Dark Carbon

[rendermandan]

Thanks again you guys.

TGS, -PM sent back.

Here's a small update for you.

I had to make a few support brackets to hold the hard drives against the back side of the panel. So I cut a few aluminum angles and painted them.
I'm going to use some felt pads to press against the hard drive. I don't want to have any vibrations transfered into the case.

Then using some clear 3M Double sided tape. (which does work good by the way). I attached them to the motherboard tray.

I also got my shipment from Newegg. Take a look at the goodies!

Now, if this isn't a kick in the ass. It fits. -Barely.

You can see there is no clearance.

-the problem is, I had to remove some bolts to get it to fit. -When I designed this case, I made the length for the video card long enough for the card, however, I did not figure in for bolt heads that stick out 1/8". So What am I to do????


Well, I did some major surgury and moved the back wall of the interior box forward about 1/4". This gave the video card some more breathing room as I see there are vents on the end of it. It took me about 5 hours to complete. but its done. I didn't take any pics because the result is exactly the same as where it started, its just 1/4" shorter.

I did do some modifications to the CPU water block and Memory though.
I'm using a Swiftech GTZ block.

I pulled the steel chromed bracket off so I could paint it.

And here it is all put back together. The red will match the rest of the case.

I also worked on the Memory. 4gb of OCZ DD3 2000 chips.

I taped them off.

and here is how they turned out.

Not too bad...

Tomorrow, I'm going to be dropping my PCI backplate and hard drive cooler frames off at a Plating company. They are going to do some True anodizing on them in red.

[rendermandan]

Ok guys, As promised, here is an update. Most of it deals with the mess of wiring I've been organizing. But there are a few other Gems in it. LOL

I figured I'd better test the psu to make sure its working before I go voiding its warranty. So I plugged the beast in for a few minutes. I did not have the cpu installed but the motherboard still powered up and all the fans work!

Here are the stock motherboard start buttons and other controls for an open case.

So with the PSU in good shape, I temporarily installed the MB to see where to drill the holes for the wires.

These holes are for the Sata cables, USB headers and Power/reset switches.

This hole is for the 8 pin power connector.

This is the back panel of the interior box. One large hole for the Power cable and two for the Pci Express connectors on the GPU.

All of these holes will of course have rubber grommets on them.

The holes for the sata conectors are kinda interesting shaped as you can see in this picture. The hole is just large enough for the cable. there are actually 2 connectors there. A 90 deg. on bottom, and a straight one on top.
The holes have a slot in them that allows the connector to come through, and then rotate the cable 90 degrees. The rubber grommet covers up the view of the slot, as well as the motherboard. -How's that for wire managment?

I figured now is a good time to run the water tubing. That way I know not to get the power wires in the way. Here is the layout.

This picture is with the flash. -For some reason it turns the red translucent tubing, opaque.

Here it is with the flash off. -This is more accuratly what it looks like.

Next, I had to get power to the PSU from the back connector. -Remember this from a while ago? -You will notice I added a small adapter plug and switch. -That will come into play later.

The stock power cable was a heafty 14 ga. 3 wire cable. -I ran to my local hardware store, and all they had was 12ga. 3 wire. -So I think it will do.

You can see the size of the stock wire vs. the 12 ga. power wire.

I soldered the wire directly to the psu's power connector and covered each with heat shrink.

Then I sleaved it and soldered it to the rear connector.

Here you can see the power cord snake through to the back of the case.

Ok, now that that is out of the way, I can start on modding the PSU.
Remember this shot. Its about 50 pounds of extra copper. -Ok, maybe not 50, but its alot!

a few screws later, and the Warranty is voided.

Then 24 snips from the wire cutters, -OH SH-T what have I done?

Well, I had to cut the 24 pin power cable for two reasons. First, it was too long, and second, I had to run the cable through that large hole I drilled in the back panel.

I got it measured for the right length. and then soldered and heat shrinked each color back together.

Of course I reused the sleaving too. -You can see how much shorter it is now.

This is how tight it fits.

And here is a shot in the case.

