Soldato
Just seen this project...looks awesome so far mate. 
Will keep an eye on this thread.
Will keep an eye on this thread.
The computer box
- Thread starter Akempster
- Start date
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looking good atm. im liking all those buttons
Just seen this project...looks awesome so far mate.
Will keep an eye on this thread.
haha, thank you for the praise, unfortunatly till i test it i have no idea if it will work. Thankfully im gonna plug it into an old computer so if there are sparks my good kit doesnt get damaged.
With the buttons i tried to keep as few as possible just for ease of use let alone the cost
If there is anything you lot see amiss just let me know!
hi everyone,
sorry bout the recent lack of activity. There has been an issue with wiring up the 25 pin connectors as the flux im using doesn't work making it a pain to solder anny connections properly to them.
i am now looking into ways to incorporate what i already have into my HAF 922 so i can take the connectors completely out of the equation. Looking over the case i can't see any obvious areas where i can build in the thermometer displays and the switches. Does anyone have any ideas on this which i could use?
Later today i will be externally mounting the Delta EHE fan on the cases rear fan mounts and will wire the fan cable through the mesh into the computer. If possible im looking to make the computer case mod in a discreete a location as possible in case i muck it up. As usual anyone with any further ideas i could use please post onto this thread.
sorry bout the recent lack of activity. There has been an issue with wiring up the 25 pin connectors as the flux im using doesn't work making it a pain to solder anny connections properly to them.
i am now looking into ways to incorporate what i already have into my HAF 922 so i can take the connectors completely out of the equation. Looking over the case i can't see any obvious areas where i can build in the thermometer displays and the switches. Does anyone have any ideas on this which i could use?
Later today i will be externally mounting the Delta EHE fan on the cases rear fan mounts and will wire the fan cable through the mesh into the computer. If possible im looking to make the computer case mod in a discreete a location as possible in case i muck it up. As usual anyone with any further ideas i could use please post onto this thread.
Project completion
final update from me, over the last few days i have had time to take a real good crack at this project and finally get this finished. As stated above the origional idea was to have the lights controlled in an eexternal box. However, wiring up the pins for the connections was extremely messy so i opted to find a way to adapt the panel i had already cut into the existing computer.
The best way i found was to let it use up two Disk drive bays , this only meant shaving of 35mm off of each side of the panel and fixing it into the bay. To fix it into the bay i decided to destroy an old CD driv and use a hot glue gun to stick the faceplate to the drive's chassis.
because i had already precut the majority of the wires (or had come pre-assembled) i did some re-arrangment to make sure everything could get connected up - this was the hardest part as i had to work with the panel half into the computer with my hands stuck into a pile of cabling.
THe main fan switch had a built in LED so i created an extra lead to connect to the computer case to act a s a ground. Apart from this all the necassery connections were made to a molex connection supplying 12v and ground.
To get the coloured lights to show around the computer effectivly i created four sets of lights each with a row of a particular colour LED with their matching resistors. In hindsight id look at using pre made cables such as USB cables to reduce the mess of cabling now in the computer. However, i really do like the flexibility of having multiple boards (you can also add more on later on if needed).
My major suggestions if you planned to do this yourself would be to use sets of 3 LED's in series with a rating of 5000 mcd or higher. I personally used this rating for all but the white LED's of which there where two producing 11000mcd. This meant that it washes the computer in allot of light - useful for looking into the case and future modding
.
Bellow are the pictures of the final build including the last building stages and the taking apart of the CD drive. My best piece of advice would be to forget about having an external control for this as it just overcomplicates things and introduces so many chances for dodgy connections - its just not worth it. I would also like to remind any thinking of doing this that i take no responsibility for any accidents or injuries that may be incurred from following any content within this thread. All parts of this project is designed around a 12v rail capable of producing 60A worth of power, which if not properly protected by can cause serious injury or even death.
Hoep you enjoy the pics!
If you would like any information please leave a message or contact me via trust. when e-mailing please state in the subject field "computer lights project" so that it gets through spam etc. ill try to answer any questions as quick as possible.
thanks for following this thread everyone - couldn't have done it without you
final update from me, over the last few days i have had time to take a real good crack at this project and finally get this finished. As stated above the origional idea was to have the lights controlled in an eexternal box. However, wiring up the pins for the connections was extremely messy so i opted to find a way to adapt the panel i had already cut into the existing computer.
The best way i found was to let it use up two Disk drive bays , this only meant shaving of 35mm off of each side of the panel and fixing it into the bay. To fix it into the bay i decided to destroy an old CD driv and use a hot glue gun to stick the faceplate to the drive's chassis.
because i had already precut the majority of the wires (or had come pre-assembled) i did some re-arrangment to make sure everything could get connected up - this was the hardest part as i had to work with the panel half into the computer with my hands stuck into a pile of cabling.
THe main fan switch had a built in LED so i created an extra lead to connect to the computer case to act a s a ground. Apart from this all the necassery connections were made to a molex connection supplying 12v and ground.
To get the coloured lights to show around the computer effectivly i created four sets of lights each with a row of a particular colour LED with their matching resistors. In hindsight id look at using pre made cables such as USB cables to reduce the mess of cabling now in the computer. However, i really do like the flexibility of having multiple boards (you can also add more on later on if needed).
My major suggestions if you planned to do this yourself would be to use sets of 3 LED's in series with a rating of 5000 mcd or higher. I personally used this rating for all but the white LED's of which there where two producing 11000mcd. This meant that it washes the computer in allot of light - useful for looking into the case and future modding
.Bellow are the pictures of the final build including the last building stages and the taking apart of the CD drive. My best piece of advice would be to forget about having an external control for this as it just overcomplicates things and introduces so many chances for dodgy connections - its just not worth it. I would also like to remind any thinking of doing this that i take no responsibility for any accidents or injuries that may be incurred from following any content within this thread. All parts of this project is designed around a 12v rail capable of producing 60A worth of power, which if not properly protected by can cause serious injury or even death.
Hoep you enjoy the pics!
If you would like any information please leave a message or contact me via trust. when e-mailing please state in the subject field "computer lights project" so that it gets through spam etc. ill try to answer any questions as quick as possible.
thanks for following this thread everyone - couldn't have done it without you
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but I'm guessing that's just temporary & only related to this control panel
personally i like the metal look - needs cleaning up a bit though. i just think the bare metal makes it stand out a bit more from the rest of the panel - i wont find the switches otherwise!
the wires are a nightmare. Unfortunatly ive run out of zip ties but will tidy theese up when i get some more in. Hopefully after the zip ties it wont look too bad. once the cables reach the CD drives i wont bother with cable managment - it was such a PITA just wiring the switches up
one thing i forgot to mention is the colours it can produce:
-red, blue, white, green
-pink, orange, pale purple, brown (kinda).
the wires are a nightmare. Unfortunatly ive run out of zip ties but will tidy theese up when i get some more in. Hopefully after the zip ties it wont look too bad. once the cables reach the CD drives i wont bother with cable managment - it was such a PITA just wiring the switches up
one thing i forgot to mention is the colours it can produce:
-red, blue, white, green
-pink, orange, pale purple, brown (kinda).