Project: DEER in the headlights.

I've been kickin around your forums for a while now, and slowly working on my own project. Well, I've finally reached the point where I need to polish up my work (and show it off too :D). So I hope you guys like what I've done, and maybe can give me some advice on making it perfect.

Initially I just wanted to put some cathodes inside and carve my IGN in the side-panel so you could see the hardware, but it hasn't ended up that way... I'll give you the whole breakdown:

Hardware
Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe motherboard (really sexy looking, and supports new AM2 chipset, AWESOME VALUE!)
AMD Athalon 64 bit 3500+ (I went with a low end proc, because I plan to upgrade to an FX or dual core when they become more reasonably priced)
Asus 7600GS graphics card (passive cooling, no fans, also really sexy)
OCZ modstream 450W PSU (its modiular with UV reactive cables, and its chrome plated, how sweet it that)
OCZ high performance 667 MHz DDR2 ram (2 Gigs, really nice ramsinks)

Modware
Mutant mods 80mm LED fan (2x green)
Mutant mods biohazard fan grille
Mutant mods cold cathode 12 inches (2x blue, 1x UV)
Mutant mods blue EL wire (2x 5ft.)

I tried to keep it to as few companies as possible so that the style would flow and everything would look similar (im not sure if it made any difference at all to the look but meh). So its Asus, OCZ, and mutant mods for everything.

Like I said, I wasn't about to put all that gear into some non-descript, poorly ventilated DEER case. :) I've got pictures at home, and I'll post em asap.

Check back often :)

Ok, so I've got a ton of pictures and some time to kill at work :)

So here it is, the classic/plain/ugly deer case:

And here is my new gear (even the boxes that the stuff is in looks cooler than my case):
*EDIT*Freaking imageshack overwrote my picture with some little baby :( I'll post it again... sometime...

I ripped my case apart, every piece that could come off was taken off... and I started cuttin'. That was harder than it sounded, the cutting took me weeks, and I went through like 60 cut off disks (in hindsight it would have been better to get a harder cutting disk, but the ones I got were cheap anyways 20disks = ~8$CDN)

This is the start of the main side of the case:

The top of the case is also going to have a window to look down on the PSU/CPU/RAM:

I cut out the case fan grille in the back because if you put a fan on it it makes a really loud wooshing noise, I will be puting on a more quiet mutant mods fan grille instead... which also looks cooler :)

I also cut out the vent grille beside the pci slots, Im going to replace it with something nicer:

Finally, I bondo'd in those expansion ports (wow, they make that case look old :p), and sanded it smooth:

At this point the project was kinda starting to drag on and I hated to sit there and look at my new gear being so... un-overclocked :( So I moved to finish up the chasis and the top (the top holds the whole case together, so I needed it) so that I could at least get my hardware running. :)

So, next came paint... first I washed everything to get dirt/grease off the surface, and my girlfriend helped dry it (you REALLY dont want any wet spots when you start to paint):

Next, prime it (man, we went through a lot of primer):

I painted the motherboard anchor screws, even though its impossible to see them once the motherboard is on at least I know they're there :):

We painted all the insides matte black, it turned out really good:

We started prepping for the outter red colour, we put silicone over the front panel LEDs (they we're glued to the front, so I couldn't remove them), and popped out the power and reset buttons:

We taped off everything on the inside of the case, and started painting the red:

We finished up the red and I popped the top back on the chassis, I was happy with the colour combo:

We picked the silicone out of the front panel LEDs, it came out cleanly and easily with a toothpick:

Thats a lot better :):

Installed the motherboard mounts (this motherboard requires 9 of them!?!?! :eek:)

Like I said, no one can see them but I know they're there :):

So I started installing the hardware (yay!)... everything went pretty smoothly, the AMD heatsink almost gave me a heart attack (naturally) but it all worked out nicely:

I still get a kick out of my PSU, look at the reflection :D:

I got my hardware running, and everything is awesomely fast :D:D:D

Not quite done though, I still need to:
- finish (sand, bondo, sand...sand...sand...) the sides
- figure out how im going to manage all those cables :?
- and install the light and fan switches in the front and back

I hope you like it so far, keep checkin back :D

Ok I need some advice on wiring my LEDs/EL wire/Cathodes...

