Clevo W110ER Custom copper machined coolers

As Prima said, get the replacement cooler produced and out to interested parties for $40 before you get to far into the liquid cooling end of things. Having one successful mod produced and shipped to people will increase the trust and willingness of people to back you for something much more extreme.

 

PLZ, just focus on making copper coolers... Watercooling is so.... HEAVY, EXPENSIVE, and even dangerous on a laptop that goes with me into the motorcycle and take lot of vibrations and if it starts leaking = bye bye laptop


ps: If you focus on the watercooling, we will probably only have a cooler for the next millennium. So please focus on the coolers first :thumbsup:
Keep Cool

 

True True,

Well just over 1 month in to this wild idea turned project, may sound like alot of time, but between working full time that's only really given me 8 days, and I have a house to keep - shopping to be done etc + friends and family to see. so in my 8 days mainly busying doing other things, I've started this project, designed several blocks, spent over a £1000 on machinery and electronics, designed the CNC conversion controls and hardware and will start making the CNC adaptors and equipment tonight as well as hunting the free ads for a cheap PC setup - I've also bought a Shed to house this machine as it's out growing its corner in the garage!

I'm waiting on some motor couplings and bearings from china (should be here within 2 weeks)
The electronics and motors I bought from the states have been shipped without my motor cables - so i can't plug this thing in when it's built - more delays!
I need an ancient desktop PC to turn in to a Linux CNC suite
I need to arrange the cooler block layout to fit the aluminium stock size I have and convert the arranged 3d models in to G code to drive the CNC

I'm going to be busy - I have 2 projects on the go here, the biggest one being building this CNC mill and associated controls etc. once I've got it going, making these chipset coolers will be the easy part once the cutting procedure is worked out.

I have managed to get my hands on enough copper to do a few blocks - but I won't be doing them till the aluminium ones are being produced without error - I can't afford to damage copper stock, it's cost me a fortune for a little tiny bit - and it's not even the correct grade for cutting (its C110 - better grade, brighter & better colour but harder to machine)

I know you guys are getting twitchy - this project IS happening and I am making progress at a reasonable rate - the CNC conversion is the setback, but without taking 5 hours to make one block by hand, this is the only way forward - it will still take about 8 hours to make 5 - hopefully 10 blocks!

 

You know what? I just looked on my desk and still have that mobo sitting here, in bubble wrap, ready to send. You still want it? If I can remember I will send it.

 

If you could mate that would be great, It would be really usefull to allow me to measure the profile of the chips in relation to thier mounting holes etc. and if I get a 3d scanner I can just slot it and scan it (or pay someone else who does have one) do you want cash to cover postage?

 

No need for the cash, just one of those things that keeps slipping my mind, and have to find the time to get to the post office to mail it. Seems like a little thing, but getting 30 minutes out of my day during post office hours is difficult. But it will get done!

 

Thats great, and i fully sympothise - finding 30minutes out of any part of my day is tough! i have a few extra holidays i need to take in the next few months so once the machine is up (or nearly up) and running ill take a few days off work and blast 5 or 10 blocks out!

 

You would think the post office would have one day a week where they open outside of working hours so that busy people could post....

 

They're open Saturdays from like 9am to 1pm, but it's a madhouse then because most people that work M-F 8-5 go then.

 

yeah it's the same here - There are certain things that should clearly operate on a "working persons" friendly time scale as they serve generally only working people - I could go on about this for days ................... it like my estate agents who only operate mon-fri 9-5 and insist on calling me between those hours- I could end up going WAY off topic here.........................

 

Hey man, i dont have a w110er but i do have a p150em and this solution would be awesome. I see you need an older desktop to run linux for your cnc on and i have a couple older desktops that i dont use lying around. If you want one just pm me. Im not using them for anything at all so if you want them you can have them!

Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

 

I can give the P150EM a go once I've got this machine built and the W110ER sorted! - just need to "borrow" one or meet up with someone to measure it all up!

