Im not trying to derail your thread but how much wattage does the monstacade draw at load?

I bet electrical costs top $100/month to run it. I prefer to tweak on air cooling b4 I go ln2.

I think for the temp control ln2 is a better bet anyday over a cascade, just my opinion tho.

Here my breakdown:
$25 per dewar fill (lasts me ~3 weeks)
$200 - 50l taylor wharton
$300 - F1EE which can be updated to fit any socket for just a couple dollars for a new holddown/backplate

So I assume that for $1600 the mostercade/something similar could be had? I would need to fill my dewar ~50 times to equal the original cost. not including electrical usage each month to run that monster. 50 dewar fills = 150 weeks or almost 3 years of running ln2. in 3 years i bet the monstacade needs a regas and retune. that isnt free either...

Just my $.02

You make some good points there Karm.

Basiclly it boils down to trade offs on how you want to run your bench.

For me LN2 is 100% the way to go, but so often there is a catch to using it for me. Having to go out and get the Dewar filled and get scalpped by Airgas, I really need to put some foot work down and find a better LN2 supplier. Setting aside time where I won't be interrupted. All that and the Dewar gets empty all to fast LOL !

My Cascade uses two normal power plugs, 1 for each stage, I assume a 3 stage would need 3. Some homes/appts may have a problem running a machine like these and pop fuses or breakers.

Power costs might be an issue also, but I do not run mine 24/7 and perhaps 3-4 hours at a time. At my place the swimming pool pump is the biggest power draw. But you never really know because you can run the machine for very long periods and don't see the cost until the end of the month, and that could be OUCH ! if not careful.

If you could get a deal where having a large Dewar delivered to your home every month that might be prefered, where I am at thats not all that easy to do. But a carefully planned bench session and that would be a go.

Being able to dial in your temps with LN2 is also perfered, with mine unit its -111.7c unloaded and thats it. And also dealing with cold bugs is np with LN2 but could be a huge pain with Cascade, you can't just take a blow dryer to warm up the pot.

So in the end it's all about trade offs. For me it's convience of using the Cascade and ease of use. I use it more becasue I can simply turn it on and away I go, then off and I am done. Never worry about phone calls or having to do something around the house while in the middle of a bench run.

Does it mean I am done with LN2, far from it. I can just get in more benching with the Cascade now at temps that I want to run at.



I highly doubt that this Cascade will ever need a recharge or retune, it is built very well. Things like these don't need recharges unless you have a leak. This has held up for 3 years so far with no leaks so I think it can last longer with out a problem. Retuning a unit like this is not really needed, unless I decided that I want to go for a higher load capability. But I don't really see a need for that anytime soon.

To me it's all about the quality of the build and the steps the builder has taking to make sure things will run smooth for a long time. Good brazing and extended leak/pressure testing are all good signs.

If you ever get a chance to see this unit up close you will understand what I mean about quality of the build. I have seen other units built in a weekend and hardly leak or pressure checked at all, poor looking brazes which looks like nothing but trouble imo., better live close to that guy because you may need to go see him again :)

That dewar fill can't be lasting 3 weeks if your benching. You can kill 50L in an afternoon pretty quick with a quad and a video card. Also, you've got an amazing price at .50$ a liter, most people pay 2-3$.
And having an ADJUSTABLE cascade means it won't ever need a retune unless the world goes insane, and intel isn't going to produce a 9000W chip again anytime soon (the 840EE was never that popular past being a space heater after all!)

Having proper features from the beginning, like a hot gas bypass, allows you to have massive range of temperature control as well.

I know Airgas here in Oklahoma puts a $10 extra charge on small amounts of DICE. They told me that it is to get the average Joe Blow to go buy it out of grocery stores, I guess. How much is the charge on LN2 Buckeye?

Gauge prep! 6 lines made up, two lines for the hot gas bypass solenoid done as well.
JB Weld time, that will take the rest of the night to dry. Then will begin to pressure test components.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/7425/0709091531.jpg

Oh also picked up 1/2" steel (smaller stuff) to weld up the cradle for the HX box.

When I take my 50L over to Airgas they charge me $125 and that includes a Hazmat charge and what not.


Do those guages up real nice there NOL, so they don't end up looking like spaghetti flopping all over the place <cough> like another I have seen ;)

It's starting to look real good :)
Even the pink insulation for the guys wearing confortable shoes ;)

I'm trying to size it all up right now, you know, make it come together.
If I want to have the big electronic box on the back but within the case, I think 32" long, 18" wide, and 20" tall is going to happen.
But If move the electronics out the back, I have easier housing for the expansion tanks.
Hmmm what to do.
Compressors and what not can't really move. Oil separators are fairly large.
See what happens when you don't autocad EVERYTHING? ;)

Meh I've got an idea.
Time to start drilling holes in a big mdf board.

So $2 a L?
How long will 50L take you on just a CPU pot.
How much was your dewar?

