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

Set em up, knock em down.

 

That's teamwork, my friend!

 

As someone who knows a divorce attorney, I'd advise only mentioning having one. If you were to break up, she'd get one for a souvenir.

 

Well, just ICK! Community property states suck.

john

 

Log Update #8

Update time again!

Let's get right to it so I can get this aluminum (aluminium to some) dust off of me.

One of the issues with grabbing these forgotten and forsaken chassis was that neither had a mobo tray. It wasn't that big of an issue because I happened to have grabbed an A10 mobo tray 3-4 years back, so I was fine. Only issue is, I only have one.



So let's make two!

I also have one of these.



A PC-6x mobo tray, that was also forgotten and ignored in my pile o' useless stuff. So let's use it. I'm going to make a duplicate backplate for the tray.

I love these Evercool aluminum fans. Bill does too. But they suck in some fashions. They don't like being dialed down on a fan controller, so they whine about it.



Let's start stripping this down.



I need to drill out all the pop-rivets holding the backplate to the tray itself. Simple enough.



And I'm left with the backplate free and clear. Now, I take it to a Kinko's to have it copied and collated--- I'm kidding.



Next, I start stripping down the 6x tray too. Drill out rivets; rinse and repeat, like our IQs were normal.



More evidence that Lian Li really doesn't change much. Same tray, except for a couple holes in different locations. ...sounds like a personal problem.



After looking for exactly 18 secs in the pile of scrap for a good candidate, I lay out the piece along with the real backplate on top of it.



Mark everything out that I need to cut, drill or chew off...



There! Like grade-school art class again. Next, we'll use a spirograph and perhaps I won't eat all the paste this time!



Drill out the rivet holes, screw holes, etc. on the plate...



A simple and effective method for marking out a new fan hole is to use a simple wire grill and mark the four corners.

(Pardon my disgusting adhesive bandaged finger BTW; had an "issue" with a fan at work earlier... always use grills on running fans, ok? I know that sounds obvious, but still.)



Then, take a ruler and criss-cross to the opposite mounting hole; where the lines intersect in the middle is where the fan hole itself is for you to drill for a hole-saw. Elementary, right?



Drilling those holes out...



And finally pull out one of the hole-saws for the 120mm hole.



A minute later, we're good. Normally, it's a good idea to jig this or something so you don't screw it up, but I've punched so many fan holes at this point that I can do it in my sleep. And often do. Usually around 10am on a Tuesday!



Next, I use my handy rotary tool to make a pilot-slot for the jigsaw with the only Dremel® part I use aside from the snake attachment; the EZ-Lock system. Freakin' awesome. Only one I use, and worth the extra money. Those blasted fiberglass-reinforced wafers are worthless. And they don't taste very good either.



All done...



A few more beveled holes for the corners, etc...



Never forget or neglect to put on your "eyes" and "ears" when working with loud equipment. As my grandpa says, "too piercing, man!".

Not many people outside of Minnesota know this. If you use 3M products for your eye and ear protection choice, it works far better than the other brands. Seriously, it's true! Ask Bill!



And some jigsaw work...



A few minutes later, I'm left with this rough thing.



I really should've went for slightly thicker aluminum, but it's no big deal. Once this thing is doctored up and finalized on the build, he's not going to notice much of anything. It will fit right in with the theme, I think. I may actually rough it up a bit with "wear n' tear" before I go to paint things too.

After another 30 mins. or so of flat-file work and sanding band work in the corners, I'm left with something a little more palatable. I still need to clean up some areas a bit more, but I'm pretty happy with it.



After an impromptu bending brake consisting of two pieces of scrap aluminum and two heavy C-clamps later, I get a decent bend on the little flap that fills the gap next to the mobo IO port area right above the PCI slots.



The good thing is all the holes line up fine so it's functionally-sound. I love how after I removed the tape that had been on that scrap piece for probably years now (and left its gooey tape-residue mess behind too), I find that there was some damage across the anodizing right there in the corner. Oh well. It works.



I'll clean things up a lot more before I commit it to the tray permanently, but for now, I'm done. Time for a shower, some popcorn and ginger ale, and a stupid flick to giggle at.

Thank you kindly for looking in! I'll be back soon.

 

If we didn't just see it, someone could say that back plate looks somewhat original to LIAN LI! Did you work for LIAN LI?! lol JK! I know they press all of their stuff... No way a Chinese company could get anything done by hand, not that well! lol

 

So, I'm thinking The E.E.L. made an oops cut on the alum, and then my old eyes see the signature fold up hide it all side piece. Well met. You haven't forgotten how.

john

 

W00t, but there is no space! Well at least not with my radiator, how thick is yours? I can see it's an EK rad. POST MORE PICS of it I am really interested in seeing how you fit this together lol I might copy you afterwards haha!

I'm using a HW Labs Black Ice 360 GTX, which is 54mm, with fans, that's 79mm, and that's exactly too much for me to be able to fit the rad with fans inside the case. But come to think about it, I have the HDD bays at the bottom as well, which also were a problem, but you've moved them to the 5.25 bay area, which I can't because of the reservoir I'm planning on installing freakin Sentry uses too much space as well, might have to let it die!


