Our local staff networking specialist was in the design stages of his first case mod and asked for suggestions on choosing a reservoir. Without giving away too many details on his awesome case which you will be seeing soon as an article, I suggested a 24-oz beer can. “Has to be something I can do though”, he said.

Well that did it, time for another how-to article.

This mod demonstrates a point I make all the time—custom mods are not always extremely complicated, expensive, projects. Some only require a novel, well thought out approach. In this instance, the space in the case and the theme was perfect for a 24-oz beer can. The question was how to turn one into a quality reservoir that didn’t look trashy with goop for glue and silicone on the fittings, etc. No welding or exotic hard-to-use tools. Of course, it has to work great.

Select a can that suits your project. It can be a beer can, soda can, or any other container within reason. For our example, we chose a 24-oz Bud can. We started by thinking our location and plumbing through. If possible, place the can in the case, and use a marker to make a dot where each fitting will go. Be sure to rotate the can so the nice side is showing. An upright position is slightly better performance wise because warm water is fed into the top inlet and, as it cools,  drops to the bottom and the outlet. Vertical is not absolutely necessary if your application favors a flat mounting.

When you have your inlet and outlet locations marked on the can with a dot, use a nail or other sharp object to gently pierce a small hole at both locations to drain the contents. This would be a good time to remind you NOT to puncture an aerosol can like spray paint or oven cleaner. Puncturing both holes speeds the draining process a lot as air can enter one hole. When it’s drained, rinse and dry the can so it won’t be sticky.

If you have a circle template, select the right size for your fitting, and mark a circle on the can slightly smaller than the fitting. I just used the fitting as a template, marking around it. We want a fit that requires us to actually thread the fitting into the hole, so test fit as you go, making the hole larger as needed. Resist the urge to drill the hole as the drill bit will beat the thin sides of the can to death.

I used a number 11 Xacto knife and was able to cut both holes in less than 10 minutes, even pausing for pictures. Go slowly, and work toward your line—remembering to test fit as you go. We want a very close fit, to the point where you need to thread the fitting into the hole.