My Dewar I got a really good deal on it, full pressure top and rolling stand for Taylor Wharton 50L was $300 or $350, its been awhile.

For just CPU runs that will last me a weekend.

The video :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RSBBqBBK30

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4456/img0474pai.jpg

So $125 a weekend...
Cascade indeed.

Also, Buckeye, you should insulate that removal device.
Who knows how much ln2 you're loosing to keep that thing icey ;)

Now I have heard that some place before.....

It aint cheap, but I'll say "Its EASY!" turn on switch, bench all u want, tune in clocks, turn off. Now run off to get some ln2 to see what else you can muster from it. In the end, it all costs more than an un-addicted person could stomach. :shock:

I think its cool to see others approaches. I wasnt criticizing or anything NoL.

For me LN2 is just cheaper, easier, and better. If I could make a good cascade or have one built at a reasonable price I would. But neither of those things is gonna happen ;)

Hey its the classic OC'ing arguement. Cascade or Disposable (Dryice/Ln2), cascade is just a long term investment.

Extra insulation bolstering the HX box, pushed finishing nails through, holds the walls in, and lined all the holes with nice black duct tape. That'll seal it up before I spray it with foam later on.
Now to do some welding work.

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/7946/0711090005.jpg

So is that pink box insulating the pipe so you dont have to insulate it w/ pipe wrap?

Sort of.
They're really won't be much piper wrap here.
By using this box though, not only are my heat exchangers nicely insulated, but they'res no real runs of cold pipe other then the direct suctions up from the compressors.
Also, the first heat exchanger is helping insulate the second, and never leaving the box means minimal heat losses.

i'd kill to have a cascade hehe

Anyone? That seems a fair trade.

Trade Dino for a Cascade ? :laughing:

Naw, was thinking I've got a few enemies though.

looking good nol, i like your attention to detail as always..

Thank you sir!

Status update?

almost an exact 5 month bump lol

Nice unit, i think i saw this one over on another forum

Obviously I haven't touched this in a while. Had shoulder surgery and medical school keeps you low on time. So back to work on it.
Today I finished the base, swapped first and second stage to new QK191CAB compressors (1hp), and made mounting brackets for every part.

Also got some brazing done.
http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/1465/0530000046.jpg

Guess this thing is gonna be permanently mounted on that table? Looks beastly heavy.

Hey a little update; she's all brazed up except the flex and evaporator (still need to decide who's Evap is going on this!). So I began to pressure test the first stage.
I hooked up my N2 to the high side schrader and slowly increase the pressure.

Then something odd happened.

I'm checking my gauges on the front of this thing, and the high side one rises, but the low doesnt. So I figured I had a bad CPEV. Then I realized what it was.
The CPEV was set at 0psi.
So it was locking out the N2 flow.
With a laugh I opened up the CPEV and ta-da pressure on the low side. Fun to be able to adjust it all over. Can pop out the schrader on the low side and make N2 do whatever pressure I'd like. Like a miny regulator! :)

Pictures! (Sorry camera on phone)

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/3968/0630001758.jpg

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/7...0630001802.jpg

insanity!!!

can't wait for frosty icecream

Yup looking good NOL :)

LAn party Special


Sick looking Nol .... in for some results ....

That's a sweet Cascade N0l! The craftsmanship is superb.

NOL this build is looking amazingly neat and tidy for the amount of copper that's going into it. How the hell do you find time for med school and to still build this stuff? :Dizzy:

What I like is hes doing this build totally different than the knock offs that are going around.

Yes its taking NOL awhile to build this, but these are not simple builds and take time and money + knowledge to complete a good performing and safe unit to run. Plus he has school etc that he also does.

Good Job NOL !

Incredible workmanship as always Nol :good:

If only I had 3 grand to spare :Dizzy:

Funny because my cascade still doesnt work properly from him.

Take your issue elsewhere Planet, we already resolved our dispute. Crash someone elses party.

I shall name it Squishy, and it shall be my squishy!

Run caps and R507 decided to show up (that cylinder took 3 weeks to get here from Hawaii, but brand new for $85 was hard to pass up).

So what did I do? Checked my micron gauge, and after a week sitting, she still read 185 microns. Amazing; that meant charging time.

A burst of r290 (brought up to 20psi) to handle the oil, and then flipped to r507a. After I had maxed out the CPEV, I realized I was getting little adjust-ability, the rotary is just huge and doing it's job. More charge and I got adjust-ability back. I hit critical charge and the temperature started dropping. At four minutes the back end of the goal had snow. And six, it was all nice ball. By eight minutes the accumulator was showing signs of blizzard conditions.
She has a nice purr to her too, vibrating against the table it's on isn't helping but the 1/3hp thing on the condenser is working. The first coils are warm if a bit hot, but by coil loop two it's only 2C over ambient. That will change with load, but I doubt by much.

Onto the sexy pictures.

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/1...0705002356.jpg

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/3350/0705002357.jpg

i see snowwwwww

we wants moarrrr