Case Mod - In Progress Project: Bärsärkar-gång, 25th December, no update; Every Who down in Whoville says...

This is a worklog already in progress so I'll be playing catch up to bring things up to date. Comments, advice, and suggestions welcome!

Technically this is a found case mod but much of it is scratch built. The design theme is another retro mod where I'm trying to fit everything into a 12x10x6 1940s heater and oh yes, there will be brass. Technical challenges are water cooling a SFF MB in a small case with low power and then see how far it can be pushed. What's up with the name? Keep watching, it'll all make sense.

Parts are as follows:

Zotac 9300 ITX Wifi
Intel E8400
Crucial Ballistix 2x2GB PC 6400 4-4-4-12
Corsair M64 SSD
Galaxy 9600GT LP LP
PW-200-V 200 Watt DC DC PSU
XBOX 360 203 Watt AC DC brick
Panasonic Slimline DVD Writer SATA slot loading
Swiftech Apogee GTZ block
Swiftech MCP350 12V Pump
HWlabs Black Ice GT Stealth 140 Unfinished (Thanks Willie!)

Plus a whole series of other bits and pieces along the way

Here’s the testing that I’ve been doing on the power supply. Findings below. How do you like my cutting board bench tester? Power is via the Xbox 360 power brick through the PW-200-V DC DC.


Watts
IGP - 35/80w
9600GT (idle/load) - 50/145w

3DMark06
IGP - 1866
9600GT - 10071

3DMark Vantage
IGP - E3966
9600GT E19085/P5006

And here's the plethora of elbows. The MB is mounted vertically and the radiator behind the MB. The video card is mounted in upside down reversed direction using a flexible PCI-E extender.


I'm guessing the rad should work if for each 120mm of radiator, the rule of thumb is 150 watts dissipated (varies with fan speed). Given the expected 200 watts, the 140mm rad paired with a Yate Loon 140mm medium (1400 RPM) should be ok?

Air flow enters the fan, goes through the rad, and hits the back of the motherboard. Should it be reversed?

 

In the 10th century, Christians characterized the Vikings as unclean, uneducated savages. Speculatively, as a way to justify their forced conversion to Christianity.

But the Icelandic and Norse histories reveal a people of intellect; who were industrious and fearless warriors with an eye towards expansion. Expansion that stretched from North America, across Europe, and even into the Middle East.

You could almost dismiss the Christian version as spin doctoring...if not for the Berserkers.

His men rushed forward without armour, were as mad as dogs or wolves, bit their shields, and were as strong as bears or wild bulls, and killed people at a blow, but neither fire nor iron told upon themselves. -Snorre Sturlasson, Ynglinga saga (c6)

---
In my intro post, I showed you a little of how the internals would be arranged but I didn't show you the reservoir that will be mounted externally.

Take one brass blowtorch

A brass faucet from a cast iron bathtub particularly the knob

Shake the parts and strip the chrome

Voila!




Only problem is I need an inlet and an outlet


Only one here

 

The berserkers time was short lived. Within 300 years, they went from the most feared warriors of their time to legend. Part of their demise was a 1123 Christian law that made berserking punishable by banishment; that included anyone nearby who didn't restrain him until his berserk state wore off. It was an interesting law because it got rid of anyone who was a berserker plus anyone who may have been helping him to go berserk.

Which raises the questions, how do you help someone go berserk? And what if berserking was NOT caused by who or what they were but instead, something the berserker did?

....but I'm getting ahead of myself, that's the next update...back to the mod.
----
Picking up where we left off, you'll recall the dilemma regarding the inlet and outlet ports. Here's how one becomes more…

Cut out the original with a dremel high speed bit

Take a 2 22 gauge brass circle

Light tap it into shape in the end of a 2 inch pipe

Drill starter holes for the saw blade

Jeweler's saw and file to complete the first hole

Second hole with relief cuts

Sleestak? Hmm…

Last night, a comedian died in New York? Maybe not…

Brass bushings or bushes. I've found that lamp suppliers are a wonderful place to get 1/4 BSPP hardware. No plumbing fittings but they do have nuts and bushings.

Bushings in place

Clamped for soldering. The middle tube is aluminum

I'm using Solder-it solder bearing paste.

Not too bad on the front

Helluvah mess on the back tho.

Expanded the hole in the bottom

Cleaned up the pieces for second round of soldering

Test fit. It'll work…

After clean-up, I'm not happy with the vugs around the neck of the bushings

So much for the new approach. I pulled out the silver solder and went medieval on it, tinning the entire backside. I got carried away with soldering and forgot to take pics but,

here's the end result after initial clean-up. Still needs to be leak tested and acid dipped. Not as clean as the first round but shouldn't leak (fingers crossed)

I lost all the patina in the pickle after solder. Don't worry I plan to put it back.

