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Well, sorry I haven't been very active on the boards with this lately. I've been working on it alot. I just haven't had the time to post anything worth while yet. I'll try and do an update at work. That is unless I get swamped.
Oh, got some video for you by the way. :yellow_green:
And before anyone gives me the obligitory.
:pics:
Ha Ha, I beat you to it... LOL
Looking forward to the video mate.
oh im waiting on my seat... not the edge cuz that hurts on this chair
Ok guys, As promised, here is an update. Most of it deals with the mess of wiring I've been organizing. But there are a few other Gems in it. LOL
I figured I'd better test the psu to make sure its working before I go voiding its warranty. So I plugged the beast in for a few minutes. I did not have the cpu installed but the motherboard still powered up and all the fans work!
Here are the stock motherboard start buttons and other controls for an open case.
So with the PSU in good shape, I temporarily installed the MB to see where to drill the holes for the wires.
These holes are for the Sata cables, USB headers and Power/reset switches.
This hole is for the 8 pin power connector.
This is the back panel of the interior box. One large hole for the Power cable and two for the Pci Express connectors on the GPU.
All of these holes will of course have rubber grommets on them.
The holes for the sata conectors are kinda interesting shaped as you can see in this picture. The hole is just large enough for the cable. there are actually 2 connectors there. A 90 deg. on bottom, and a straight one on top.
The holes have a slot in them that allows the connector to come through, and then rotate the cable 90 degrees. The rubber grommet covers up the view of the slot, as well as the motherboard. -How's that for wire managment?
I figured now is a good time to run the water tubing. That way I know not to get the power wires in the way. Here is the layout.
This picture is with the flash. -For some reason it turns the red translucent tubing, opaque.
Here it is with the flash off. -This is more accuratly what it looks like.
Next, I had to get power to the PSU from the back connector. -Remember this from a while ago? -You will notice I added a small adapter plug and switch. -That will come into play later. :)
The stock power cable was a heafty 14 ga. 3 wire cable. -I ran to my local hardware store, and all they had was 12ga. 3 wire. -So I think it will do.
You can see the size of the stock wire vs. the 12 ga. power wire.
I soldered the wire directly to the psu's power connector and covered each with heat shrink.
Then I sleaved it and soldered it to the rear connector.
Here you can see the power cord snake through to the back of the case.
Ok, now that that is out of the way, I can start on modding the PSU.
Remember this shot. Its about 50 pounds of extra copper. -Ok, maybe not 50, but its alot!
a few screws later, and the Warranty is voided.
Then 24 snips from the wire cutters, -OH SH-T what have I done?
Well, I had to cut the 24 pin power cable for two reasons. First, it was too long, and second, I had to run the cable through that large hole I drilled in the back panel.
I got it measured for the right length. and then soldered and heat shrinked each color back together.
Of course I reused the sleaving too. -You can see how much shorter it is now.
This is how tight it fits.
And here is a shot in the case.
I did the same for the 8 pin wire cable. -Here you can see how I routed it around the radiator. I figured it was the best place to cause less clutter.
I also did the 2 pci express connectors for the video card.
And here is how they look finished.
Here is what I'm left with on the psu.
I've got the SATA power connectors to 3 drives to do, and all the 4 pin molex connections to make. -FUN!
Ok, enough of the boring wireing, Now for the fun stuff. :)
-My friend Gediminas (CustomElectronicsMan) Stopped by to do the final programming on the servo controller that he made.
Here is a shot of the temporary board. I'm going to have a custom board made in a few weeks that will replace this. But for now, it will do.
Here is Gediminas at work programming the Micro Controller.
Here is how it will work. -Remember that small power connector next to the large connector on the back of the case? Well, it provides a constant 6v power to the servo controller. This will allow the servo to move even after the case has turned off. This also provides power to light up the red Bulgin power switch. It will pulse when the computer is shut off. Then when the power switch is pressed, it goes solid and stays that way untill it shuts down. Also, as the power is turned on, it sends a signal to the controller to open the top fan and lcd temperature sensor. It will remain open while the computer is on, and then close automatically when the power goes off. -but not untill the power is completly off in the case.
The issues I had with Motorized Madness where it was controlled through startup scripts at windows login caused too much of a headache, so I went the simple route this time.
Here are some videos for your pleasure. -Sorry about the crappy quality.
The first is of the pulsating power switch.
The second video shows the Panel opening. You can see the switch pulse before the power is hit.
The third video shows the panel closing when the power is cut. I noticed the switches light comes back on after its done closing, so we fixed that so it stays on now, and then goes back to pulsing after its done moving.
I also have some news regarding the Anodizing I had done on the pci panel and hard drive fan frames. They called and said the parts were done. So I drove downtown today to pick them up only to find that they didn't do a very good job. The fan parts looked great, however the guy thought the PCI panel would only be seen from the outside, so they did a crappy job of holding it when they dipped it. there was a large area on it that looked like it was not anodized. It would have shown really bad and looked like crap. They are going to redo it for me.
Well, that's it for now. I'll take some better video with a digital camcorder later on when its done.
Later,
You have made some excellent progress Dan. The cable management is impeccable and your PSU mods look great, very well executed.
The vids are fantastic. I love the pulsing light when the system is turned off, a very nice touch.
Do you intend on using red fluid in the W/C? If so I would have thought it be best to use clear tube with a few UV LEDs to lightly illuminate the tubing.
Thanks!
Good point with the clear tubing and UV led's. And yes, I will be using Blood red UV reactive coolant. However, I actually don't like the look of the uv glow. Its more of a bright florescent pink than a real deep red. Besides, almost all of the tubing will be concealed under the case. so you won't see it anyway.
This is the coolant I will be using.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=24047
Ah Fluid XP, one of the best red coolants around (as is Fesser). Still I think it would look better through clear tubing but as you said the pics don't do the red tubing any justice.
wwooooooowwwwww!!! I think am in Luv...!!! just amazing....!!! the best part is I luv to see video cuz you can really notice what you have done...!!! woowww man... keep it up!!! one finest build you got there...!!!
Nice work man, it really does look great. Definately one of the best around.
That is awesome work Dan! The cables look great too, I've done the power supply job before and know how tedious it can be so my hat's off to you.
