Verticle Mobo sliding mount, lock?

[a4mula]

Hello everyone, first post so I apologize if this is the inappropriate section.

I'm working on a submerged build and I'll be mounting my mobo to a Lian Li Replacement Tray (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3387). From my specs it would appear to have a 7/16" aluminum border in which I'll be attempting to mount these 12" Drawer Sliders (http://www.dlawlesshardware.com/toor12qufuex.html). These will in turn mount to interior mounting brackets inside my case.

The problem I'm running into is figuring out a solid solution to allow the mobo tray to achieve a "locked" position when extended out of the tank. This would allow me to do upgrades in place w/o having to hold the tray in the process. Any thoughts about how I could achieve this would be greatly appreciated.

Image below
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac93/litlefox/pc%20junk/wiptank.png

[slaveofconvention]

Why not just drill a small hole which lines up with the runners in the extended position and the side of the case, then you can tap it and just use a thumbscrew or a drive screw to hold it in place. I'm assuming you won't need to have the motherboard in the raised position over the case very often so going overboard and over engineering something may well be over kill.

Can I say over any more in one sentence? Over n out. :p

[a4mula]

Why not just drill a small hole which lines up with the runners in the extended position and the side of the case, then you can tap it and just use a thumbscrew or a drive screw to hold it in place. I'm assuming you won't need to have the motherboard in the raised position over the case very often so going overboard and over engineering something may well be over kill.

Can I say over any more in one sentence? Over n out. :p

I like the simplicity of it. However the tank is going to be full of mineral oil so having an exterior hole is definitely out. You could still use the same principal just do it on the interior mounting bracket, but the oil still comes into play and it would be a messy proposition at best.

[slaveofconvention]

I like the simplicity of it. However the tank is going to be full of mineral oil so having an exterior hole is definitely out. You could still use the same principal just do it on the interior mounting bracket, but the oil still comes into play and it would be a messy proposition at best.

The position of the hole would be right at the very top of the case, with the corresponding hole at the bottom of the motherboard tray - there would be no leak risk. The hole on the outside of the case, at the top, would be plugged by the thumbscrew which you would simply tighten further to make it lock into the motherboard tray

[a4mula]

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac93/litlefox/pc%20junk/hook.png

Ok...

What about something like this, where we mount a steel bar (or really anything). Across the back of the tank as in the picture.

We take 2x mounts like I've shown in my ghetto paintshop job and mount them to the back of the lili tray about 2-3 inches up from the bottom?

Thoughts... or ideas where I could find bracket hooks like that?

[a4mula]

The position of the hole would be right at the very top of the case, with the corresponding hole at the bottom of the motherboard tray - there would be no leak risk. The hole on the outside of the case, at the top, would be plugged by the thumbscrew which you would simply tighten further to make it lock into the motherboard tray

Hmm, I see. What you're suggesting is basically drilling a hole through where I have the dowel at now? Just above the oil line, in an area that still has decent structural support?

[slaveofconvention]

Pretty much. Raise the mobo tray to it's highest position, then drill straight thru the outer case AND the tray with a single hole. You'd need there to be a small enough gap between the two that a screw would be long enough. To be doubly safe, you could consider one hole on each side to make sure it remains stable when it was fully raised.

[a4mula]

One last suggestion. This is a little simpler, but would require some handy dandy router skills.

http://www.sugatsune.com/Products/images/NF-R64.jpg

and place them (2x) one each side...

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac93/litlefox/pc%20junk/wiptankhook.png

Simple, yet eloquent, I'd have to ensure that they are mounted behind the extender arms on the slide, but there should be room...

thoughts?


edit: Further thoughts
Sketchup is not to scale on this btw, just a quickie job to see how it would look. Not sure if the hooks would extend far enough, and even if they do they'd be catching the tray by it's thinnest part and basically doing a balancing act....

[slaveofconvention]

What are those hooks made from? My first concern would be a strength one - make damned sure it'd have the tensile strength to hold up a loaded board - by the time you have heatsinks etc on there, it'll get pretty heavy. If it'll normally be submerged in oil, you'll also have a fair bit of weight from oil still clinging onto the components.

Oh by the way, welcome to the forum (although I could have said that about 4 posts ago!) and this particular forum is fine for this kind of question. If and when you start construction, please start a thread in the works in progress area so we can all see how you're doing.

[a4mula]

Thanks. I'm still early in the design phase of the build. I've never tried a submerged build and it looks like fun. I'm glad I was able to come across this forum, I've spent the past few hours stumbling across one gold mine after another.

Anyways, here's the link for the hook (http://www.sugatsune.com/products/ProductDetails.cfm?CATID=9&SUBCATID=7&PRODUCTID=NF-R64). They're rated at 20kg load capacity. The more I think about it though the less I like the idea. If I could mount them on the back of the tank so that they caught the tray across the horizontal plane it'd be one thing. But as it stands even if they are long enough they'll be supporting the two lower verticle corners. I'm not going to attempt any cuts or drilling on the case unless it's through a reinforced area. Cracking is bad enough on these acrylic cases just from the sheer weight of the oil.

I'll continue to give it some thought. An ideal solution would be one that allowed for lock and quick release, but nobody ever said we live in an ideal world =p

Thanks for the help and welcome btw, it's greatly appreciated.

[TheMainMan]

What about using an S-hook to go over the back of the tank and under the mobo? I know it's not the most glamourous solution to the problem but if you could find one big enough it should hold it while you work on the mobo. You could reinforce the back upper edge of the tank to support the weight, put the little end of this (http://www.containerstore.com/shop/closet/accessoryStorage/handbags?productId=10025751) over the tank and the big end under the mobo.

[mDust]

Hello everyone, first post so I apologize if this is the inappropriate section.

I'm working on a submerged build and I'll be mounting my mobo to a Lian Li Replacement Tray (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3387). From my specs it would appear to have a 7/16" aluminum border in which I'll be attempting to mount these 12" Drawer Sliders (http://www.dlawlesshardware.com/toor12qufuex.html). These will in turn mount to interior mounting brackets inside my case.

The problem I'm running into is figuring out a solid solution to allow the mobo tray to achieve a "locked" position when extended out of the tank. This would allow me to do upgrades in place w/o having to hold the tray in the process. Any thoughts about how I could achieve this would be greatly appreciated.
Welcome to TBCS.
I too am [slowly] designing a submerged PC. I found this website...http://www.firgelliauto.com/...which has all kinds of neat things that I'm finding useful. If you want to over engineer it [to impress the ladies], then a linear actuator will automatically raise, lock, and lower your system into the oil. I'm currently reworking my design to use one of those bad boys as I'm definitely not ever reaching into the oil.
They also sell RC remotes to make the setup even more awe-inspiring.:D

EDIT: This is probably a more useful link: http://www.firgelliauto.com/product_info.php?cPath=92&products_id=44

[x88x]

Another thing you could do is have latches something along these (http://www.paneloc.com/spring-latches.htm) lines that would slide into place when you raised the tray. Wouldn't have quite the awesome factor as the linear actuators, but it would be cheaper.