ContraptionMaker
10-17-2008, 02:27 AM
"Drive bay cover mod"
This project actually started as a need to switch from my speakers to my headphones and back with out unplugging anything....
Since this only required a switch and a headphone jack, I had a lot of room left on the drive bay cover, so I decided to add a couple of more switches. One will control a fan cover light from a previous mod and the other for a new set of cold cathode florescence tubes for the inside. Guess what? Still more room! As I looked at my NiMH battery charger and cell phone sitting on my desk charging and taking up space I suddenly had a vision. I saw my cell phone charging from a port on my computer! Both of these have car chargers. The PSU puts out 12v, why not use that to power the car chargers? Both the battery charger and phone use those bulky outlet hogging transformers and both are just being slid from one place to the other on my desk. With this one little mod I can eliminate the transformers (and open a couple of outlets) and possibly some of the clutter on my desk..
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const053.jpg
Since finishing this project I am quite happy with the results and thought you might use this as a basis to build your own control panel. Depending on your needs and expertise you can add a lot of controls to a single bay cover. Just look around at some of the commercial versions and you will see what I mean. Everything from card readers to USB ports and everything in-between can be found in a drive bay. Let your imagination run wild and add some stuff to your computer.
"Part 1: Gathering parts & Making it "Mod"ular"
Gathering Parts
The fist step is collecting everything you need. Of course after you do this you will, according to Murphy, need something else as you progress so be ready to run back to the parts store in the middle of your build.
Here are the parts I started with:
Set of cold cathode florescent tubes
Molex connector
1/8 stereo jacks (2)
1/8 stereo plugs (4)
SPST Mini switch (2)
DPDT Mini switch
12v Power jack
12v Power plugs (2)
Cell phone car charger
NiHm car charger cord
and of course the bay cover.
Your parts list might be different!!!
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010002.jpg
Now let's not forget our tools list:
Wire
Solder
Soldering iron
Small side cutters
Small needle nose pliers
Exato knife
Mini drills
Jewelers files
Epoxy
Clamps
Saw (I used my scroll saw and a broken blade from same saw)
Make it "MOD"ular!
My first thoughts were to hard wire all this in. After giving this some thought I changed my mind and decided to make the whole thing modular. That way I could move it from case to case. This brought up my next problem, how do I mount all of this to the back of this bay cover? I needed a box to hold more, what else, jacks!
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const047.jpg
I just happen to have some old CD-ROM’s laying around so I did what anyone would do and tore it apart. Sorry about the pics they were taken after I started mounting stuff in but it should give you an idea of where this part came from.
Removed from case…
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const030.jpg
After cutting the back end off and trimming to height…
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const031.jpg
This would actually work out better than I thought.
The plastic was easy to work yet turned out to be very strong. The epoxy stuck well and with a little cutting on the scroll saw it fit perfectly! Not only that but there was a spot to put a molex connector that seemed to be made for just that part.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const005.jpg
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const006.jpg
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const0016.jpg
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const015.jpg
PERFECT FIT!
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const012.jpg
The next step was to install two fan connectors to use as a place to plug in the lights and two stereo jacks for the speaker input and output. I used a small drill and jewelers files to cut the holes for the fan connectors and secured them with 5 minute epoxy.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const032.jpg
Since I was removing the lighter plugs that contained the fuse for the charging circuits I installed a fuse holder for the two amp fuse that the adapters originally used.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const036.jpg
The finished box.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const037.jpg
Next we will design and build the front panel.
"Part 2: Building the front panel"
After finishing up the box the next step was to design the panel front. My drive cover was in three parts and I wanted the switches to be labeled. This is what it looked like before any modification.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010008.jpg
This is what it looked like taken apart.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010012.jpg
I used Paint Shop Pro to do the layout for the switches and labels, then took the jpg file to Office Depot, and had it printed as a transparency.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010009.jpg
And this is what it looks like laying on the aluminum plate.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010013.jpg
It was then cut to fit and sandwiched between the Plexiglas and the aluminum sheet.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P10100182.jpg
With everything back together I drilled the holes for the switches and jacks.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P10100202.jpg
After test fitting the switches I discovered that to get the 12v jack and headphone jack to fit I would have to modify the panel a little more. The switch holes were drilled to allow the shank to screw right into the panel. This would not work for the jacks though because the shank was too short to pass through to the front. I made the following mods to make everything fit.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P10100242.jpg
This is the power jack hole from behind.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010021.jpg
And here is the panel with switches and jacks installed.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010026.jpg
Well that takes care of all the prep work it’s time to get this thing wired and working. In my next post we will continue with the construction and wiring of this contraption.
