Water Cooling in a Small Case, where to put a reservoir?

[SmallerRidley]

Hi, I foolishly decided to put a water loop in a Cougar QBX, but everything seems to be doing just fine there for temperatures with a 240mm radiator. The only problem is I don't have any space to put a reservoir.

Here are some pictures of the case to give you an idea of the problem, and I can get more if needed.

The only possible spot I can think of would be the bottom near the front where one of the intake fans currently sits:

But that fan sits under the half of the radiator that has the power supply in front of it, so taking it out means that the fan on the radiator has a lot less air to push through.

Album I'll be putting other pictures into:
http://imgur.com/a/OWM31

 

[Deleted member 1560910]

thats a great question thats too tight bro

 

[rubix_1011]

Do you need a reservoir? Technically you don't if the loop is filled and you don't have any problems with leaks. Otherwise, there are some 5.25" bay res options as well as some small micro res's that you can mount.

Looks like there is enough room in the space above the CPU block next to the PSU?

 

[Deleted member 1560910]

I guess thats up to you and if you have room. If you have a closed loop cooler like a v2 100i corsair than no consult your manufacturer

 

[SmallerRidley]

Do you need a reservoir? Technically you don't if the loop is filled and you don't have any problems with leaks. Otherwise, there are some 5.25" bay res options as well as some small micro res's that you can mount.

Looks like there is enough room in the space above the CPU block next to the PSU?

I technically don't need one, since as you said it is running okay. My only concerns are that there are definitely air bubbles in there somewhere because they do go through the pump on occasion, and flushing/filling the loop is a pain without a permanent reservoir (I have one that doesn't fit inside).

As for spaces, there's no 5.25" bay. There's a slim-bay for a laptop CD drive at the front, which is currently occupied. Also, the space directly over the mobo is taken by a fan blowing down into the case.

I have about 1.5" of depth on the right, where the tube and the cable are currently running, but I don't know if anyone makes anything that short.
At the bottom, I might be able to move the pump up a bit and squeeze something underneath the pump.

 

[rubix_1011]

You could mount a small res externally and run tubing out the back, that would be a simple solution. Otherwise, yeah, you have a pretty small case there. I have a full loop setup in a Corsair 250D and I thought that was a small build. (link below)

 

[Mikel_4]

Try Swiftech MCRES Micro reservoir you can do 3D paper origami base on it size (print the scale from Swiftech website)

 

[SmallerRidley]

Unfortunately not even that will fit. On top, the clearance is a little less than 1.5" and there are metal tabs in the way that make it even less. Down below, it's too wide to fit between the fan and the pump regardless of where I move the pump on its mounting area.

However, I might be able to move the pump up enough to get something more rounded between the pump, the bottom, and the fan.

Now there's about 1.25" below the pump, but I should be able to move up about 1/2" or so, which leaves space for about 1.75"x2.5"x5" of something. The side of the pump is about 1" from the side of the fan (and the outlet is on that side). Basically, I can get something about 1.75" diameter in there (sort of) easily. Most of what I've seen starts around 2"-2.5", which probably means I'm SOL regardless.

 

[Mikel_4]

Did you make the origami?

So are these out of question
- external blue ray?
- expensive single bay 5.2" reservoir D5 pump combo with fill/drain port?
- GPU water block?
- Rigid tube: PETG+bending kit or brass/borosillicate glass pipe + angled adapter?

 

[SmallerRidley]

Yes, I used that to confirm that it doesn't fit anywhere.

The case doesn't have a 5.25" bay, so that's out of the question.

Maybe a pump/reservoir combo would work because it would replace the pump, but there isn't a specific place to mount it without drilling holes. Right now the pump is screwed onto some of the front vent holes where a fan would go.

I'd rather not do anything external, because this case moves around a fair bit.

And I'm sure a GPU waterblock would be fine; I'd just have to reroute some tubes, but I don't plan on doing that anytime soon (the 1060 doesn't need it). If I did do a GPU block, I might be able to fit the Swiftech reservoir but I'd have to go measure it again.

 

[Mikel_4]

Yes, I used that to confirm that it doesn't fit anywhere.

The case doesn't have a 5.25" bay, so that's out of the question.

