Modding Underglow case lighting (like on some modified sports cars)

Has any one done this, and if so how did they achieve it, and how well did it work. There is the obvious way of just sticking how ever many ccfls you need to the underside of the case, but imho that would look ugly if someone looked. THe other way would be to put them in a peice of acrylic, the size of the base of the case, and have it light that up, and then they would be safe aswell. Would it damage the strength of the case, if you mounted them on the inside, cut holes to allow the light through, and then made sheilds, so that it didnt interfere with your case lighting. WOuld the light be too direct. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, as it is looking like a future mod on my case.

 

i just drilled holes and used led holders for mine

 

Well I do have a source of realy cheap leds (my dad works for a company that imports keychain lights, so I can get them dirt cheap. So I will be doing it, next time im at home. Ill then post pictures. Did you do anything to the leds to get them that diffused.

 

I used hole saws to make my own led feet instead. similar kind of thing as above.

 

On my old Xaser III, I stuck a green CCFL under the case. Looked pretty cool, lemme see if I can dig up a pic.

EDIT: Hah, found it:


The lighting was actually much more consistant than that, but flashes and CCFL's don't work well together.

 

what about like this?



piece of plexi with tree high intensity LEDs at the rear

 

ya a thing of plexi would be tight

i didnt do anything to the leds, i think there just bouncing off the carpet? lol

 

Will be trying the one with just leds for a start, because that should provide a relatively good light, with it not being too aparant where it is coming from. Plus it will cost me next to nothing. I will try to get photos aswell.

 

what color u doing?

 

Either bright green or blue. If the green leds are neon ish green (similar colour to my bottom ccfl) it will be green. Otherwise I will put my green ccfl at the top, my blue ccfl at the bottom, and have it blue. Its dependant on the colours of the leds I can get. Hopefully I can get bright green.

 

that case looks cool, is there any other pics of it?

 

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WOW. That case is awesome. I did the same thing as Rekarp... With the plexi and 3 high intensity LEDS... Ill see if I can get a pic.

Found it. (This is of course with a HIGH level of light exposure... lol.)

 

imo to do it simple, drill a very small hole, to allow the Cathcodes wires to pass through, and back into the case, then stick the cathcodes at the bottom of the case.

 

yah the log is in my sig.

mbut right now the case is kinda in peices due to a rebuild

 

dont know if this is any good to you
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/LEDs.html
its the 3rd item down. its just an off the shelf version of what CREDO made

 

I had a couple of blue cathodes under my case (mounted in the same was stated above, small hole in the case etc...) and it was nice.

To get a good even glow, i would suggest some EL wire, you can pick it up dirt cheap now (£4ish) and you can mold it underneath the front of your case, not just at the sides. plus you get a good even glow ass opposed to LEDs and cathodes. (not that theres anything wrong with the LED feet, i'm actually doing the same thing for my next case)

 

Thanks for the advice / help / links. I will be trying the led's for a start (they are dirt cheap for me). The light from the leds are quite concentrated though. I was wondering, does the round end of the led act as a lense, to concentrate the light. If I was to grind the ends of the leds, would that diffuse the light better. Or would just buffing them up work. I might even have to make some led case feet at some stage, out of plexi that was showed.

 

Im working on something that will have an underglow. Best pic I have at the moment isnt very impressive, but works.

 

if you can get enough why not try making a ring around the bottom of the case and maybe sanding them to help difuse the light