Case Mod - In Progress Project BIO-A10 by E.E.L. Ambiense - Completed

About week ago I was actually browsing some old project logs and was wondering where did you go.

Nice to have you back! Lumière Noire and Building Better Worlds are still great projects to get inspiration!

 

Space-Coast, actually! Grand-pop is a 40+ yr retired NASA tech so we've been here forever. I love and hate it.

LOL, if I had to pick one I'd be more worried about the Big D than the little n!

Thanks, man! It's nice to be back if only at impulse-power at this moment.

I appreciate others still poking around on the old threads. I have plenty of new stuff to bring to the table yet. And apparently Weyland Industries has used my account recently to post teasers or something in one of the forums here. I wouldn't know anything about that.

 

Log Update #4

Alright, back to it. I didn't get a lot done this evening, but some. I'm just really beat, to be honest. Work is pretty stressful to be plain and simple about it so it can drain my creativity (as well as my soul).

Continuing with the case stripdown, I needed to remove that little fan controller PCB that's mounted behind the top front of the chassis. It's not needed and will get in the way, so buh-bye!



To remove the plate it was mounted to, I need to remove the front door frame. Man, Lian Li...you really don't want me messing with this case, do you?



Finally, I'm able to get at the screws behind the door frame.



Remove the ole floppy-to-5.25 converter tray...



That's a Lian Li MF-515B. Save that guy for later!



Removing grommets, etc. from the chassis. Reminded me of the ole V-series cases. I loved those. The originals, anyway.



Pried the front lower mesh screen in front of the fan down there. It was held on with double-sided tape. Ironic thing was, it was really difficult to tear it out!



That inner plate there that the fan's frame soft-mounted to (same system as the aforementioned V-series); I'm thinking I'll go ahead and rip that out too. Not sure yet. Probably better safe than sorry and go ahead and remove it.

These annoying little weird plates that Lian Li occasionally uses in their 5.25 bays are....well....annoying. I don't know why they use them, to be honest. I think it's to cut down on vibration or something. Regardless, they're irritating to get them out because you have to drill a hole through the chassis just to get at the forward-facing screws on some cases! The A77F chassis is a perfect example of this annoying feature.

I lucked out on this one because the holes were already there from factory; I just had to squeeze the 5.25 bays closer together a bit to slip the screwdriver into the hole to get at those screws. Heh heh.



These things. I'm also not a fan of this type of mounting hardware.



Give me simple screw holes and some thumbscrews and I'm set. Quick-mounts can kiss my... screwdriver.



Another bit of hardware I was handed over was this bay-res unit.



I've used these before, many times for clients. They're cheap and they work reasonably well. Sometimes, someone will get a "lemon" but for the most part they're ok.

This is an old one I had laying about that happens to be the same unit I'll be installing in this case, so perfect chance to check things. Part of the reason I removed those quick-install brackets from the bays; this res isn't that deep so those plastic ears are pointless.

Slipped into the top two bays...



Oops! How did that get in the pic!



See? Doesn't even come close to those brackets.



Oh yeah, almost forgot! You recall those old Corsair Dominator Airflow units? I used to love modding those things back in the day. Anyways, I had come across a brand-new in package one I had in a box so I decided one day to mod it for this eventual project.



I slapped in some 40mm x 20mm UV Orange fans in there as well as some neon orange fan-hub stickers like I always liked to do back in the day. Should fit in just fine. I just hope it fits his RAM in his new setup that currently has no home; at least not permanent. Yet.

Thanks for tuning in! See ya's next time!

 

Oh, I have a couple of these in my Rocketfish Lian-li. I could re-purpose one into my Sniper for a pump mount shelf for the pump I don't have yet. Lian-Li just has too many usable parts and too many WTF parts as you are finding out. Them grey plastic pieces HAVE to go. Got screws? As you said.




john

 

E.E.L. is back.. With a vengeance!

I can support your problem with MSI! Long story made very short, a $500 graphics card I bought in the US died on me. They wouldn't help me out since I live in Europe. Never gonna buy a product from them again!

I'm sooooo frikkin happy to see one of the greatest modders of all time being back!

Congrats on your son, I really hope everything will work out for you!

 

Btw. where are we on hardware? I may have missed it although I think I did a good job reading.

 

New to me but already love the dude awesome log writing & presentation, read every word, awesome cool stuff, will follow keenly.

The logo bit cracked me up.

Stars & rep

 

LOL, hey Angel! How's it going, man? Glad to see ya still hanging around these forums. It's wonderful seeing all the old gang still here as well as some new (at least to me) faces.

MSI sucks. CM sucks. I've stated by case on it, and plan to state it again when my step-daughter's build steps up to the plate real soon. I love rubbing it in. ...Twirps.

"One of the greatest modders of all time"?..... You had me up to that sentence! I appreciate the kind words and encouragement; that's coming from a kick-ass machinist that modded his friggin' WII into a killer one-of-a-kind little beast. Awesome job, man. Seriously. Bravo!

You said it, m8. I think it's a...case (lol)...of sitting on their haunches. They need some innovation in their studio. Definitely.

Actually, you didn't miss it. I don't have the rig's system itself. That's set up at my best friend's place in a POS chassis right now but I'm sure we'll get it stripped down and transferred over when this new case has opened up like a beautiful (or ugly) butterfly. The w/c gear is all ready to go; just need to get the log rolling up to full-steam so I can show it all. Nothing fancy, but adequate. Should make him happy! Better than air-cooled with stock HSF, lol.

LOL, sorry for the novella-like bitch-fest at the onset. Couldn't help it!

