Alien Autopsy 2: The Phoenix

[Jarod997]

This is where I'll post the mod of my new power supply mod, as my old one (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19641) kinda bit the dust.

The plan: 1 new Li Shin (used, but working) power supply, 2 new Evercool Evergreen 70mm fans, 2 TT silver fan grills, some misc shop supplies and a couple LED's.

Stay Tuned!

[Jarod997]

I think I've determined how I'm going to post this build. This thread is going to be done in video format, and I've decided to pay tribute to the best builder and re-builder in TV fame: Mike Holmes.

I'll try to post some simple plans a bit later.

[Jarod997]

As promised, here are my drawings to date.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3458/3732504994_2dd1d70886_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26790580@N06/3732504994/)
The structrual and HVAC drawings.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2610/3732507568_f68c2d600c_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26790580@N06/3732507568/)
Electrical drawings and calcs. As you can see, I'm missing some numbers. I've sent a message to the tech support for the fans to see if I can get some "factory" numbers for the current draw. What I may do is take an educated guess, stick a pot on it and see what works best. Maybe 100% RPM is too noisy or inefficient. We'll see.

In other news, the video is coming along. I've got a few clips filmed and more planned. Stay tuned.

Ed: Oh ya. What isn't shown is where the 8 LED's are going to go. I'm planning on putting them on the bottom of the four corners of the fans. Translucent green fans with green LED's, it should look neat.

Ed: Oh ya 2. I've slightly moved the size and location of the exhaust holes. I've set them to match the end locations of the vertical aluminum heat blocks on each side, and, so the total exhaust hole area is balanced on each side. I have approx 5 cm^2, which, after a few air flow calculations, is going to be a LOT of air moving out the side holes from the two fans (assuming 100% RPM and CFM, as rated). (I converted my slots to square inches and calculated the flow in inches per second.) I'm thinking I may have to do some rounding on the corners of the top aluminum plate to "encourage" air flow around that beast. (Small pause) Meh, should be interesting when it's done - can't wait to fire it up, um, no pun intended. ;)

Oh ya 3. And there's a reason I've done up the electrical sheet as it is. You'll just have to wait and see. :D

[billygoat333]

gonna be interesting to see the video log. :)

[DonT-FeaR]

yeah

very neat work :P i like

[Jarod997]

Blarg! I received the new brick in the mail today. After plugging it in and running it for no more than 5 minutes, it got very hot and was making hissing and crackling noises. Needless to say I'm trying to return it. Bah, and I was all excited too. I don't think that power supply would last any longer than a few weeks.

[f8l_0e]

I love it. I feel like I'm looking a case mod sketch up by Forrest Mims :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3279/3079379002_596a748a34.jpg

[Jarod997]

I love it. I feel like I'm looking a case mod sketch up by Forrest Mims :)


Heh, I like the graphics.

In filming news, I'm still waiting for the fans and the grilles to show up. :P Not happy. So, I'm trying to film scenes that I don't need those props for, but there's only so many. Blarg. Oh well, such is the mail order kit bash.

[Eclecticos]

Really like the theme, and the detailed plans thus far.
Will be interesting to see the finished design. +Rep

[The boy 4rm oz]

Liking your preliminary sketches, can't wait for more.

[Jarod997]

Well, the fans and the grilles came in yesterday. I bought some hardware and some (window) screen. I've trimmed out two layers and glued them on the under side of the grilles at 45 degrees to each other, and well it looks pretty darn good. There's just a minor lil tid bit to figure out after everythings together. Lemme get a photo up in the next 30 minutes or so. Also, I'm modding the fans to get the LED's mounted where I want them. Why didn't I buy a LED fan? Because I thought this would look cooler. Well, it won't look quite like I had imagined, but I'm gonna make it work. :) No photos of the fans yet.

Filming has been a bit slow due to the lack of resources (namily a camera operator). On the other hand it's given me time to refine the scripts.

[Jarod997]

Ah, here it is:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2484/3765970273_44aa7cf484.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26790580@N06/3765970273/)

[The boy 4rm oz]

I have the same fan grills but I got the 3 pack (the gold, blue and silver), I always liked their shape but not the Tt logo in the middle.

