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Modding The Beginning of All Things - A Novice Mod.

Discussion in 'Modding' started by joavery, 10 Jul 2009.

  1. joavery

    joavery Huh. So it CAN burn...

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    Greetings all. After lurking for some time, and patiently waiting for materials and time to come forth from their protected caves, I am venturing into my first case mod. Suffice it to say however, I have few engineering queries for the experienced out there.

    Being an amateur carpenter, I intend to build an antique style desk out of cherry wood. It is a fairly simple desk, with a bank of drawers on each side. The catch being that the left side is not really a bank of drawers at all, rather faux covers housing a monolith of a computer.

    The idea that inspired this is that I've never been satisfied with two things in computing:

    Temperature
    Dust.

    I am making the entire system air tight, in the sense that except for the two square feet of intake on the front, and two square feet of rear exhaust, no air can enter or exit the system. On either side of these intakes will be standardized air filters, with the channels cut to very strict specifications to prevent dust entry.

    Water cooling will be combined with large scale fans (so as to create a pressure system encouraging airflow. The entire inside of the case will be lined with aluminum caulked at the seams, with a simple drainage system should the catastrophic happen with water cooling.

    I hope I've elucidated my plan well enough to those that can provide help:

    The following questions plague me:

    What are the static-electricity ramifications of placing insulatory fiber products (the filters) near an electrical system?

    With a custom made aluminum shell surrounded by dense cherry wood, will I be in danger of insulating my case too much? I'm hoping to mitigate these effects through dual-system heat cooling and a passive fan system.

    What risks do I run by only having one direction of air flow. Many modern cases have side ventilation to pull air directly onto the motherboard. Having not taken many fluid dynamics classes during college, it would common-sense appear that this would disrupt airflow, but this is why I ask.

    And, alas, the plague of all late evening forum posts, I forgot the remaining questions I intended to ask.

    So without further ado, I genuflect to you, the computer guru, and beg in the most pathetic fashion imaginable for advice. Thankee.
     
    Last edited: 25 Jul 2009
  2. ModMinded

    ModMinded Are you throwing that away?

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    Wow, such a florid turn of tongue deserves a response, even from such a humble student of modding as myself. ;)

    I really think this is a great idea. I think you are over-worrying the results of static electricity. I think it will be negligible. Afterall, many people use fans and filters on a daily basis, and it's not like the filters will be directly contacting the fan blades, right?

    I think the only problem with the single direction air flow would be the output. I don't know if you are planning to place the back of the desk against a wall or facing the room, but that might influence my choice of design. I think if you have a nice wind tunnel of air entering front to back, you will no problems. I only worry about it blasting straight into a wall, or into the face of a person sitting across from you. Maybe a duct to force it down or to the side??
    I think the side directed fans in most normal cases are to aid GFX and/or CPU heatsinks shed a little heat.

    As for excessive insulation, it may get a little warmer than a metal case on its own, but with enough air cooling, your chips should be fine, I'd think. (You could always test this first by building the metal enclosure, encasing it in a close approximation of the wood surround you plan to build, and stress testing it/running it normal usage and watching stats)

    The great thing about forums, and these in particular, is that they're open 24hrs, 7days a week (usually) and any new ideas/question that forment and bubble to the consciousness at any moment can be posted for the vast horde of insomniac modding devotees across the globe (and in many different time zones!)

    Welcome to Bit-Tech! :dremel:

    There have been a few desk mods embarked upon. Look for XtraFresh's log, and there was another based on wood from Hurricane Katerina... I've lost touch with the progress, and forget the names involved. Sounds like you're confident of the carpentry?
     
  3. Yourmum366

    Yourmum366 First-Time Modder

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    Sounds like a fantastic idea!

    Another idea: have the faux drawers, but mount them on a hinge, so you can open them to see a case window in the front, so you can use the gag of "It's in the top left drawer" and then have your victim surprised to see a PC in there...
    Just a thought.

    Looking forward to seeing this, especially from someone that is trained to use the materials properly!

    And welcome to Bit-Tech! :thumb:
     
    Last edited: 10 Jul 2009
  4. ModMinded

    ModMinded Are you throwing that away?

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  5. joavery

    joavery Huh. So it CAN burn...

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    I'm working at a summer camp this next week, so its doubtful that CAD pics will be incoming, but I do intend on screwing around with it a bit tonight, will see what my labor results in.
     
  6. joavery

    joavery Huh. So it CAN burn...

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    Well well well.

    After tearing a ligament in my ankle with these darn kids at summer camp and paying for medical expenses therein, it seems the cosmic god of Karma has decided to delay my plans a bit... will see where things go from here.
     
  7. ModMinded

    ModMinded Are you throwing that away?

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    Well keep up the cad work while you recuperate! Sorry to hear about the ligament. Those darn kids! :D
     
  8. joavery

    joavery Huh. So it CAN burn...

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    Okay. So I'm a Mechanical Engineer, mild experience with Fluids, but not enough to guarantee this thing to work...

    ModMinded got me thinking about ventilation early on, especially about his comment about where the desk will be, if it will be near a wall. Now, as this desk is going to be designed in a Victorian closed style, ventilation at the back would look odd, apart from the fact that until I have the office of my dreams, it will be against a wall.

    The idea of this case mod is that it takes up two standard sized file-drawers, and could be replaced by file drawers in the future if need be.

    Because of this, the intake, AND exhaust are on the front of the machine. As I stated in my first post, I'm loathe towards dust, and I intend on placing a residential grade air filter in front of this thing. (Probably a finer grade if I can find them for cheap enough.)

    The problem that occurs to my mind is - a certain amount of air flow (force) is required to pass air through a filter. I have my ideal fans set up in a 4-1 ratio. That is, for every 1 fan blowing in 4 are blowing out (hopefully) creating a pressure differential.


    The intake would be a solid state chamber that is directed from the bottom of the front of the case, under the chamber, up into the back, and the exhaust would be at the top of the front, like such:
    ____ _____________________
    <---{****************<-***}
    <---{****************<-***}
    <---{****************{****}
    <---{****************{****}
    ***{****************{****}
    ***{________________{****}
    --->{*********************}
    ***{_____________________}

    * = open air, forums truncate my spaces : (
    __ = solid divider, whether ceiling or floor of case, or bottom of cool air duct.
    {} = forward / backward walls.
    ---> <--- = Air flow.

    In many modern computers, they just have a boatload of fans blowing in, hoping that the excess pressure will find its own way out through the tolerances of the steel frame.

    My fear then becomes, if my fans are not blowing a sufficient psi/kpa, will my air simply stagnate inside the box, refusing to move? I'm hoping not, that the air will move sufficiently through, while still blocking dust, creating a circular system where cold air comes in through the bottom, is circulated to the rear, passes forward over the motherboards, and then is pushes out the front by many fans.
     
    Last edited: 24 Jul 2009
  9. Burnout21

    Burnout21 Mmmm biscuits

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    ooo i noticed a cache 22 in your design, your intake is at the bottom to draw in cold air with the hope that hot air exhausted will rise once out of the case.

    However dust being your great enemy, sucking air in so close to the ground those filter will soon become blocked with all sorts.

    The 4:1 ratio on fans seems well thought out, but the case would have to be really well sealed so a negative pressure can be generated with in the case. However by creating negative pressure air will only want to be pulled into the case via the tinist of gaps.

    Therefore go with a postive pressure, forcing as much air into a space, which forces it to find a way out, so any intakes that have filters will keep dust out, and the air pressure being positive with in the case forces dust out aswell, rather than sucking it in.

    All clean rooms and operating theaters are positive pressure rooms, so when a door is opened air is blow out, rather than sucked in.
     
  10. Rotcrack

    Rotcrack Food Maestro.