Hahaha, thanks man! I greatly appreciate the kind words and the other shtuff!

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boy and Girls...

This is how you do a project log..

 

Oh stop it, Mankz!

How's it going, m8? Glad to see all the old gang coming out of the millwork--er, woodwork!

Thanks for the kind words and glad you're watching.

 

Log Update #5

Update time!

You'd think I would've had time to at least get one log update in over the weekend, right? Nope. I was busy building raised gardening beds for the wife outside. We're going to have a good crop this year! Farmer EEL!

Anyways, to the update.

The fan controller that I've always traditionally went to for cheap, reliable, no-nonsense kind of fan control was Sunbeam's Rheobus unit.



I still have a few of these laying around unused in the packaging still that I need to use up so this is what's going to go in this mod too.

I popped the knobs off the rheostats so I can test-fit the unit. Simply pop them off!



It's going behind the new custom plate that I traditionally make in some form or another for pretty much everything I do.



Slide the unit into the 5.25 bays where it will reside permanently, soon.



And slap the new plate onto the chassis...



Perfect! I also decided to slap an old dead test-fit optical drive in the bay below the controller for test-fitment reasons as well.



I needed to yank the airport-level brightness LEDs out of the controller too because they're ridiculous. Won't be needing these things, as I'm sure my best friend would prefer to be able to actually see and not have Cessnas trying to auger in for a final approach!

I also removed the outer nuts off each rheostat to give myself a little more length to work with. ...Man, that just sounded.... wow...



These things are just.... augh...



Alright, I slid the unit back in to see how things looked, and installed the knobs back on.



Looks perfect!

Here's a shot from inside the chassis forward to show where the HDD rack is going to reside being actively-cooled by that 120mm fan spot.



And on to other things...

I decided I am going to remove the lower compartment's front fan plate. It's held in by a series of rivets and two of them require me to remove a good dozen or so rivets from the chassis just to allow me to get at them so I decided cheap, quick n' dirty would work. This is a little trick that when done right works pretty well!

First off, I drilled out the two downward-oriented pop rivets inside the 5.25 bays...



Just a couple of them.



And the other...



Now, the other two are down below. Using your favorite rotary tool and sanding band attachment (Black & Decker for me!), carefully "erode" the rivet's mandrel and casing down, but not pushing down hard enough where you "spread it out" over the material. It works pretty well.



And after a couple minutes, it looks like this!



Grr, I hate security loops on the back of cases. Seriously, if someone really wanted to take your stuff, they'll take the whole damn case, right?



Let's rip that sucka off like a bandage!



There, much better. Thank you.



You know, I've been thinking about what to do about the pass-through holes in the mid-plate inside the chassis and decided I'm going to make a series of little "patch plates" that will be "bolted" down covering those openings up. And if I need to run anything through from one chamber to another (and I do...), I'll do it specifically, right? No more gaping holes unless I make them on purpose!



So , let's consult one of the piles of scrap I have laying about for some piece(s) to use... You see any Antec pieces in there?



Something like this, but cut up into a lot of pieces.



It's what I'm going to do; just the details that need to be worked out. I'll mull it over and decide later, as I'm concentrating on other things.

Case feet.

When you hear that, what comes to mind? Some kinda crappy Mitron case feet? Man, I hope not. I hope the first and ONLY thing that comes to mind are these or their brethren! If not, you have some problems. Seriously. Consult a professional.



I mentioned before how these and the diamond-knurled ones felt like a pair of hefty ones hangin' down below. I still feel that way.

Freakin' awesome case feet!

Having some fertility issues? These are the answer. Perhaps you're having issues with your neighbors. Well, you could literally put these in a sock and end the argument real quick*. *disclaimer: EEL does not condone violence with MNPCTech products, although they have been known to be used in that fashion in regards to case modification. User beware.

I'm totally going to doctor these up to fit the theme, but these are the only answer to EEL's case feet needs. Period.

Get some for yourself, foo'!



Of course the hardware's too large for the stock case feet holes.



Well, quick work with a step-bit takes care of the stock threaded insert.



Inserts. Not to be sprinkled on cereal.



Arighty, I'm going to leave it off there. I'll be back soon. Thank you for tuning in!

 

...I...I...I'm in love...
Stunning work, as always.

 

I particullarly like the disclaimer. lol

 

I like the work on the fan controller. Bright lights are the bane of my existence too. I like to go to bed with a little music playing softly on my speakers but the blue LED on my amplifier literally lights up the whole room. I've taken to squishing blu-tac onto it

 

Sorry to hear about all your problems, hope things are better now! Congrats on the new addition

Having never read any of your previous logs, i'm not as familiar as everyone else with your work, but i'm sure this thing will be awesome!

Also, love the overall theme of your log, makes reading fun!

 

Coming along soo nice and sharing the luv of tried and true Sunbeam rheostat

and great photos too! simply the best.....

 

i assume sunbeam no longer produces their rheostats?

 

Your disclaimer is all wrong. It should say: "Always assume your neighbor is as well armed as you are and that the peace you enjoy is based on the threat of mutual annihilation."
(-and spell check wanted me to switch 'annihilation' with 'titillation'.)

 

Awesome, entertaining updates as always. I've come to expect nothing less!

Side note: At what point did you did you decide (if you have) that you needed to start keeping an alpha-numeric inventory of all your spare parts & pieces? Seriously Jeremy, you're one of the only guys around I know of who consistently, and without fail uses the phrase "I had a few of these lying around." ...New. In the packaging. Only like fifteen or so collecting dust in a corner.

You crack me up.