Missing some mounting hardware? Not to worry!

[Yellowhello]

Did you strip the mounting hardware that new water block? Not to worry! If you head over you local hardware store (I went to Ace Hardware) you can usually find all the right nuts and bolts without having to order replacement hardware online and have to wait for shipping. I didn't break the mounting hardware on my Apogee GT, but I was bored and went to the hardware store anyway to show you guys what to get if you do break the mounting hardware on that new water block.

What you'll need:

• Four 3" 6/32 Phillips head screws (preferably stainless steel)
• Eight #6 nylon washers
• Four 6/32 nuts (preferably stainless steel)
• Eight #6 stainless steel or aluminum washers
• Four #6 compression springs
• Four 6/32 thumb nuts (I got brass ones)

After that, just mount the hardware like it was included with the retail water block. The most common mount is: (from bottom to top)

3" screw --> nylon washer --> motherboard --> nylon washer --> nut --> water block --> metal washer --> spring --> metal washer --> thumb nut

You can use a backplate if you want to prevent the motherboard from bending. Hopefully this was any help at all, and good luck!

-Nate

[Tyreal]

This is one of the main reasons why watercooling rocks so hard: Hard mounting with hardware that isn't proprietary.

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by Tyreal

This is one of the main reasons why watercooling rocks so hard: Hard mounting with hardware that isn't proprietary.

Yeah, and some water cooling parts are really easy to find. For example, you could use a heat core from a car. You could make you own reservoir. You can use pretty much any tubing that's the right size. you could use the pump from an aquarium. You're not tied to the company you got it from like air cooling.

That and the awesome temps!

[gvblake22]

This probably works on processors, but beware when trying to mod cooling on the chipset or video card as the mounting holes are often smaller diameter than around the CPU socket. Otherwise, this is a great way to go if you need some way to mount a cooler.

And just to add some extra, somewhat useless knowledge to this thread, hard drives have 6/32" threads while optical drives use a metric M3 (3mm) thread. Cases are all different, but it will either use a 6/32" or M3 thread.

[Yellowhello]

Oh yes, thanks for that Blake! GPU and chipset coolers have very diverse ways to mount to the mouther board, and it greatly depends on the brand and model on how it is mounted. My original post is intended for CPU blocks only.

[gvblake22]

I would also like to add that it is a good idea to use nylon or neoprene washers between the nuts and the motherboard so as not to mar the PCB or short out transistors or something. I really suggest you get something softer and non-conductive in there.

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

I would also like to add that it is a good idea to use nylon or neoprene washers between the nuts and the motherboard so as not to mar the PCB or short out transistors or something. I really suggest you get something softer and non-conductive in there.

Ya, in the first post it says to get some nylon washers. Reread the first post and you'll see it.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

Ya, in the first post it says to get some nylon washers. Reread the first post and you'll see it.

Oh yeah, I guess you're right, I didn't read it closely enough...

I was just thrown off by the picture, where it doesn't follow the same assembly as you have listed in the post; or does it?

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

Oh yeah, I guess you're right, I didn't read it closely enough...

I was just thrown off by the picture, where it doesn't follow the same assembly as you have listed in the post; or does it?

It does, but there is no motherboard obviously... The nylon washers are show side by side because the mother board would usually go between them.

[gvblake22]

Yeah, but I only see one nylon washer on each screw assembly. The way I see it in your picture it goes (from right to left): Nylon washer, nut, metal washer, spring, metal washer, thumb nut...