I'm sorted for a PC - got one with XP installed, and I'll dual boot linux so I can run a few software packages, I've just picked it up today from 5 minutes drive away from where I work, cost me £15 for an old 2.53ghz celeronD with a 15" LCD + keyboard & mouse - did I just get a bargain or what! :thumbsup:

I then took a chisel and hacksaw to it, smashed the F*%£ out it for a bit to remove various internal brackets and supports for things I don't need then removed the CDRW cut the bottom out of the drive bay and mounted a 10amp, 48 volt PSU and well - here we are now... It's a low profile case - not exactly what I wanted as I wanted to make this an all in one CNC software + driver + motor psu etc however this seems to have just squeezed in (although the 48v PSU rests on the RAM and is so long I had to chop a bit off the CPU cooler lol..... will make a support bracket to take the load and the CPU runs at almost ambient anyway as it really needs a fan controller to slow it down.

The front bezel removed, the front of the case hinges forward to allow access to the (40gb) HDD


The PSU folded in, and bezel + lid on the case, the G540 driver that's on top will be mounted in the side at the back where the air vents are. - Need a cream plastic 5.25" blank to tidy that front hole up - should have one somewhere

 

Nice work. But those 15£ might become expensive . If the components start to die, you are screwed, and they even cost more than modern hardware, at least where I live. But I know you would be smart and buy used components .

Keep Up with the good Work, forget your social life and make us a cooler before the year end, or next year there won't be anyone to tell the story (2012 = END:hi2::tongue .

ps: Of course I'm joking about the social life...
Keep Cool

 

lol - Seriously hope I can get these going before xmas I will be really disappointed if they're not getting done soon - especially since I'll have some time off.

The CPU block will be ready before the chipset block - just the way the cookie crumbles - It's a much easier design to program in to the CNC since it's effectively just a flat profile cut from my Aluminium extrusion (arrived today) - it's very very nice, great surface finish - better than expected - it's in the boot of my car I could cut one out by hand for myself - but I'll behave and get the CNC done and make these first as they're a nice easy one to test the rig on.

Also decided to design and manufacture my own touch probe to 3d scan stuff - the controller and software I'm looking at supports it - but I don't have the staggering $1000 - $2500 to buy a Renishaw branded off the shelf unit. I think I can make one within a few days and about £20 in materials ...... I'm in the wrong job here I swear............


Update summary.

Mill up and running again new X axis screw and new block (did I say that already)
All parts bar motor cables arrived todays
worked started on 1 of 2 axis motor mounts
Z axis mount yet to be designed/built
CNC controller needs mounting in case
CNC software needs setting up and testing
loads to do.... when I think about it - it's allot of work to squeeze in around the day job but it's all starting to come together - I see the light at the end of the tunnel!

new PC's are generally no good, they tend to slip in to power saving states and can pulse signals in packets rather than streaming them, and CNC gcode needs to be streamed live to the controller which passes it on to the motor and mill, pulsing it, will pulse the motor's - its bad news - best to stick with old hardware - usually the speed of the motor is limited by the amount of data that can be sent down the parallel port

 

Had a bit of time off after binning my 350z thorough a hedge and ditch and in to a field (its a write off...) back on track now, minus my beloved car....... and following a large insurance payout.............. :thumbsup:

- I'm getting stock prep'ed and gcodes written to put the W110ER copper and aluminium pch chipset block in to production - bought £120's worth of the wrong stock ---ooops.... supprising how much difference 1mm makes lol...

The aluminium CPU surround block will also be done about the same time

I've also worked on some pretty impressive software that will allow me to design custom size/shape coolers for anyone within mere minutes to keep the design cost's down for 1 off production (we're looking at cheaper than buying a mass produced chipset cooler),

whatever you want, full cover block for a desktop motherboard or graphics card to accompany liquid/phase cooling or whatever backplate for a gpu/mobo skys the limit ?

so basically - I'm having loads of fun, really pleased with things so far!!......... I've got a 3d scanner on its way to me too! - had it hand made in Germany, so I can scan things and with this software & I can simply apply that profile to a piece of stock and that's it - machine it (my KFA GTX 570 is getting a back plate, and a top plate to fit under the cooler, its going to be sweet!

 

very interesting by your project Like Prema , i want one when they'll be avalaible.

I think a watercooling in this laptop is impossible , just by the fact of the pump , which have to be placed in the 2,5" location.

For me , the best solution is :
- large copper bloc drilled for the cpu
- copper bloc for the gpu (complicated)
- large copper bloc drilled for the chipset

aluminium plate for remplacement of the original back plate whith some vents located in front of the new cpu/gpu and chipset blocs.

