[Case Gallery] Watercooled Enermax Galaxy 850 PSU

[AuroraUK]

To view this case mod, go here.



Specs:
Watercooled Enermax Galaxy 850 PSU

Mods:
Seated 2 lenghts of 15mm copper water pipe into modded heatsinks inside an Enermax Galaxy 850 watt PSU and connected it to my 1st loop.

Not really a case mod but still a mod, besides this is going into a nice new case that i am half way through modding :)
Nearly killed myself........ lol Below you see my much beloved and now totally trashed Enermax Galaxy 850. I recently upgraded, new CPU, more RAM, new GFX cards, more hard disks. But the extra load has made the PSU more noisy when the system is under full load and is annoying, nearly every other component in my system is water cooled so i had this bright idea of modding my PSU, water cooling it to be exact.

I opened it up, took a look in side and saw the heat sinks used to keep it cool. 2 long sinks, i thought - should be easy to run some 15mm copper pipe through them!!! So i started work, Grinding, dremmelling, sanding, and cutting a hole through the top of the heat sinks to seat the copper piping. Amazingly the heat sinks aren’t made from what you’d expect… aluminum or copper, but steel!!! not what youd expect from once what cost me near 200 squid. After a lot of hard work i finally ended up with 2 near perfect 15mm gaps in which to seat my copper piping. I used steel epoxy resin to attach the copper piping to the top of the heat sinks and left it to set overnight. Once set i fixed a 90 degree elbow compression fitting on each end of the pipe so that i can easily link the 2 pipes together with clear tubing to connect it all to my first water cooling loop.

FIRST TEST : Powered on my system, and the first thing i noticed —- NO NOISE!!! music to my ears :) my rig was perfectly silent!!! WOOHOO! However, there was no display. After what seemed hours of messing around i discovered that none of my 3 HD4870’s would display anything on either of their 2 DVI ports, I powered down and drained my system, then i came to disconnect the PSU and it was then i was shocked, yes shocked, electrocuted, and it FREAKIN HURT!!! id touched the copper piping as i had left the cover and insulation off the PSU due to testing so i could easily see leaks etc… then it dawned and my heart sank :( …. if the copper piping is live, the water passing through it would also be live, and that passes god knows how many copper water blocks. YUP, killed my 3, yes all 3, HD4870’s.
Luckily or not so luckily, all my other components survived, i tested the board, CPU, RAM with my old HD3870X2 and everything was fine. Ive since RMA’ed my 4870’s and had them replaced, lucky i know.

Im now in the process of further insulating the copper piping, i will try to remove the pipes, painting it, insulating the naked areas with something and attaching the pipe to the heatsinks with adhesive thermal tape and securing them with some Araldite. And next time i test i will test it on a less expensive rig lol got an old P3 system knocking about. I have also purchased a voltmeter too to test the water/pipe/casing properly without killing myself. Will post details of my second test soon, if im alive. Want to hear that music again :) SILENCE!!! ============== UPDATE =========== : I have sorted out the insulation problem, currently just cleaning up and just sorting out the outer-casing so it all fits together. Pictures to be added soon when completed fully :)

and yes..... im still alive, and so are my computer parts :)

[tzitzibp]

hope you have better luck next time..... (probably end up having those 4870s replaced with 4890a, lol)

BRAVO, for taking the risk! and it seems you are on to something.... It might be a good idea (if and when you eventually get it to work) NOT to show pics of it, before you get a patent for it....I am not joking! There are wc PSUs outthere, but as I said before, you might be on to something!

[t77snapshot]

9/10 for the awesome idea of modding your psu. I have never heard of a water cooled power supply. nice job!

[to6ko91]

I dont know where to vote with one for the "bright idea" of water cooling a PSU or with 10 for the laughter that you actually are brave enough to risk your life ....
No seriously dont water cool any more PSUs or you will probably do some irreversible damage to your hart with 110/220/230V passing through it ... and it is not a secret that electricity and water dont really get together that well especially high voltage
Anyway try to stay alive ....

[h3llb3nd4]

going with what to6ko91 said... and definitly try to stay alive...

[AuroraUK]

UPDATE : I have sorted out the insulation problem, currently just cleaning up and just sorting out the outer-casing so it all fits together. Pictures to be added soon when completed fully :)

and yes..... im still alive, and so are my computer parts :)

[h3llb3nd4]

I'd use old parts first...to make sure that its safe...

[hybrid1989]

Pretty cool idea....but incredibly risky.


Remember that the capacitors in that power supply will hold a charge even when the unit is turned off.....I can only imagine how bad that could turn out.

Nonetheless, cool idea.

[AuroraUK]

I have nearly finished this mod and am pleased to say that all is going well and i havent blown anything up yet lol Please visit my new site here (http://andypcdoctor.weebly.com/modding-projects.html) whilst your there please click a few adds lol :D New pics and more info added there..... Thanks all for yur comments and votes so far :)



Andy.

[Grandia]

nice, this is the 2nd DIY water cooled PSU that i've come across.
the first one done by Link with some pictures over at realredraider.com

for those that wan't watercooled PSU without the DIY, i think Koolance has them, i don't know the user rating about them though...

[HellasVagabond]

Why in the name of god would a power supply need watercooling ? Just to skip the noise ?

[Kweku]

Sparks on the idea man... Please post pictures of the done product, will likes to see it, and also post performance figures, otherwise super...

[AuroraUK]

Yes the main reason i water-cooled my PSU was to reduce the noise, its now perfectly silent. The unit was fitted with 1 x 140mm and 1 x 80mm fans, the noise they generated when the PSU/System was loaded became unbearable. It was pointless me have the rest of my system watercooled when i had so much noise coming from the PSU.

Koolance do sell water-cooled PSU's but i think they are only available in USA. and prices are about $699 US Dollars for a mighty 1700 watt unit -thats about £400/450??? too much for my shallow pockets lol

[HellasVagabond]

You could always open the casing and place more silent fans......Thats what i would do, far easier and safer.