Modding Illuminate Your PC - Part 2

Antony has been playing with acrylic...

http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/guides/2012/02/09/illuminate-your-pc-part-2/1

 

Nice guide Antony

picture links are all wonky on the second page

 

Woow, cool guide!!

 

I purchased an M1 tank spotlght on eBay for $400. I am using it to light my PC but the problem is I can't run it for more than 2 seconds without the PC getting extremely hot. What can I do?

 

What sort of bulb does it use? I'm guessing something that runs on 12V and is about 50 - 100Watts? I can only think of one practical way to solve the problem, and that is to install a bulb which generates less heat. I'd suggest that you look into whether you can buy a sufficiently bright LED based bulb that fits. Failing that, you may be able to buy and dismantle a 12V LED based spotlight / downlighter bulb and mate it with the metal fitting off the original bulb from the lamp.

Using a high power LED 'bulb' would allow you to get down to between 1 and 5 watts, which would reduce the heat by a factor of at least 10.

Regarding the article, one thing that I don't think has been mentioned is the possibility of engraving the acrylic; with a bit of care, some very attractive effects can be achieved by adding engravings to the illuminated sheet. Rather than masking and spraying the acrylic, if you have the tools you can engrave and in - fill to get a similar effect, and it is less prone to getting rubbed off / worn away. Obviously though, you only get one shot at that... not for the faint hearted!

 

Neat article,never thought of cutting just a slot or something into the case panel, neat idea!

 

great article!

 

Really liking these guides. I am actually getting ready to do an illuminated mid-panel for my system, so the more info I can read on the subject, the better.

 

Really liking these guides. I am actually getting ready to do an illuminated mid-panel for my system, so the more info I can read on the subject, the better.