Copper compression fittings

Again with Feser Acid Green tubing

 

Who were the berserkers? Nothing in the historical record shows that they were any different than other Vikings. They were men (interestingly, no mention of berserker women) who lived among other Vikings, raised families, and led what could be considered normal lives unless they went berserk unexpectedly. Then friend, foe, or family were at risk. The sagas cite several times where a berserker was overcome by their blood lust when working or playing a game. As did Skallagrim, who went berserk while playing a ball game with his son.

Turns out, he didn't kill his son, Egil. He was too busy flinging Brak off a cliff before he snapped out of it. So, it seems that once a berserker was wired to the Bärsärkar-gång, he couldn't control it, and he couldn't unwire himself even if his family was at risk. What the hell did these guys do to themselves??
---
Back to the mod, the fitting that I was making in the last update is for the reservoir temperature probe. Rubidium over at RealRedRaider did an absolutely awesome tutorial on how to seal a Dallas One Wire sensor. Here's the hole for the flange (yes, I was wincing drilling that one.)

Flange, fitting and tube

Flange soldered in place. That's wet paper towels around the flange to keep from desoldering anything vital.

One wire sensor and tube

Same sensor from the side

Syringe loaded up with 3M potting resin

In place, waiting for resin

Sealed up with resin goodness

Get the idea? The tubing is flared to keep the sensor from falling in.

Mounting bracket drilled out for the fitting and wire in the copper tubing leading to the case.

On the subject of how the berserkers were wired, here's how this project is going to be wired. Lazy man's sleeving! Cloth covered wire. 16 gauge spark plug wire

20 gauge lamp cord in basic colors

Even more colors

18 gauge black. I'm leaning toward using green and black only.

Amphenol power plug and receptacle rated at 6 amps per pin IIRC

Sufficiently industrial looking no?

Bridged the connections with a short run to the DC-DC converter.

Finally broke down and bought a desoldering gun after getting jerked around on ebay.

The victim.

Works a treat. Had to massage the connector a little to get it to relent but very easy.

Back side shot. I'm going to solder the wires directly to the board and then to a 24 pin plug. Have you ever seen anyone successfully desolder an ATX receptacle and solder on the back of the motherboard? Advice and opinions would be appreciated on how silly an idea it is.


One of the things that I love about modding is the ridiculously talented people that you meet. Here's a couple of CPU waterblock tops that Duniek made. Check out his work if you get a chance.

Not only is he talented but he's an extremely nice guy when it comes to silly ass requests. I'm planning on using the copper with the brass hold down if I can get it all to fit. Thanks Duniek, amazing work!


Lastly, on the subject of truly great stand-up guys, take a look at this. Its an unfinished Hardware Labs Black Ice GT Stealth 140. It was loving pulled from the assembly line, wrapped with care, and shipped from the Philippines by Willie at HWLabs. For a CEO and President, he's an extremely patient man when it comes to silly ass requests. It's solid quality and will make a perfect addition to this project as its one of the thinner radiators going in the 140 size. If you need a new rad, check out their newSR-1 line-up.




(Thanks Willie! really, really appreciate it!)

 

Sometimes the mistakes are as important as the successes

Emboldened by my success with the DC/DC converter, I attempted desoldering the motherboard this evening.

I tackled the 4 pin power connector first. Practically fell off the board with minor finessing.



All good!

Decided to take on the ATX connector next.



And I thought I had it too. Then things went sideways...


Scratch one motherboard.

Turns out the desoldering gun plugged off midway through but I didn't know it until after the damage was done. Finally pulled a trace off and called it quits. I'll see what I can do to fix it but it'll mean another motherboard for this mod. As an upside, version 2 of the 9300 Itx is out now.

Although I didn't have Langer's (of Prometheus CU fame) problem of the solder not melting, I'll leave this type of mod to my betters and revert to soldering to the pads on the back. Ouch expensive lesson...

 

So what did the berserkers do to themselves? Some references point to the Cult of Odin and cite magic rites, mind altering rituals, and even shape shifting. A particularly intriguing story describes how Christianity and the power of the crucifix overcame a berserker who among other things was immune to damage and fire.

---
Back to the mod, I've got some etching magic to drop on you guys but that'll have to wait until later. If you'll allow me a little more story, I promise you'll like where this is going.

