Project: Nutman

[msmrx57]

Cable management may be a crappy task, but you're making it look very nice.

[Nutman]

Thanks a lot.

I dunno about cable management - it's a strange thing...
Sometimes it 's just the worst task there is, and at other times it's almost like meditating (I imagine - I've never meditated) and you feel so happy and peaceful after having routed a cable in just THE right way.

[Nutman]

And then it was time to light up the motherboard.

I measured and cut the LED strip:

And then I tested the cut strips:

Also had to test them under the motherboard.

One strip in each side of the motherboard panel:

I was satisfied with the result, but remembering how the LED strip also contained some light in the UV spectrum, an idea had come into my mind.

So, therefor...

Remember this one?

Hehe, yes, it's been a couple of years since I used it last time, but back then I DID tell you that I was going to paint some small details with UV-green paint.

And since this was a golden opportunity, let me show you what I came up with.

First I had to apply masking tape:

And since I was going to do a test in the non-visible part of the motherboard tray, I made this:

Hop to it:

I used an old plastic card to smear out the paint:

After leaving to dry for 5 to 10 minuts, I removed the masking tape:

Unfortunately, some glue residue remains, but this could be removed using benzine.

I started on the visible part:

After leaving it to dry for 10 minutes, I removed the masking tape. I was much more careful this time and this did result in lots less glue residue being left behind:

As you can see, the edges are a bit jagged. Nothing to do about that at this point, I guess, since I really tried my best to put the masking tape on the motherboard tray as flat as possible before I started to apply the paint. I guess this all comes down to the "quality" tape from 3M which I used.

Ok, on to testing with lights:

Next update coming soon.

[SXRguyinMA]

looking good!

[diluzio91]

Nice! may i recommend Frog Tape for future striping efforts? Stupidly clean edge on that stuff.

[Nutman]

Hm, dunno if that's available in Denmark.
Do you know the name of the maker?

[Nutman]

Ah, nevermind - it's "Frog Tape", hehe. Licensed to Shurtape, but sadly not sold in Europe. :/

[diluzio91]

Ah, nevermind - it's "Frog Tape", hehe. Licensed to Shurtape, but sadly not sold in Europe. :/

I would be happy pick some up and ship it out if you ever are in need sir. i think its about $5 a roll. If anyone needs it let me know!

[Nutman]

Thanks very much, but I think I'll try to find a danish supplier of a similar product.

[Nutman]

I wanted to make the UV paint stripe a bit nicer with cleaner looking edges, so I tried pushing the tape really hard down on the surface to make it stick better (thanks to Cheapskate for the suggestion):

Off with the tape - for some reason there were no glue residue what so ever this time. Maybe because it had stuck better?

THAT'S more like it!

To test the new stripe, I had to sleeve and mount the SMD LED strips:

With the motherboard in place it looks like this:

The biggest part of the weekend was spent making cables, sleeving those cables and doing cable management - I can't tell whether it's insanity, meditation or just plain old self-tormenting, but these things take a huuuge amount of time!

First, I did the LED cables for the reservoir:

They look like this when mounted:

Then, I extended and sleeved the USB cable for the Multiswitch:

At the beginning of this project I had mounted a couple of LEDs in the front, pointing inwards - see these old pictures:

I had to make new cables for those:

The pumps also required power, so I shortened some of the modular cables for the PSU and only sleeved the wires being used:

Pumps connected to the PSU:

The Aquaero has a connection for 2 LEDs to show a status - eg. the cooling fluid temperature. And that's exactly what I'm going to use them for, so I drilled a couple of holes for 2 LEDs in the plastic piece sitting at the bottom of the front panel, just under the door:

And mounted the LED sockets:

Lit up:

And lit up after being mounted back on the front panel:

As you can see the green LED is too weak, so I'll have to replace that one.

And finally, a shot of the cable management behind the front panel - all done now. It took forever to complete, but I'm quite happy with it. Too bad it's out of sight, but I know it's been done properly and that's what really counts for me: