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Case Mod - In Progress Project: Lumière Noire by E.E.L. Ambiense - Completed

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by E.E.L. Ambiense, 8 Apr 2008.

  1. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    Thanks, Ediejo! Very kind of you!


    Awesome. I got the tracking #. Thanks a million again, Bill.

    Thanks, John. Man, that pic looks so weird seeing things from that angle. Everything turned out as well as it could, thanks to the volunteer fire dept's manpower across Florida and other states who helped out.

    Burn, baby....burn!
     
  2. Ediejo

    Ediejo What's a Dremel?

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    I love Lian Li for me it’s the best case factory. And when somebody makes it nicer I only can appreciate that. :rock:
     
  3. Angel OD

    Angel OD Pump Killer

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    Darn E.E.L ...
    You just can't do anything wrong huh? :thumb:

    Just fell by and had to compliment you on this newest project! :) Frikkin awesome!
     
  4. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    Absolutely, Ediejo! Usually you're the one making them better! :)

    Thanks, Angel! Haven't see you around in a bit. Thanks for the kind words, bro!
     
  5. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    June 2nd Update!

    Update time!

    Kind of, anyways. And I'm sorry for taking so long in posting an update. Like I've said in my other log, things have been weird at work.

    Now, let me say first that I didn't work on the case itself, but...I worked on something that goes with it, so I figured it's valid. Now let me state first that I dropped a hint of this awhile back in my "Building Better Worlds" log, but no one either caught on or cared, lol. So here it is. Slapped in the face. And front and center in this update.

    I have this monitor.

    [​IMG]

    I hate this monitor.

    Aside from the crappy TN panel in it, and the even crappier company IMHO, I hate it.

    The model is the Sceptre x22wg-Gamer 22" LCD. I decided to make me un-hate this monitor. And the only way for me to do that is to try to bypass the corners that were cut in it's design and build from the manufacturer. I had nothing but problems with this damn thing. And many many others have too, simply by reading all the complaints on a lot of forums out there about the same bloody problems. "DVI signal being lost and monitor shutting off", blah blah blah. Yeah, I had that problem too. And it turns out after 3 RMA's that it's the damn control board itself; it's overheating! And this is due to Sceptre sucking the stink off of rotten eggs in the design dept.for these damn things. So....I decided to fix that problem. Let's see where I went with this, shall we?

    First off, gotta tear into it. And being the fact I've had the monitor a total of 3 months out of a 12 month period because it's always been in RMA is kind of funny. Even more funny is that it only had a 12 month warranty. Boo. No warranty? Never stopped me before. Hell, I feel kinda bad that I don't have a warranty to void! So, let's mod this bitch.

    [​IMG]

    Yeah! I like it already! Die, you worthless POS, DIE!

    And here's that thing I dropped a hint of in BBW's log. It's the control board casing from this monitor.

    [​IMG]

    Now, here's what I'm doing to this thing... Yup, making an entirely new casing out of acrylic for it.

    [​IMG]

    Sideways, it'll look like this.

    [​IMG]

    And switch panel closeup. Tight tolerance.

    [​IMG]

    The switches had to be cut by hand with a saw and polished as well as possible for the control board. It took an hour or so to make just the switches, but I got them together.

    And after literally 30+ hours of minuscule measuring and double-triple checking, I decided to try it out and see what I got. Here's the result.

    [​IMG]

    The control panel on the stock junk monitor was located on the back. I didn't want it there anymore. And I also didn't want the USB pass-throughs either. So I removed them. and I relocated the control panel to the front.

    Here's the etching I did for the control layout.

    [​IMG]

    ...And installed. Lookin' better already. No thanks to Sceptre. :grr:

    [​IMG]

    ...And here's the back of the monitor after it's been installed in its new home.

    [​IMG]

    Now for the front. Here's the bare TFT.

    [​IMG]

    ...And with the front lined up and installed. Much better than stock, IMHO. I put a layer of clear acrylic covering the TFT itself underneath the grey acrylic, and no...glare's not bad at all. Considering the room this is all going in is dark by nature anyways, it's cool. And yes, all the acrylic lines up just about perfectly with the TFT itself. Practically spot-on, so nothing's covered up on the edges. :rock:

    [​IMG]

    Now, the moment of truth: Testing it to make sure it actually works still. :worried: But hey, that's what being hardcore is about, right? Modding is about having a pair (figuratively speaking, of course...to all the lady modders out there!), and you gotta show them sometimes.

