Building a PowerNAS G4 MDD

[joeschmuck]

I'm not sure how much air flow you will need but you might be going overkill with some of these fans. You should also think about turbulence of the air. Make it simple and a straight flow it better if you can use it. Typically you want an exhaust fan near anything that produces a lot of heat since you do not want to push heat into the case, this is why on a typical case the exhaust fan is located near the CPU. Now on a FreeNAS machine, your CPU will not get very warm so it will not make a difference.

When you close the case, how much space is there between the top of the CPU fan and the nearest metal? You need some space to suck air in the top and push it into the heatsink.

The hard drive bays, do they allow air to flow under them? On top is fine but if there is air under as well then that is going to give you better cooling.

 

[DaNilePharaoh]

I'm not sure how much air flow you will need but you might be going overkill with some of these fans. You should also think about turbulence of the air. Make it simple and a straight flow it better if you can use it.

What I had in mind when i was designing this cooling system was:
- 1 directional Airflow - Front to back, as its the followed method in most of PowerMac Series (Sealed sides, top and bottom cases).
- Reduce load by replacing higher RPM power hungry fans with lower RPM and power efficient fans, which will allow me to increase CFM by adding 1 or more fans without over-loading my system.
- Reduce the Noise Level, by choosing lower dBA fans and Power control the fans via PWM and Asus Q-Fan System or fan controller.
(Original total dBA was 54.9 dba) (My PowerNAS total is around 50 dBA) and I'm planing to reduce it significantly to around 35.3 dBA by replacing the extremely loud PSU dual fans with a couple of 32 dBA Evercool 60mm fans.

https://www.noisemeters.com/apps/db-calculator.asp

Typically you want an exhaust fan near anything that produces a lot of heat since you do not want to push heat into the case, this is why on a typical case the exhaust fan is located near the CPU.

Somehow disagree with you on this one :)

I believe locating the exhaust fan in the lower bottom of the case was a fault in the MDD design that have been fixed in following models. and they tried to getaway with it by adding very loud power hungry fans (it was the loudest PowerMac ever made) to increase cooling and airflow.
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g4/specs/powermac_g4_1.25_dp_mdd.html

Exhaust fans should always be on the top of any ATX case because hot air is lighter than cold air and it travels up, CPU as a major heat source is placed up near the exhaust fans (not vice versa) to prevent the hot air rising from it to from traveling longer distances inside the case, which can overheat other component on its journey up to the exhaust slots.

that's why i placed the dual 120mm intake fans on top of each other for the upper one to push the escaping hot air rising from the CPU out of the case via the PSU and PCI expansion slot mesh. there was no way i can place the cpu beside the lower exhaust fan without sacrificing the use of the original PCI expansion slots. also the 24pin psu cable (and the VGA cable) would have to travel further as I will rotate the whole motherboard 45º, and (24pin cable) its going to be in between the cpu cooler and the fan along with the ram sticks interrupting the air flow. on the otherside the intake fans will somehow prevent me from using the motherboard usb outputs.

Now on a FreeNAS machine, your CPU will not get very warm so it will not make a difference.

Do not underestimate the Egyptian Summer, I doubt you tried 55 ºC - 131 ºF before in Virginia :)

When you close the case, how much space is there between the top of the CPU fan and the nearest metal? You need some space to suck air in the top and push it into the heatsink.

The hard drive bays, do they allow air to flow under them? On top is fine but if there is air under as well then that is going to give you better cooling.

The space between the cpu fan and the hdd drive cage is around 5-6cm when the case is closed (more than enough)
The cages itself has wide openings from the sides matching the airflow direction (Keeping the original airflow direction pay-off)



When mounting the intake fans I'll rise it up a little maybe 2cm from the Motherboard mounting plate / side panel to be exactly in the center of the case for the best hdd cooling.

