Alphacool Repack - Dual Laing D5 - Dual 5,25 Bay Station
by
Dark Mantis
Once again our friends at Alphacool in Germany have been busy redesigning an existing format of pump and reservoir combination and not surprisingly have surpassed themselves when compared to the original style. At first glance it doesn't appear to be much different from the previous large pump/reservoir units however on closer inspection it reveals that it will take two Alphacool VPP655 (Liang D5) pumps so two loops are possible. Both would be fed from the same reservoir though so totally seperate loops isn't possible. This only really means that if you want to use a coloured liquid you have to settle for one as two seperate coloured loops wouldn't be possible. I even looked to see if it was feasible to customise the reservior to keep the liquids in two seperate chambers but it wouldn't be an easy thing to achieve.
The unit is boxy and is made up of clear plexiglas for the front reservior section in the main. There is a thin facia cover at the front that is painted on the reverse with black paint demarking the levels, Alphacool name and picking out the fill port. Apart from the black the only other colour on display is the copper on the nameplate and fillport cap. It is fixed to the main block by a black M3 allen bolt at each corner. I did find when filling that there was a tendancy for fluid to find it's way between the two plates and require removal of the facia for drying and cleaning. I stopped this by fitting a small O ring behind the facia. The level scale is from 0% through Min, 50%, 75% and to 100%. This is nice and clear and especially if backlit would be extremely easy to read. Whilst on the subject of lighting this has been considered in the design and a small recess has been formed in the perspex at the top rear of just the right size to comfortably fit a 10cm CCFL for the purpose. Also machined are four 5mm holes for LED fitment but |I must admit to being confused by this as they are in the backplate of the reservoir which is made of solid black delrin!
The reservoir has been well thought out from the users point of view in that this is fillable from the front of the machine when installed without having to open or dismantle anything. This make a nice change. The fillport simply unscrews and slides forward. It is made of a tube with a nut on the far end to stop accidental complete removal. In the top of the tube is cut a hole to allow liquid to be poured in when open. This can even be accomplished when the pump is running. After filling, the tube is just slid home and screwed tight. One little thing I did notice was that the filling port was a bit sticky to slide in and out when new so I added a touch of vaseline to the pipe and it then slid through the O-ring seals much easier. It is certainly worth doing. Just don't overdo it or you could end up with a mass of grease where it wasn't required.
As the name suggests the combination unit takes up the space of two 5.25" front bays. Although large and fairly heavy, especially when both pumps are fitted, I didn't have any trouble persuading it to fit in the space allotted. The only thing I would note is that you have to be careful not to catch the pump cables on the bay sides as you slide it into position. It would be quite easy to slice through the wire on some of the bay mount edges if not aware of this.
The ports are all the standard threaded 1/4" BSPP and so the choice of fittings is plentiful. There are an inlet and outlet for each pump which are engraved into the delrin casing so there is no confusion although it should be noted that the ports are linked vertically not horizontallly as would be easy to consider. Inside the reservoir the inlet ports terminate in screw in solid copper anti-vortex caps. These are 1/4"BSPP fittings that basically use a lot of small holes to slow down the jet and break it up. It seems to work well. I would also suggest securing the tube fittings to the pump housing before installing it as they are fairly close together and with four of them in a small area it isn't the easiest of jobs once fitted.
The housing has the option of using a single or dual pump configuration. If a single is chosen there is a blanking plate already fitted so there is no problem there, however two caps for the unused ports would be required and are not included. The pumps just fit into the cut outs and are held in position by delrin clamping bands with eight M4 bolts on each. Already fitted is a large O-ring to stop any leaking. When tightened down the pumps are within the outer dimensions of the unit so don't foul the bay sides when inserted from the front. Four pre-drilled and threaded holes have ben provided on each side of the plexiglas unit to enable securing to the bays. They are M3 sized.
Without the pumps fitted the reservoir/pump housing weighs in at 1100g or just under 2 1/2 lbs. It is 145mm x 84mm x 175mm before any fittings are included.
Extent of delivery:
1x Alphacool Repack - Dual Laing D5 - Dual 5,25 Bay Station
4x Mounting screws
Allen key
The
Alphacool Heatmaster 2 board that controls it all
If the option for two pumps and a reservoir are called for this is ideal. It is compact, strongly built and with two Alphacool 655 pumps very powerful.
Supplier: Alphacool http://www.alphacool.com Price €79.95