    3.....



    2.....



    1.......



    boom. Just kidding. Hooked up to BBW for testing purposes.

    [​IMG]

    Success!! Now for desktop.....

    [​IMG]

    Yes! Great! In glorious 1680 x 1050 res. I didn't realize how much I missed having a large monitor, until now. It's literally been sitting in pieces on my bench for at least 6 months, so it'll be nice to get Lumière Noire all done up so I can game in high res again. I miss it.

    Oddly enough, the monitor feels about the same weight-wise versus stock. :hehe: Oh, and look.....it's not....overheating anymore! Wow, what a concept! :rolleyes:

    I have some minor things to do on the monitor like polishing, touching stuff up, and I'm going to surround it all with a mesh layer to cut things from getting into the inside of it. I also need to sleeve and run an LED to the bottom front for status. I'll snap some finished pics of it when I'm all done and buttoned up with it. And of course getting a monitor arm strong enough to hold the beast, but those things will come to pass in time, like tears in rain. Or buying crappy monitors. :grr:

    -------------
    Until the next update, I got nuthin'. :thumb:
     
  6. Asulc

    Asulc Minimodder

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    I have the same monitor. I will probably be selling it and buying a 24 inch sometime soon so I can watch HD movies... and then I will mod that monitor. Haha

    Can you post any pics of how you rewired the buttons?

    Looks stunning by the way! Really inspired me to start thinking about more than just a case to mod!
     
  7. craigbru

    craigbru Cramming big things in small boxes since 2006

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    Glad to see an update! (even if it's a monitor, which looks great by the way :thumb:) It's almost like you're trying to buy time for not having work done on the case... (Okay, now never mind the basement pics in my own log...) :D
     
  8. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    Nice monitor solution. You should add a fan if they suck that badly. How'd you get the text highlighted? Is it paint in an etch?

    I have a Toshiba FPM in the closet that showed "operation time:123456 hrs" and then died.
    Any idea if some of it could be salvaged? I'm at a total loss when it comes to monitors.
     
  9. Guest-23315

    Guest-23315 Guest

    Aweful moniter to quite nice moniter....

    I like it.
     
  10. Oreon_237

    Oreon_237 CHEA BRO!

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    haha QFT
    I like it as well!
     
  11. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    HAHA Awesome. Looks like a Samsung now lol.
     
  12. liratheal

    liratheal Sharing is Caring

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    Holy Jesus tits.

    That monitor is hot!

    I love the custom buttons, totally worth the time spent. Looks absolutely fantastic, along with the rest of the job!

    Out of curiosity, do you cut all this by hand, or do you have access to some laser cutters?
     
  13. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    Thanks! Nothing rewired, as this monitor has a separate switch board with a lead from the mainboard for switch control. All I did was relocate it.

    :hehe: Nah, Craig....I'm not ignoring the case; the next step is getting the chassis coated. I just need time to do so. Hopefully soon, after BBW is totally done, I'll concentrate entirely on Lumière Noire. And the two other cases I'm modding currently as well. LOL.

    I thought of adding a fan, but decided passive is fine. The board has a nice semi-open path(s) of air for it to be cooled instead of locked up tight inside a cheap plastic prison from the manufacturer.

    The etching naturally takes on a lighter color than the plastic it's etched into, so it kind of highlights it already. Some actually do paint the etching while the masking is still on it, but I wanted a "whitish" etch for the control panel. Plus, it's less work! :hehe:

    Oh, man...that sucks! I'm not sure what could be. I'm kind of a noob when it comes to monitor innards.

    Thanks, man!

    Hahahaha! And that's a compliment!

    LOL. Jesus tits!

    I appreciate the kind words! I have occasional access to lasers.
     
  14. Asulc

    Asulc Minimodder

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    Did you have to lengthen the wires?
     
  15. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    No, not at all. I just sleeved everything.
     
  16. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    I will forgive liratheal for obviously not reading any of your threads because he said the tits thing.
     
  17. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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  18. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    You should so put a white LED behind each of those buttons.
     
  19. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    I should put red behind them...which, oddly enough...is the eventual plan! ;) I have the leads from the...what passes for speakers on the stock unit...which should suffice as far as power goes. I just need to find the time to do it.
     
  20. x06jsp

    x06jsp da ginger monkey!!!!

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    looks great e.e.l :thumb:
     
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