A couple simple questions

[Kyrstally]

Hiyas! I have been a browser of this site for quite some time and finally decided to join. Let me start by saying, the mods here ROCK! and give some inspriration to even simple gals like myself. A few years back I updated my puter with (what was back then) a halfway decent system. That is when I learned of kewl lit up fans and CCFL. So I went ahead and tried UV CCFL's, 2 12", the blue UV reactive round IDE cables and 4 blue UV reactive fans with regular blue led's in them, quad. I found it didn't light up quite like I had seen in so many mods, so switched over to blue CCFL's. So here is question #1...

Have CCFL UV's become better over say.. the last 4 or 5 years? Or perhaps there is a better brand that works better than the... Sunbeams.. I think those were what I had bought at the time. that or Logisys..? Anyways.. I would like brighter.

Secondly, when I got an upated MB and CPU with some fixins with a black Chieftec Dragon case. I went and painted the inside of my case.. I sanded, used a flat blue paint and then added some silver sparkle spray over that for a decent effect. I didn't want too much glare or shininess at the time being I wanted to use metallic auto paint and had read that was a no-no. But now, I have changed my mind and want to go that route, finding the flat pain has gotten dirty and icky over the years. So, next questions....

Is it still a no-no to use metallic auto paint inside the case? Also, I can easily wash out the sparkle paint, so would is be ok to just do that and use the flat I have there already for the primer?

Also, I see that there is much use for the rubber shelving for modding with painting.. is it safe to use as a mod itself? I mean, I know sound dampner kits are rubber, right? And this wouldn't be in excess, just for abit of flair here and there inside. Would it hold too much heat.. tho my system has yet to go over 38C?

OK, lastly... I would like to use an applique or two or three.. hehe.. on my window.. preferably blue UV reactive.. but I find they are all like.. 5"x7" or so.. I was wondering if anyone new of a place that sold them smaller.. or maybe make custome ones?

I'm still using the Dragon case, but have in the past two weeks, seriously updated the guts as well as some fun fans and the like, but looking to make this a whole newer looking, prettier system.

Looking forward to the help and getting to know y'all!!!

[DaveW]

Hiyas! I have been a browser of this site for quite some time and finally decided to join.

Welcome to TBCS!

Have CCFL UV's become better over say.. the last 4 or 5 years? Or perhaps there is a better brand that works better than the... Sunbeams.. I think those were what I had bought at the time. that or Logisys..? Anyways.. I would like brighter.

Hmm...not sure. UV light is UV light! The thing about these is that they tend to take a while to warm up, usually about 5 minutes or so till they're at full power. I don't know why. But...it could also depend on the position and exposure of the lamps inside of the case. It could simlpy have been bad tubes.

Secondly, when I got an upated MB and CPU with some fixins with a black Chieftec Dragon case. I went and painted the inside of my case.. I sanded, used a flat blue paint and then added some silver sparkle spray over that for a decent effect. I didn't want too much glare or shininess at the time being I wanted to use metallic auto paint and had read that was a no-no. But now, I have changed my mind and want to go that route, finding the flat pain has gotten dirty and icky over the years. So, next questions....

Is it still a no-no to use metallic auto paint inside the case? Also, I can easily wash out the sparkle paint, so would is be ok to just do that and use the flat I have there already for the primer?

I don't see why metalic auto paint would be a no-no. In fact, that would probably look great. I don't know much about paint though, so maybe i'm not the best person to answer that question.

Also, I see that there is much use for the rubber shelving for modding with painting.. is it safe to use as a mod itself? I mean, I know sound dampner kits are rubber, right? And this wouldn't be in excess, just for abit of flair here and there inside. Would it hold too much heat.. tho my system has yet to go over 38C?

I don't know what you mean by rubber shelving...sleeving? Rubber would be fine in a mod i think. I can't see any reason why not to use it.

OK, lastly... I would like to use an applique or two or three.. hehe.. on my window.. preferably blue UV reactive.. but I find they are all like.. 5"x7" or so.. I was wondering if anyone new of a place that sold them smaller.. or maybe make custome ones?

This one really depends on what you want to put on the window. If you let us know what you're looking for, someone might be able to help you track something down.

Hope that helps, i'm sure someone with better expertise than me can fill in the gaps.

-Dave

[Kyrstally]

Hiya Dave, thanks for the warm welcome and quick response. I had one 12" running along the bottom of the case alond the window side and the second I first tried up along the back, between the window panel and fans, didn't like that, so ran it up alongside the motherboard instead. Still didn't like it, not much glow at all. So that's when I sold them to my sister and bought the blue ones.. LOL.

As for the rubber shelving, its the stuff AKA non slip mat, like in the digital camo mouse as well as the kewl worklog by Commando for the carbon fiber airbrushing tutorial.



As for the UV appliques, I want to go with the AMD logo like this one:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/48...tl=g42c217s391

And this badge, but in a UV applique for the window...