Used with a notebook cooler , it could be a very good solution , not so complicated and with , in my opinion , a good imrovement of T°.

Putting a little fan (like a blower) to push some air on the cpu bloc and gpu block would be a very good solution. Maybe just above an SSD disassembled...

 

Grichka59,

Water-cooling, definitely not impossible! however getting a bigger radiator attached to the heatpipe/liquid loop IS a problem, the most obvious way to improve it is to re-design it, to a different price. Everything is engineered to be both affordable and effective, but as often seen in other manufactures, the affordable seems to overrule the effective! (and it's their profit margins that increase and not our "pocket" margins!)

I've been playing with a few ideas and designs for a quad heat pipe cpu/gpu cooler that will use a very different heat exchanger set up. the same heat exchanger design will be used for the liquid cooling loop, if the project ever gets off the ground!

I've had a HDD failure on the CNC machine last night, I had hoped to have the CPU covers out this weekend (I ran the mill up on monday for a test run and all was well, went to prepare some alloy stock for machine last night but no luck it wouldnt boot then the dreaded message, Primary HDD failure, all I can get from the HDD is a constant knocking and clicking sound!,

new HDD, new operating system, reinstall all the control software and reconfigure the software to the control box, and setup the software to the milling machine configuration I have - thats my weekend very busy!

- in hindsight I should have replaced the HDD for a brand new one. of all the components to buy second hand that is the only one that I shouldn't have trusted! and I should have known better, I was just busy trying to push this project forward I didnt want the hassle of spending money and re-installing - foolish mistakes..... someone even said on this post that I should buy new hardware (problem being I need an old lpt port that runs on 5v, not the new 3.3v)

** Evening update.....
Decided to press on prepping some alu stock using the manual wind on the end of the stepper motors - smashed the "sacrificial" gear on the motor, it's there to prevent gear box damage, if I'd known there was a sacrificial gear I'd have bought spares when I bought the mill!!............ they're out of stock...... what a carry on.....

 

Hi
I am also very interested by this project, if i can pre order one of those, please let me know.

 

Hi,

Thanks for the interest consider yourself on the list!, the project is currently in the absolute final stage (and I've been running a rough PCH prototype for a couple of months now, with very pleasing results), I could have this completed and in production within probably 8-12 hours - I'm going to be absolutely flat out with work for at least the next week, this little project has really not moved much for a while as I've been putting the pieces in place to enable this project and future projects to go forward. The CPU cover will be done first as it's simple and will allow me to get software familiar before attempting to CNC the PCH block which can't be cut from the profile I've bought so it will be CNC'd from billet.

Had a major error on the CNC yesterday, it was cutting a simple forward backward cut on the Y axis, dropping the cutter 0.25mm each pass and suddenly it sent the signal to the X axis instead (which was locked) causing some screaming and grinding noises noises and a panicked thrashing of the emergency stop button - seriously hope that doesn't happen again and I hope it was an operator error rather than an electrical/signal issue!

I've been experimenting with bonding a 1.5mm copper plate to the bottom of Alu the profile I purchased to aid heat transfer but the results aren't clean enough, I need a jig and a pyro sensor - it's another project in it own right.........

Soon folks, sorry its been so long already......... =*(

 

I'm interested! Keep me posted. This will be a good upgrade as the original chipset coolers are quite terrible!
Good work on attempting this. Let me know if this project is a go and how much it will set me back!

 

Thank you,could you explain how the CPU cover will work and how to install it ? I wish you the best for this nice project.

http://img211.imageshack.us/i/w110ercpucoolerblock.png/

 

The idea I believe is a plate that sits on top of the cpu and is secured with the same screws and it adds to the surface area and helps cool it.

 

I feel so ashamed. It wasn't until I saw this thread that again I realized I never sent that mainboard. Shame on me. So sorry Calibre41. It will go back to top of my "must do at lunch break" list.

 

Definitely keep us in the loop, I actually worry about the PCH chip which seems to love hanging around 80 degrees

 

Hi ! Great project you have here !

Im definitely interested by any improvement youll be able to make in cooling, especially with CPU / chipset.
Do you have any calendar / dates ?