Ahem, if its not already obvious, I like brass and copper and in many ways, its central to this mod's theme. So I was a little disappointed when the copper fittings didn't work. I could have used chrome fittings but was looking for the lowest profile available. Gary at Sidewinder.com swooped in to help suss out what might work.

(If you haven't checked out Sidewinder before, go now! Gary's one of the most knowledgeable guys in the LC arena. More importantly, he's an extremely good guy and helpful to boot.)

A few emails later, I was talking with the Bitspower head magician, Vincent.



Flash forward a couple of weeks later, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw these. Brass magic...





And this adjustable 90, the pictures don't do this justice. The fit is incredible.





Q fitting



45 degree fitting





Fixed 90 degree fitting



Threaded stops

Threaded extenders

boom chicka wow-wow



























Ah yes that'll work just fine…..

With 45s




And if that's not enough awesome sauce, I now have a sponsor.



Thanks Bitspower and a big thumbs up to Vincent! As you might imagine, I'm one happy modder right now.

 

In 2007, the Harrogate Hoard was discovered in North Yorkshire England. Dated to the 10th century Vikings, the find included over 617 silver coins inscribed with Islamic, Christian, and pre-Christian Norse pagan symbols. Silver played a day to day role in Viking life where it was used as currency, jewelry, and utensils. Many of these items were inscribed with symbols of religious or magical note. Interestingly, they also used silver as a bactericide. What did they think when they lined the hulls of their ships with strings of silver? They knew it stopped algae and barnacles growing but did they consider it magic? If so, did they consider berserking magic or was there a more practical explanation?

------

Time add a little silver magic to this mod. A couple of G1/4 plugs…



A little dremel and drill work.

Berserker rune magic...

22 gauge fine silver sheet

Where this is heading…

8 copies (gonna need more than this unfortunately)

Printed on Press and Peel blue

Cut to size

Steel wooled and cleaned with acetone. Note the dimples on the silver. Those are bad for getting PNP to stick.

Hangar 9 model plane heat sealing iron

Turned to high and used to iron the PNP

And so began, a frustrating series of failed attempts, 15 to be exact

After awhile, I started to figure it out

Nice thing about the PNP, is that you can see where the toner doesn't stick.

See what I mean?

Not too bad. This can be touched up with a Sharpie.

Touched up and ready to etch. In the end, the secret was using a piece of bunched up flannel to first rub all the air bubbles out. Then, I put the iron on one edge of the silver, holding it flat, while I rubbed hard with the flannel on the edge of the silver right next to the iron. Then I moved the iron over a half an inch and repeated. I ironed across the sheet this way and then repeated on any bubbles that I could see. This link was an immense help.

Back covered with tape

Gorilla tape, resists acid very well

Ebay bench power supply, costs more to ship this thing. 40 volts at 5 amps, way more power than I need but I can dial-in both with precision. Had it hooked up wrong at first, quickly solved.

Ospho rust neutralizer, 15% phosphoric acid (info from here)

Backyard etching setup. My etcher is a kit from http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/4231

Etch underway. The cathode is a piece of stainless steel sheet. The anode is a brass tray that holds the silver between its rail. A brilliant piece of engineering that works very well to etch the brass tray but not much else.

Looks good but its not etching. With daylight fading, I pulled out the brass tray and went with wires gorilla taped to the back side of the silver

It worked! This was from 1 volt at 1.5 amps for 45 minutes with the plates about an inch apart.

Could have done less time and about half the amperage. You can see the resist was starting to let go and pitting was beginning.

I cut the sheet using a jewelers saw and hammered them around a 9mm drill bit. A little solder and a lot of polishing later. Magic

Runes show up very well.

Ready for installation

And this is where they go.

They'll screw into the reservoir to provide the necessary bactericide for the cooling loop.


Thanks for looking. A big thanks to my sponsors, Bitspower and HW Labs.

 

Some experts dismiss berserking as nothing more than a drunken rage. While alcohol has caused a variety of troubles for centuries, only one spirit has become synonymous with a murderous rage.

The alcohol he described was Absinthe, the Green Fairy:


At the turn of the last century, it reportedly drove men and women to an uncontrollable fury:

While the Vikings were no strangers to drink, nothing indicates that the Vikings knew of Thujone (the active chemical in Absinthe) or of an alcohol that would have caused their bersekerking battle rage. Perhaps then a less common substance?

-----------------
The green fairy for this mod comes in the form of Mayhem's UV Green.

This is a custom dye from Mayhem@Bit-tech. A couple of drops and instant glow.

