2€ Case Modding Project

[Johny Melo]

Hi everyone, i've been a sillent observer of this foruns for quite a whille but today I decided, heck why not start my own project??

Before rushing into thinks i still dont have photos of the case, i will post them tomorow.

Mean while i just have the sketch of what my control bay will look like

Im pointing to something like this

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/controlbay.jpg

I already have part of the tools now all i need to do is build it

Lets see what im getting into to

[GT40_GearHead]

that looks realy nice, could give a bit more info on it, like what functions will it have



ou, and welcome :D

+rep

[Johny Melo]

Oh sorry how silly:P

Well the two locks right under the voltimeter will control the neons and the water colling, the large button will control every fan speed since i only got two and the middle zone il be composed of three leds the light up mor as the fan speed increases. I think its a got way to go from here:P

Thx for the welcome

[GT40_GearHead]

very nice my friend, have you started any work?

[Johny Melo]

Im going to start tomorow after school just going to my friends house to pick up my dremmel and then im going to my workshop to take care of things ;)

[GT40_GearHead]

dont forget to take your camera with you! take lots of pics :D


this is looking very good

[Johny Melo]

Hum project went down the drain:P or at least part of it im going to have to change the layout of the bay cause the visible part of the voltimeter is onl half the bay but it ocupies all the bays so the keys won't fit there...time for some redesing

I think this will do it
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/reobus.jpg

Im open to sugestions ;)

[xmastree]

What will the voltmeter show? If it's just monitoring the power supply, it isn't going to be too intresting.
I would connect it to the HDD light (with a suitable resistor) and it'll flick up and down as you access the disk.
Or, you could select its function with one of the rotary switches, rather like a multimeter.

Temp - Voltage - Disk activity - something else

[slytherock]

Really nice idea. you might need a little box behind this panel for all your circuits. You can use an old cd/dvd case like this
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/slytherock/step1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/slytherock/step2.jpg

Or completly build a bbox like another one I did
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/slytherock/Controller.jpg

[Johny Melo]

xmastree can u give me the scematics for that??

I mean for connecting the hdd activity to the voltimeter.

I would apreciate it, as it would be very cool efeect in deed;)

Thx for the ideas everyone as i get home il post the photos of the case im modding

[slytherock]

You can find an interesting HDD activity schematic here (http://www.gideontech.com/content/articles/238/1) :)

[xmastree]

xmastree can u give me the scematics for that??

I mean for connecting the hdd activity to the voltimeter.
It should be very simple indeed. All you're likely to need is one resistor. To work out the value, you need the spec of the meter itself. What's the coil resistance, and what's the fsd (full scale deflection) of the movement. They should be marked on it somewhere.
The disk LED will run off 5V through a resistor to limit the current to about 10mA. The meter will probably be way below that, so you'll need another one in series.

If it really is a voltmeter, the resistor might be already inside it. That could prove more tricky unless you can get at it.

So, specs on the meter, and we'll take it from there.

[Johny Melo]

well the voltimeter goes up to 30 volts... in measurmet cause it was the loest i could find... so what it would be nice was to make the led generate more power...

What bout if i conect the hdd led and 12v molex string in there so that the voltimeter would always be near the middle and with the activity boost it up a little more

I don't know if that is possible but it would be a great shot to aim at;)

Thx for all the ideas guys

BTW is are the case photos as promised

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/Imagem113.jpg
Okay this one cost me 2€ without side panels and without psu...
The most silly part is that my current computer is running on a 250W psu...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/Imagem114.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/Imagem115.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/Imagem117.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/Imagem118.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/Imagem120.jpg

Here is a very rough idead of what the power switch will look like, of corse it will be further down the panel itself just as soon as i drill the hole

Cya later guys im of to the workshop for some modding;)

[xmastree]

well the voltimeter goes up to 30 volts... in measurmet cause it was the loest i could find... so what it would be nice was to make the led generate more power...
30Volts, huh?

The easy way would be to use an opto-isolator.

Tap into the +12V and -12V wires from your PSU. If you put them directly across the meter it ought to read 24V. That's 80% deflection, probably good enough.

Next, get hold of a simple opto-isolator from an electronics store, connect the output in series with the meter, and the input to the LED signal on the motherboard.

That's the best way IMO, and safest for the motherboard too, as the isolator will protect it from the higher voltage of the meter.


BUT...

Before you do, make sure the meter is really designed for 30V. It may say 30V on the scale, but that may be dependant on a series resistor. Where did you get it from? I would test it with a 1.5V battery directly across the terminals first. It should barely move.

Just touch it briefly at first, if the needle flicks across, then you need a resistor. If it barely moves, you're ok.



http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f341/chrispollard/meter.png

The +12 can be got from any yellow wire, the -12V from pin 12 on the motherboard connector.
Might be blue, but I'm not sure.
(somebody help me out here...)
That PS-ON in 14 is the green one.

http://www.contec.com/prod_data/bufpci/bufpci07.gif

[Johny Melo]

Okay u guys have very helpfull so far

Here is today's proguess let's see what u think of it

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/IMG_2512.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/IMG_2513.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/IMG_2514.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/IMG_2515.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/IMG_2516.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/IMG_2517.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/IMG_2518.jpg

I still have to go to the electronics store and get more key lock and some leds but i thinkk its going well

Bout the vU meter i already connected it to psu and it reads 12 volt almost at the middle

[DaveW]

Ouch man, that cut looks messy. Try taking a very fine file (even a nail file aught to do the job) and go over those edges to smooth things out a little.

-Dave

[Johny Melo]

yeah i know:P

The file i had was crokked but its doesn't look as messy as the photo shows:P

The other one is going to have a key lock so it aint even gonna be seen
Thx for all the comments u guys

And i found this for the VU metter (Thx for the website slytherock)

http://www.gideontech.com/content/articles/205/2

It wasn't quite what u showed me but its cool;)

[slytherock]

No problem, we<re here for that... In part ;)

[xmastree]

And i found this for the VU metter (Thx for the website slytherock)

http://www.gideontech.com/content/articles/205/2

It wasn't quite what u showed me but its cool;)
It's different because their meter doesn't need 30V, so it can be run directly off the motherboard header. I suspect yours can too, with the right series resistor.

Like I said earlier:

It should be very simple indeed. All you're likely to need is one resistor. To work out the value, you need the spec of the meter itself. What's the coil resistance, and what's the fsd (full scale deflection) of the movement. They should be marked on it somewhere.
The disk LED will run off 5V through a resistor to limit the current to about 10mA. The meter will probably be way below that, so you'll need another one in series.

And, as they said:

The battery tester, same as VU-meter, have low voltage capabilities, which is great for us as there is no need to isolate the meter from the motherboard's HDD connector.

So, have you tested that meter yet?

[Johny Melo]

its like i sayd i already tested the VU meter but only connected to the psu

The needle goes arrond the middle so its cool im going to test it harder tomorow cause im going to the electronics store to get more keylocks and some blue leds for my mod;)

[xmastree]

its like i sayd i already tested the VU meter but only connected to the psu
Yeah, I missed that, sorry.
So, the 30V seems right so get yourself an opto-isolator while you're in the electronics store.

Off the top of my head, something like a 4N35 ought to do the trick.
If you can't figure out the wiring, no problems, I'll talk you through it.

http://www.tuobra.unam.mx/publicadas/03112408442202.png

[Johny Melo]

Okay guys today wasn't as i expected, I barelly got any work done except soldering some leds

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Snak3/IMG_2519.jpg

Im thinking bout getting a 3 led composition that light's up as i increase the speed on the fans any ideas??