Anyway, you can add me on the list

 

Looks like a cool idea. I know xoticpc has a copper upgrade. Do they do stuff like this? Anyone here with any experience with that service.

 

that xoticpc copper upgrade consists of little copper heatsinks that they add to the existing CPU/GPU heatsinks i believe

Spoiler

 

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking it was more elaborate. But I've heard it decreases temps by 2-5 C, so it is something to think about.

 

This problem is now solved I think/hope, -not a signal error to the X, just a simple jam, it was the way it was cutting back and forth on the y axis, and feeding in the Z over the length of the cut rather than dropping the Z, then feeding the Y, effectively doubling the cut at the extremities and jamming the machine - a simple error when writing the Gcode.......... this is the sort of stuff I'm learning as I go along......

- yes spot on, I will if people are feeling brave (and have the skills to some serious soldering) do a version that can replace the existing heat spreader, but it will have to be machined from a single lump of copper, and that alone will cost a small fortune - probably double the price of the aluminium version at best - so special order only really - replacement coolers are around £15 from PCSpecialist.............

:thumbsup: that would be great buddy!
- I was going to say don't worry about it, I'll scan mine - but the scanner I've got may require a very firm push before it registers a point, I suspect it would draw blood if I put my finger under it (as I requested a pointed tip over a 3mm ball for greater accuracy, not realizing it needed so much force to register contact - its for measuring hard things like marble, glass and steel - and even then it has a scratch warning --- whoops) - so I'm not willing to put my PCB under it LOL..... I have a design for a much better - gentle one but that's another project

- mine used to go over 90 degrees when playing BF3 on my knee with throttle stop....... I really worried about it.

I need to stop waffling on here and get some software progress made ta taa for now............

 

Software sorted, gcode written, 1st cut - failed but dam I'm happy with myself anyway!! I'll tweak the code tonight and hopefully I'll have time for another attempt tonight, I've lowered the table feed 30% and hopefully it won't lock up and destroy itself this time. - same issue I had previously btw..... Same axis jamming, I can reduce the cut depth per round a little bit too, this should ease the stress.

I'm so pleased with myself right now, I can't wait to get this finished!! :thumbsup:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/j4bzy4wingpxku0/Video 03-03-2013 16 08 31.mov

If this link works, you can get a sneak peak of the CNC I've built in action - just before it destroyed the piece

 

Seems nice ! But, do you know why it destroyed the piece ?

 

yes, its a combination of various things but ultimately the connector between the motor and the shaft is slipping.


A few things I can do to solve/improve my machine

-the Gib strips (these tighten/adjust the cross tables) are steel, this is binding on the cast iron and adding to the trouble - I am in the process of making Brass strips, this will give a tighter more accurate cut, while at the same time reducing friction (win - win scenario)

the coupling has no key to either the motor or the table shaft - allowing to spin under heavy load - this key (similar to a woodruff key or simple grub screw) could be added to the coupling as both shafts have either flats or slots for keys, but it's not an easy job - I would like to do this eventually anyway.

-I'm working on a less stressful cut procedure now - I'll hopefully start running it in an hour or so.

 

Job done!



I've picked up a few little area's that can be improved on, and I need to widen the holes for the screws to go through tomorrow but essentially, we've got my first (fully automated CNC'd) cooler.



The finish is a little "rough" around the edges, but hey - I did just make this in my myself

I'll invest in some tools to debur the edges, as its took me an hour or so of removing aluminium swarf from all the fins to make it presentable, and I couldn't remove it from around the mounting holes.

I'm happy with it considering its a first run, - it is a little big though, it will really take up every last millimeter by the looks of it!

I'll finalize and assemble it tomorrow and upload some more photos

 

Wonderful ! Quite good looking for an "home made" heatsink xD

 

hmmmm,

version 2 is worse, I re-measured using a different measuring technique and started from scratch - its not as good, and I used a slightly different finishing method when cutting- again not as good - it has a rough surface finish, maybe the cutting tool is not sharp anymore...... I'll buy some more (£5 each...... I hope they achieve more than one block in the future......)