Although conventional wisdom says distilled water and silver should be the only thing in a loop, you got to admit this looks pretty good. More importantly, I need the UV to set off the pump window in the case but why tell you, when I can show you?

Because of the size of the case several things will be mounted or visible externally. I'm slowly working my way around the case fitting the externals like the reservoir, pump, flow indicator, proximity sensor, and hd activity gauge.

The wiring for the temperature sensor will pass through the case via the copper tube. To hide the hole going into the case, I need a mounting flange.

Using a brass grommet and a piece of hex stock…

with a little solder…

results in a mounting flange

I also test mounted the reservoir on the side of the case. Still not sure if the steel handle gets refinished. I really like the flaking paint but I haven't made the final decision on the color palette.

From the inside

Took a piece of brass, drilled and tapped it for 6/32" screws.

Working on the pump and flow meter mounting. They'll be mounted to the right side of the motherboard. It's tight but should work.

Looking inside of the case, with the mounting holes cut out. The failed cut that you see was from trying to fit the pump top...upside down. :facepalm: Luckily, it dawned on me before I cut completely through and it won't be visible once the case is back together.

DCC 3.1 and Ek pump top. If Eddy sees this, sorry but it needs some changes for this mod.

First the pump, the ears need to go.

Cut off and sanded down.

Pump apart

Painted with Sophisticated Finishes Blackened Bronze paint

Reassembled.

Sanded off the logos and tapped three mounting holes in the front of the pump

Still need to make some brass hex screws for the back. All the ones I have too short.



Test fitting the pump with a styrene bezel. The styrene will be replaced with brass. The pump is mounted with 3 screws through the front of the pump top.

 

The flow indicator. It’s a Gems 142541 Paddle Wheel Flow Indicator 1/4" NPT. A little tap action and it's a G1/4 flow indicator.

Sanded about an 1/8" off the back side to make more room in the case. Love the brass.

Test fit. Still needs some clean up but that will wait for the final rings.

The rest of the screws don't actually hold anything.

Broken brass volt meter that I got from ebay.

Disasembly has got to be the best part of modding

I was hoping I could fix it. The needle and the internals are awesome. Unfortunately, no go.

First I need to work on the mounting. Parts: Tube, knurled lamp nut, finish washer, and a spindle gear from an antique radio.

Solder paste and a mini torch.

Test fit

Soldered and polished

The solder paste is handy but not the neatest stuff.

The soldered side will be inside the case and the gear side will stick into the meter.

The water loop exits from the case front on the right and the inlet is through the pump on the side. The brass nut on the left side is a PIR sensor to detect motion and the wiring behind is an Arduino and a VMusic2. The temperature and the PIR sensor are interfaced with the Arduino. The UV and ThinkM leds also interface with the Arduino...but that...is another update.


A big brassy thanks to my sponsors:

Bitspower


HardwareLabs

 

Remember the painted pump? I was looking for hex screws to replace the silver ones. Checking all around the web led me to nothing. So...


These are 8/32" but they're too short and the threads are wrong.

Poor man's lathe: Cordless drill and rotary tool

Most of the threads removed

Clean up with a small hand file

3.3 mm shaft to work with

Close-up

M4 threaded rod stud

3.3 mm shaft on the end of this also

Add a section of 4mm brass tubing

Pressed the tubing onto the screw with a c clamp

Clamped up, ready for solder

Add in liquid flux

A little….

…goes a long way

Heat until glowing

Add solder

Drop in stud

Hold down until cool

Needs a little clean-up

Final product

Repeat 7 more times. The long screws are for the radiator mounts and short ones are for the pump

Much better…Thanks for looking.


And today, I'm thankful for my sponsors
Bitspower


HardwareLabs

 

In 1938, Albert Hoffman synthesized a new drug called LSD from a grain fungus that grows on rye. The fungus was called Ergot, and it has carried an ominous reputation for centuries.

In the end, over 200 people died from eating contaminated rye bread. In the 1800s, the illness was called St. Anthony's fire also known as Ergotism. Before that, historical accounts of werewolves are now suspected to be related to Ergot poisonings.

The vikings too knew of Ergot and used it in burial rituals. It is a compelling idea to suggest Ergot as the source for berserking. It certainly could drive someone insane but given its lethal nature, its unlikely that it was used for berserking. Was there another drug that they could have used?

-----------------

Back to the modding. Time to take a look at the base that sits on a piece of wood and is covered in leather. It will hold the SSD and the DVD drive. To give you an idea of where the pieces fit...

On the back is the exposed electrical jack that the Xbox power supply will plug into.

