I work for dedicated server host that uses dell poweredge servers, and with some models we get these extra bits we don't use. One thing that we end up having a bunch of are the cable management arms that only really work correctly if you have a dell rack. They seem like they could be used for something really cool, either as part of a mod or just some random creation. I don't have a working camera at the moment but I dug up a handful of images so that you can see what I'm talking about. Here is the 1U type: and from another angle: And the 2U type: This is an image I found that I guess was used in the patent application for the 2U type. Might be more useful to this crowd as far as seeing the structure of the thing. I also have one of the 4U type, which I wish I had a picture of because it's massive and probably has the most modding potential. The only thing I've done with these so far is used a couple of the 1U's as cable guides for the KVM I had on my workbench. They were just getting in the way so I stopped using them for that. Oh, and I also cut one up and used it to fix a broken office chair. So, any thoughts about what I could make from these suckers?
I don't want to appear lazy, so I'm going to do a little brainstorming here myself. My first thought would be to use these for basically their intended purpose, but for tubing instead of wires. I haven't fully hashed out this idea, but I'm thinking I could build a box that was the motherboard tray, rear panel, case bottom, and drive cages all attached, and that could slide out on rails from the rest of the case. Actually, I guess the rest of the case would slide forward. The main portion would have the feet, so any movement would have to be the outer shell. That would work best anyway, because then you could leave the thing right on the desk. Just slide the shell forward and tinker with the insides. Crap. I like that idea, but now that I've thought about it a little more it wouldn't make sense to have the pump and rez be in the shell and have the tubing run through two of these management arms. If you were going to build a box like that you would really want all of the components to be in the stationary part. Well, I'll go think some more about what to do with these things. I also might work up something in sketchup for the above idea. Now I kinda just want to work on that and stick these other bits back in the closet.
Yeah, that could be cool. I was hoping to think of something that could take advantage of these in their existing form, rather than use individual pieces of them. Still yours may be the only practical way to use them.
While I'm not presently capable of building a proper robot, I like the idea. Anyone have any idea how I might get one of these to flex easily but still retain strength? I'm thinking of one of those desk lamps that you can bend in any way. It would be easy enough to stick something through the length of the arms, but what would work?
I've seen a few of those in our server room, not being used and thought about taking them home to play with. I think the hinges and channel make them great for cable management/CCFL mounting on a case door or top or front. Do the hinges go almost a full 360 degrees? Combine them with some of those gas struts, and you'd have some cool possibilities. I'm not sure how much they'll bend and if that would cause kinking in water cooling tubing, but you might be able to get around that with some of those tubing springs.
These would be good for an access panel mounted radiator/fan/ reservoir assembly. It would be tricky to keep the hoses from kinking, though. oh. That's what MM said.
@ModMinded, Cheapskate: The more I look at these the less I think they will work for routing hoses. I don't think it would be possible to prevent kinking with as tight of a turn as the hose would need to make.
or you could ship it to me...thats an idea....seriously, i will get them off your hands, i will even pay for shipping...
@sligrinder... lol... What's your idea for them? @highgeere, you could probably work around the hose kink by blocking the thingie from fulling bending back with a little block of something on the inside of the bend. Know what I mean? But even a 90 degree bend would be pretty cool... 90 to 180. thinking....
actually i was going to use them for my world community grid project...i am making a case but still planning but it is going to have a lot of moving parts for ducts and rads since i live in calgary and it is stupidly cold outside so why not use the outside air instead of spending energy on AC cooling...besides, how much do those arms cost by them selves without the rack???
oh, on the world community grid project, i was going to get all the "innards" of the build to be donated by the manufacturers if at all possible since it is the "greater" good... but initially i am planning to have 5 comps stuck together to create a "super" computing rig that has all the parts again, to be donated... back to the main point of this thread...(sorry highgeree)
@ModMinded You may have something there. The arms could start off at a 90 degree angle and that would eliminate the kinking issue. I'm going to have to think about that for a bit as I may have some new ideas based on 90 degrees as a starting point. Thanks for the idea! @slisgrinder probably wouldn't be worth shipping these anywhere, as they are pretty cheap if you can find them individually. I've seen them for ~10 USD on ebay and elsewhere. The last few days I have been trying to get my main box running correctly again after some hardware problems I had, but I'm hoping to get some sketchup time tonight so I can rough out some of these ideas. Thanks everyone for all of the input thus far.
The third picture shows the ends best. There are actually two hinges on each end, allowing for quite a range of movement. Honestly, though, I will likely drill out one or both of the hinges before I use these for anything, because I think that whole bit on the end would just get in the way. Still haven't had time for sketchup
