Project: BGAIOC 2T Monster : 19th MAY Log :"SCRAP TIME"

i would have thought that putting the plugs on a daisy chain would be better, your current system has 3 sets of wires coming out of 1 plug - thats alot of wire

 

They look that way but they are daisy chain. Log error

 

Doesnt look like a daisy chain to me

 

Oh, crap you got me , I can't explain it, I mean to say 4 wire to 3 plugs , no daisy chain, but neither 3 wire coming out of the plug. Crap what the hell do I got then. I did it, that way rotating the wires so the cable, will look like is coming out of the middle of 3 devices instead of one on top or the bottom ; do that make sense

 

I had so many fans that, I decided to recycle some of them by changing the leds from blue to green.

One 120mm fan with blue leds.


Same fan after changing the leds to green

I like it better green, now I just need to clean up that sucker.


I like this fan because of the chrome turbine look is a 120mm


But it lights up blue


It was a pita to change the leds, but look at it know, is green


Well is official now, the main color scheme of the lighting is gonna be green, think radiation green. Silver hoses, green hamster ball, clear plexi, green plexi, mirror plexi, cooper tubing, clear fans, chrome fans, black wheel, and who knows what else.

..." It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?".."
Winnie the Pooh...

 

Uuh green seems to be in I've seen lately many cases with green lights and paint.. I've kinda already been waiting for this to happen.

 

I got tired of the blue color, did you know that green doen't make your eyes tired; plus you don't get bored of the color: imagine getting tired of the color of the grass and trees. But that is just me.. talking crazy....

 

Well.. Blue is totally over-used. It's SOOOOOO used I can't stand blue lights no longer. I noticed this last year on assembly. Maybe 90% of computers had some sort of blue light! In the good old days all power leds etc. were ugly green/yellow-signal leds, but now they are all ultra bright blue! Terrible. Worst are the blue cathodes all noobies just slam in their cases w/o thinking anything at all, they have no switches to turn them off and so on....

But THIS is just me, getting totally pissed off by annoing things.

 

thats why hes changing the leds to green...

 

I can't figure out the shape of the case so I'm gonna build it around the parts that I want, instead of having the case and stuffing it with parts
This is a cardboard and sharpie mock up



Let me try to explain some of this. In the left are (14) 5.25" bays for (12) removables HDs trays and (2) RW drives, at the top is a small additional bay for a slim cdrom drive. The right side will contain (2) 120mm fans, (6) 5.25" control bays and a water level indicator. In the middle the MOB goes at the bottom, (2) reservoirs at the sides. At the top is a pair of PSU's and fans. This cardboard at the rear is mean to be the front panel. The case will be divide in three cooling areas, to prevent the heat of the HD's to affect the MOB or the WC radiators. Zone one is cooling for the HD's, zone two is cooling for the MOB and PSUs, zone three is for the water cooling radiators. So left side cool HD's, middle is for the MOB and the right side fans cool the radiators.
The two fans in the right side will push the air to the rear of the case and the fans in the radiators will pull it out thru the rads, this wil give the rads fresh air from the outside of the case. In the same way the removable trays fans will start the flow thru the HDs and at the rear of the case 4 fans will take the air out of the case, again fresh air for the HDs. A couple of 120mm fans in the bottom of the case will push air inside the MOB area and the PSUs and case fans will take out, fresh air for the MOB. This is the way that I gonna try to control the heat on this rig.
After doing this "mock up'' , I realize that I have to change my dimensions, now the case comes to 16"x28" at the base and 24" tall; and still growing. I already got 90% of the parts, but no shape yet

 

with that many HDD's that close, you may need to put a bank of fans behind them

 

That's exactly what I'm trying to explain, it would have 4 fans in the rear of the case, the whole hd side will be like a separate air box.

 

Some cutting action

I start with a slab of plexi 3/4"x15"x27" , you can see the position of the MOB tray. Both the top and bottom parts are going to be 3/4" thick to give the case some strength and to make easy to bolt the sides to it.



Added a HD tray, 120mm Fan and a 240mm radiator, to the mock up so I can trace a shape around them.



You can see in red where the first cuts will be made. I decide to angle the rear fans so that way they will have more clearance, so the case won't have to be position far way from the wall. The blue line is the limit for the (3) sections, try to think of it as (3) cases in one.



A little scrollsaw action.



The finish shape, the middle part is receced and the rear corners are angle to the outside. I stopped the case from growing on me, but now the case is getting smaller, the height is still holding at 24".



Cut a second piece of plexi and slaped it on top of the first one, clamped down and with some heavy sanding, it should give me at the end two identical pieces.



Now I have two identical pieces, top and bottom.


At the end, there's no plan for this project This case is gonna build itself , stay tune this gonna be fun.

 

Ok, now for some real case building finally

First I have the brilliant idea of building the back section in one whole piece, so I need to bend the plexi to follow the angles in the back of the case. Brilliant my ass, I had never bend plexi before . So I did I jigy thingy with my table saw as a bench.


I started the slow process of heating the plexi with my trusty heat gun, I had never done this, the gun took a very long while to heat up the plexi.


