The case is not a PC case... It is a vending machine with four independent 25¢ candy distributor. I found this thing for 120$ in Chicoutimi (Ville Saguenay) and the instant I seen it, I got strike by a sudden flash of illumination. I am so happy to build again!

Of course, I will fit a custom loop watercooled PC on it and keep all four 25¢ distributor fully functional. Yes, both machine will be serviceable. I will also make sure it the most aesthetic possible.

Here's the Vendesing Mfg.:

The first thing I done with the vending machine was to disassemble everything to figure out if my plans are possible and if it is, how I will really do that.

Here are the pictures:

One of the most important thing to do when we start a project like that: the measurements.

Now let's see how much space I have to fit a watercooled PC on it:

The case = 10"7/8*10"7/8*H6"1/8 (276*276*H155mm)
Free space inside = 4"3/8*3"1/2*H3"1/8 (110*90*H130mm)

As you seen on the last pictures, the metal condition of the case is really bad; a lot of rust! It will need a lot of love to look good again. This is where I had to start.

The next pictures show before and after I sandblast the case.


The next pictures show the sandblasted top cover and then, the case + cover getting the primer.
[img=174426]

​​​This is the update of where the fun begins! Disassembling, sandblasting and painting (primer) is cool but I undoubtedly prefert to build and like a skyscraper, I started with the basement: The foot.

I didn't keep the original swivel pole stand, as shown in the measurements update, I do not have a lot of free space. I need to be really creative to make more usable space and my idea of the custom swivel stand will be an aesthetic part of the watercooling system.

The first part of The foot is a glass stand from a broken Samsung 60" Plasma TV PN60E550.

The second part is the strong steel bracket from another broken plasma TV, a Panasonic 50" TC-P50UT50.

The fitting of the bracket on the acrylic pole of The foot was pretty easy; four small hole and voila!

For the swivel part of the stand, I had to modify the bottom of the pole. The original TV stand swivel with an angle around 45°. There is a kind of key stopper in the swivel mechanism, I just have to remove it with a small sharp flat screwdriver and now it swivel freely on 360°.

This "decorative sticker" is my proudest achievement of the project. That was very important to me to do something positive an personal for my wife to stick on the glass foot.

I contacted almost all friends and family close to her to ask them to give me only one word about Gen. I received 60 words (59 without mine)! The idea was to create (with Canvas) a window sticker (from Vistaprint) with all those words and stick it on the foot. The words that was given by many people simply got bigger and every word have the initials close to it.

The Foot itself is 13" by 21" and the closest Vistaprint size is 20" by 30". Then, I created the design in vertical position using 20" by 30" and plan to cut it at 13" by 20". The lost space (17"x20") was filled with words that could be cut and paste on every windows in the house. Here's The Foot design:

The Foot with the sticker.

The foot now completed, the Sx4 stand needs The iron leg; a solid frame made with an 1/8" * 1" angle iron. I bought this 6' one in the Can Tire:

And I cut, drilled, sandblasted and painted it (primer and paint).

I also tapped the four holes (two on each side) that fit on The foot's bracket. Those threads will allow me to not use any ugly nut to fix The leg to The foot.

Both angle iron fit perfectly on The foot. Just a small adjustments on the plastic decorative bracket cover and everything looks great.

This update is very interesting, an important watercooling part is integrated to the build: Alphacool NexXxoS Monsta 480mm.

I bought it for 100$ from a friend and the rad condition is really good. I think I made a good deal considering this part is sold new more than 300$!

The Monsta is mounted on The leg's angle iron frame and I am really happy, every holes fit perfectly!

The leg is back again on his foot and the four threaded holes still fit perfectly! I am very satisfied of the result, I love the look! This concept is awesome!

And the look is even better with the look of those EKWB Vardar evo RGB 120ER!

Those parts are literally like their name, they hold The case. Made from brass and galvanized iron plumber parts, I choose to use that because their threads fit (not perfectly but just enough) in the four G1/4 side holes on The Monsta and they are way less expensive than watercooling part like Barrow. Also, they are really strong, tight (no swivel part like Barrow 90°) and, after all, they do not look too bad.

The four holder's fittings end, that hold The case, have screw (with bolt) thru them. Those screws are long enough to be fixed with another bolts inside The case.

