Tips for installing Aqua Computer Evo Grills

Well since so many people like using these Aqua Computer Evo grills for their rads I thought I would start a thread for tips.

My TN-Tips are:

Cover the whole top of your case with that blue painters masking tape as it easier to get off than the regular cream colored stuff. I usually get the stuff with not much sticky power as it is only their to help protect your case.

Place your grill on top of your template (printed on outside of box) and line up the holes. Tape securely and use an X-acto blade or single edge razor blade to cut it so that it is the exact same size. Place template on part of case where you want it. I found it helpful to use a dial caliper to measure exactly so the template is exactly centered. If your not as anal as I am then eye-ball it. Once you get it where you want it take some blue painting tape and secure it with several small width pieces.

Next drill hole big enough to get a jig saw blade in the area where you are going to cut out. A Dremel reinforced cut-off disc will work, but it is easy to make a mistake. To prepare the jig saw you should clean the plate and tape up with some of the blue tape so that you do not scratch your case. Also I would suggest you use a cobalt blade about 3 1/2" with fairly fine teeth (I used 24 tpi). Then you just follow the dotted line.

Next you take off the template and tape and brush off any aluminum chips (paint brush works great). Now you will assmble your radiator and fans into one unit. Attach fan/rad assembly to the Evo grill. That means the grill is sitting on the box and you screw it together with the rad on the inside of the box. Now you should have everything sitting pretty. Check again for alignment and if necessary remove rad/grill assembly and grind away any high spots on the hole you just cut so your fan will sit the way you want it to. Use your blue tape again to secure your rad/grill assembly so it won't move.

Now comes the fun part. Here you need to make a decision as to whether you want to use bolts and nuts or just bolts and tap your holes. The four holes that the Evo grill attaches with are for 4mm Metric bolts. If you are going to tap your case skip to the next paragraph. If you decide to use bolts and nuts then just follow the same procedure in the next paragraph, but omit the taping sequence and you wil use a drill that will clear the screws you are using. I should mention that even though tapping the case may seem a little daunting it is a lot easier than trying to get a little nut and washer around the radiator to where you need to get it. The easier simple way is to tap.

I used 8-32 stainless steel Button Head socket cap screws instead. You will do one hole at a time. So I drilled the holes with a # 29 drill which is a tap drill. You can also use a 1/8 drill bit if push comes to shove. Then you get out a 8-32 plug tap and using a T-handle tap wrench you tap the first hole. Clean out with some compressed air and gently screw in your 8-32 screw. Remember this is aluminum so just make it snug! Now make sure that you are correctly aligned amd drill and tap another hole on the opposite side of the grill at the other end. Once you have done these two and have your screws in you can just drill all the holes and tap them in whatever manner you wish.

Clean off all your metal chips with compressed air, admire your work, and take a pic!

Notes: The Evo grills have fan spacing to fit the Airplex Evo radiators for the 240 and 360 sizes. The 120 grill fits any 120mm fan. The fan spacing for the popular Black Ice series radiators are different. However you will see that if you are inventive you will be able to either use smaller screws that will work or others might elongate the holes in their fans.

Excellent post TN!

So how about some pics? The first thing to do is to do a visual layout to see what works best. Forget the hole in the case as it has nothing to do with this tutorial.











Next thing to do is to cover the top (or bottom) of your case with some kind of tape. I use the blue painters tape because it comes off easily and allows for lines to be easily drawn.











The Aqua Computer grills have a ready made template of the outside of the box. What I do is to lay the grill on the template and use an X-acto knife to cut off the excess material. You can use a scissors, but the X-acto knife leaves a square sharp cut that will be more useful as you can see here. I use a dial caliper to measure the distance from all sides so the grill template is perfectly aligned and where I want it to be. Then I tape the template down to the area I want to cut. If you aren't interested in having your grill within .001" of being square and true you can also use either a ruler or make a rough jig up using popsicle sticks.








Next thing you want to do is to drill at least a 5/16 to 3/8 hole somewhere in the middle of the grill template so you can get a jig saw blade trough it. I highly suggest that you get the finest tooth pattern blade you can find. The coarse tooth blades make it much more difficult to cut easily though the thin aluminum (you have been warned). Another thing to look at is the shoe plate of the jig saw. Make sure it is smooth and if necessary either get a new one or finely sand/grind it so it is smooth. The tape helps protect your top from getting scratched, but why take chances?

Now all you have to do is follow the line as you cut. I find it easier to to cut the long lines on target but leave the corners for several diagonal cuts. If your good with a jig saw you may be able to do it all in one long cut.

Tip: Don't throw away the aluminum you cut out as it may be handy for some other project.









Next we will remove the excess template and carefully brush off any metal chips from the top (bottom) of the case. Then we will take the grill and align it as before and tape it down to the top. Once you are happy with the location of the grill you will drill one of the four (4) corner holes that will fit the hole you intend to use.

Tip: After you drill the first hole I suggest you put in a screw and bolt it in. This then helps to make sure that your grill doesn't move while drilling the next holes.

After the first hole you will then drill the other three holes and you are pretty much done.

Optional Suggestion: You might want to consider using a smaller drill and tapping the four holes so you don't have to deal with nuts and washers. Just remember that this is aluminum and if you are heavy with a wrench you may strip the aluminum.








When you done and have the tape off it will look something similar to this. Don't concern yourself about cleaning up less than straight lines as no one is going to see it once the grill is in place.









Here you can see my grill where I used black nuts and serrated washers so they wouldn't come loose from any vibration.










And here is the work all done and ready to get on to the next part of your project.

Forgot to mention that this tutorial should suffice with just about any other similar grill on the market. I made this tutorial so people could see how to do it and not get as stressed as I did when I made the first cuts in Feeding Frenzy.

Pretty basic mod, not a whole lot to installing a grill............. If it were me I would have made the cuts a lot cleaner, but I'm just that picky, some folks don't care what it looks like under the grills/covers.

Bio-Hazard said:

Pretty basic mod, not a whole lot to installing a grill............. If it were me I would have made the cuts a lot cleaner, but I'm just that picky, some folks don't care what it looks like under the grills/covers.

Click to expand...

One too many beers that day and I was doing it out in the alley on an unstable surface. Besides I gave up on being perfect a long time ago.

Yes an easy mod, but still a lot of people that have never done it and get the heebie jeebies when thinking about cutting their case. I like leaving a trail for others to follow.

I guess I'm just way to picky about my work, every cut, doesn't matter if it can be seen or not has to be true and clean, I guess it comes from working on aircraft for so long. ..........
I guess it helps that I don't drink anymore also................