Case Mod - In Progress NZXT Lexa -Experimental Modyssey - June 5 - new CCFL, lighting question

Hey guys, thanks!
Sorry it's been so long without updates. I've been a bit distracted recently and haven't had much modding time. I'll get this to final pics stage at least...

 

well its been a while since ive seen you around..i was wondering about the case so i had to make some time to ceck your progress...it looks good your almost down to the last few pieces and alot of detail work im sure but you have done a great job and the results will show, i cant wait to see it work. btw i have 3/8'' amber scraps about 20'' square. i made a sweet night stand from the bigger pieces.

 

Thanks plasticFAB,
Yeah, I got somewhat distracted, and put it to the side for now. Posts like yours are making me feel like I need to get some more progress shots and log entries in!

Any pics of the plexi nightstand? That sounds kinda cool!

 

Request for input on color scheme

I've been spending a little more time modding (working on electronics now), and am now thinking of redoing the interior paint plan...

I'm torn between solid black (which I think will help the UV elements pop out and not be washed out) and something like white or another UV green or blue treatment.

I've been reading some threads on OCN where modders have used the PlastiDip treatment on the interior with good effects, and gotten excited about that idea.

I'm inclined to black, since the outside is black, with a little silver and blue.
I've got the 2 blue led fans, and just added a green led fan for the front.

 

If you want to change the interior colour I would go with gloss or satin black, don't do matte like I did, not really a great outcome I think lol.

 

Mini-Update - Plexi and plans

Thanks for the advice TB4O. I'm going to pick up a can and see what it looks like, but that'll have to wait till I wrap a few things up.

I've been doing a few small things here and there with wiring and working on the power bus on a breadboard (didn't like the terminal strip). I've been a little leery so far since that burn up. I'll get some pics up when I get to a better working stage, but so far what I've done was figure out cable lengths, do some sleeving and attach some 3 pin fan headers/molexes. I've managed to melt out the middle contact on one of my rocker switches while attempting to desolder the wire I'd connected previously, so I need to get another one of those (possibly a matching set), and I somehow managed to lose my last blue LED for the fan controller/diode bus indicator, so another will need to be gotten at the same time.
I'm looking for the appropriate connectors for some of the pcb pins/headers that I've salvaged from older junked pieces I've acquired.
Here's what I've been using for planning:

(Good luck deciphering the writing and plan! )

Also I've been doing some work on all that plexi, which has been another stumbling block for me.
I was unhappy with the finish on the cable looms for the ODD bay that I made. The tool marks were still very visible, especially in the holes, so I started over with 220 grit sand paper.


I'm redoing the sides as well, as there were a few deep marks there too that just stuck out to me.
Oh yeah, I wanted to ask for suggestions to clean some sticky residue from plexi. There are remnants of tape inbetween the top layer and the body of the loom (see the pic of one separated for example). I want to make sure I can use something like GooGone (I think that's what I have in the garage, or maybe its GoofOff) without causing crazing. I know there's specialty made acrylic cleaners/polishers, but if I can avoid buying some more stuff, I'd like that!

 

wow.. they look sweet as!

greatr work

 

I have used orange oil on plexi before to clean it without any trouble (also works well for removing thermal grease lol).

 

Don't use the googone. It'll wreck the plexi!
I use oil, then get rid of the oil residue with soap. Plexi polish is oily enough to remove it too if you have any.

 

thanks DonT-FeaR! Those are actually the before shots! Wait till I get them back up to the 1000+ grit and some polish, as well!

Thanks for the tip!

Thanks for the tips!

I vaguely recalled reading something about the goof off vs googone difference re thermal grease cleansing (one was good, one was bad) but wasn't sure if it carried over to plexi. Now I know...

I would HATE to craze the hell out of this, after all the time and energy I've put into them. :nonono:

 

New Stuff:
I had to go to Sacramento today for work, so I went to Fry's on my lunch break.
I walked out with almost everything on my shopping list, and a couple other things that I hadn't the foresight to know I wanted. )
I couldn't find the same style lit rocker switch, nor the blue led I wanted.
I did however pick up 3 switches (2 with keys! hehehe) :rubs hands with glee:
The toggle switch I picked up just to have something to switch the lights on for now with... I'll have to make something to mount it into the hole I cut for the old switch... or something. It'll be useful in the future, even if I don't keep it here.
I also picked up 50x 3mm leds, 25 each red & green. I'd been wanting some smaller 3mm leds. Wish they had UV though... I want to see what the effect is in the different plexi pieces I have.