The other end of The holders, that screw on The monsta, need to be sealed. I filled them with epoxy.

They are now almost done. They just need to be adjusted to have all the exact same length.

Final step: cleaning, primer and paint.

Everything looks great! They are now screw in the rad with Teflon tape in their threads to reduce the leaking risk.

This beautiful reservoir is the final part of the stand. It is like we often say in french "la cerise sur le sundae" in the positive way of the expression.

I reserved the best spot on Sx4 just for it; the center. Mounted on the top of The Monsta and surrounded by The holders, The Protium will be half inside and half outside The case.

The fitings I used to attach it to the rad are 2x 30mm male-female extension, 2x 15mm offset and 2x 21mm male-male extension. They were around 3mm off but I was able to fit it anyway. This is why they have a small angle, the look is not perfect but they should not leak.


The next pictures show the output pass thru link for the radiator. I used a chrome plated 14mm tube with 2 Barrow fittings for now. Maybe in the future, I will put an acrylic one just for the look and the lower thermal conductivity between the liquid inside the output tube and The Protium.


The stand is now almost completed. I will only have to add another four Vardar RGB and make the cable management to feed them all.

The metal chassis of the Vendesing Mfg. is made of five bend formed steel sheet spot welded together (four corners on the base). After the sand blast and first primer, I made some holes on it:

- One hole for the power on push button.
- Two rectangular Holes for the FAN+RGB cables.
- Three holes for the vario D5 pump (two on the side + one on the bottom for the manual adjustments).
- Four holes for the stand's Holders screw.
- Five holes for the PSU modular connection board.
- And a form shaped hole for the AC input and switch.


Now the primer, paint and clear.

The Holders and The Protium fit perfectly on The Case. I used a new toilet rubber seal to fill the gap between the reservoir and the chassis.

I think (I hope) I didn't miss one hole...

The perfect sour candy are those Nerds. I will mix a lot of different flavors and color to make a sour rainbow unicorn inside this container.

The Sour container is also the one with the PWM D5 pump mounted in a Bitspower Top and cover kit with a freezemod flow meter on it.

The back of the acrylic container got some holes:

- One small for the PWM and power cable.
- Two large for the flow IN and OUT.
- Four small for the mounting bracket screws.

The pump I got was defective (one cable had a bad solder inside), I had to fix it before continuing.

Here are the pictures of the first completed side of Sx4:


The Nerds are not there yet because all four containers will be filled soon the project is completed.

As you guessed with The Sour update, the PC parts will fit in all four Sx4 containers.

The main problem with this design is heat. There will have zero air circulation inside each compartment. Happily, watercooling will help and for that, VRM should be covered with monoblock.

The second problem is, of course, the available space. The only motherboard size that could fits on it is the mini ITX. According to the research I made, there are two mini ITX mobo with monoblock compatible; Asus ROG STRIX Z370-i and Z390-i.

I chose to buy the Z390-i but the price is pretty high (around 300$), so, I found a defective one (bend socket pins) on ebay and I made the gambling to fix it.

With the microscope help, I made my best to bring them back.

To test it, I had to complete the PC with a new i5 9600kf + pair of T-Force + m.2 SSD Samsung 970 EVO 1TB + EK Momentum monoblock + Zotac 1070ti mini + 360 rad + D5 pump reservoir + old redneck case.


Then, I installed Windows with Steam + Oculus and I played Half Life: Alyx, Farcry 5, 3d Mark, The Walking dead: Saints and Sinners without any problem. I am really happy!

This container is the one with The Mobo inside. This is the one to be The Spicy because those anis black ball candy will look very good with.

The Spicy section was not easy, the container was originally 4-5mm to small; I had to modify the acrylic container by precisely doing two angled slots for each side of the board. That was my best idea to make sure the board could fit on it. In addition, those slots are holding The Mobo really well. I also made an acrylic backplate to protect the back of the board from the candy's attack (chemical).


Let's see if The Mobo fits in...

And now let's see if The Mobo with all the connections on fits in...