I made some basic drawings, here's the symbols (super basic, paint is all i got right now):

Here's the first circuit I need to build. Basically I want 3 switches, 2 which will individually turn the two case fans on/off. And another switch to turn the LEDs on both case fans on/off at the same time:

The last one I need to make is one switch that will turn the PSU fan LEDs, the CPU fan LEDs and a blue EL wire on/off all together... this might be a problem since EL wire runs on 12v (I think???) and fan LEDs run on 5v (will this be a problem? how can I fix it???).

Sorry for the crappy designs, but any help is much appreciated. :)

Thx,
MAC

The second one is easy... Use a double pole switch. 1 switch operates two seperate lines.

5v_____/ ____Resistor___ LEDs
12v____/ ______________Inverter

Above both operated with one switch.

The first one is confusing me. I only see one fan in your diagram for a start. Will keep thinking about it.

***EDIT***

The green line is 5v

This circuit again uses double pole switches. The advantage being that the leds will turn on only when the fan switches are on... I.e if fan 2 is switched on, led 2 will light, but led 1 will stay off... assuming that the led switch is closed. Is that what you were hoping to achieve?

Or are you using pwm from the mobo to control the speed of the fans? If so, you can certainly do what you want, but it will require more in the circuit. You would have to monitor the 12v line for current and then use that to control a relay or some other circuit. Otherwise when fan 1 is switched off by pwm, the led will remain on.

You do realise you should also have a resistor in between the led and your power. In the example above it would sit between

fan1 switch-resistor-LED
fan2 switch-resistor-LED.

The resistor value would vary according to the voltage drop over the resistor, the desired current and the supply voltage (5v in that example, though caould as easily be 12v) A quick search through google for LED resistor calculator will find you a webby that will calculate the right value. That is if this site doesnt have one... I'm too lazy to look!

You could for your led/inverter circuit power the lot off of 12v again using a resistor between the switch (single pole now) and the LED's

As double pole switches are virtually the norm in the electronics shops I visit I would go for the first... You will require a smaller resistor for the 5v line and less power will be consumed by the circuit.

I only put one fan in the first diagram because I got lazy, but your picture is exactly what I was aiming for.

Unfortunately for the second diagram (with the 12V el wire and 5v LED setup) I only have a single pole switch (and I dont want to have a double pole switch because it will look different :( is there any was around this???

edit:

im not using the mobo to control the fans at all, just an external on/off switch is what im looking for. also, the way I have it now is that I just the wire between the motor and the 3-pin mobo connector to control the fan on/off, and I snipped the wire runing from the motor to the leds around the fan casing to control the LED on/off. Is there a resistor already in place on the fan's circuitry, or do I still need one?

Thx,
MAC

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MAC

I only put one fan in the first diagram because I got lazy, but your picture is exactly what I was aiming for.

Unfortunately for the second diagram (with the 12V el wire and 5v LED setup) I only have a single pole switch (and I dont want to have a double pole switch because it will look different :( is there any was around this???

edit:

im not using the mobo to control the fans at all, just an external on/off switch is what im looking for. also, the way I have it now is that I just the wire between the motor and the 3-pin mobo connector to control the fan on/off, and I snipped the wire runing from the motor to the leds around the fan casing to control the LED on/off. Is there a resistor already in place on the fan's circuitry, or do I still need one?

Thx,
MAC

---

Was just editing my post when you asked this, the answer is now in there... Just use a limiting resister.

How many contacts does your switch have? If its 2 or 3 its single pole. If its 4 or 6 its double... I ask cause I dont see many locking, lever or selector switches in single pole formats in the shops these days.

There probably is a resistor in there somewhere. It may be restive wire they have used if you cant see a bumblebee resistor, or the resistor may be in the fan casing.

You can make a guess as to the values of the leds according to the size and colour. Start with that value. If the LEDs are dimmer than before, you know there is a resistor in place. You could also use variable resistors instead. Then you could adjust the brightness by turning a screw.