Since I'm trying to incorporate some electronics knowledge here, I wanted to use a thru-hole board to lay out some flashing circuitry, so I picked up a few related items. A couple sizes of IC sockets for the future, and a bunch of .100 KK (2.56mm) connectors, housings and some right angle headers for the same.

Not pictured are the 2 $0.99 Laser pointers (believe it or not, they were on the list!) and the set of hookup wires for breadboarding.

I couldn't find a header like the kind you get on a floppy drive. Don't know what it's called "officially." I'd love to use the useless floppy power cable segment to run the board. Also, the only connectors I saw in the right sizes weren't keyed (like the fan 3 pin, or a regular 4pin molex) ... that's gonna be a slight issue later in terms of maintanence and pulling it apart.

EDIT
I took some shots of the plexi after the wire path toolmarks eradication effort. They came out pretty crappy, but I culled the best of the lot for you. I told you about breaking my old camera, right? Well I got the same model store demo version off ebay, and have been using it.
You might not be able to tell, but most of the clear holes are toolmark free... I see one in the pic.

Here you go:





I'm planning on using the UV LEDs here, by inserting one into the front end of each piece. that way the LED beam will shoot towards the case (and lighting it up somewhat), and wiring will be more easily hidden from view.
Also, that UV inverter is needing to be replaced. The uneven dimness still is a problem.
Ah, so many things to do...

 

looks like you got some nice stuff.. cant wait to see more

 

Awesome...
Good job.

 

Sweet

 

Thanks for the comments, guys! More will come...

 

I stopped by my "local" electronic's store (Al Lasher's) and got a couple bits and pieces. I got that extra blue LED I needed, and a 4pin header for power from the floppy. I couldn't find a floppy-style keyed 4 pin header, but this should work. I also picked up a little soldering iron cleaner, and 2 green LED toggle switches. Their shaft diameter is much narrower than the hole I cut for the old switches, so I'll have to make some washers out of plexi. I've been wanting to do this for a while, since I saw Cheapskate's methods on a drill press, but never had an immediate need.

Here's some plexi pics of the sanding work I've been doing:


These are some of the pieces I've been working on, after a round of 220g.
After those shots were taken, I went back into the garage and went over a few more spots with 220 that showed some tooling. The hard part about wetsanding plexi to me (besides the time and monotony) is that I can't really see the scratches until it's fully dried. I guess I could aid their drying with the heater/fan I keep in the garage, but I haven't felt like adding heat.

I spent a lot of time with 500 today. I found that a sharpie pen's barrel is the perfect size for sanding the interior curves of the drilled holes. I used an old one so I didn't care about dipping it in the water and I was good to go.




Another creative reuse for tooling (aka McGuyver Modding) was my coat hanger sander. It's not ideal... I'd like something a tiny bit thicker and sturdier, but it does a pretty good job. I wrapped the wire with tape, and put a bend it it to apply more localized pressure. I can pinch the ends of the sandpaper together while gripping the other end and hanger part which gives it a nice bowed tension.




Anyone see something wrong here? I'll wait...

Spoiler

Yes, one of the green LEDs is missing a leg/lead. To much wiggling caused it to break right off.
I had a couple extras of that same one, so I quickly desoldered the existing group, then soldered them all back up. I did it much better this time, trimming the ground leads to size before soldering them to the neighbor, so I didn't have a big bunch of lead and gobs of solder. I had to place them in the holes in the case to space them out properly. Soldering wasn't that hard despite being in the case, but I realized afterwards I should have used the plexi outer piece to hold them in place on the table to make my life easier. Soldering a moving target is hard!

In the case where they belong. The wires I cut a little long on purpose to let me play with the routing. They'll be sleeved individually in yellow when set to the right size, and capped with a 6 pin connector. The 2 Black ground wires will be joined together.

 

Excellent work MondMinded
Very nice work.

 

Thanks Migui (but there's no N in my tag!)

This has not been the great day electronically that I hoped.
I've had 2 leds have their legs snap off and I just let the magic smoke out... It seems to be still working somewhat, without a couple LEDs working, but I think I fried a diode or 2.

:grrr:

 

Eureka!

I was feeling pretty burnt out (pun intended) after that last experience... but... now all is well in the world. (well, my little modding part of it at least.)

I got connectors onto the other switch and led array, and tested them out. It worked great, so I plugged the original leds into that switch, and it worked perfectly. After multimeter checking the burnt diode controller, I couldn't find anything wrong, so suspected that I was just getting a poor connection via the kk headers I'd salvaged from an old board. Then, I used some new right angle headers that have a much longer leg to stick (and stay) in the breadboard, and Eureka! It works... no repairs needed, no more purchases (except for some new straight up kk headers!)

Video below:

 

looks awesome good work