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Guide Prepared by Jason David Jacobs, Instructional System Designer

Installation guide: Hard Drive Water Cooler

Type: Water Cooling
Installation Time: 1 Hour

Index

1. Overview
2. Kit Parts and Explanation
3. Assembly and Case Installation

The assumption in this guide is named that the user has purchased a water cooling system and have this system installed.  This HDD cooler will work with any water cooling system and best with the Innovatek system for which it is compatible and made to compliment.   

Warning:  The Innovatek system is very high quality and easy to install, however, caution must be used whenever you are working with liquids around electrical components.  For this reason it is highly suggested that you use always have your system unplugged when working on it and use DISTILLED WATER for you installation purposes. Distilled water is available at any grocery store and is a very poor conductor of electricity.  

Before attempting work upon your computer you should always have the power cable unplugged and the system removed to a clean, open spot in which to work.  Several small containers to hold parts and screws will also be helpful but not required. Some tools are required for assembly.

The Innovatek Hard Drive Water Cooler should arrive with all of the following:

Kit Contents:  

(1) Innovatek Hard Drive Water Cooler 
          (1) Left Side Water Block
          (1) Right Side Water Block
(1) Acrylic Tube Connector
(3) Rubber O-Rings (Replacements)
(4) Steel Hard Drive Screws
(4) Steel Drive Fastener Screws
(1) Set Short Paper Instructions

Tools Needed:

Small adjustable crescent wrench
Phillips Head Screw driver
Knife or Tube cutter
Teflon Tape (optional)
Small Crescent Wrench

To Begin:

Open the packaging box that your Innovatek Hard Drive Water Cooler arrived in and remove the contents. Verify the parts list as shown above and separate the parts bag into small containers so that no parts are lost.

           Your computer case should be prepared in the following manner for ease of installation.

1.     The hard drive which you intend to use should be removed and placed into an antistatic bag if you have one.  Take care to avoid touching static sensitive components and microchips on the bottom of the hard drive. Also avoid placing the hard drive near any sources of magnetism.

2.     You will need one free 5½ bay to hold the Innovatek Hard Drive Cooler.  These are the same bays that hold components such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.  Most cases come with two or three bays in which to install a peripheral. 

a.     Remove the faceplate from the 5½ bay and any aluminum or steel cover that may be beneath it. Because case designs vary considerably this guide will not cover the removal of faceplates.

b.     Faceplates are usually held in by plastic tabs along the two side borders on the left and right hand sides.  Faceplates usually snap into place.  Take Care not to crack the faceplate when removing it as you will need to replace the faceplate after installation is complete.

c.     The steel or aluminum plate usually found under the plastic faceplate usually can be clipped or twisted out.  A pair or wire or tin snips might be needed to cut the joints where the plate is connected to the case.  This plate may be disposed of and will not be needed again.

d.     You will need to decide before installation where the routing of water tubes will go.  Take into consideration the additional heat that will be absorbed by the water once passing through the Innovatek Hard Drive Water Cooler.  The best results for use with an additional CPU water block are to use the Hard Drive Cooler after the water has passed through the CPU water block.

 

Step 1.   Assembly of the Innovatek Hard Drive Water Block.  

Once your case is prepared and you know where the routing of tubes will occur, you are ready to assemble the hard drive cooler. Place the left and right side water blocks as shown below. The sides shown will face away from the hard drive. The side with the Innovatek sticker will face the drive cage or frame of the case. 

Tip: A small amount of oil rubbed onto the ends of the tube will help greatly in pressing the acrylic tube into place.

Inspect the inside of each water block side. You will notice that a rubber O-ring has been placed into each hole on each side of the water block.  Take the acrylic tube and gently press it into this hole, use a twisting motion which pressing slowly straight down.  Do not pull or push to hard to avoid cracking the tube.  When you are done the Water block should look like the figure below.

  

Next you will insert the other end of the acrylic tube into the hole in the opposite water block.  Take care when pressing the tube into the opposite water block, it is easy to pull or push the tube in such a way as to break the tube.  A gentle twisting motion while firmly pressing it down into place is all that is needed.  Your end result should look like the figure below.

 

Step 2. Placing the hard drive into the water block.

Next take your hard drive and place it between the water blocks so that the power and connectors are at the same end as the tubing and also so that the top of the hard drive with the label is facing the acrylic tube. It should look like the figure below.

             

Using a flashlight or a strong light source line up the holes in the side of the water block on one side with the mounting holes along the sides of the hard drive in preparation to fasten the hard drive to the water block.

Next place two of the steel screws with the hexagonal tops into the two bottom holes at the front and rear of the water block.  Use a Phillips head screw driver to secure the screws into the hard drive.  Repeat this process on the other water block.  Placing the screws into the first side and securing them should line up the second set of holes on the other water block with the adjoining holes in the hard drive.

      

Step 3.  Attaching the tubing from the water system. 

This step assumes that you have precut the tubing to attach the current water system to the Innovatek Hard Drive Cooler. 

Note: If you intend to use the attached compression fittings the tubing may not be larger than 8mm or 3/8ths inch outer diameter.  Larger tubing will not fit into the compression coupling.

You may slide the Innovatek Hard Drive Cooler into the free 5 ½ bay from the front through the faceplate you left open, or through the inside of the case into the bay by opening the side panel.  Assuming you have left enough tubing for yourself you may attach the lines to the hard drive cooler outside the bay and the slide it into position after the tubes are attached.

Use the following procedure:

Unscrew the compression fittings from the ends of both water blocks and set onto the ends of the precut tubing with the threads facing the end of the tubing.

Place the ends of the precut tubing onto the ends of the water blocks.   

Thread the compression ends on the tubing onto the coupling on the water blocks. Use a small crescent wrench if needed to tighten the fitting fully.  

Your end result should look like the figure below.

With the tubing secure on the fittings you may slide the Innovatek Hard Drive Cooler into the free 5½ bay.  You are now ready to secure the Innovatek Hard Drive Cooler to the computer case.  

Step 4.  Securing the Innovatek Hard Drive Cooler to the case.

Using the remaining four rounded circular head steel screws you will secure the Innovatek Hard Drive Cooler to the case.  Line up the hard drive cooler holes with the holes pre-drilled into the bay.  The hard drive cooler has two attachment points on each side for securing it to the case.  Two of those points on one water block are shown below.

You will lines these points up with holes in the bay and using a Phillips head screw driver you will fasten the screws to these points.

 

Once you have fastened the two screws on one side of the water block to the case, you will need to remove the other side panel from your case and repeat the fastening process using the remaining two screws for the other side of the water block. 

After fastening both side of the water block you are ready to check the system for any leaks or hardware that you may have had to remove to finish the installation and replace it to its normal position.  Once your system is checked you may start the system and enjoy lower hard drive temperatures and more stable operation.  

 

 

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