Displaying workings of hard drive for Mod

[NakuraD]

Wow, I love this place. Everyone bothers to reply.
Thanks for the super helpful responses.

My drive to mod is building, I just need to justify why I should have another computer when I already have 4. Right now I just want to do it for the sake of doing it. I don't want to just build it around another setup for now because I would want the final case to fit the parts perfectly.

I hadn't realised that the mirrored plexi was just a film until I started looking at prices. I thought it would be like the darkened kind where the coloring goes all the way through.
I have to get me one of those dremels, everybody uses them.

@mDirt
Just reading the post in your sig. It's funny because I have been thinking about making a mineral oil cooled computer out of my P4 parts just for fun. We seem to be progressing along the modding front in parallel.
On a similar note, I'm getting really confused as to what we commonly call Mineral Oil in Australia. I am seeing Paraffin Oil and Kerosene, to me they are very different things. Anyone care to speculate?

[Bopher]

If I'm reading my google search right then you need the Paraffin Oil not the kerosene. Kerosene is a lantern fuel. So one wrong spark in there and a computer goes kaboom! might be interesting. jk. Welcome to the forums.

[mDust]

If I'm reading my google search right then you need the Paraffin Oil not the kerosene. Kerosene is a lantern fuel. So one wrong spark in there and a computer goes kaboom! might be interesting. jk. Welcome to the forums.

This is exactly right. Here is a Wikipedia page on paraffin that mentions mineral oil. Mineral oil is clear and non-biodegradable liquid. It's non-flammable and for the most part non-toxic. It's only downside is that it can create messes that are not fun to have to clean up. Kerosene is completely different and would be dangerous to submerge a computer in. Considering all the useful stuff, like kerosene, is filtered out of the crude, and that mineral oil is the 'waste' product that results, you would think that mineral oil would be much cheaper than it is. Who the hell is buying up all this mineral oil?

I hadn't realised that the mirrored plexi was just a film until I started looking at prices.

The two-way mirror is just an applied film for sure. I don't know about simple mirrored acrylic though. I would assume it's the same but I've not bought any yet to experiment with.

[x88x]

I've also seen full-submersion done with vegetable/conola oil, if you can't find mineral oil.

[mDust]

I've also seen full-submersion done with vegetable/conola oil, if you can't find mineral oil.

While that is an option, organic oils have a limited lifespan. They allow for the growth of bacteria and begin to rot over time whereas mineral oil does not. Mineral oil should be the first, second, and third choice...if you really can't get your hands on it, then other oils will work.

[trinity]

mineral is relatively cheap online, some places sell it for as little as 3 bucks a gallon i just dont know if you will find a place that ships outside of the US. as for who is buying it? hospitals.

it is used in surgeries becuase of its non electro-conductive properties. so yes there is reason for it to be a bit steeper priced. if you felt like it you could ask around at a local hospital to see if they could order you some on one of their orders... that would save you money

PS: if i have any typos, sorry my keyboards backlighting is on the mod bench