Don't worry I got everything under control :) then baaaaaang it blew up in my face hahahahah

 

[joeschmuck]

Glad to hear you have it under control, it certainly sounds like it. As for keeping the system cool, you could move to a cooler climate :)

 

[DaNilePharaoh]

Glad to hear you have it under control, it certainly sounds like it. As for keeping the system cool, you could move to a cooler climate :)

I can move to a cooler climate :) and that would be Moscow, RUSSIA (my wife is Russian)! so either +55º or -30º :p
I choose to buy some extra fans for the hot Egyptian summer, instead of freezing my %^&* off in the cold Russian winter :D

 

[anodos]

I can move to a cooler climate :) and that would be Moscow, RUSSIA (my wife is Russian)! so either +55º or -30º :p
I choose to buy some extra fans for the hot Egyptian summer, instead of freezing my %^&* off in the cold Russian winter :D

I used to live in Russia. Moscow doesn't stay that cold all winter long. -30º is do-able (it's not Siberia or Central-Asian Steppe Cold), but I'd rather live in Petersburg than Moscow. It's easier to dress warm for -30º than lug around a portable A/C for +55º. :) Your electronics will thank you... except one time I had the LCD on my nokia brick phone freeze (this was about a decade ago) when I was walking around at night. Literally freeze.

That being said, if you live in an apartment complex the heating is usually very good and centrally provided. Most places have exterior walls that are around 0.5m thick of solid brick. I've lived in some places that are way off the beaten path in the CIS and never lost heating during the winter. That being said, if all else fails vodka is cheap. :)

 

[joeschmuck]

I got a good laugh out of the last reply.

 

[DaNilePharaoh]

I used to live in Russia. Moscow doesn't stay that cold all winter long. -30º is do-able (it's not Siberia or Central-Asian Steppe Cold), but I'd rather live in Petersburg than Moscow. It's easier to dress warm for -30º than lug around a portable A/C for +55º. :) Your electronics will thank you... except one time I had the LCD on my nokia brick phone freeze (this was about a decade ago) when I was walking around at night. Literally freeze.

That being said, if you live in an apartment complex the heating is usually very good and centrally provided. Most places have exterior walls that are around 0.5m thick of solid brick. I've lived in some places that are way off the beaten path in the CIS and never lost heating during the winter. That being said, if all else fails vodka is cheap. :)

Its a beautiful country :) but it can get very ugly during winter, though central heating, thick walls "as you said", the Russian famous custom of covering the walls with thick large carpets and double doors homes play a vital rule. last time i was there it was August, temps was +30º I heard reports on Tv that people are dying because of heat!, I was like!!! are you kidding me!?.

But, Man! I'd rather upgrade my electronics once every 6 months in Cairo, instead of trying to find a permanent replacement for my fallen fingertips in Moscow :D

 

[anodos]

Its a beautiful country :) but it can get very ugly during winter, though central heating, thick walls "as you said", the Russian famous custom of covering the walls with thick large carpets and double doors homes play a vital rule. last time i was there it was August, temps was +30º I heard reports on Tv that people are dying because of heat!, I was like!!! are you kidding me!?.

But, Man! I'd rather upgrade my electronics once every 6 months in Cairo, instead of trying to find a permanent replacement for my fallen fingertips in Moscow :D

The main problem with winters up North is that it is so dark all the time. There are some parts of the former USSR where can get temps up to 45 in the summer and down to -30 in the winter. The worst of both worlds. :)

On a side-note, it actually takes a lot to freeze your fingers off. One time I helped push-start a Lada without gloves when it was -25. My fingers stuck to the metal some, but they didn't turn black or fall off. In hindsight, probably not the smartest thing I've ever done.

 

[DaNilePharaoh]

Probably you are the only American who knows what "Lada" is, AKA "Jegolee - Жигули", obvious you learned it the hard way :D I used to drive one back in the University days, this car was more than a car, it was a daily challenge hahahahah, then replaced it with a VW Beetle

 

[anodos]

Probably you are the only American who knows what "Lada" is, AKA "Jegolee - Жигули", obvious you learned it the hard way :D I used to drive one back in the University days, this car was more than a car, it was a daily challenge hahahahah, then replaced it with a VW Beetle

At least it wasn't a zaporozhets. If that was the case, then I would have needed to push-start it and keep pushing till it reached the destination. :) The good thing about the lada is that everyone knows how to fix one. The bad thing about a lada is that it breaks frequently enough that everyone knows how to fix one.

For reference: here is a zaporozhets in its native habitat. Raspberries are clearly seen growing from the radiator in the rear of the car (yes, that is the back of the car).

 

[DaNilePharaoh]

ZAZ and Lada are the best cars for those who love to stay at home :D

 

[Ericloewe]

At least they're not made of cardboard, unlike a certain East German car.

 

[gpsguy]

Lada's were sold in Canada for a number of years.