I did the same for the 8 pin wire cable. -Here you can see how I routed it around the radiator. I figured it was the best place to cause less clutter.

I also did the 2 pci express connectors for the video card.

And here is how they look finished.

Here is what I'm left with on the psu.
I've got the SATA power connectors to 3 drives to do, and all the 4 pin molex connections to make. -FUN!

Ok, enough of the boring wireing, Now for the fun stuff.

-My friend Gediminas (CustomElectronicsMan) Stopped by to do the final programming on the servo controller that he made.

Here is a shot of the temporary board. I'm going to have a custom board made in a few weeks that will replace this. But for now, it will do.

Here is Gediminas at work programming the Micro Controller.

Here is how it will work. -Remember that small power connector next to the large connector on the back of the case? Well, it provides a constant 6v power to the servo controller. This will allow the servo to move even after the case has turned off. This also provides power to light up the red Bulgin power switch. It will pulse when the computer is shut off. Then when the power switch is pressed, it goes solid and stays that way untill it shuts down. Also, as the power is turned on, it sends a signal to the controller to open the top fan and lcd temperature sensor. It will remain open while the computer is on, and then close automatically when the power goes off. -but not untill the power is completly off in the case.
The issues I had with Motorized Madness where it was controlled through startup scripts at windows login caused too much of a headache, so I went the simple route this time.

Here are some videos for your pleasure. -Sorry about the crappy quality.
The first is of the pulsating power switch.

The second video shows the Panel opening. You can see the switch pulse before the power is hit.

The third video shows the panel closing when the power is cut. I noticed the switches light comes back on after its done closing, so we fixed that so it stays on now, and then goes back to pulsing after its done moving.

I also have some news regarding the Anodizing I had done on the pci panel and hard drive fan frames. They called and said the parts were done. So I drove downtown today to pick them up only to find that they didn't do a very good job. The fan parts looked great, however the guy thought the PCI panel would only be seen from the outside, so they did a crappy job of holding it when they dipped it. there was a large area on it that looked like it was not anodized. It would have shown really bad and looked like crap. They are going to redo it for me.

Well, that's it for now. I'll take some better video with a digital camcorder later on when its done.

Later,

[rendermandan]

Thanks!

Good point with the clear tubing and UV led's. And yes, I will be using Blood red UV reactive coolant. However, I actually don't like the look of the uv glow. Its more of a bright florescent pink than a real deep red. Besides, almost all of the tubing will be concealed under the case. so you won't see it anyway.

This is the coolant I will be using.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=24047

[rendermandan]

Just a quick request:
When you get the "real" anodized parts back could you do a couple shots of how they compare to the red paint? The paint is awesome so far and the contrast with the CF is astounding.

john

No problem John, Here you go.

Here are the 3 parts I had anodized. The two hard drive fan housings and the pci back panel.

A little closer shot.

Here is a shot with a scrap piece of aluminum that I painted with the anodizing. You can see how easily that stuff scratches and shows imperfections.

If you ignore the "yellow bright area from the flash" you can see the color matches almost perfectly!

The hard drive fans came red. but they didn't look so good agains the red anodizing, so I game them a shot with some paint.

And here is one of the fans back together. Not to bad!

And here they both are. You can see there is a gap at the top of the frame, so I had to cover that up.

Of course with a piece of CF.

And here is what they look like in the case. -I still have to make a larger CF cover for the top.

Sorry, this shot came out a little blurry.

Next I installed the back panel.

Here you can see I installed some Chromed pci vent covers. -Not sure if I should paint them black or leave them chromed. What do you think?

Oh, I also ordered some red anodized screws for the covers a long time ago.

Here is a shot with the motherboard installed.

One other interesting thing. Asus isntalled some kind of "heat reducing" chip directly on the opposite side of where the cpu bracket is. Here you can see that it sticks up from the bottom of the board quite a bit. The issue I am having is the back plate for the water cooling will rest against this chip. -First off, it will put un-needed pressure on the chip. It will also block any air getting to the chip. So does anyone know if this will be a problem? I hope not.