I'll just shut up now lol, sorry THANKS!

 

I was wondering earlier why you were taping stuff off. I understand it's good for marking purposes, but you were mumbling something about protecting the finish. That seems odd to me on a worn-look build.

 

Toss the E.E.L. some Rep people, for all of these nicely detailed photos!

Your update reminds me that I've wanted to start stocking raw materials, like sheets of 1/8" thick aluminum in varying sizes for applications like yours and scratch builds...and aluminum diamond plate too! Home Depot and Lowe's raw material selection for metal sheets is a joke.

can I come over and help? I'll even sleeve your wires for you I see you you have a Laser guide on yr Jigsaw! (me jealous)

 

If I worked for LiLi, they'd have more cases that are (even more) plain looking with massive amounts of space in them...

See the next update...

Yeah, I meant that it's a good idea in general to develop a habit to mask off your work area. Kind of common sense too. Especially if it's a main part of my job. Nothing sucks worse than having to explain to a customer that you just fragged their prized panel they sent in because you couldn't take 10 secs to tape off the anodizing! Worn-look build, correct...but a specific worn-look that I will give it soon; not just having it done by negligence, right?

Dude, you know that you're always welcome in E.E.L.-Town! And it's such a short trip too....only over 1000 miles or something, right?

Yes, totally! No more ordering from places that require volume orders, etc. Straight-forward, no-BS mod supplies direct from MNPCTech.com makes total sense for sure.

Oh, and I should correct your post...

Bah, the funny thing is when I bought that jigsaw years back, it was simply on sale at the time and I didn't give a about the laser guide.

 

Log Update #9

A little update! I had a little time to blitzkrieg some stuff while my son was having his nap, and of course it's right when the sun is beating down on my garage door so it's about 200-degrees in there with no airflow.

I also didn't have time to get the camera set up to take some progress pics of what I was working on either as I needed to really get all this done with the small amount of borrowed time I had available to me. I apologize.

What I did was I needed to make a "riser" plate for the rad's brackets to mount on to so it will give a little more lift, allowing the side panel's exhaust grill to line up with it. I was going to make something out of aluminum, but then I came across some acrylic scrap that I had. 3/8" acrylic too. Perfect.

So I measured out what I needed to cut and ripped it with the jigsaw. Then I drilled and countersunk holes to mount it to the rad's brackets. Then I drilled four holes in the acrylic itself in the middle between the rad brackets and tapped them for 6-32 threads. Then I measured out and drilled holes on the bottom side of the case to line up with those tapped holes. Slip in four 6-32 thumbscrews, and rad mounted with some lift. Like a bra!

Now it's more convenient to get the rad/fans out of the case without having to tear the whole thing apart in the interests of maintenance, upgrades, etc.

Here's a pic of the underside of the case...



The rad and fans are mounted right where I need them to allow enough clearance with the side panel's locking system, as well as the PSU on the other side.



I just have some thumbscrews holding the rad to the brackets right now to get everything set up correctly. When I finally get things all done and painted right, it will look a lot cleaner...er, grungier. Yeah, grungier.

If you look below the rad brackets, you can see the acrylic bracket I made. Works like a charm. I even slapped some sound-deadening material on it between the case to minimize vibration, etc.



And here's the amount of space between the rad/fans and the PSU right next to it. Plenty of room! Always triple-check your measurements before you commit a cut or drill to your project. Sounds like obvious info, right? But it happens.



Grr, I hate these damn pass-through molex connectors on Yates!



Let's cut these damn things off so I can get them out of my freakin' way.

Snip the red and black wires going out of the 3-pin connector. That's all that's really needed, unless you want to re-crimp them to make it even cleaner before sleeving. But not really needed.



Here's a shot of the rad/fans installed where they're going to sit...



Now, I need to mask and mark out where I'm going to cut on the side panel for the exhaust grill to be installed.



Simple, low-tech solution of penciling out where it's going to go. Well, a little less low-tech; it is a mechanical pencil!



There we go. Easy to follow.



But now I need to draw a bevel around the spots to make sure no bare metal is showing once it's all finished up. An easy way to do this is to draw a flowing, curving line around the holes so you can get it in one shot with the jigsaw instead of having to deal with cutting multiple holes, etc.



And after a simple starter-slot made with the rotary tool and some quick jigsaw work and some sanding with a file, I end up with this...



I just have it held on with some 6-32 socket caps to see if it looks right. Again, I'll probably go to buttonheads, but who knows.



As far as measurements go, it's pretty much perfect. I'm leaving it where it is! Let's kick the Yates on and see some glow action, shall we?



Ah, I love it. But more importantly, the best friend will love it.



I'll be back soon with some more good stuff! Thanks for tuning in!

 

Yeah right - simple. Speaks volumes here.

john

 

I would prefer a simplistic case, with mass amounts of space to do with as I see fit. Now, if it were modular, it would be cool too, as it would give me the ability to just slap things in, and not have to kill myself doing it... lol

Anyhow, nice progress on the project, and as always you have done some killer work with it! Now, you also have some pretty good skills with the camera, also! Very clean, and crisp shots! I assume this isn't taken with a kodak camera? lol I wonder if I can get clean shots like this with my little fujifilm z70 I got yesterday?! lol Sooooo many settings to play with!