[Jarod997]

I like the logo, I'm going to have one logo facing left and one right. I bought each grille for $0.99 ea plus reasonable shipping from EBay. They're used, but in pretty good shape otherwise. Good deal. :)

[Jarod997]

Hello everyone. A couple of updates.

#1 - There's been a slight change of video format. This one will not be a Holmes on Homes spoof due to a slight miscommunication between the filmer and myself. (hehe oops) I'll still make a video though.

#2 - My new power supply came in yesterday but... it's not the same Li Shin as the one I had. It's identical in features (power in/out and plug connector), but the location of the AC connector and the DC cord are not centered on either end of the case and the electronics, heat sinks and stuff inside are different too. This poses two problems. A) The holes I've cut into the bottom panel of my old brick will not work with the new panel, B) There's not enough clearance between the aluminum heat blocks and the side of the case to permit airflow from the top, down the sides and out the bottom of the side panels like I have in my drawings.

*GAH* So what do I do now? Mwuahahaha! I have large piece of plexi sitting in my basement I was doing testing on for my computer case mod, (Project Rack Mount). So, I've decided to throw out the stock case and make a completely new one out of plexi. This is going to take MUCH longer than the original project at the risk of looking 10x cooler. (And feeling 10x cooler... hmmm, water cooled power supply? Out! Out of my head! -- Maybe later... much later.) So, I have an idea of how I'm going to build it. It's going to have a construction similar to a wooden box I made a number of years ago - only this one isn't going to be stained.

So, time to get the jig saw out, get the pencil and paper out, take measurements etc... *le sigh* This will all go into my video blog I'll post when I'm finished.

[Jarod997]

As promised, here's a sketch. BTW, tried Google Sketchup, nice program but a tad limited. It wouldn't extrapolate intersecting curves coming from three directions.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2613/3818741183_26db7734ba_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26790580@N06/3818741183/)

The clear is acrylic and the "jade" colour is actually black mesh. Catia didn't have a good see through solid material aside from air (ok, it's a gas), acrylic, water (yes yes, it's a liquid), glass, and well, jade (there, it's a solid, happy? ;) ). I'll mount the guts of the new brick on stand offs from the bottom of the case and attach the lid with bolts glued to the underside of some mounts I'll add in after the main box is done.

I'm currently experimenting with different adhesives (epoxy) to see if I can get a solid bond with no visible yuckiness between pieces. I'd love to get my hands on some Weldon 3, but I can't seem to find a Canadian supplier. Oh hey, check that, just found one in the Toronto area. I'll give em a call tomorrow. (I hate paying duty on stuff I order from the states. Don't mind buying there, just don't like the taxes. ;) )

[The boy 4rm oz]

Really nice renders, looks awesome.

[Jarod997]

Okies, I have a video of my fan test. Here it is - brought to you in NearHD!

mp9uL2FD0Hw

Or... if the video doesn't load:

YouTube Clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp9uL2FD0Hw)

[Jarod997]

Well, any comments on my first video?

Aside from that, I got my Weldon 4 in the mail yesterday, so I'm going to try it out on some scraps, and see if I can be a bit more successful in cutting my plexi without melting it today.

Stay tuned!

[Eclecticos]

Great video, general information, and input. +Rep
Music is good. Fans are quiet, and the Green LEDs look great.

[DonT-FeaR]

/\ yea

[Jarod997]

Oh ya, about the adhesive tests... I tried epoxy, both with roughing up the surfaces and not - neither really held the bond well (with acrylic / Plexiglas), and by well I mean heavy finger pressure :P. Next I tried some other glue I had here, um, Lepages Plastic Adhesive 5... somewhat better results, but not much. Stay tuned about todays tests. I'm still playing with my new NAS system, so my post may be a tad delayed. :D

[Jarod997]

Hello again. Well it's been crazy here. I've just built myself a workbench in my garage, which I painstakingly leveled in the middle of the garage to make sure it's all square and the legs are all even and no wobble, I put it in place in the corner and one of the legs stands off the ground by 1/8". :P I was not happy. Anyway, a bit of tweaking later and it fits much more nicely in the corner and no wobbling.

