Project: HYPERCUBE² 21/03/2005 PICTURES FROM CEBIT

I'm assuming that they are hard wired into the fan power circuit? There aren't any wires?

You may be able to access them if you open up the fan , there should be a little circlip in the back of the fan that will let you seperate the blades from the main fan.

 

try cutting the wires of the leds
of pull the leds off

 

Its like Gordy said. They are hardwired into the plate. I cant cut the wires because there are none. And its also impossible to open up the fans without damaging them :s

 

Thats a pain There must be some way as they had to build them in the first place

If you have time take a shot of the front and back of the fan in close up so I can have a closer look at one then I maybe able to see a method of attacking them.

 

nice update I would be a little concerned about putting an opened PSU that close to the HDD though.

 

Core is looking pretty clean. I would have gotten rid of the drill bit, but as you said, "It isn't visible, it stays." It'll be like buried treasure for anyone wanting to rip apart such a beauty. J/K

 

You definatley have some good points there. Personally I wouldn't worry though. Hard drives are VERY well shielded on their own. And the FMJ that people put on Eheims aren't really necessary (most I've seen don't have them) and are more often than not used for looks rather than EMI protection. EMI is more likely to effect the data in the cables anyways, not the drive itself. But if you use rounded cables (I'm guessing you'll use the silver braid ones if you haven't covered it already, I forgot...) they have that braiding on them which helps shield the cables.

Personally I'd just test it as it is and see if there are any problems.

 

this thing is beautiful man. if you have time for my question, did you simply tape down the prints of your design to the plexi with masking tape?

my post is here, if you wouldnt mind explaining how you do things

 

I tried to get it out, but its really impossible to get a 1.5mm bit out of a 4 mm edge Anyway, maybe I can use the bit for grounding (just kidding

Well actually I allready glued the sleeving to the fans... so if I still wanne open up the fans I'll have to remove the sleeving, which is IMHO almost impossible. But somewhere on the log there are pictures of the fans, so maybe you can look over there

Yeps, I'm using those silver rounded cables (lucky me) , Didnt cover it yet, but just wait and see.
How can I test such a thing?? just run it and see it has no problems?

Well yes, I first covered the hole plexi panels with masking tape, then I taped the printouts over it and started to cut it out. This way you have a nice cutout in the masking tape and its ready for the jigsaw. You can find it somewhere in the logs though

greetz,
Joungne

 

The only way I can see is that the circlip in the middle of the fans in that picture could be undone then you could be able to attack the led's. As you've already glued them this will be an issue tho

 

Lovely!

Nice work! This is got to be one of my favorite projects ever!

Just a few thoughts on the removal of the blue leds on the small fans..

1- Why dont you just but some that dont have leds in them?
2- You could always poke at them with a small screwdriver untill they go out!
3- Embrace the fans blueyness and use it as a twist!

Personally i'd go with number 2,
but as your a pro i'd suggest you really should'nt listen to me
as i dont want to be held responsible for the busted leds shorting out your whole system!

 

1- As far as I know, you cant buy transparent 40mm fans without leds.
2- I dont wanne fire in my case
3- Actually thats not an option for me (its just not good enough)

But I will find a way

 

I agree about the blue leds, they'd ruin a nice case like this. It'd look too ordinary which isn't really very good after all the great work you've put into making this such a memorable mod. Although poking at them until they burst into flames doesn't sound too safe, so i'd try to find another way.

 

Do you want to replace the LEDs with white ones, or just disable them?

 

just disable them should be fine

 

They are 12V fans, right? Then why are 2 power wires connected to the fan's pcb...

 

it are 3pin fans, 12v, ground and RPM calculation. I allready checked that, the leds are also 12 V

 

WOW!!! This case is F*cking amazing!!!!!!!!!! Good job on all of it, I love every part of it.......

 

One easy way of disabling them would be to run the fans a 7volts , some led fans will have their led's go out completely at this voltage . The 80mm coolermaster ones do

 

LEDs don't like being connected in reverse. If the fan is just a DC motor with a couple of LEDs in parallel, you could simply connect it to 12V (or even 5V), but with + and - reversed, which would kill the LEDs, but keep the motor alive (it would just run backwards while you did it). Two problems: LEDs have a tendency to explode when you do this, which might damage the fan depending on how tightly they are integrated, and it looks like there is additional electronics (probably the RPM sensor, perhaps you can live without that anyway?) in there which may also get fried when a negative voltage is applied.

Alternatively, a very short pulse at a voltage higher than 12V might do the trick, but of course you risk motor and electronics as well.

If all else fails it might be worth a try, ie just before you throw the fans away since they're unusable.