Base marked for dremeling. I'm using an easy lock metal cutoff wheel on a 220 volt dremel. It melts through the soft steel.

Cut out but still rough.



Nothing a little filing won't fix.

Back before dremeling

After with a little clean up.

Tracing out the wooden base

Using a piece of cedar siding and a jig saw to cut it out.

Sanded down

A little chisel work later and a pile of wood chips...

a roughed in place for the DVD and the SSD.

and the base mounts on top. Unfortunately the cedar base was too soft and a little too small.

So take #2 with 2 pieces of birch plywood glued up and cut to size. Chiseling was much easier as the individual layers just peeled up with a sharp chisel.

DVD and SSD in place.

Top in place

Added brass cross supports to allow mounting

Also added the brass frame that re-inforces the case.

Bent and soldered but still needs clean up and polishing.

I also back tracked on the PIR sensor. I wasn't happy with the plastic cover.

I found copper mesh at the local art supply

which worked out much better


Many thanks to my sponsors!

Bitspower


HardwareLabs

 

Sweet !!
Can this turn out to be anything but amasing !
Man, seems like you got skills

 

With the Cobra-matic mod, I dabbled with laser cutting. At the time, I was fortunate enough to find a laser cutting company in Texas called Vintage Laser. They almost made it too easy to get a special fan grill cut.

Tony Le, the owner at Vintage, walked me through the file formats needed and we went back and forth several times to get everything right. I think the results speak for themselves, no? (that's the fan grill on the front covering an Antec Big boy 200mm fan)


Well no good deed goes unpunished. With Barsarkar-gang, I wanted to experiment more so I sent Tony what I thought was some complex cutting with a brass requirement (of course ). He didn't even flinch. For your viewing pleasure


In case you're wondering, that is 2.3 mm brass...goes through it like bud-ahh.

The basic process initially was to draw everything in Sketchup in 3d.


Then export to Corel Draw X4 in 2D.


Because the size of the case is so small, I printed out the Corel draw file, pasted it to styrene, and checked tolerances. Lather, rinse, repeat.




After numerous iterations (including new batteries for my digital micrometer) and many weeks, I was sure as I could be on all the dimensions, I exported the 2D drawing to DXF files and shipped em off to Vintage Laser.


They hit a couple snags along the way. Lasering brass is not as easy as other metals. Tony joked that he was going to make his body armor out of brass if he was ever in a laser battle.


But he persevered and again, I think the results speak for themselves. Awesome, awesome work!


Fan grill option 1 - I'm leaning toward this one


Fan grill option 2 - What do you think?


Remember the polystyrene bezels?


Now they're brass


Pump bezel, not crazy about the blue in the pump.


Full side shot


Half the screws are for looks only


They don't actually hold anything.


Radiator/fan mount


Motherboard tray


In case you were wondering how they go together. I've got to solder the mount on the back of the motherboard tray yet; more on that later.


I love modding because it gives me a chance to try new tools and techniques. The whole laser experience has given me a new appreciation for the CNC mod gods who make an entire case from scratch. Its not a gumball machine for modding. Its an iterative design and test method that would have been impossible without the help of Tony and the guys at Vintage laser. Tony if you're reading this, thank you very much.

Wherever you land on the hand tools vs power tools modding debate, I highly recommend working some sort of CNC (laser cutting, water cutting, milling, etc) into your next mod. It was a fantastic experience and opening the box of parts from Vintage had me grinning from ear to ear. That's all I got this time around.

Next time, I'll show you how to sand the skin off your thumbs the natural way.


Many thanks to my sponsors!
Bitspower

HardwareLabs

 

Thanks M.Ø.J! What I lack in skills, I make up for in stubborness. Glad you like it.

 

This really is a fantastic piece of work - the detail, careful planning in every stage and your determination to make every single element of this project just how you want it will make this a project not soon forgotten.

Thanks for the format too - the info on Berserkers is a really fun read and adds a lot to the character of the build - this is absolutely brilliant.

Can't wait to see how this turns out - I'll be keeping an eye on this - good luck with the rest of it!

 

Yay... for the swedish project name.
This looks really promising, love the steampunk look and your metallworking.
Subcribed..

 

is that ray-leather?

thats some awesome work you're showing here

 

Very impressive work! The theme kinda reminds me of Bioshock.. Still can't believe you actually modified the screws

 

Wow this is looking awesome

really impressive work man

 

Thats is going to be a hell of a mod! Man absolutely fantastic job and I am speechless with your knowledges and all the concept! Mod on man! +rep

ps: I would like to stay in touch with you send me a pm pls! Thanks