PS I dont want to come across as an expert... I had the paper and pencil out last night working out my own switching requirements for the project I have logged here... So just learned a lot of this over the last couple of nights!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by justblair

You could for your led/inverter circuit power the lot off of 12v again using a resistor between the switch (single pole now) and the LED's

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Awesome, I never thought of that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by justblair

How many contacts does your switch have? If its 2 or 3 its single pole. If its 4 or 6 its double... I ask cause I dont see many locking, lever or selector switches in single pole formats in the shops these days.

There probably is a resistor in there somewhere. It may be restive wire they have used if you cant see a bumblebee resistor, or the resistor may be in the fan casing.

---

I've got 2 standard toggle switches that im putting in the back to handle fan power on/off, they have 3 connectors each. And I've got 4 black switches for the front (im not sure how to describe them but they look awesome :)) and they have 2 connectors each.

I'll have a look at the fan tonight to see if I can find any resistors in the casing.

Thx for all the help and ideas man, keep em coming I'll have more pics soon! :D

Cheers,
MAC

Thinking about the leds in the fan, if there are 4 3v in series, they wouldn't have a limiting resistor on them. The combined voltage drop would negate the need for a resistor...

I'll bet that thats how it was done as it would be cheapest to make, and would be less cluttered in appearance.

The toggle switches you have are single pole on/on switches.

They work like this

Position 1
0-0 0

Position 2
0 0-0

The power connects to the middle contact. They become on/off if you ignore the third contact.

The black switches are on/off single pole switches.

___/ ___

Let me have a think now about another circuit for you

This is a quick and dirty solution.

Switch the ground wire on the LED before the common ground.

Its not big and its not clever, but I dont think it would harm the LEDs

As im trying to wrap my head around this (its been a while since my first year electrical engineering course :P) the fact that the 4 LEDs in series would result in a 12v circuit should be good news, doesnt that mean I don't need to worry about the LEDs and the EL wire being on the same switch???

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MAC

As im trying to wrap my head around this (its been a while since my first year electrical engineering course :P) the fact that the 4 LEDs in series would result in a 12v circuit should be good news, doesnt that mean I don't need to worry about the LEDs and the EL wire being on the same switch???

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Yes that would be the case, and in my last picture they effectively are when the ground is closed for the LEDs.

Thats assuming that there is no resistor in there in the first place. They still could be using one. I would think the best way to find out would be with a variable resistor. You can then adjust from say 1k down to 0. When you achieve the brightness you had in their orgional wiring you have the correct resistance. If the pot is totally open, then you know that the voltage drop over the four leds is indeed 12v..

The main thing is that if you look at my circuits the fans and leds are in parrallel to each other... As far as I could make out in yours you had them linking in series some of the time.

I make my disclaimer now though... I am learing this stuff about 24 hours ahead of you! :)

Ok, a few more pics of the work I did last night...

I finished the side panels (LOTS and LOTS of sanding) and started priming them:

Here's them primed up (unfortunately the primer ran out and started to spit... now I need to sand even more, ugh!):

Im waiting on the EL wires and window trim (which will only be going over certain windows, the others will be silliconed to the back of the panel). So tonight im hoping to finish the etch that will go on the top window... so keep checkin back... :D

Ok, im halfway through my etch... they're harder than they look :-/

Anwyays, I came upon another idea. I want to put a small strip of EL wire around the base of my mouse. I have an extra inverter I can pull the casing off of and hopfully cram it into the mouse frame but I still need to power it. USB, as far as I know uses 5V, and the EL wire requires 12V. Anyone have any ideas on how I can get around that???

Thx for the help, and more pics are coming soon.

to get 12V to the mouse you could re-route a 12V supply from the case and budle teh wires with the mouse cable, or even re-wire the mouse with a new one. I think USB has 5 connections, and you need two more. look at http://www.metku.net/index.html?path...noki/index_eng for tips on bundeling.

If you want a slightly more complicated version to controll fans and leds using asingle pole switch, connected one of them with an opto-isolator to the others supply. Lets say that you connect the switch to the LED, then connect the opto-isolator to the LED wire, controlling the fan with the isolator. Thus, turn the LED on means flow through the circuit, means emission in the opto-isolator, means current through to the fan.

or exchange the opto-isolator for a light sensor and put it close to the LED, but that might be taking it to far.

$.02
-.erik

Got the panels painted finally, I'll get the lexan cut tonight.