Finally, the modified (with two holes for the cables) distributor end of the container also fit perfectly:

Here is the part list:

------- Computer parts -------
- ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-i (painted white by the last owner)
- Intel i5 9600KF
- 1TB Samsung 970 EVO nvme SSD
- 1 SATA cable
- 2 Charcoal power extensions (24 pins + 8 pins)
- 2 black RGB extensions (5V + 12V)
- Charcoal FAN extension
- 600mm Phanteks premium shielded riser cable
- Power switch/Power LED/HDD LED extension

------- Watercooling parts -------
- EKWB Momentum monobloc
- 2 Barrow 90°
- 2 Barrow 90° swivel
- 4 Barrow soft fittings 3/8-1/2
- 2 Barrow soft tube 3/8-1/2
- 1 Barrow 10mm extender
- 1 Barrow 15mm extender
​​​​​​​- 1 Barrow 30mm extender
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​- 1 Barrow 40mm extender

I tested The Mobo after I completed The Spicy. I used the loop 2 from MP90 to watercool the EKWB Momentum Z390i.

Unfortunately, I made a mistake with The Spicy; the idea to use the watercooling loop 2 from MP90 to cool The Mobo waterblock was only good to do some test. So I tested it and then, I started to download Asgard's Wrath on Oculus and let them run (MP90 & The Spicy) many hours. During this time, a got a call from the job (I was on call duty) to plug a backup field generator (the engine strap on the first one broke and it was overheating). When I came back home, MP90 was on sleep (I forgot to change the power settings in Windows) and the water inside the EKWB monoblock was literally boiling. I cut the power and I waited it to cool down (The Mobo was so hot that I wasn't able to touch it without burn myself) before test it for damages.

I crossed my fingers and turned it on; The Mobo is working! I feel better now! I agree, was very lucky with my mistake but The Spicy didn't go thru that without any damage; the soft tubes turned white. I suppose this material didn't support boiling water without being altered.


The irony in this story is the generator and The Mobo were overheating because their pumps wasn't working, both almost in the same time. Life happening is curious sometimes.

After the overheat incident with the first version. I had to change the tubes. My first idea for V1 was to use metal tubes but that was not possible because of the space restrictions and, as you can se on the next picture, the 14mm hard tube fitting is bigger than the already tight 1/2" soft fitting.

The actual plan is to use the soft fittings to hold (tight and seal) the metal hard tube. I just had to drill the inside a little bit and put two seal. The result is really strong and do not leak.

Here's the look before putting it back in the container:

I also had to modify the holes in the bottom part:

The result look very nice to me. This mod is the good side of the incident, I wouldn't do that without that and, happily, nothing else is broken.

The power supply is a very important part of every computer and PC builders have to choose one according to specific needs. So, about Sx4 "specific needs"... this build is in another level! I will explain:

1- Need to be aesthetic
The PSU have to be inside a container (not enough space on the bottom of The Case) and to fit in, it have to be naked (PCB only). The power board should visually look good, I mean, no ugly white silicone, no ugly components and no green PCB.

2- Need to be efficient
An efficient power supply means less heat generated inside the container. A Platinum one should be good enough.

3- Need to be watercoolable
There will have no air circulation to evacuate the heat inside the container. The only way to make it work is by modifying The PSU to watercool it (yes, I am serious). To be WC able, the board should have a good parts (transistors, regulators, ICs, diode bridges) disposition on the PCB. Those components are usually attached to an heatsink and this is what it should be on watercooling. To do that, I will have to run flat tubes to cool down them. If a transformer or something like that is on the way, that mod will not be possible.

4- Need to be 850W or more
I want it strong enough.

5- low cost (less than 200$)

The winner is:
According to those "specific needs" I found and bought (135$ from someone in marketplace) a brand new Rosewill Tachyon 1200W Platinum. The board looks good and will not need too much modifications (I hope) to make the watercooling project realizable.

In order to fit (tubes on The PSU and The PSU in the container) I had to remove (to move them farther) some components.

The most difficult part to remove was the modular connector board. The heat conductivity of the boards and those large lead-free solder sections are near impossible to melt it enough to remove them without putting the entire power board in the oven and, the oven is not an option. I had to drill and cut the modular board. After that, those solder sections were easy melt and clean.

​​​​​​​The disassembling of The PSU is now completed. The real fun will be in the next updates.

