How do I attach a WB to a tiny NB?

[ScissorClaw]

I am setting up my first water cooling rig woth a maze3 wb and a maze WB for the northbridge along with the a WB for my TI4400. I haven't decided if I am going to use the WB on the GPU yet or not. However, my problem lies with attaching the WB to the NB. I have an ABIT IS7 with no holes on the board, just little hooks to hook up the OEM HS and FAN. Somebody gave me an idea to get some plexiglass and thread some J-hooks through the plex and use that to attach the WB to the eye hooks on the mobo. He also reccomeded using a shim, as the NB is very tiny in comparison to the CPU. I went looking for the j-hooks and am having a tough time finding something small engh, yet long eough. I was wondering if I could just use thermal adhesive ( Artic Silver Adhesive coming in the mail tomorrow) and a shim to attach it. Will it be strong enough? What kind of shim should I be looking for. I have never used a shim. A shim is just a really flat solid piece
of copper, right? How do I attach it? I know I sound like a n00b, but I never have had the pleasure of using a him. Thanks folks.

[Drake]

:D:DWELCOME:D:D to Liquid Ninjas, ScissorClaw :)

I'd imagine foregoing the shim and sticking with an adhesive would be fine.

I'd mix some AS3 in with the adhesive, so just in case you have to remove it it won't be too hard.

[Ruantic]

I would avoid adhesive, its been done, and in pretty much every case I've seen ends up with a trashed motherboard:O The Core of the Northbridge seems relatively fragile, I've seen posts of at least 6 or 8 MBs getting killed, may not be representative of a fail/succeed report but sure enough to warrant looking for other solutions! If your a bit inventive a mounting solution can be had..... Not sure who this board belongs to, but I do know its a sucessfull solution.

[mdzcpa]

Although Ruantic's advice is good, as I've seen many a ruined mobo from epoxy mountings myself, I beleive drake has offered a fairly safe alternative. By mixing a good amount of AS III in with some AS epoxy, you can make the bond quite weak. I've done this myself for vid card memory as well as NB mountings. The key is to error on the side of too much AS III to dilute the epoxy. If you make the bond too strong, you'll not be able to remove it without damage as Runatic has said. It may take a few tries to get the right mixture, but once you do it works good. The block will come off with a slight twist.

[ScissorClaw]

EXCELLENT PICTURE!!I like the idea of using the tie-downs for the WB. I wonder exactly how effective that is. I assume that it is beiing used with the epoxy/ASIII mixture. It would seem to not be too tight of a seal with just the tie-dwns because the pressure is is not being pushed down on the WB, but rather to the sides. I would say though, if used with the epoxy mixture, it should be an excellent solution. At best, it will work wonders, at worst, it will only work moderately, and the most imprtant thing in my mind, God forbid the epoxy seal is broken by bumping into the case, or messing around inside too much, the WB won't just fall off and end up swinging or falling into something delicate and damaging it.

Thanks again Folks.

[WackyComputer]

I don't have anything to add except...

Hello ScissorClaw :beerm8s:Welcome:beerm8s: to LN!

What is it with Jersey boys and watercooling?;)

[Synthohol]

Originally posted by WackyComputer
What is it with Jersey boys and watercooling?;)
unless you are down the shore, the air here is to foul at times to cool properly:eek:

[Player0]

Hi, welcome to the boards!

Anyway, I almost ALWAYS use ASIII Epoxy to mount NB heatsinks and waterblocks. The only exception was a DangerDen chipset waterblock which managed to fit the holes.

I recommend dumbing down the epoxy by mixing 2 parts AS3 paste to 3 parts (already mixed) AS3 Epoxy. This WILL allow you to remove the NB cooler later with the freezer trick and some careful screwdriving.

Ive never ruined a motherboard by gluing a block to it (I did kill a KX7 by using the DangerDen waterblock bolts too tightly though). But, you are putting pressure on that BGA northbridge and it will be more fragile. Make sure to not put any linear pressure on that northbridge, re pulling on tubes etc. With the AS epoxy dumbed down, the bond will usually give before you rip the NB off though.