Yesterday I modded my OCZ Modstream PSU. I voided my warrenty by opening the thing, then i cut the grounds to all of the LEDs (for some reason each of the LEDs had its own connection instead of making one circuit to feed all of the LEDs which made things a pain) and soldered 2 wires to each end of each connection. When I was done I fed the wires through one of the fan screw holes and out the bottom of the PSU (looks really clean). Basically, when I attach the wires to a switch it will allow me to turn the blue lights from my PSU on and off while keeping the fan always running...

I also started to cover and hide some of the case wires, cable management is gonna be tricky in this case... :-/

Anyways, I forgot my pics at home so log back soon and I'll upload the pics... its pretty neat to see. :)


PS - I've ruled out the mouse mod because I can't get 12V to it :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Maz

i saw the circuit diagram a few pages back and noticed you had your LEDS hooked up after your fan.

when the fan operates it generates electrical noise which goes into the LED making it stutter like its shaking. put a small capacitor on the side that leads to ground.

for power you could desolder the 5V wires on either end of the usb. the ones in the mouse and the ones in the male plug end. add apower jack and heat shrink that baby up. then add a new +12v female jack in the case. now step down the voltage in the mouse and send that to the circuit board like normal, and keep the +12V for your other project

I~~~~~~~~~I
I Desolder I
I Supply Project I~~~~~~~~~~~~~i~~C= USB
I Step Down I 1~~==-- 12V jack (male)
I~~~~~~~~I

just a thought.

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Thats an awesome idea for the mouse... I'll just have to be carefull not to plug any other devices in there :) ...you've inspired me to rethink that mod :D



Anyways, as promised here is a bunch of pictures of what I've been working on for the past couple weeks... hope you all like it so far:

Here's my unmodded PSU... within the last few seconds of its warranty :-/

I pulled out the fan, only to find the thinnest gauge wires ive ever seen in my life powering the LEDs, it took me and my girlfriend FOREVER to solder the circuit around the fan. We then hot glued the wires in place to prevent vibrations.

And here's my PSU all put back together, its looks pretty stealthy esspecially since that wire is in the back closest to the back panel, so when I tuck the wire behind the motherboard and sheath it in black looming it will be nearly impossible to see the mod...

With the PSU ready to go I started on the other case fans... the fan in the back is going to be the trickiest because I put a black trim around the edge of the hole to make it look nice (I used windshield washer tubing cut down the middle if you're curious), and since the fan screws arent long enough to fit through the grille, the trim, and the fan casing on the other side I needed to use 4 bolts with spacer nuts to keep the tension off of the grille and nuts to hold the fan on the other side... it looks kinda neat actually:

I still need to cut the extra metal off of the bolts, but you can tell what it will look like...

And here's the fan install from the outside (biohazard signs just seem to fit with anything, eh?). Also, I'm going to redo the trim because I cut part of the piece off-centre and it pulls away from the case a little bit:

Around this time I became inspired by the cable management on Mike's computer, and started thinking about how I was gonna manage cables in my case:

Nice eh? So anyways, I looked at the power/HDD led/reset cable mess that goes into the bottom of my motherboard from the front of the case and realized that I could pull the speaker conenction through the front fan grille and loom them all together... so I did. I also spooled the CPU fan wire around a screwdriver to keep it together too. So here's the very beginning of my cable management nightmare:

And here are my panels all painted and installed, yay! The color combo looks awesome (the camera doesn't really convey that). Yesterday I was also able to cut some lexan to fit in the windows (FYI - to make window fogging look good takes a lot of time), the tall holes on either side are going to have fogged lexan with a blue cold cathode behind them... the effect is awesome, and the other holes are going to have a mix of lexan and metal grille for airflow:

Anyways, more is coming (I'm almost done, yay!)... so post your thoughts so far and keep checkin back :)

as promised, i removed all beige from the machine:

Im playing music from my mp3 player out of my 5.25" drive bay :D useless but nifty.

also, I've been doing my best to squish all of my cables behind each other and generally keep my mb totally exposed and clean... so here's part 2 of my cable management nightmare:

I've still got a few more cables to loom and tuck away, but that's most of them.

Ideas/Comments/Criticism are all welcome.


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