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/80...l?tl=g1c12s389

And maybe something like this logo on the heatsink for the window in UV applique for the window...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...+Card+-+Retail

I actually took that off the heatsink and put it on the door on the front of the case.. hehehe... no fun in having it on the heatsink if it cannot be seen without being low in the chair

I was thinking of maybe 4"x4" for them each to put into corners of the window, alil flair and not blocking off the main view of inside.

I know these are all long shots, but the modding world keeps putting out so many new things, I feel nothing is ever impossible, y'all here prove that!!

[.Maleficus.]

Hello Kyrstally, and welcome!

As Dave said, I don't think UV has gotten any more, UV. It's really all the same. I have some orange UV fans with UV LEDs and they've just gotten dimmer. I think that's just part of how it works out. Same with my white CCFLs. After a while they just dim and look less nice.

Were you told to not use metallic flake paint because it can be conductive and short something? If that's the case, if you clear coat it afterwards you'll be fine.

I actually just bought one of those shelving mats a few days ago. I'm going to use it on something with my airbrush soon. But for your mod, how are you planning on using it? Making your own sound dampening kit, or what? Or are you going to do what Commando did and use it as a paint stencil? I don't think using one will be too big of a deal, but like you said, don't over do it with it.

You could make your own applique if you wanted, using clear sticker paper for an inkjet printer. I'm doing the same thing for my mod, but it will be an applique for my keyboard. You would have to paint on the design yourself though...

[Kyrstally]

Yeppers on the metallic reason.. and yes, I totally plan on clear coating it.. so awesome, that is one answer to make my day. As for the paint.. I just posted in another thread how the UV paint can wash off.. not sure if it would on lexan.. between the smoking and the dust, I wash that window about 3 times a week... and clean the whole system out about once every 2 months,.. all the way down to q tips and alcohol on the fans.. hehe. Is why I know that the sparkles can wash off, cos I used window cleaner to try and clean up the bottom of the case, and it took it all off. Is why I am hoping I don't need to sand and start over, using the flat blue I have already in there for a primer, just wash off all the sparkles.

Also, the reason I asked about the UV.. is cos I picked up the vantec pci UV fan and LOVE it!! It glows just as the pictures showed, and so I ordered 4 vantec UV reactive blue case fans with the UV led's in them as well. They should be in today (YAY!) I know they are loud, but the ones I run already at 28db, so moving up to 34 won't make much difference.. I'd rather have the look than skimp due to loudness.

The UV CCFL's I ran for like 2 hours, and just wasn't happy with the effect, I felt as tho I was.. *gasp* cheated!! But I am willing to give it a go again and maybe have better luck this round.

[Kyrstally]

And thanks .Maleficus, for the welcome! (I am slow to keeping up with all I read, my bad for the lateness of this post, and I hate to constantly edit like I have been LOL)

The mat I have is a dark blue, they were once a set of placemates.. once.. lol. I plan on using them to cover the bays facing the window. I was going to go with modders mesh, but I really like the idea of the mat instead. Using 2 sided tape to stick on, and should be easy to pull off to screw in another drive when I get my SATA's.

[NuKS]

Greetings and welcome, Kyrstally!
I am also a new member, and it's been a really good experience so far. Here are some thoughts I have on your post:
- UV stuff
From what I understand, the UV lights are dimmer at first because the electricity has to excite the gasses that are inside it. I don't know if they have gotten better over time, but I do know that they save me a lot of money on my electricity bills!

- Sound dampening
Were you looking at finding a way to dampen your harddrives? If so, I did see a mod where they used really thick rubber bands to suspend their harddrives instead of mounting them. If you want, I'll find a walk-through on it, or I'll do it myself.

- Appliques
My wife is really into crafting, so if you can draw better with your feet and a piece of charcoal than you can with your hands (as in myself) then you can also look into craft stores. I've been looking there myself, because I want to paint my keyboard and use a different font for the key letterings. I looked around in one scrapbooking store, and WOW, they have everything!

Hope this helps a bit

Jim

[.Maleficus.]

I think they were going to be used to cover up the sides of the drive bays. Like, when you look in the window, the visible cages, right? Like what Bucko did with an old mobo.

[Kyrstally]

Thanks Jim Yeah, like I said, I gave it a few hours, then switched them around.. and after a week of using them and not impressed, I got rid of them. I have seen new mods of with CCFL.. like a UV and blue CCFL in one, that can be switched for day and night (which I am considering in buying to cut down all the lights I'd have at that point) as well as one that claims its Ultra Bright UV, both by logisys. That is why I asked if they had changed, wondering if I'd be better off with something like those.

As for the matting, I was doing it more for just visual appearance like .Maleficus. said, to hide what I find to be the ugly ole bays, even painting them a new color or shining them wouldn't make me happy, so figured this would be something different that I would like to see every day.

Yeah, I plan on taking some time to browse around some places, like autozone, home depot and craft stores, just to see if anything peaks my interests in another way. Once I am done with this case, I will be making 2 more modded systems, another one for myself and one for my brother, so I'm really looking into ideas and having a blast with all this

[DaveW]

Were you told to not use metallic flake paint because it can be conductive and short something? If that's the case, if you clear coat it afterwards you'll be fine.

You needn't even bother with that, most cases are bare metal inside and don't short anything.

-Dave