Scratch Build – In Progress COMPLETED - Watercooled CarPC - November 12th. Danish CaseModding Champion! :)

Nice progress Angel .

 

I like the work you are putting into it, but I'll never get into the idea of a car pc. My van is a power-hog as it is. If I don't get the door closed properly, it will drain the battery overnight.

 

Waynio <- Ty Sir!

Cheaps <- Well, I guess it depends on how you hook it up and/or how you wish to use it.

The Carnetix PSU that I bought for this will max out at 90 watts, so as long as the engine is running there's no problems. My long-beam pulls 200 watts combined...

Also the PSU is made so it can be set up to turn on the pc when you turn the ignition key. At the same time it shuts down the pc when turned off.
I set it up so it has a 15 second delay before it shuts down windows. In case of engine stall and such.

With this setup it's not going to stay on when I'm not in the car. Hence no drain on the battery!

I got to admit that I COULD use an extra battery in the trunk, as my headlights flash when I crank the volume as it is... And I only use my phone as a headunit right now!

 

How many watts are you running through it already? Also, you might consider a series of 1F caps - supposedly much the same effect as another battery in the trunk, without the wiring tricks or need for a special battery (since the average wet cell would be a bad idea for a trunk)

More OT, this is the sickness - makes my 1/2" x 1/16" bar stock and hand ******* file feel that much more humble

 

Ser lækkert ud mate Kom og lav det samme på min cykel

 

Nice work so far. I have just seen your wii mod and it's awesome! Keep up the good work mate!

 

Ohh that frontpanel came out really nice even without a testpiece. Im about to do the same soon and I could only dream of results like this.

 

Very nice idea and brilliant craftsmanship als always Angel. Looking forward to whats next to come.

 

I shall thank thee all!

And another very small update.

I milled off another 1mm of the front part so it fits the mobo:



Then I made the 2 handles for the case:

Screwed the two "feet" onto an aluminum plate to make it sit tight and not move when welding:



The handle just pushed on:



And welded, not my best work but I only weld once or twice a year:



Then I went to my old workshop to get some acid for the weldings.



That's it for now. My girlfriend is having her birthday tomorrow so no update then. Hopefully during next week though!

 

Nice work on the handles .

 

I like the handles in the last pic....did acid make the welding look smooth?

 

You have access to welding equipment too? (I know... state the obvious.)

 

Very nice mod! You are a crazy man and I love it!!

 

Waynio <- Thanks!

Ziiggy <- It's just a weldpaste that contains hydrofluoric acid. It doesn't really do anything to the weld itself, but it removes the discoloration from the welding.

Cheaps <- Yup, TIG, MIG and MAG. Name your poison, I have access!

 

I know you guys missed me, so here's a little something for you!

Since it's a national holiday today, I decided to go to work!

First up, I hacked an old CPU cooler the other day since the stock one got too hot, and since I havn't started on the WC parts, I needed something for now:



BTW. I got a new screen! I'll get to some pics another day as it's not that important right now! Little teaser:



Now to what the day was all about!

The curved PC front. I've been dreading getting this done, as I have no experience in that area whatsoever! But you never learn if you don't try.

The first attempt was decent. But I didn't know wether to mill the hole before of after heatbending.

Decided to go with - Before.

Front PC milled:



Mold in the oven at 175-180 degrees centigrade:



20 minutes later there was not much of a result.

But yet another 20 minutes in:



A slight push on the top with my thumb, and it was perfect. I let the ovendoor just a little open to allow it to cool down slowly.

Once it cooled down I got a lesson of what happens when you work faster than your head can follow... I had left the protective film on!



As luck would have it the film came right off, and I actually believe that it turned out better than if I would have taken it off before putting it in the oven!

Aluminum part put in:





And this is how it looks mounted:


That's it for today.

You may have noticed there's a new backplate on it as well! I'll get that done tomorrow and update when done!

 

Nice plexiwork! This thing is getting better and better.

One thing, you mentioned using a normal hard drive, isn't that going to break due to shocks in the car? Maybe a SSD is a safer (and more expensive) option.. Just a thought, I'm really not a hdd expert..

 

TotalGaos <- You are very right! Although I have only broken 1 drive in 2 years / apprx. 20.000 miles, there is no doubt that an SSD is the best choice! And there will be one in there some day when I find about $150 in my budget!

 

I expected that the thin strip of the plexi would have deformed while waiting for the rest of the piece to heat up. It turned out great.

Happy Store Bededag (thank you Wikipedia).
Shouldn't you be in church?

 

wahoomcdaniel <- That was one of my fears as well, but luckily that didn't happen!

Last I checked I was not a man of the cloth which means I have no business in the church.

 

Nice one Angel I needed that +rep Nice job on the acrylic curve too, looks perfect .