 

Awesome looking! Thanks for the picturs I've just ordered a lian li HDD rack for 5.25 bay mounting, clearing up some free space, allowing me to mount the radiator and fans inside the case!

Are you going to mount fans on the other side of the radiator as well or is the one fan with air blowing in at the front enough? I've noticed you've installed the fans so they blow air out from the radiator and not in to it, so that's why I'm asking

Cheers!

 

Hahahah!

Thanks! Just a simple point-n-click digi-camera. In fact, same one I've been using for probably 6 years now, lol. I was contemplating using my DSLR for all the work, but I just can't ignore the easy and quick setups with the cheapie, and I get good results too. The SLR shots are reserved for final studio photos of the finished rigs.

You're welcome!

Nope, only pull on that rad (less noise-factor too like this compared to push) as it's an open-core low-fincount rad (type of exchanger designed for low-spinning fans). As for air supply, keep watching the log. All will be revealed.

 

Having ripped apart a couple Sunbeams, i do appreciate their simple design and "it just works" mentality.

So, i question you with this, why not ditch the whole bracket and use the nuts to mount it to the front plate? The knobs have sufficient spacing that they can sit flush against the panel if you tweak the front nuts so they are flush with the ends of the threads



Like this (sorry its the best one i have that shows what im trying to say, i dont have a side shot

 

Honestly, I've literally done that a hundred times in the past the rheobus. In this particular situation, the acrylic is simply too thick to be able to get any threads without countersinking it and I don't feel like doing that. I'd rather make it easier for my best friend for maintenance, etc. so this is the way this project will go. If you read my logs, you'll see I have a reputation that when I do something it's for a reason not immediately illuminated; or dare I say, downright sneaky!

 

Log Update #10

Update time! Let's get to it.

I need to mark out the opposite mobo panel's cuts. Let's do that.

First one in the lower intake grill which will allow some fresh air to get directly to the rad since there will no longer be a fan in the stock fan location at the bottom front of the case. Passively supplied air is fine too, since the bottom is basically an open cavern with nothing obstructing the airflow into the case.

The grill placed and measured where I want it located...



Marking it out and beveling the marks to where the jigsaw's going to chew it out...



Same thing with the window panel as well. Personally, I'm not that partial to window panels now-a-days. I've grown a bit tired of them to be honest since I cut probably a dozen on average a week and it gets a little old, ya know? Not saying I won't use one in the future for one of my own builds, sure, but I don't let that interfere with those that do enjoy them. My best friend does, so we're including one here. And I made it a little different from the typical square opening that tends to get put on a case.



Again, marking out where the cuts need to go...



There.



Beveled for easy guides...



Drilling out the corners and screw holes...



Done with that one. Now the next...



It's a good idea to clear off any aluminum shavings left on your work surface or the jigsaw will vibrate them through your tape masking and rub it on and finally in to your work surface which will probably make you cry if you're trying to protect it from damage.



And some jigsaw work, filing, yadda yadda, etc...



And we're done! Held on with some 6-32 screws again for testing. Fitment looks perfect. I'm happy with it!



Now, let's roll over to the top control/fillport area.

I need to get that done since I keep forgetting about it. Let's un-forget about it, shall we?

After some masking and measuring to get it where I want it, I need to mark out where the cuts are going to go. This kind of thing is my style and forte, so you may see some stuff that reminds you of my other work. It's like a signature on a painting, at risk of accidentally sounding a little pretentious!



Marking it out for the cuts, drilling, etc...



Now, the fillport I'm using is the classic bulky kick-ass model from Danger Den that I've used a hundred times before. I have two left so I need to use them up. Plus, they really are a top-notch fillport to use. I love how they're beefy. Generally, I like to use the delrin (acetal) model. This one's the anodized aluminum model.



One of my favorite arguments is when someone gets all freaked out about using an aluminum item in a copper-filled loop, "OMG! You're going to kill you system! Don't you know about galvanic corrosion!?" My response is, after LOLing for a little bit and sarcastically mocking the person for thinking I've never heard of galvanic corrosion being the watercooling fruitcake that I am, is to state simply, "Yo. It's anodized. No aluminum comes in contact with the fluid. Plus, it's not part of the loop, jack-ass. It's a fillport. You fill the system up with it. That's it. ...That's right...enjoy your pushup-pop."

Anyways, let's beat this one up a bit, shall we?



There! All better. Or worse!

Back to the case, all marked out and ready for surgery.



Pilot hole drilled, and holesaw work commencing.



As always, go slow and easy letting the hole-saw do all the work of sawing. That's what it does, apparently.



Tape removed and cuts cleaned up a bit with a file. Drop on the acrylic with some screws for test fitment, and it looks great. Fillport dropped in and installed as well as IO ports...



...And the power and lighting switches too for completions' sake. Looks great!



Thank you for watching. I'll be back soon enough!

 

That kicks ass! I like the little panel design.