The easiest way (In my opinion) is to use a WC radiator to watercool The PSU. Of course, it will needs a lot of work. I bought (for 40$) a strongly used EKWB Coolstream PE and I started to disassemble it.

The next step is to unsolder the ends and tubes with a propane torch.

For the cleaning, I used the propane torch and air compressor + wet sponge to remove the extra soldering metal and then, I done a fine cleaning with CLR + plates scrubber.

The Cooler is shining now!

This part of the project was pretty hard to design and assemble. In addition, soldering copper/brass is really tricky because of the high heat conductivity of those metals. I earned a lot and it made me upgrade my soldering skill level.

The first step was to fill the unused holes of each ends:

After that, I made and solder two cooler fingers (flat tube with dead end) to watercool the MOSFETs (who are under the board) via their heatsink:

Then, I done two "flow thru" flat tubes; one cool down the regulators (via their heatsink), the other one watercool the two diodes bridges (direct contact, tube in "sandwich" between them) and the PWM hot side switching transistors (via their heatsink):

The last part of this Cooler section is the end casing that have the G1/4 connectors on it. I soldered them in the right orientation to make sure the two Barrow 90° low profile fittings holes, goes face down:

Finally, I made two copper bracket to hold the bottom part of The Cooler to the grounded screw holes of the board. I cut them in copper plate from a noname cheap CPU waterblock, which I bought (two) last year for MP90 (to watercool his TECs) that was never used for. This plate is perfect to use for these brackets because it have tapped holes and it is in copper (easier to solder and lower risk of galvanic corrosion). I soldered them to the end casing of The Cooler.

To adapt this power supply to The Cooler and then, make them fit in a container, I had to modify The PSU.

To make sure the tube that cool down the two diodes bridges and power MOSFET can goes thru, I had to remove the diodes bridges heatsink and move the rectangular black capacitor + the small transformer.

I also had to upgrade and move those electrolytic capacitors to give the space for the two cooler fingers.

Then, I soldered the extension cables to connect the modular board (inside The Case) to the power supply. I used a car battery cable for the ground, red power supply extensions for STB5V, 5V, 3.3V & CTRL connections and then, a charcoal power supply extension for the 12V. Of course, those cable reduce the power rating security, particularly with the 12v. I calculated that those 16 gauge cables are safe at 5 amp (they can support way more), that give 480 Watt (8*5A=40A*12V=480W). My build will not use more thru the 12V.

Here is the before and after pictures.

Finally, I tested it and everything looks good!

I am very happy everything works. I made a lot of modifications and soldering on this part and I was only able to test it after everything was connected.

This is the last step to complete this water cooled power supply; fit The Cooler on The PSU.

First, I done paint + clear on The Cooler section and mounted it on the power board. Then, I placed many thermal pad/grease where it must be cooled. I also used some isolation sheet to avoid short circuit between the board and the pipes.

The Cooler needs his top section to be completed, so I soldered the 2 parts left and the two brackets I made to hold it.

Now, this WC PSU should be functional and leak free. Time to test!

Everything works perfectly without any leak, I am so happy! Making tape done. Paint and clear done.

It looks good, I love it!

The Salty time is coming!

My wife really like gummies (first picture of the log), but she also loves those north European salty liquorice (Salmiakki). She discovered this strange treat during her university session in Denmark 10 years ago. I tried to eat one the last time (her danish friend, Rie, send a package full of gift every year to my wife), and... well... I don't understand why she loves that. Anyway, this project is for her, then, I will fill it with candy that she loves. The good thing about this disgusting candy is that my kids will probably don't eat them.

This container is also the one with The WC PSU inside. This was the biggest challenge of this project and I finally did it.

I started by a protective clear coating on the back of the board and I put a big thermal pad between the back of the board and the acrylic back cover. Then, I fitted everything inside the container.

Little cleaning modifications (hole on right side) and reassembling of the bottom end of the container.

The Salty is now completed:

Another pictures:

Of course, the modular board is also part of it (fixed in the bottom of The Case).

Water cooled power supply inside a Vendesing container done!

The fourth and last container of the build is the one with the graphics card inside and a bucket of mixed fruit candy.