Version 3 should be done by Thursday, I was hoping for more progress tonight.......

the gib strips where playing up, I need to get the brass ones made and finished and installed, and the motors are running to hot, I need to fit some resistors to reduce the amp's per motor down to 3.3 from 3.5 which will allow them to go into standby mode and help keep them cool - and naturally when I have some time - I'll make some heat-sinks for them - I have couple of useless heatsinks right here I can cut up for spares lol.....

Hopeful things will be running smoothly soon.

Thanks for staying tuned and thanks for all the likes/comments - its is very much appreciated :thumbsup:

- bed time for me

 

Thanks for the update !
It's like alphas and betas versions... I'm sure you'll see some improvements in the days to come

One step backward, two steps forward haha

 

gcode version 9, in my hand - i'm going out to the shed - see you on the other side..............................

I might not get it cut tonight - I should really stop playing and give the machine some TLC - inc brass gibs and 3k3 resistors........

 

Hey !

Have you been through as expected ?

 

Sadly, no progress has been made, I was supposed to be moving house this week, but due to complications I'm now moving in 3 weeks, so my life is in boxes! I might have time to try another cut tomorrow, although I need to start thinking about taking the machine down and packing up the remaining tools ready for the house move

 

Its been nice having some time off this project as I've been busy but 3k3 resistors fitted, no brass gibs (this is much harder than expected) but I have a nice working example, it needs a little adjustment, a slightly longer and wider slot, and I'm not sure the holes will work to mount it as it might put to much pressure on the CPU, I can make them thinner but they might break, I'm not sure. Looks good, it's a bit rough around the edges, the picture you see is unfinished, it has 2 slots cut in it for latches that close the lid, and a lowered section to accompany the line that is in the bottom cover.

I'm moving house in 2 weeks so I need to take the machine to pieces and move it, I'm hoping to make 5 or 10 before then so I've got a few to sell =)

 

Looks like a great job, including the chipset and GPU's heatspreaders !

Do you plan to make seriouse improvement / modifications after you've sold your first units ?

Anyway, I can't wait to have some temps and charts

 

This is just the first fit version, now I've got the layout and tolerances correct I'll work I the design.

Last night I reduced the profile height 1.6mm, and reduced height by 2.4mm and width by 1.2 from the right, the heat pipe slot has been increased from 8mm to 10mm and lengthened, and the profile now has minimum 3mm radius on all corners - most of these tolerances are to allow fitting in other people's cases who b might be slightly different to mine. Tonight I'm adding a couple of cut outs to prevent interference with the bottom cover and its profiles and I'll hopefully get another one cut tonight.

The chipset block is a hand made one, it took 8+ hours to make - and it's not completely right - the air gap to fin ratio is completely wrong although it still offers a 10.C difference. Consider is pre-alpha =)

I have an undesirable 0.1 to 0.2 mm backlash I the table that is causing me issues with my surface finish and "grabbing/bending" the work piece every now and then - which destroys the piece I need to make my own leadscrew nuts before I make anything more precise like the chipset block!

I'm moving house and must disassemble the machine in about a week, but hopefully I'll get a few made for you guys to play with =)

 

Et Voila!







It went rather well - I think my CNC skills are starting to improve :thumbsup:

This one was cut in a slightly more complex single setup 3 stage process, and I think the final piece will be cut in a 4 stage dual setup (which will take longer, but have a nicer finish) but anyway its basically taking 1.5 hours to make one block - not bad really, I can improve with time I'm sure and maybe do 2 at once and bring it down to 1 hour.

Some very minor adjustments can be made from here, and on observation (watching the code being processed line by line) & once finalized, I can edit the gcode and remove some lines to reduce the number of pointless "air cutting" as the software's not as clever as I hoped and removes material, that it has already removed......

The slot for the heat pipe is longer, its not as attractive but upon observation a friends W110 had a slightly longer heatpipe (just how it was crimped and sealed) so I have to make room for some differences. similarly the slot is wider - again some variations in position where seen, I hope this is enough to allow for that - but not enough to be ugly.

the profile is an absolute perfect match with the plastic around the 2.5" slot, and the side nearest the fan has been lowered to the exact same level as the screws, as there is a line on the case bottom cover, and this line actually rests on the screws of the cpu block, giving the case a more solid/ridgid feel.

