WC TT Armor Jr. with mods

[burntcircuit]

Looks great. How much actual clearance is there between the rad and the surface the case sits on? It looks pretty close. I would recommend putting some grills over it for protection.

 

Hole design for the rad was very similar to what I've done with my case, although mine is at the top of the case. The difference was I chose to remove the middle material between the fan edges, so there is only an outline of the hole thing. Nice cuts...

 

Good idea t_ski, I had some 120mm wire grilles so I put them on the rad to protect it. Here is a shot of the rad with wire grilles on it. Looks not too bad, and you don't really see this as its on the bottom of the case.

 

 

I need to find some different bolts/screws for mounting this because they hang down quite a bit which reduces the clearance between the floor and the rad. Right now its about 3/8" clearance between the rad and the floor. Probably not too great if you are on real thick carpet. Some slightly larger coasters would probably solve that.

 

Here is a shot of the clearance between the rad and the floor. It is enough for me since I am on hard floor, but it something to work out if you are on carpet.

 

[soundx98]

May want to think about some spacers or washers for the casters to raise the whole chassis up a little.

Or maybe larger diameter casters. The got the big swivelers with rubber on them as well. Spaced further from the floor the noise will be less.

[burntcircuit]

I also saw some slightly larger coasters 2 1/2" I think with the same size mount that would have worked. In hindsight that probably would have been a better way to go. A this point there is little to be gained by swapping them out, and I really want to get going on the rest of the build so I will probably leave it as is. Thanks,

[WakeUpDead]

Nice mod, am looking at an Armor and the Jr. too but may just get the JR. now seeing it up close.

 

Thanks for the photos! Gave me some great ideas!

[t_ski]

Cool. I'm looking forward to seeing your tubing runs and stuff. Keep us posted.

[Thraxz]

Nice mod, am looking at an Armor and the Jr. too but may just get the JR. now seeing it up close.

 

Thanks for the photos! Gave me some great ideas!

 

The JR has a compatibility issue with the rear 120MM fan and the Karajan module BTW.

[burntcircuit]

The JR has a compatibility issue with the rear 120MM fan and the Karajan module BTW.

 

Yes for sure the Karajan module interferes with the exhaust fan. I had to mod my fan big time with the dremel to fit. Eventually I plan to take out the Karajan module, and put in a good sound card, but you should also know the bottom PCI slot length is limited by the rad, so you have only one long PCI card slot with this design. There are a few compromizes, which I hope to have pics for just so you will know about them in advance. Good catch though Thraxz.

[cler1c]

Wondering if you wanted to put some fan filters in place in case of dust?

[t_ski]

That might be an issue. Most filter type grills that I'm aware of are pretty thick - at least 1/4". An alternative is to reverse the fans so they blow out. Of course, that has it's disadvantages as well. It depends on how much of a problem it is for you and how you want to deal with it.

[burntcircuit]

Wondering if you wanted to put some fan filters in place in case of dust?

 

This is a bit tricky since I do not want to add more depth to the rad, or restrict airflow through the rad. Not quite sure what to do here, or if this even a big issue, as their is usually a fair amount of dust that collects anyhow. Usually I just blow it out with a compress air can from time to time, but if it turns out to be a big problem I may have no choice but to fabricate a filter of some sort.

[carholmes]

Instead of fabricating a filter you could get on of these http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2634/ffi...html?tl=g36c223

I have one and they're not to thick, just a little thicker than normal fan grills. They work pretty well too, you just gotta brush off the collected dust every once in a while.

[burntcircuit]

Purolator arrived on Saturday morning, it's been a busy weekend.

 

 

Part II

 

With the rad installation out of the way, now is a good time for the rest of the mods, which require drilling a 3/4" hole for the fill-port, installing a T-Line, iCage, Pump, acc power block, and exhaust fan mod.

 

Fillport:

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Here I am drilling the hole for the fill-port. Notice the error where I started to drill the hole in the wrong location. This was easily filled with some squardron putty, and painted over to hide the imperfection.

 

 

 

Pump:

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Pump installation was next. By removing the 3.5" drive tray from the case earlier, the platform left behind provides ample room for any size pump. I simply located and drilled (2) holes for the pump with a dremel.

 

I decided to gel mount my pump by fabricating a pad from a surplus (gel) motor mount I found at a local automotive supply surplus. The gel mount ensures that vibration is not passed through the case, creating undesireable vibration or noise. Its very quiet.

 

 

 

 

More Mods:

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Since we removed the 3.5" drive tray, we need to install a TT iCage into the bottom 3 slots of the 5.25" drive bay. The iCage will hold up to three drives, which gives us a total of 4 drives, assuming a DVD/CDROM burner is installed in the other remaining bay. I removed the wire TT grille, and used in on the exhaust fan as it interferes with the door if you leave it on.

 

 

 

Now is also a good time for a few last minute mods. Since there will be more fans blowing into the case, its important to maximize the exhaust fan flow. To do this I cut away the existing cast grille, and installed a wire grille that came off the iCage.

 

 

 

I also installed a Sunbeam fan power distribution block in the back of the case to provide power for all of the fans. This required that I put new 3 pin connectors on just about everything, and make a few custom cables too. I think it was worth it as the wiring is just that much cleaner, but it takes a bit of time and some good soldering skills.

 

 

Its also a good idea to replace the chipset fan with a Evercool VC-RE chipset cooler. This is covered in the sticky.

 

GPU & RAM Cooling:

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GPU memory cooling is a must, so a set of OCZ copper memory ram coolers are in order. I fanned them (bent the fins) to increase air flow, and I think they look better this way too.

 

 

BTW watch out for the RAM cooler clearance between the tips of the heatsink, and the tubing connecting the GPU water block. There is not enough clearance with them stock without the possibility of them cutting the tubing, so a file is neccessary to cut two of them down to size and avoid a problem later.

 

Here is a before...

 

 

and after shot...

 

 

There is a possiblity I may be using some TCCD on this board, so I have also installed an active RAM cooler made from two surplus 60MM fans pulled off the heatsinks that came with my cpu's.

 

 

Loop Configuration:

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With the motherboard temporarily installed in the case I dry mounted each of the waterblocks and video card, and began fitting the T-Line. Position of the T-Line is important, since it must clear the first video card, and still be able to align with the pump intake port. A different pump configuration might make locating the T-Line a bit easier.

 

Initially I washed everything in water/vinegar, and then performed a final flush with distilled water drawn from a large bottle. The waste flows out of the rad and into another bottle on the floor to make sure the loop is clean. With that out of the way I emptied the loop, made final connections and filled with a UV coolant mix.

 

 

 

Finally here is what the loop looks like with everything assembled. I hope to install some lighting, and take some pictures of the finished project and post them here as well.

 

 

To wrap things up here are a few things worth mentioning for others who might be looking at a similar project.

 

Thermaltake Armor Jr. WC Project

 

Pros:

- Mid tower compact size

- Very good for single 120.1 rad WC system

- flexable drive and bay configuration

- Great looks with and without window

- Fairly roomy for a mid tower design

 

Cons:

- Karajan module compatibility problem

- Limited first PCI slot length if rad is mounted in floor

- Clearance between rad and the floor

- Dust from rad fans pulling air from the floor

 

Future:

- Try mounting a 120.2 rad in the top of the case

 

BTW, keep those tips/suggestions comming. I am still working on a dust filter, and a better solution to the KarJan problem. Next is to put a chip under the block, and see what happens!