I bought this Zotac 1070ti mini for 160$ from a mining farm GPU reseller just before this virus infect FB marketplace. The price was low because the original fans were broken. This was an awesome deal for someone who plan to put a waterblock on it. The one I used is the only one I found that fit on this GPU; Bykski N-ST1070TIMINI-X

The 90° chrome fittings used to do the pass-thru junctions are low profile and did not swivel. I had to try many of them on each hole to find the perfect one for every section. I still believe I was lucky with those one.

I had to make some holes in the back of the container for the two pass-thru fittings, the 8 pins power cable and the PCI-E extension cable.

Everything fit perfectly!

The last part is the acrylic back plate.

The four coin mechanisms are part of another important element of the Sx4 concept; S​​​​​​on x 4. The idea is to modify each mechanism the way I can permanently stick a coin in the slot. Those four coins were made in the birth years of my boys: 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2020. The 2017 and 2020 one (with Caribou head on it) were hard to find because they are not in circulation, so, I bought them 2$ each.

The Mechanisms needed to be disassembled, modified and cleaned. The first mod was to remove the two fraud coin stopper:

The second mod was to remove (cut) the coin ejector pin. Then, I fixed the coins with superglue in a way that their year are in the 12 o'clock orientation.

The result is exactly what I expected; mechanisms work and the coins stay there.

I also modified the candy chute; I cut the side coin chute to gain more precious room in The Case, I also installed a small press button (power ON/OFF switch) in the side of one of them and I painted black their visible part (small lid outside The Case).

The last parts are the metal bridge (upper pictures) that hold the chutes and give more structural strength to The case. I sandblasted and painted them. The result of everything together is pretty good (lower pictures).

The real question is: how much time my kids will need to realize that Sx4 is an infinite free candy machine?

The plan is to replace the "USE QUARTER ONLY" sticker with a black plastic tag with the container's flavor according to the Sx4 concept; Sweet, Sour, S​​​​​alty & S​​​​​​picy

I found a cool textured surface black sheet of plastic in a dust corner of the garage and I copied the sticker's shape on it.


I made four of them and use a white pen to hand write the flavours.


Layers of double sided tape and voila!


Sx4!

Let's see if I can fit everything together.

First, I installed the switch and power plug. Then, the ground junction and the power supply modular board.


On the next pictures: The Protium ARGB ring, The Foot cable management cover mod (two pieces under The Monsta and another one in the back) and the last one shows the power+RGB+FAN cables along one of The Holders.



Installation of The Salty (WC PSU container) and The Case pump (WCP Watercool Vario D5) manually adjustable via a small hole.


Those pictures show The Salty and The Spicy installed. There's also some tubes and fittings in the free space between The Protium and The Cover. Those are the links between the reservoir and the pressure release valve end plug (that goes up The Cover), the reservoir and the two pumps, The Sour pump and the GPU block IN, the GPU block OUT and the monoblock. The two PCI-E extensions connect together there too. This is a real fittings Tetris game. I also have to figure how to place and connect the fourth container (Barrow THDJ20-V1 was the solution).


As you can see, the working space available is really limited.

Three containers need something that seal their top. The last thing I want is a melting candy on The Mobo/GPU/PSU. I used the same plastic black sheet previously used for:

​​​​​​The Salty and Spicy.


The Sweet


I also made a square acrylic cap for the center.


Yes! Everything fit tight!




Put them all together was big puzzle.

Like a skyscraper building that end up on the roof, The Cover is the last part to be assembled.

I needed to be very precise in the holes mesures (+-1mm). I cut them with zipcut grainder and hand metal saw. I finished with metal file.


Then, I applied 2x primer, 2x paint and 2x clear coating. The textured surface is the result of a primer layer on high heat (under the sun).


Everything fit perfectly




Skyscraper antennas!


I am so happy of the result!

Filling this loop by gravity is near impossible (no reservoir on the pumps). A lot of air are trapped inside every WC parts and both pumps have to much air to deal with. I had to plan an efficient and easy way to fill it. Here comes this special tool; a pressured water fire extinguisher.

This is pretty simple:
- G1/4 male male variable extender (it's an easy plug/unplug) in the hose end
- Fill the tank (+-1/4) with liquid
- Pressurize (10-15 psi) and it is ready to fill the loop.

