I've had this idea for a while now, but after i saw the Orac3 project (and the plexi motherboard cover) I'm not so sure I should be using it. What i wanna know is: can the metal hose short something on the mobo/graphics card/memory and possibly cause damage to the pc?
Yeah the most certintly could, being as they are metal. I still shudder everytime someone uses shower hose to seleve the wires becuase of that issue
yeah, it could short out if it touches something. its metal, and thus conductive (a good rule of thumb). however........ possibly a good comprimise. why not put some thin clear tubing over it? like, some clear plastic tube used for watercooling etc. another idea, but im not sure how good it is.... what about clearcoat? its the topcoat used to protect paint and make it glossy, its pretty cheap too. im not sure if it would work if you moved the cables a lot, i dont think clearcoat is very flexible, but you could tape up the shower hose in the shape it needs to be, and give it a few coats of clearcoat.
As far as I know, most shower hoses are made of some metal alloy we call "messing" in Belgium (don't know what it's called in English), covered with a layer of chrome, to prevent it from staining/rusting in bare shower conditions (chalk, soap salts). As far as my chemistry knowledge reaches, I know that chrome ISN't a metal! So obviously it is (thankfully) not able to transmit electrical currents. So if you have chrome layered tubes, there is no problem at all about using them for sleeving and even touching some vital electronic parts. If you use sleeving which is BARE metal, you'd better play safe offcourse and cover up all your vital parts from possible short cutting! But again: Chrome is NOT a metal and can be used very safely as sleeving!!! greetings, Dries
the possibility exists anyway, just becuase apparently 'chrome' isnt conductive, it dosent mean that his is chrome, nor that the possibility still dosent exist
well if he has chrome plated tubes i would still test them with a volt meter, because it might just be polished steel or aluminum, so test it.
When i did my PSU with shower sleeve (thanks to gnome for the idea loll ) i had to follow the master's footstep and used rubber rings. also had to use large heat shrink cause the darn thing cuts like a razor and digs into the wires. (not shown in the pic, did it afterwards when i saw the trouble) And yeah it's usually stainless steel and is very conductive if it touches any part of anything ZZzzap!
Most shower hoses I've encountered have a Vinyl coating on the outside which I'm sure could prevent shorting. I've tested it with my continuity tester. I guess it's one of those things you have to look out for.
Maybe you should take another look at your Chemistery books. Chrome (Cr) is a metal, which conducts electricity VERY well. Its electrical resistivity is 0.000000127 Ohms per Meter. The best conductor of electricity is Gold, with a Resistivity of 0.000000022 Ohms per Meter. There is alos no guarrentee that the Shower hose is Chrome plated. They might be using something cheaper like Nickle plating. Which is also Highly conductive. Just make sure all cables are carefully routed and there should be no trouble
OW OW, sorry about my reply, but indeed, Chrome is a metal ... I must have mixed it up with Chlore or something. I'm terribly sorry for my extremely unprofessional reply and if there were any possibility to remove it, I would do it right away ! It's also OBVIOUS Cr is a metal because of the fact that you can give f.i. iron a Chrome layer by using an electrolytic process (which can only be done with metal-like materials, not? )...
Havent a clue what the brand was, but have been seaching around for a shower thingo for a little while now to find a decent one, not for a mod but for my actual shower, anyway in a cheapo disposal centre i found a plastic hose that had a chrome plastic outer casing. Its was really cheap and nasty, quarter of the price of the metal ones, but the outer casing would have been fine for what you want and the finish of the chrome looked ok, about as good as chromed plastic is going to get, just the fitting sucked. I would shop around a bit and maybe even find a shop dedicated to bathroom fitting and ask.
I think what is being used is some sort of wierd conduit, not showerhose (as someone else said, they're often coated in some sort of plastic, presumably so it won't rust in the shower). Yes, anything metal is conductive, but as long as you're careful, it's not a problem. I mean... I've moved a DVDRW drive to a different drive bay while the computer was still on (and at full load iirc) - no that's not a good idea, but I was careful about it and I had no problems.
Ok here is the deal if yu use the tubing Try really hard to keep it way from the MOBO so even the idea of it shortcircuiting isnt relevant! Just make sure that it is tightly placed so it cant ever move or shake around and come even close to some expensive electronics!
i know this is really old but i liked the idea for quite a while, and upon seeing the orac case i had to see if its a viable solution, as far as the metal, could i try to possibly use a plastic laminate or possibly fiberglass. probably a thin clear plastic might work if you just heat it then laminate it sorta like chroming it or i guess like a liscense another thought is maybe to use liquid laminate, but who knows.....
There are plenty of perfectly safe to use silver/chrome/metallic sleeving kits... available from any good modding store. For instance... Techflex Chrome Cable Sleeving Chrome Case Mod Sleeving Kit Silver Nylon Cable Sleeve
I at one point was thinking about using braided steel brake hose and anodized brake fittings for a watercooling setup, with the brake hose in clear vinyl tube or such, to prevent shorts. Bailed out on the idea when I started thinking how much my PC would weigh, and what would be involved in taking it to occasional LAN parties....
