Case Mod - In Progress Project Perspiration - all done! (March 29th)

looks cool.. nice leds.. gunna work well

 

Thanks! I'm thinking of using strips of white LEDs, something like these:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=45981

They can stick straight onto the side panel and run on 12V which would be much easier than wiring up maybe 40 or 50 single LEDs. Pricey, though,

 

yeah i looked into those..
figured i needed more soldering practice.. lol!

 

Cool build.

I just wanted to add that I have some of those LED strips myself (DIY Ambilight for tv anyone? ) and they are REALLY bright. I am actually thinking of transferring them from my tv to my Raven RV01 case. But not sure whether my friends will call me a geek

 

I had the amberlight DIY idea too, the best I could come up with was hiding some fairy lights behind the TV.


Are they the strips made by 3m? My concern is that I saw them in Maplin and they didn't look very bright compared to the green and red ones there, and especially compared to the bright white individual ones I have. Maybe I'll buy a short strip and test them out. Thanks for the tip.

 

Hm, just looked at the one here, and it is actually from IKEA. Its a 12v dv 0.7 watt led strip. I dont think they are as bright as the small one you have. I just took a pic with my phone. Gonna upload it in a sec.

 

Okay. Quality is... Not good :s, but it was quite able to fill my Raven RV01 case with enough light to be able to solder in or do stuff like that.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/4997/billede005l.jpg

Edit:


I havent got a clue whether you have IKEA in Scotland, but I bought 4 strips from IKEA at a total of 250 DKK, which is something like 30 british pounds atm.

 

So nice to read through a log written in a different (better) style

Keep going sir, and keep leaving interesting things in the background of your photos!

(What is the tin in this picture?)

 

Probably where he stores all the s*** you get from taking apart and putting together cases.. I have owned two cases in my entire life along with 1 complete computer system, and already I have a large drawer filled with all kinds of stuff which I will probably never need but "what if".

 

Seems to work pretty good. I think I'd put a line of LEDs along the four edges of the window so you can't see them shining outside. The 3M ones I've been looking cost something like £1.50 for a 5cm strip with 3 LEDs, they're on stick-back plastic so it would just be a case of sticking them on!

And yes, there's a couple of Ikea in Scotland, rather handy places.

The tin used to have toffee in it. Now it has screws.

I have worried "oh crap, I hope I didn't leave anything incriminating in the background" before.

 

ah, toffee tin, thanks

 

Nice idea, and so far well executed as well Good to see people making nice projects with very limited tools! Hack saw, dremel and a £10 drill.. What else could you ask for

 

Stop: window time!

So, next step seems to be cutting the window. I thought I'd better do this before ordering the perpex so I can work out exactly how big it needs to be, and where.


Here's what I've got to work with. The white perspex side panel will bolt straight onto the existing case side panels to save me doing any mounting mechanism.



I measured up, and got out my safety sunglasses!



3 cutting wheels and some reluctant hacksawing later:




Now, the plan, as discussed, had been to fit LED strips round the edge of the window to provide lighting. These are the bad-boys I've been talking about. Pretty handy, run on 12V, the only hassle is soldering wires to them as they are sold literally as just a strip.





I'm pleased with how bright they are, but the white ones Maplin had are a warm white, plenty of yellow light.... I'm looking for a colder, blue light so I got some blue ones too. Added together they should cancel out... ?


Much fiddly soldering later:


Battery powered for now.





The case side won't really close as I need to do plenty of wire tidying. Also, instead of having blues next to the white I think I'll cut them down into the 3 LED 5cm strips they are made from, then wire them up alternating blue-white. This should mix the light a bit better. I've also realised it's a bit pointless having them behind the rear fan. Some optimisation to be done!


As a bonus, I also spotted this rather lovely contrail yesterday...

 

This is a very unique mod, don't see many duel (well semi duel ) cases around. It is coming along very well, I like it .

 

ahh... BADASSSS!!!! looks great man

 

Cheers dudes.

I have seen another few mods with cases stuck together, one chap put two PC-60s side by side, and I think I've seen two Lian li.... cube case thingys next to each other. And check out this beast: http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2006/07/03/Extreme_Lian_Li_by_Ediejo/1

Though mine is the only case I've seen with 1.5 cases stacked. Really it's more like 1.3 cases. I chose the PC-7 because they're cheap new, I got one cheap second hand, and they're rather square which makes them easy to bolt together. A lot of modern cases have too much clutter, and this was cheaper than an Antec P190, which is the closest in layout terms, I suppose... and wouldn't fit a triple in the roof.

 

This morning a nice package arrived from China with two 48cm strips of white LEDs I ordered off ebay. They were only £8 and I thought this might sort out my lighting woes.

I'd tried re-arranging the blue a yellow-white LEDs strips I had but couldn't get something I was happy with, it gave distinctly patchy colouring and shadows.

The LEDS are a pretty similar principle, though they come a plastic sleeve, and run straight from 12v. It was nice not having to solder the lot together.




I'll need to find something more elegant than tape to fit them. The gap on the left is where the rear fan is, no need for them there.




Much better. It's quite hard to capture in a photo, but these are about the right brightness and colour I'm looking for.




This is the panel sitting on my system as it is. Should look pretty good. In reality it's not that blue.

 

I'd put the lights a little furthur back from the window cut, so they are harder to see.

However, their effect is damn cool

 

Sweet modlog Loving the 2 case chop shop!

I have the same file (black & yellow handle) but instead of a padsaw I'm using a large hacksaw blade with some electrical tape around the end

 

This ^2

Currently it reminds me a bit too much of christmas decorations, if you know what I mean