The liquid is the same mix used for MP90; deionized water that contains bittering agent with a small part of Hy-per Diesel additive on it. This liquid is really good. My last build run with it for more than a year and everything looks same than first week; no corrosion, no deposit, no color change, nothing bad ever happen.


I forgot to take pictures while I was filling the loop but I think the explanation will be enough.

The best way to fill Sx4 loop is by fallowing this three steps:

1- Doing an obstruction in one of the two waterways in the bottom of The Protium (the one that connects the reservoir to the radiator). To do that, I cut a piece of hot glue stick (+-3/4"), then, I shaped the end (ensure the best sealing possible) and inserted it in the hole before put back the end plug. This obstruction force the liquid (who comes pressured from the extinguisher via the bottom valve) to go through The Sour > The Sweet > The Spicy > the case pump > The Salty > The Protium and finally, The Cover end.



2- Linking the extinguisher to the bottom valve and another tube from The Cover end to a dump bottle, then fill the system.


2.1- The pressure test is pretty aggressive, I put an end plug on The Cover end, pressured back the extinguisher to 10-15 PSI and use some tape to hold the handle. I left it under pressure few hours. I didn't found any leaks, so, I told myself that if there is no leak at 10-15 PSI, the risk of leak under pump pressure is way lower.

3- After removing the obstruction and the tubes, I put Sx4 on the side (to help to get rid of the remaining trapped air) and turned it ON. I set up the Vario pump at full speed for around 30 min to flush the maximum air from the system.


After doing all this procedure, Sx4 came back on his foot. I filled the small gap in the reservoir (filled by the top this time) with the EKWB 1 liter filling bottle.

​​​​​​​I use turn the build ON each time I go in the garage and everything seems to work perfectly. The next step is to fill the containers with candy.

In respect to the main theme and the name, Sx4 (S​​​​​​weet, S​​​​​​alty, S​​​​​​picy and S​​​​​​our), I had to choose four kinds of candy that meets those basic flavours. In addition, the candy must be hard (soft candy like gummies could get stuck in the containers), must be dust free and must not melt under 35°C.

This is what I bought (except for the salty liquorice bags; gift from Rie).

The Sweet is filled with mixed fruit:


The Salty received his Danish salty liquorice:


The Spicy have a mix of black anis and silver cola balls:


The Sour got Nerds layers:


This is an ultimate candy machine:


I can't wait to see the face of my wife!

The build is now full of candy and almost ready for her birthday. Last thing; test the PC again.


Everything works perfectly. Time to cover it for tomorrow (by the time of the pictures, it was the evening before her birthday).


She is really happy and impressed by the candy machine and kids ate a lot of sweet mixed fruit. Gen love the machine, she took a selfie with Sx4.


But, I think my 6 years old son is the most happy!


The toddler is so curious!


The Gift is a complete success!

When the dark room need some ambient light:


Salty and Spicy:


Sour and Sweet:


Underview:


Simple candy machine:

For this update, I took some pictures with a CAT S60 Flir camera.

I was curious to see the heat distribution on the build and also mesure the hot spot (was 32°C when I took the pictures).

The thermal view of the candy machine:


There are Sx4 four containers:


The rad:


Another angle:


Again:


Those pictures gave me the temptation to buy the CAT S61...

For this shooting session, I used a "candy" pink curtain background trying to make it like "professional" pictures with my wife Canon EOS T6.

Sweet and Spicy side lights off:


Sweet and Spicy side lights (green) on:


Salty and Sour side:


Recto verso lights off:


I like this view angle, lights (pink) on:

I found and restored a second Vendesing mfg to keep it original and unmodified. I also kept the original charcoal paint color. My wife asked me if she can change the candy choice in Sx4 for something else she prefers. I replied her: this is your machine you know, I gave it to you. You can put every "machine compatible" candy if you want. But, I have another one in the garage that only need to be cleaned and painted (touch up on little rust spots), I can do that and place it in the play room.

Like I promised, I made it (I finished it in the evening before she gave birth) in the perfect timing.

The machine looks empty, I didn't have enough candy to fill it for the pictures. Those containers can contain much more candy than they appear. They can easily be filled with more than 5kg each.

Sx4 vs Original pictures:




Vendesing mfg.:



Which one do you prefer?