Project UFO

[SuBLiminaL2221]

And my new hd-rack and thumbscrews:



Ok, figured out what the problem was. The place where I soldered the original fan wire to the extension wire, what I call a "joint", was making contact with all the other joints, thus causing the electricity to get mixed up between the wires, thus causing the fans not work.
The situation didn't get better when I tried some bare copper wire (this was before I knew what the problem was).
So I went to Lowes, got some insulated wire, soldered everything back together, and to prevent the joints from making contact with each other, I put a piece of tape around each one of them. While this may sound ghetto, it worked

Got a two fans done, will work on the rest tonight.

Also picked up a tap set.. you'll see why in the coming days.


Joints


Heatshrinked joints to add stability


Did this to all six of them




The bare copper wire I was talking about


New, insulated wire


Taped joint

 

[SuBLiminaL2221]

Got some pics!

All the fans are working - I stood back and laughed at how long I made my first fan - it's at least 3ft! LOL !!!

Anyway, here you guys go, took me about 8hrs.

I forgot to add heatshrink on a few of the wires - realized after I had everything soldered but hey.. it was my first time















Got some more pics for you guys- in the middle of setting up my WC. And to top it off, my pump died, so I will have to suffer thorough air cooling 'till early next week.

 

[SuBLiminaL2221]

New HD rack from mountain-mods.com - Pretty sexi imo. Came with brushed aluminum, so I am in the middle of painting it.





Few more pics of what I've been up to tonight:

 

[SuBLiminaL2221]

Forgive the long screws holding in the hd rack - they are all I have right now.

My 6-32 tap actually broke tonight, I was a little surprised, but then again, tapping a hole in .125" thick aluminum isn't a walk in the park either. Thankfully, it has a lifetime warranty.

I'm currently waiting on my new pump, so in the mean time, I created (got the idea from AndyM) a new fan controller - I convinced myself that tucking 8 fan wires under my mobo tray wouldn't look so great, so I plan on mounting this on the back of the mobo tray, making it hidden from view from the right side.

Soldering everything together




Connected



Has enough connectors for 8 fans



Test setup



Is it a work of art? No
Does it work for the function in which it was produced? Chyeah baby !

I'm working on placing the UV cathodes in my case - trying to stealth them, while providing optimum light.

More to come.

Some custom length screws I made - TT backplate ready



I feel I must voice my aggravations here.

As with some mods I have done, I am not content some parts of them, and with this one, that would be the front panel of my case. I believe it will make my whole case look better if I get some sheet metal for the front - Lowes probably has some @ a reasonable price.

I'm also thinking on a color change... only time will tell if I will go through with it or not though.

~Vice

I will be making a new front panel, as well as a side panel.. I'm not liking the whole plexi side as much as I used to.

Ok, so I decided on a color theme change. Stocked up on paint to save me a few trips to the store. From left to right we have: 2x Auto Primer(Grey), 2x White Gloss, 2x Black Gloss, Krylon Orange, Clear Coat, and some silicone filler.





Some nice sanding paper... It was really hard to find actually, neither Lowes nor Sears had a good selection.




I bought 2x 24x36 metal sheets.. a surprising $6.93 ea. along with a 24x48" acrylic sheet.

 

[SuBLiminaL2221]

New Pump arrived today.



Some assorted zip-ties and a switch




Finally, a company that cares!


More to come.

~Vice

Started leak testing - before everyone asks, yes, I have a duck soap dispenser, and yes, that giant blue thing is a filter

So here's a few pics:

 

[SuBLiminaL2221]

Well, here it is, the new fan mod I promised:






Got the first side done @ 2am this morning- took me about an hour or so - Gives me a much cleaner setup, and these wires will be hidden from view.

What do you think?

~Vice

Got some more done today:

CAD drawing mounted on my aluminum sheet.





CD drive hole cut.




Started to work on the fans - This would be a lot easier w/ a drill press! - My drill is weak, and these holes take forever.