Maybe a pump/reservoir combo would work because it would replace the pump, but there isn't a specific place to mount it without drilling holes. Right now the pump is screwed onto some of the front vent holes where a fan would go.

I'd rather not do anything external, because this case moves around a fair bit.

And I'm sure a GPU waterblock would be fine; I'd just have to reroute some tubes, but I don't plan on doing that anytime soon (the 1060 doesn't need it). If I did do a GPU block, I might be able to fit the Swiftech reservoir but I'd have to go measure it again.

Forgot to tell, if you use GPU full cover water block then you'll have space below the graphic card

 

[n0ns3ns3]

Well. You don't really need reservoir.
Most alphacool rads have double sided ports. so you can use one of them as fill port.
Here is my "work in progress" mini ITX build https://goo.gl/photos/PmmwA8Fh41cRAWHc6
I'm going to ditch the res and put on top alphacool ST30 XFlow rad. Will need to make a small hole on the top of the case to have an access to the rad ports and use one of them (the one on the front would be safer since nothing important below it) as fill/bleeding port.

 

[SmallerRidley]

Well. You don't really need reservoir.
Most alphacool rads have double sided ports. so you can use one of them as fill port.
Here is my "work in progress" mini ITX build https://goo.gl/photos/PmmwA8Fh41cRAWHc6
I'm going to ditch the res and put on top alphacool ST30 XFlow rad. Will need to make a small hole on the top of the case to have an access to the rad ports and use one of them (the one on the front would be safer since nothing important below it) as fill/bleeding port.

Unfortunately, the Alphacool radiator I have doesn't have more than 2 ports. However, after looking at it a bit harder for the past couple of days, I might try switching the in/out on the radiator (so that the line going into the pump comes from the lower point) and add in a tee with a short length of tubing that I can cap as a fill/bleed line and situate that near the top of the case. That way I can keep the flexibility the loop components currently have and make it much easier to deal with bubbles.

As for the GPU block, I'm guessing a bit but it seems like the clearance would still only be about 1.75" under the card without the current cooler.

 

[rubix_1011]

Well. You don't really need reservoir.
Most alphacool rads have double sided ports. so you can use one of them as fill port.
Here is my "work in progress" mini ITX build https://goo.gl/photos/PmmwA8Fh41cRAWHc6
I'm going to ditch the res and put on top alphacool ST30 XFlow rad. Will need to make a small hole on the top of the case to have an access to the rad ports and use one of them (the one on the front would be safer since nothing important below it) as fill/bleeding port.

What case did you cram all that in?

 

[n0ns3ns3]

Unfortunately, the Alphacool radiator I have doesn't have more than 2 ports. However, after looking at it a bit harder for the past couple of days, I might try switching the in/out on the radiator (so that the line going into the pump comes from the lower point) and add in a tee with a short length of tubing that I can cap as a fill/bleed line and situate that near the top of the case. That way I can keep the flexibility the loop components currently have and make it much easier to deal with bubbles.

As for the GPU block, I'm guessing a bit but it seems like the clearance would still only be about 1.75" under the card without the current cooler.

Sounds like a plan

 

[n0ns3ns3]

What case did you cram all that in?

The one in signature - Fractal's Define Nano S 😉
And it contains "all" that list from the signature.
https://goo.gl/photos/VhYqcZttxnyy2e5V9
When the project will be completed (rads and tubing), I'll make a post (may be with video) similar to the one you did of the whole adventure of going form ATX tower (https://goo.gl/photos/FZwJc28tn6uocoeS6) to mini ITX without sacrificing performance, thermals and acoustics. The last two were actually significantly improved.
The job would be somewhat easier if i was using full cover block for the GPU. But I insist on using the "universal" solution i came up with some time ago and started using on GTX 570 and now happily running on GTX 1070 - https://goo.gl/photos/5HuFcdQEL5BP8eNz9

 

[rubix_1011]

Nice, doesn't look nearly as cramped as I thought, honestly. Lot more room than inside my Corsair 250D.

 

[n0ns3ns3]

the funny thing is that define nano is actually smaller. 26.8 liters of nano vs 28 litters of 250D.