Custom Waterways at PPCs

January 20, 2020 Matt Oustad Comments

Hello fellow modders and watercoolers! If you’ve been at this hobby for any amount of time, you’ve probably seen one of the new trends in watercooling. WATERWAYS, or distribution plates as others call them. They’re handy for streamlining your tubing runs, and are most definitely pretty to look at in those custom builds. The only problem is that they take a CNC mill in order to make, not to mention a bit of experience with machining. One solution to this is off-the-shelf waterways from brands like EKWB, Bykski, and Barrow, however, these are all designed for specific cases, with a set hardware configuration.

Hello fellow modders and watercoolers! If you’ve been at this hobby for any amount of time, you’ve probably seen one of the new trends in watercooling. WATERWAYS, or distribution plates as others call them. They’re handy for streamlining your tubing runs, and are most definitely pretty to look at in those custom builds. The only problem is that they take a CNC mill in order to make, not to mention a bit of experience with machining. One solution to this is off-the-shelf waterways from brands like EKWB, Bykski, and Barrow, however, these are all designed for specific cases, with a set hardware configuration. Not to mention, anyone and their cousin can slap one of those bad boys in their case and call it a day. If you’re after something that nobody else has, or maybe you just have a specific hardware configuration you want to use, then you have to go the custom route. The good news is, PPCs is now offering custom CNC milling services! We are also able to mill aluminum, so if you have any aluminum parts or case panels that you want modified (logos, improved airflow, etc.) feel free to hit us up for those as well!

So how do you have us make your custom mods, you might ask? Simple! Follow the guidelines specified below and come up with a 3D model (2D works for aluminum mods) for what you want us to make and send matt@performance-pcs.com an email for a quote. Matt will then follow up with you and plan out your mod, so you can be sure you get exactly what you want. See the compatibility list below for the file types you can use for your models.

Milling Guidelines

For Waterways:

• Maximum dimensions - 30” (L) x 30” (W) x .75” (H) *If larger than 24” x 24”, 24” x 36” or 36” x 36” sheets will need to be purchased for your waterway and you will be charged for the entire sheet*
• Consists of two (2) sheets of cast acrylic. 1 - 12mm (.472”) and 1 - 5.6mm (.220”) - you can Check with Matt if you need different thicknesses.
• Channels and pockets must be milled in the 12mm sheet. 2.5mm Buna 70 O-ring cord is used. Which requires the O-ring channels to be .14” wide by .06” deep.
• It is best to keep the channels .07” from any pockets or screw holes.
• M4x16mm screws are used to secure the panels together. Check with Matt if you need to use a different size of O-ring.
• Use .161” diameter holes for the screws in the 12mm sheet (do not thread the holes).
• Use .171” diameter holes in the 5.6mm sheet. For countersinking screws use a .371” diameter countersink at .10” deep.
• Button head screws can be used instead of countersinking screws to save money on machining time if you prefer.
• For direct D5 pump mounting refer to the diagram below. Direct D5 pump mounting will cost $56 for the hardware (D5 pump top, and D5 retention ring). DOES NOT INCLUDE A D5 PUMP.

“All dimensions in inches. The 4 corner holes need to go through both sheets of acrylic. The 2 larger center holes only need to go through the top sheet of acrylic”

Try to avoid 2-sided machining jobs, i.e. the part would require more than 1 side of the stock to be milled. We can do it, however there will be an upcharge, and the accuracy of the additional sides milled can not be guaranteed.

For Aluminum:

Any logos, images, etc. must be sent in .svg file format. We can not guarantee all images will work, as we are limited by the size of our endmills. The smallest we run is 1/16” in diameter, so larger images work better. Because this will be mostly 2D work, Matt is able to draw basic designs and patterns for you. Panels or parts must be shipped to Matt at the owner’s expense. - send matt@performance-pcs.com an email for his address. Owner will also be charged for return shipping. Panels or parts to be milled must be flat.

File Type Compatibility List -
*.3dm *.asm *.cam360 *.CATPart *.CATProduct *.dwg *.dxf *.f3d *.fbx *.g *.iam *.ige *.iges *.igs *.ipt *.neu *.obj *.prt *.sab *.sat *.skp *.sldasm *.sldprt *.smb *.smt *.ste *.step *.stl *.stp *.wire *.x_b *.x_t *.123dx

For Images - *.svg