Since condensation of moisture and ice forming due to the subzero liquid passing through the waterblocks was a big problem, I decided to build an airtight housing for the mainboard and addon cards. Some silica gel desiccant would be used to remove moisture from the air inside the mainboard housing. This eliminates frosting without having to use extensive thermal insulation.
After considering many materials, I decided to use aluminium sheets for the mainboard housing. Aluminium
offers a decent ground plane, decent heat transfer, is not heavy, and the aluminium sheets are not that
expensive. I also decided that I would glue the housing together from separate parts since I do not have access
to machinery or tools to mold the sheet metal into the right form.
Thus, the entire mainboard housing is built out of separate sheets of aluminium, glued into L-formed
aluminium strips. Everything is glued together with a very strong polyurethane based 2-component glue.
Polyurethane based glues are one of the few glues useable for aluminium.
Building the mainboard housing started with cutting the aluminium L-strips with a 45 degrees angle so they fit
together nicely.
Cutting the aluminium with a 45 degrees angle.
Then, I cutted out a suitable rectangular piece of aluminium using the Dremel and a cutting wheel. This is
not exactly the way to go since aluminium is a pretty soft material. But for me it was the easiest way.
The first four L-strips and piece of aluminium sheet were glued together, forming the bottom of the mainboard housing.
Applying the polyurethane glue.
Note the tape in the corner of the aluminium. It is used to keep things together.
A lamp was used to keep the temperature of the joints above 20°C.
One side of the 6 forming a brick is finished. 5 more to go..
The Marlboro package indicates the relative size of the aluminium mainboard housing
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