Sent from my phone

 

[DaNilePharaoh]

At least they're not made of cardboard, unlike a certain East German car.

This would be the Trabant :) fyi it wasn't cardboard,

"The Trabant was a steel monocoque design with roof, trunk lid,hood,fenders, and doors made of Duroplast. Duroplast was a hard plastic (similar to Bakelite) made of recycled materials: cotton waste from the Soviet Union and phenol resins from the East German dye industry. This made the Trabant the first car with a body made of recycled material [5] and was partially responsible for the misconception that it was made of cardboard. Various crash test results showed it performed better than comparable contemporary Western hatchbacks.[10][11][12] The Trabant was the second car to use Duroplast, after the "pre-Trabant" P70 (Zwickau) model (1954–1959)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant

The PowerNAS is not my first DIY project :) in 2004 I restored and modified A FIAT X1/9 Bertone - 1972 (Used to call it the Baby Ferrari Project)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_X1/9

 

[DaNilePharaoh]

Lada's were sold in Canada for a number of years.


Sent from my phone

Logical, as they were made for this kind of weather, and they perform the best in cold temps, if you manage to figure out how to start the engine :D

 

[DaNilePharaoh]

Creating a Model Name and Number
This week I was too busy, I couldn’t spend enough time with my project, So i decided to do something useful by doing some self brainstorming to come out with a good name and model number for this machine.

PowerNAS G4 MDD, as mentioned up in the post title was my first choice and still one of my favorites, @Ericloewe also came out with some interesting ideas, but along the way, while i was working on this thing, I realized that i should give some well deserved credits for those who really made this machine possible.

I had MANY keywords in my mind to mix and match from, I choose each one of them for a good reason, the keywords were:

PowerMAC, G4, MDD (needless to say why)
FreeNAS system, developers, staff members, forum, gurus and contributors (THANX)
Schmuck, @joeschmuck as this machine is based on his build, my trusty source of knowledge, and one of the most active and kindest members on this forum.

and last but not least, the Latin number (two) II, as this machine is the second generation schmuck machines, also “Too” is the nickname I choose for my wife long time ago :D she deserve some credits also for living with a freak for more than 10 years.

Opened my favorite design tool, Adobe Illustrator and I made this :)

It reads: PowerSchmuck II G4 MDD FreeNAS System
I’ll have this logo printed on the power supply, to always remember that “BEEPING” moment. :D

TO BE CONTINUED....

 

[joeschmuck]

OMG, Damn I laughed so hard reading this!

I am honored.

 

[DaNilePharaoh]

OMG, Damn I laughed so hard reading this!

I am honored.

I'm honored to have your name on my machine too :) Mr. Schmuck
What really made me laugh is remembering that "BEEPING" moment hahahhahah

 

[DaNilePharaoh]

OMG, Damn I laughed so hard reading this!

I am honored.

though PowerSchmac sounded more appropriate for this machine :D

 

[DaNilePharaoh]

Installing The New Cooling System
I went to several hardware stores last week trying to find a good method to mound the 3x 120mm fans, what I had in mind that it should be an L shaped bracket with 2 mounting points 1 for the fan screw and the other for the motherboard tray, i was planning to DIY some rubber grommets around the screw holes to reduce noise and vibrations, but i guess i was more than lucky :) than I thought I am.

I found this L shaped bracket usually used to mount small sized glass shelves with tiny suction cups on one side (The shelve side). I needed 6 of these to mount each fan from 2 screws vertically but without hesitation I bought 12 of these as it was very cheap (less than 10 cents/piece) also i wanted to have double the amount of suction cups for my 3 fans to have 2 cups on each screw.



The installation was very easy and suction cups was almost invisible as the are transparent, I had to remove the motherboard first, placed a couple of fans on the left side and marked the drilling spots, brought my trusty Black & Decker drill and drilled 4 holes on the left side and 2 on the right side for the exhaust fan.



Installed the dual fans on the left side, then I tried to close the motherboard tray, I was so excited to see the fans jumps in place in between the case front and HDD cage, the tray also snapped closed without any troubles.



I uninstalled one of the fans and re-installed it on the right side, to check the placement of the right fan too, and luckily everything went fine except that i have to push the tray harder from the back to close it because the fan is touching the right HDD cage but it shouldn't be a problem. Everything looks awesome.



TO BE CONTINUED....