BTW, i was going to buy the cheap blade till i read more than one review that indicated in broke into several pieces after a few cuts.. O.O

[img]http://i.imgur.com/eoUTKOp.jpg[/img]

I saw some X-Y vices, but it seems no matter what price range i looked at (well, sub $200) all had the same reviews about it being not precise and wobbly, so opted for just some a regular vice. It worked fine...

[img]http://i.imgur.com/yJ4Feli.jpg[/img]

Got it lined up ready for the first drill bit.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/YZK0IiI.jpg[/img]

hole number two... now, for the third hole!

[img]http://i.imgur.com/XXWCOUk.jpg[/img]

I CAN SEE THE LIGHT! Thats when i knew i was on the right track....

[img]http://i.imgur.com/VCjU3Jn.jpg[/img]

I drilled some mounting holes. The first time i accidentally drilled it with the heat block turned upside down so i drilled through the cross hole Oops. I kinda got flustered so i forgot to take a lot of pictures after this point. But, i made it again!

[img]https://i.imgur.com/xpl4cVx.jpg[/img]

bumpa-da-ba, The finished result. I was able to tap the holes and it went together nicely. I used epoxy around the water-inlets and cross-drilled screw to ensure no leaks. Then, i used some thermal adhesive epoxy to join the cut-off chimera to the heat block and finished it off with some screws, because the other guy had screws. Though, from experience i think the epoxy itself would have been just fine. I used to to glue a heatsink onto my berdAir it it seems to be very strong.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/KnIUA8z.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/ZnuaRaB.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/qjtERt1.jpg[/img]


Not perfect, you can see some apprentice marks, but all in all, a fun project. Just got to figure out how to mount it


This is the link to the original idea:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1375628

It's in the comments section.

[Jimustanguitar]

Looks nice!!

I've wondered about putting some computer cooling blocks on them before...
[img]https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1iGVRLXXX ... -12706.jpg[/img]

[Qdeathstar]

Yeah, i saw that as an option too, but they are 40mm.... i didn't really like the idea of having all that extra hanging off the side.

[0110-m-p]

Watercooling my Chimera block is something that I have been thinking about for a while. I decided I would be better off just machining a completely new cooling block that accepts the E3D heat breaks and bowden tube fittings. I'll be interested to know how yours works with out any extra surface area (pillars/cooling vanes) for the water to extract heat from.

[Qdeathstar]

We will see. It took me a while to get all the different tubing I needed to go from 5/16" to 5/32" tubing, and I am still working on it as I am designing the mounting system... I'm going to have the water cooled by a radiator... I think it's gotta do better than a fan blowing 50c air around....

[Qdeathstar]

Why do you think machining a whole new block would be better? I have approximately zero knowledge regarding thermals and water cooling, but I can't imagine you'd get much more surface area exposed to the water.... I just sanded the two aluminum blockes and used thermal epoxy...

I ran water through the water block for about 10 minutes and the block was cool to the touch, but I haven't heated it up yet...

[Qdeathstar]

I'm actually more worried about the head movement messing with the tubing for the water supply, and since all the electronics are under the printer...

I'm going to try to mitigate some of the risk by putting the pump below the printer... but I'm not sure if that will matter, since it is a pump....

[0110-m-p]

Why do you think machining a whole new block would be better? I have approximately zero knowledge regarding thermals and water cooling, but I can't imagine you'd get much more surface area exposed to the water.... I just sanded the two aluminum blockes and used thermal epoxy...

I ran water through the water block for about 10 minutes and the block was cool to the touch, but I haven't heated it up yet...

It might work just fine and you are probably right that it will work better than 50C air cooling. As far as water cooling goes, the same principals apply to it as air cooling, just a different cooling medium that has a much higher specific heat capacity. Basically with all other variables the same (hot end temp, incoming water temp, water flow rate, etc) increasing the surface area is the only way to increase the rate of heat transfer.

PC water cooling components are a good example of how to increase surface area that is exposed to water. This is overkill for cooling the hot end I suspect, but the premise is the same.

[img]http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/content/ ... review.jpg[/img]

[Qdeathstar]

Yes, I agree increasing the surface area would increase efficiency, but how does milling your own block accomplish it? You can still only cross drill it?

Milling your own block would look better... but I think the tolerances for the collet and heat break and taper would require more than a drill press...

[0110-m-p]

Yes it would definitely require a mill, which luckily is something that I have. You basically have to mill fins into the path where the water flows...it is really just like doing a CPU water block for a computer except no need for such detail I don't think.

Here is the design I have been working on. My first prototype will likely be without the o-ring groove (just rtv between the two blocks) since I don't have a CNC setup yet.

[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2454/3297 ... 9763_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2032/3297 ... 738f_b.jpg[/img]

[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2188/3212 ... 1dc7_b.jpg[/img]

[Qdeathstar]

Well guys, a month and a half later it's up and running again (my printer was only down for about a week)

It really works well. The whole heat block is cool to the touch, even when heating my chamber up to 50c. I've printed for about 20 hours so far and no leaks. The prints look good (still some issues with oozing, but still working on getting those settings dialed in). I'm controlling the water pump with an SSR.

I also got read of the molex connectors and xt-60 connector and now i'm using a 8-pin circular connector that screws together. I was having issues with the thermistor connections before which resulted in "bouncy" readings. Now, its rock solid.

Here are some pics.

[img]https://s22.postimg.org/am9be2ttt/IMG_4780.jpg[/img]

[img]https://s22.postimg.org/s0y503gch/IMG_4781.jpg[/img]

[img]https://s22.postimg.org/qzxwayzcx/IMG_4783.jpg[/img]

Once i get the nimble extruders i'll finally the design and probably get the parts printed in sls nylon. Right now its ABS.