This project actually started as a need to switch from my speakers to my headphones and back with out unplugging anything....
Since this only required a switch and a headphone jack, I had a lot of room left on the drive bay cover, so I decided to add a couple of more switches. One will control a fan cover light from a previous mod and the other for a new set of cold cathode florescence tubes for the inside. Guess what? Still more room! As I looked at my NiMH battery charger and cell phone sitting on my desk charging and taking up space I suddenly had a vision. I saw my cell phone charging from a port on my computer! Both of these have car chargers. The PSU puts out 12v, why not use that to power the car chargers? Both the battery charger and phone use those bulky outlet hogging transformers and both are just being slid from one place to the other on my desk. With this one little mod I can eliminate the transformers (and open a couple of outlets) and possibly some of the clutter on my desk..
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const053.jpg
Since finishing this project I am quite happy with the results and thought you might use this as a basis to build your own control panel. Depending on your needs and expertise you can add a lot of controls to a single bay cover. Just look around at some of the commercial versions and you will see what I mean. Everything from card readers to USB ports and everything in-between can be found in a drive bay. Let your imagination run wild and add some stuff to your computer.
"Part 1: Gathering parts & Making it "Mod"ular"
Gathering Parts
The fist step is collecting everything you need. Of course after you do this you will, according to Murphy, need something else as you progress so be ready to run back to the parts store in the middle of your build.
Here are the parts I started with:
Set of cold cathode florescent tubes
Molex connector
1/8 stereo jacks (2)
1/8 stereo plugs (4)
SPST Mini switch (2)
DPDT Mini switch
12v Power jack
12v Power plugs (2)
Cell phone car charger
NiHm car charger cord
and of course the bay cover.
Your parts list might be different!!!
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010002.jpg
Now let's not forget our tools list:
Wire
Solder
Soldering iron
Small side cutters
Small needle nose pliers
Exato knife
Mini drills
Jewelers files
Epoxy
Clamps
Saw (I used my scroll saw and a broken blade from same saw)
Make it "MOD"ular!
My first thoughts were to hard wire all this in. After giving this some thought I changed my mind and decided to make the whole thing modular. That way I could move it from case to case. This brought up my next problem, how do I mount all of this to the back of this bay cover? I needed a box to hold more, what else, jacks!
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const047.jpg
I just happen to have some old CD-ROM’s laying around so I did what anyone would do and tore it apart. Sorry about the pics they were taken after I started mounting stuff in but it should give you an idea of where this part came from.
Removed from case…
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const030.jpg
After cutting the back end off and trimming to height…
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const031.jpg
This would actually work out better than I thought.
The plastic was easy to work yet turned out to be very strong. The epoxy stuck well and with a little cutting on the scroll saw it fit perfectly! Not only that but there was a spot to put a molex connector that seemed to be made for just that part.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const005.jpg
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const006.jpg
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const0016.jpg
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const015.jpg
PERFECT FIT!
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const012.jpg
The next step was to install two fan connectors to use as a place to plug in the lights and two stereo jacks for the speaker input and output. I used a small drill and jewelers files to cut the holes for the fan connectors and secured them with 5 minute epoxy.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const032.jpg
Since I was removing the lighter plugs that contained the fuse for the charging circuits I installed a fuse holder for the two amp fuse that the adapters originally used.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const036.jpg
The finished box.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/const037.jpg
Next we will design and build the front panel.
"Part 2: Building the front panel"
After finishing up the box the next step was to design the panel front. My drive cover was in three parts and I wanted the switches to be labeled. This is what it looked like before any modification.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010008.jpg
This is what it looked like taken apart.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010012.jpg
I used Paint Shop Pro to do the layout for the switches and labels, then took the jpg file to Office Depot, and had it printed as a transparency.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010009.jpg
And this is what it looks like laying on the aluminum plate.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010013.jpg
It was then cut to fit and sandwiched between the Plexiglas and the aluminum sheet.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P10100182.jpg
With everything back together I drilled the holes for the switches and jacks.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P10100202.jpg
After test fitting the switches I discovered that to get the 12v jack and headphone jack to fit I would have to modify the panel a little more. The switch holes were drilled to allow the shank to screw right into the panel. This would not work for the jacks though because the shank was too short to pass through to the front. I made the following mods to make everything fit.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P10100242.jpg
This is the power jack hole from behind.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010021.jpg
And here is the panel with switches and jacks installed.
http://www.luckyleta.com/tech/archives/P1010026.jpg
Well that takes care of all the prep work it’s time to get this thing wired and working. In my next post we will continue with the construction and wiring of this contraption.