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    I just have one problem with that! Wood in itself is not air tight air can seep through wood. You would have to use some good glue or epoxy toseal up all the joints. And dust can get in the intake and not go out of the outake, if its get caught behind one of the sticks of RAM or and other parts.
     
  11. Nanosec

    Nanosec absit iniuria verbis

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    I quite have to agree with Burnout. One other factor involved is your max differential....with a negative D/P you are limited to one atmosphere of negative pressure(can't get any lower than 0 absolute) but with a positive pressure you are only limited by your fans and case construction. So even if you only develop 2 atmospheres of D/P with positive pressure, you have essentially doubled your possible airflow over a negative pressure system.

    Nanosec
    currently employed as a Test Engineer in the Nuclear test department of Electric Boat:D
     
  12. joavery

    joavery Huh. So it CAN burn...

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    @Rotcrack - That's why the inside of the case is lined with caulked aluminum. Even if a barely quantifiable amount of air were able to find its way out, it would likely have next to zero chance of being able to carry dust particles with it, and even if that were the case that it could, it wouldn't be lacing my computer with dust in the fashion that modern computers get covered.

    @Burnout, Nanosec - Thanks for the positive differential advice, especially the part about 0-1 and 1+ atmospheres, makes complete sense. The way I have it set up now (in my mind) is with the large Mobo chamber at the bottom, with a large fan blowing air in. The air warms, rises into a small upper chamber that houses the PSU's, and is exhausted through a couple of fans and a passive exhaust vent.

    The idea being however that intakes AND exhausts will be covered by one massive filter. I don't care if I have to clean that filter once a week, its a better prospect to me than having to clean sensitive electronic parts off, and a lot easier.

    I'm still however worried that depending on the type of filter I use, I may be trying to force air through a concrete wall. For the types of filters that go over our heating ducts at home, what kind of dust blockage do they generate? Is it hard to pass air through them? Or should I be looking at a different kind of material entirely?

    Edit: To give you guys an idea of what my cooling would be like, I would like to have a fan like this for my intake. At the top would be 2x120mm fans and some open space for exhaust. Hmm, after a bit more research though, I notice the 360mm fan only moves 126 CFM, while 2x120's move a combined 90CFM. Not exactly the pressure differential I was looking for. I may have to look into stacking 120's.

    PS: Cadwork will probably be incoming tomorrow evening. Took me a while to figure out Sketchup, its leagues different from ProE, SolidWorks, Autocad, and RobotStudio of which I'm accustomed to.
     
    Last edited: 25 Jul 2009
  13. joavery

    joavery Huh. So it CAN burn...

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    Hey. Long time no see. Been far too busy to do regular updates.

    Got a top down model going for you guys to check out. Right now I'm in the process of teaching myself COSMOS FloWorks through Solidworks to get a real-time view of my cooling ideas.

    To explain each region:

    Obviously this is all in one large drawer (15" by 30")

    At the front there is an aluminum housing (marked in rust) that houses the filter (a custom aluminum plate sandwiching filter material)

    In black are the intake and exhaust fans (Thinking 6 x 120 intake Nexus 6 dB fans, 3 x 120 exhaust.)

    Then there is a large internal tray on drawer slides, on here are the two motherboards (gaming computer, server computer.) To the right of this I'm currently thinking up ways of putting the PSU's , a HD Tray, and the Res / Pump / Rad trifecta. On the far right is an aluminum shield that sandwiches some acrylic for a removable window. Hopefully this can at least keep your interest until I get more detailed Cadwork imported.

    I do have one question in the meantime however: What kind of signal degredation do I have to worry about when concerning eSATA and USB cables anywhere from 9 - 12 feet in length? I ask this because while the computer will be housed in one giant left side drawer, I will be running tread cable to the desktop, where custom built cherry wood monitor stand will have in the base 4xOptical, 4 x USB, LED screen, as well as the monitor plugins, and AC power.

    Piccie:
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     

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