Project: Dark Carbon

[The boy 4rm oz]

I like that, having the rad and res tube running under the mobo. Maximizes the space you can work in. Love the temp sensor mount, looks really good in the CF.

[KiLLERMAN21]

Oh nice! That res mount looks really good, nice idea. Every update you give theres always something special in there. +rep.

[crazybillybob]

Nice work so far!
Only one thing I see. That Red LED kind of looks like a zit on a supermodels face It pulls the focus away from the beauty of the rest of the panel.

I'm not sure how to take the focus off of it... Maybe sand it flush with the mount or use a Water clear red LED? Both?
It's the only "off" in the whole build!!! (that's some good work!)
I want to compliment you on your tight tolerance with the res.... You did some fine research and planning to get things that tight, and still be usable


Keep up the great work!

[rendermandan]

Thanks for the constructive criticism. -I'm not being sarcastic. I appreciate comments like those to help this be a better build. I do agree with you that it does look somewhat out of place for the time being. However there are a few issues that you may or may not be aware of. First off, that panel will be hidden when the computer is off. It will only be turned on when the computer is powered on. the panel will tilt up out to the case. Secondly, that is not the only red that will be on the outside of the case. The trim around the lcd is going to be anodized red. I also have not even begun to make all the red backlit trim pieces that will have a black plexi cover over them. So there will be plenty of red "trim" showing on the exterior. After I get all the trim done, I'll step back and take a look and then if needed, I can swap out the led for a clear one.

Thanks again though! I really do appreciate your comments.

[rendermandan]

ok, got another update for you.

today I finished mounting the top flip-up panel. But before i could go any farther, I had to modify the mounting sides to the lcd panel. they extended too deep into the case and the mounts interfered with the bolts on the side of the flip-up panel.

Here you can see one side stock and the other side after a quick snip with tin snips.

I also reshaped the bottom of the sides to allow them to a little more room to tilt up.

Here is a shot of the hinges I made out of some long hex head screws and nuts.

You can see how much room I have behind the lcd for wires.

And like before, here it is mounted.

I still have to figure out the servo mechanism, but I don't think that will be a problem.


I also mounted the power plug in the back panel of the case.

Next came mounting the top panel. I took another shot looking down into the case. Man that's a lot of CF!

So here are my thoughts on the top of the case. I've done everything in my power to keep bolt heads from showing on the outside of the case, (except for the back panel). I really didnt' want to just bolt the top of the case on and have 8 bolt heads sticking up out of the top. So I did some thinking and came up with this.

Door magnets. I can mount these on the sides of the case up under the edge where you can't see them and the top would be held on by magnets. Then if you needed to open the case, simply pull it off.

Here is a shot showing the metal plate that I attached to the top panel. I used some of that clear double sided super sticky tape as a temporary mounting to test it out first before I did anything permanant. It worked pretty good!

I installed one in the center on the back panel. and two up front that will be concealed inside the "Box".

I have to pickup a few more for the other sides of the case. But the 3 I have already installed are doing a great job and holding the top on. And obviously I will be painting them black. All they had in stock was brown.

That's all for now.

[The boy 4rm oz]

I just love how this is coming together. Excellent utilization of space.

[mittelmeier]

Coming together nicely! Using door magnets to mount the top panel is an amazing idea! +rep

[Kumo]

Impressive. No words. But, yeah, Good Work!

[rendermandan]

Got a pretty small update tonight for ya.

My water pump finally arrived. Its not the best or most powerful pump, but its shallow and will fit under the motherboard nicely.

My thoughts were to mount it in this position on the bottom of the case. It has to be mounted in such a way so when the case is sitting upright, it is in the correct orientation.

So I made a bracket out of some 1" wide aluminum that would attach to the bottom of the motherboard tray and the back of the case.

Basically like this.

However, after bending and cutting the aluminum I realized that there was no way for me to attach the aluminum to the back of the case and still mount the pump. In other words, the pump was in the way of mounting it to the back and if I removed the pump to mount it, there was no way to tighten the pump mounts. So I had to come up with a better solution.

So I made a trip to my local hardware store and brought home some aluminum stand offs and some machine screws.

I had to use (2) 1" tall standoffs and cut one down to 1/2" as that is all they had. But basically I made two standoffs that extend from the bottom of the motherboard tray and support the pump. Keep in mind these pictures are of the bottom of the case and its currently upside down. once I flip the case over, the pump will be in the correct position.

I then painted the standoffs to match the rest of the aluminum but I have to wait until they dry to take a picture.

Sorry but that's it for tonight.

Later,

[SXRguyinMA]

nice mounting idea!