I took my time slowly heathing and bending the plexi; and guess what, it work the plexi finally bended to the proper angle. This was according to my eye meter


Here is the plexi in position behind the bottom plate for a test fit, sorry about that is invisible.

Some masking tape takes care of that problem and it will protect the plexi.

Now you can see the overhang, that it needs to be trim out.

After some trimming, back at the table saw, it looks much better.

After seeing the rear cover in place, I decided to leave it as tall at it is right now, 30" instead of cutting it out at 24" as " planned ". You can see the difference when compared with the cardboard template that I had made before. Plus I like to have lots of room to work inside the case. My present case even has swing out doors, no need to unscrew anything to get access to the components.


Another jig to hold in place, the masive, bottom and top plates.

Now you can see the rear panel in position.


Drilling the first hole, yeah some parts of the case are gonna be bolted, that is why I'm using 3/4" plexi for the top and bottom, plus it will add some strength to the case.


First screw in place.


Another angle.


After some drilling and screwing around. A shot of the box of screws, just in case somebody wants to know; what type they are.


Some more screws later, the top and bottom of the case, has been screwed. Yes, the top part is floating on mid air, supported only by the screws and the rear panel only. It's stronger than what I had tought.

Now a last shot to compare sizes, before plan and after the actual build. Like I say, I had no plan; the case is building itself as the work continues.


Now the official dimensions are: 15"x27"x30", is tall and deep. The problem with not having a plan to follow, is that everyday I find a new glitch or flaw in the case. But the way I see is, as an adventure, I will work out any problems that arrive; that is the purpose of this build, an execise on patience and brain power. I just want to have fun and not stress.

 

good construction so far. I too will be making a lexan based case soon, so its comforting to see someone else excelling at it first

 

Now for a little progress update and some compulsory shots, blood, feet and pet.

Some plexi cutting in the big saw, I'm using 1/4" for the side panels.

Side panel is already cut and is been dry fit. The case is so big that I just put in the floor and double as it own table.

I have drill some holes in the bottom plate. You can see my toes thru the modders certify, safety sandals.

Now for the screws.

Side panel has-been attached.

Take a look at the spacing of the screws in the corner, some will say it was planned

Blood time, cut my pinky with a blade

Last panel is finally attach to the case.

Case with side panels in place, you could say the main body is finish.

Last compulsory shot, Krypto the family dog, 1 yr. mini-pinscher...



" More progress, more problems " Building issues keep pillling up, I have a lot os things to figure out; to make this case work.... But I'm having fun

 

Looking good so far, but I have just one complaint... use the right bolts (not screws) for the job of joining the plexi pieces together and pleeeeeeeaaaaassssse countersink them and make them flush with the surface of the plexi! )

Keep up the good work!

luvbug

 

How is it that bolts are the right thing to use for the job? The screws with the shiny heads sticking out that is the "Bolted look" I'm going for; no the soft recessed look of hex and countersing. Everybody use the same convination, they are so many different; types, shapes and colors of screws, nuts and bolts, why keep using the same all the time. Just think about the posibilities. Plus sheetmetal screws make its own treads and got more holding power than " machine screws " in this soft material anyway.
Thanks for you comment, since I haven't explain what I'm doing, because I have no freaking idea or plan; a lot of things will be question Only thing I'm sure is that, this isn't going to be a clear case mod. In this case mod, you are gonna see a lot of things done in a different way, ( wait and see where the hamster ball goes ) just give it a chance and keep an open mind
P.S. Input and comments are always welcome

 

unless your bolting a shortish piece onto another piece you can drill a hole all the way through and bolt it
But otherwise screws seem to make the most sense ...

 

Let me show you, the inspiration for this case " The Green Monster " you know who, don't ask.



This is the right panel, it will have two 120mm fans and (6) controlers and other accesories bays.


Here you can see the first lay out, has been traced.

And how it looks in the case, I'm not sure if it will stay that way.


I trace the fans outlets, (4) for the HDs bays and (5) for the radiators.


Some more tracing, center for the MOB tray, middle right side is for the reservoirs, middle left for the hamster ball and top center for the dual PSUs.


And just like that, the case has gotten more complicated, there's a bunch of more decisions to make before cutting anything. Left side is easy, right side is alot more complicated, the (3) top fans are gonna have a separated air box from the lower (2) fans. The fans will not be attached to the radiators, but the radiators are going to be attach to two air boxes. The top radiator is going to be a 3x120mm and the bottom one is a 2x120mm. On top of all that none of the air that is going to circulate from the front of the case thru the back of it, will get in contact with the rest of the case (middle and left side/ MOB & HDs) . The top radiator will cool the water before it enters the two reservoirs and the second radiator will cool the water before enters the CPU block, crazy eh. What is gonna happen in between them is still a mistery. I know, I'm gonna cool the chipset and I want a flow indicator and a level indicator plus a fill port and having a drain too; won't be a bad idea. The MOB tray will slide in from the back into the case, should make it easy to remove. Well again is a short update, but I hope is easy to understand.
Now I will go back to try and figure out this new lay out.