I'm really happy, question is - what's 1.5 hours of my time worth - and does it give good value to the product- suggestions welcome =)


- for those wanting a better look at my hand made chip-set block heres a pic, but remember the air gap is to thin, and the fins are too fat! they need 0.5mm removing from each fin minimum - so if the finished product does look similar it will have a less bulky appearance (two of the fins are about right, but an error left all the others fat!):

 

So... How close are you to selling these?

I'd be VERY interested in both a big CPU heatsink and the bigger NB heatsink, both in copper

 

+1 j0ger !

 

The CPU block is ready (in Aluminium only) although I can't start making them till mid next week at the earliest. I'm looking for £17.50 for the CPU block plus postage (this postage might be expensive outside the UK sorry!) although this price may change, as after tool life and material cost's are accounted for, I'm left with a very poor hourly rate for my efforts!!, I will be trying to improve the speed and efficiency so I have a more rewarding amount of money for my time at the end of my day

I am unsure how popular these might be, but if you send me a private message if you want one, I'll work through the requests in sequence, if when it's ready you've changed your mind then I'll offer it to the next person - you can always ask again another time. I was hoping 5-10 of these would meet demand but if things go crazy and 100 people sign up, I'll have a look at getting a friend with a laser cutter to help me if it's affordable.

The Copper version will have to be done differently, the design will be similar, the code to cut the design will be very different, it will take at least 4-6 hours to re-write the code, and a test run will need to be made from aluminium plate. in addition to this, I expect it will take about 5+ hours to cut, at least (x2 - 1 aluminium + 1 final copper so 10 hours!) so it will cost above £35-£40 at a guess and an absolute minimum, as I will have nothing left at the end of my 14-16 hours of work. - it's a massive amount of cutting to do, the aluminium can be extruded which cuts the work by 75% - copper cannot, it must be cut from solid plate or bar.

The PCH block (aka NB/Northbridge/SB southbridge in the old days) has not been designed yet for CNC, the one you see is one i made by hand and represents what it will probably look like - sort of. It need re-designing and the chosen design will be suitable for the copper and aluminium version.

 

It is great to hear such news !

Do you have an idea of what would be the increase in temps between aluminium and cooper versions ?

If I change my heatsink, I would buy the best version you can do.

 

It's hard to guess these things and with the CPU's of today, adding cooling capacity does not mean your CPU will run cooler, it means the fan will spin less! - at the extreme end, when your fan is at 100% and your temps are rising you will see some benefit but its hard to guess figures.

the difference between copper and aluminium is significant but its advantages are specific. In simple and theoretical terms only

copper has double the thermal conductivity of aluminium, so it will absorb heat twice as fast or twice as far (depends how you look at it - its not this simple) now unless you can remove that heat twice as fast, the advantage is not double!

Things that can make copper better is that you can transfer heat further, so take for example a 100mm² aluminium cooler, with a 5w 5mm² heat source.

- the cooler will be hot in the middle, and cold at the edges, as the heat travels slowly through the cooler - it never has time to reach the edges - heat is concentrated in the middle.

a 100mm² copper cooler will transfer heat at double the speed, so the "hot spot" will be double the size, meaning the temperature will be spread over twice the area - and thus be 1/2 as hot!

^ simple terms used here - its not that simple - basically using copper give you the higer cooling ability if the air flow AND the space for cooler surface area is available - the reality is coolers are a balance of the two, copper allows for thinner fins, giving larger air gaps, and also those fins are often more efficient so IF the air flow is available the temperature will drop more.

the PCH cooler I have showed you is a perfect "bad" example, it gets very hot, and the air gaps are tiny, so it just holds lots of heat! the air gaps need to be bigger, thus the fins smaller, and if it where copper, the fins could be EVEN smaller again, giving even bigger air gaps!

- rambling on here...., the end result will be - I'll make, I'll test it and the PCH block will give a great advantage (especially in the temperatures) and especially the copper version! the cpu cover, is just assisting, it will offer lower fan speeds, maybe even prevent your fan coming on for simple tasks, it may even offer lower temperatures when your fan is 100%, or it may prevent your CPU from throttling as it keeps it running cooler ? -there are to many variables to look at than just "lower temperatures" as the CPU's and fan profiles of today, constantly adjust their speeds to maximise speed and minimise noise levels and battery consumption.

 

^ I'm saying the PCH I made is a "bad" example, lol - it's still better than the standard one lol