I got my Weldon in the mail, and let me say, very nice stuff. Here's a couple pics of my first two test pieces.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2600/3917824104_1a597d5bb2_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26790580@N06/3917824104/)First test with Weldon: applied by capillary action from the edges of the sandwich. Results: very good. A few bubbles on the left. The marks on the right were from a bit of Weldon getting under the protective wrap and are not between the plys. They could be buffed out if I wanted.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3512/3917825452_8fc6a68304_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26790580@N06/3917825452/)Second test with Weldon: applied directly on to the first surface and then the second surface brought into contact. Results: excellent. Hardly any bubbles or marks. Both pieces are just as transparent as the original single pane.

So after the tests, I went at seeing what I would need to do to form the edges, like carving, sanding, chiseling, cutting, etc. So, now that I have all that figured out, I've begun cutting the pieces for my new case. I have the five sides done (I'll cut the lid last) and I have one strip of my corner fillers done (3 to go). Hmm, I should image my drawings of the corner pieces and post that... um, tomorrow!

Anyway, there's my latest for now.

[el_magnifico]

+Rep for being the first I've ever seen to do this....your "out of this world" though of water-cooling it....HA! THAT, I would love love LOVE to see....big ups, man!

[Jarod997]

So, here I am back again. I have not fallen off the face of the planet, just moved about 45 minutes from where we were -- from suburbia out to the country, and boy do we love it. We have a two car garage with a huge work bench (instead of one car and a small workbench)! Can't ask for anything more. Oh, except the long wide front porch. ;)

So, on to work related news -- I have all the corner beams laminated, and I have the equipment set up to make them in to triangulars instead of squarish. Just need to get to it. I guess the fact that my now 14 month daughter is crawling around and pulling at everything she can get her hands at doesn't help much. :D Yea for nap time and bed time.

Anyway, more photos as they come.

[billygoat333]

wow been awhile. now get to modding! :D

[Jarod997]

Ah ha, now I remember how to do images. Ok, so here's a few of the latest.

The basic rough cut panels and laminated corners:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_dAaNIwImDyc/S93gCaEAvHI/AAAAAAAAAUg/1h3BKxQlveI/s400/Picture-2%20001.jpg (http://picasaweb.google.com/pretender42/ThePhoenix#5466771854658157682)

Testing my sander setup for bevelling the corners:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_dAaNIwImDyc/S93gDHNeuEI/AAAAAAAAAU8/sz50hBBIEMc/s400/Picture-2%20002.jpg (http://picasaweb.google.com/pretender42/ThePhoenix#5466771866777466946)

The rough corner, showing the lamination. I'm fairly pleased with the Weldon and how it's performing so far.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_dAaNIwImDyc/S93gDxlj3JI/AAAAAAAAAUo/Dt33QAYro44/s400/Picture-2%20003.jpg (http://picasaweb.google.com/pretender42/ThePhoenix#5466771878152756370)

The corner after sanding. Not a bad shape, but by using my sanding setup I think I'm warping the beam a bit. Now this isn't so much a problem as I can get the warp out when I weld the corner to the bottom plate. I'd like to try some sort of cutting setup to make the 45º cuts, but that's proving a bit difficult with the size of piece I'm working with. (If I had a table scroll saw or a band saw it might be a bit easier, but I don't. Donations anyone? :D)
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_dAaNIwImDyc/S93gEe3Ga3I/AAAAAAAAAUs/CO_1DnUcTgQ/s400/Picture-1%20006.jpg (http://picasaweb.google.com/pretender42/ThePhoenix#5466771890305919858)

Showing the rough sanding of the laminated corner beam.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_dAaNIwImDyc/S93gFYRrpHI/AAAAAAAAAUw/-umAPLJSELM/s400/Picture-1%20007.jpg (http://picasaweb.google.com/pretender42/ThePhoenix#5466771905718232178)

I've discovered that the surfaces to be welded should be as smooth as possible to get a good "grip". I may take my buffing wheel to this piece to see if I can smooth it out a bit more.

That's it for now. More as it comes available.