That's what I got done today.. time for my lunch break

More to come.

~Vice

** I am now in the process of making the side panels, as well as creating a design for them. A whole new color theme is still to come, as well as a change in fan color. :thumb:


This is how it came out, with first coat of primer drying with my ghetto mock up.




So I realize I haven't updated in a while, just wanted to tell you guys whats going on.

1) I'm working 60hrs weeks, which is why I haven't updated in a little bit.

2) I painted my Dtek Fuzion mount black (took several, several coats to get the color right), will have some pics up tomorrow morning.

3) I decided against ordering a new front panel, I tested the one I have now, and it works great.

4) I'm going to re-sand my case frame, and re-prime it tomorrow. Not sure if I will get to painting it, it'll depend on how many coats are needed to get a nice texture.

5) I also hope to cut the case windows tomorrow. I bought a scroll saw and was planning to cut an image out of the side panel, but the scroll saw didn't work like I had hoped, and wound up just being a PITA, so I returned it. I may just order a custom laser cut side panel in the future.

6) Got a great UV dye to go with my new color theme, its going to look so bad ***!

7) Ordered some U-Channel and 2 switches from mnpctech.com , after I get the front panel painted and the holes for the switches drilled, I'll post some pics up.

 

[SuBLiminaL2221]

For now, this is how I'm running my comp:





Please excuse the mess

More to come.

~Vice

Painted DTek FuZion mounting bracket:




Everything primed:




So I got done all the priming today, used almost 2 full cans, and I didn't even start sanding yet..

Sanding will come tomorrow, I plan on letting the primer dry for almost 24hrs.


Switches in:



Here we go!









Few more coats for that mirror finish.

More to come.

~Vice


Ok, time to get serious. I want this build to be done by weeks end.

After not being able to do much this week, I finally made it to Lowes, where I returned my scroll saw, and a few other things, and picked up a jigsaw, some screws, paint, and some other misc. things.

I just used this to cut a better/cleaner psu mounting hole, and it cut through .125" thick alu like butter... on medium setting! I made sure I got one with a laser guide as well, as I hate wavy cuts.

 

[SuBLiminaL2221]

I need to paint the back panel of my case, then put everything together. As well as cut windows in the top and left-side panels. With any lucks, it'll be done by weeks end.

Sneak peek:



^Thanks

Got a special update for you guys today, be easy though, it was my first time cutting something of this complexity

Using this picture as a guide, accompanied with a rotary tool, jigsaw, and hard work, I wound up with this:

Guide:









Keep in mind, these pictures are before sanding, and filing. I also need to fix up the neck part.

I'm not sure if I want to go with the black acrylic, or with regular clear either.


This will also become important in the coming days:








And the ensuing mess:




It took me a good 2.5hrs (including clean up). It was around 95 degrees and humid in my garage, so I was literally dripping sweat (and blood) by the end of this.

What do you guys think? Be easy...

 

[SuBLiminaL2221]

Cut the top panel design today, and cleaned up my side panel design. I just finished priming them.










The superman logo and dragon pictures have special meaning to me, and I know they generally don't "go together" but, this is something I cannot explain.

 

[SuBLiminaL2221]

Case is done and I'm now starting to install the hardware.

Here's the wc'ing almost completed.



Will post more pics soon.

 

[djrussell]

holy crap, man. that's a ton of work. good job though. it's coming together nicely.

 

[Moto7451]

Very nice. I really like the look of aluminum + acrylic. One of these days I'll have to revisit my current case (new case is a few threads below this one ).

Also as an FYI, you probably broke so many discs and your dremel tool by forcing it to cut faster than the whole shabang wants to. You have to let the tool do the cutting and basically lead it along. Also be sure to use fiberglass discs, so much more useful.

 

[greyharte]

one question ... how/where did you get the lian-li MB tray ... i checked thier site and that wasnt an option ... and how much did it cost?