-Not sure if anyone noticed but I don't have a fan controller. Well, I've been planning all along to have a windows controlled fan controller. Gediminas has been working on the electronics side of it. And here is a shot for the custom PCB I'm going to have made up. Let me know if anyone else would be interested as its not that much money to order a few more. The main cost is in the setup charge.

And here is a screen shot of the custom windows interface. -It runs basically the same as the Lighting controller that I made for XPS Ground effects. It uses pulse width Modulation to control the fans. -It controlls 6 different fans and will hopefully read out their speeds in real time.
It will also read out the speed of my water pump.

I've also been working on more boring wiring, so I didnt' take any more pics of the same stuff over and over again. But I'm almost done. All I have left is to wire and sleave all the fan wires. Then I can start on the outside of the case. -Wait till you see what I have in store to light up all the panels on the outside of the case. -FYI, it will use 300 red leds. Yes that is NOT a typo!!!

[rendermandan]

lookin awesome! how much for one of those PCB's? and would it come assembled ready to install? and what about the software to go with it? Thanks!!

We are finalizing the design on it today and hopefully ordering it soon.
Not sure how much yet. I think its an extra $15 us to order an additional bare board. And Yes, we would install and solder it all for you ready to go. We have to order some parts and get the software up and running first though. So Is still in the development stage, but I don't think it will be a problem. The two guys that are helping me, really know what they are doing. I have to give them the credit. It was just my idea, but they are making it happen.

I'll get back to you with a price that would include the assembled board, and software.

Thanks!

[rendermandan]

How much did it cost to get those parts anodized red? And where did you get it done, locally or an online service? Also, is it durable, significantly better than the red paint you were using?

I am considering anodizing the aluminum angles on my HTPC project, to protect them and add some color to the design.

I had them anodized at a plating company locally. Anodizing is a controlled errosion process that chemically etches the color into the metal so the finish is very durable. I even took an exacto knife and made a small scratch on the back side of the fan housings to see how well it woudl hold up. The part scratched but the color of the scratch was the same so it hardly showed. It holds up much better than the paint. The piant really is just a coating and it scratches off and flakes off pretty easily. I used the paint on all the aluminum that really won't even show. The parts that show and get the most abuse is what I did the real stuff on.

They can do almost any color you want and it is pretty cheap. I had all 3 pieces done for $20 us.

Just a word of caution. tell them what sides of your piece show. that way they know not to hold the piece on an area where you need it anodized. otherwise you will see a spot where the bracket was.

[rendermandan]

I take back what I said about the HDD cooler fan brackets looking good as silver, they look a million times better as red lol.

I can't wait to see some pics of that fan controller. The GUI looks amazing.

Thanks.

-The fan controller is going to be made soon, Hopefully. We are still trying to work out reading the rpm speeds of each fan. I'm also going to include a couple of inputs for Water pump speeds as well. We are having to start over because PWM screws up the fan speed sensor. but I will get done. The first version may just control the fan speeds and not report the rpms just so I have a way to control them. The rpms are only a "Nice addition" that is not absolutly necessary at this time. I plan on being done in the next month or so.

Here is the latest version of the software. I moved some things around and got the Preset radiobuttons to work. I also got the icon made to run in the right side task bar with all the other icons. I still would like to be able to have user saved presets. Where you can store the settings you want in memory. But not exactly sure how to do that yet. Have to do some research.

This weekend I also started to work on the front panel of the case and the exterior lighting.
Before I get to the lights, I had to make some templates. I will be using 1/8"t. Red Flourescent Plexi and 1/8"t. Black plexi for the trim.

Here is how the front panel looks now. Obviously, the blue is tape to protect the CF. but I just can't leave the Dvd drive exposed and the LCD panel is silver.

I started by laying out the front planel on a sheet of red.

This shot show where the power and reset switchs and USB ports will go.

A little time spend with the scroll saw, and they are cutout.

I also cleaned up the edges with some files.

Here is how the front panel will be covered.

The bottom trim was used as a template to cut out all the trim fro the bottom so they are all identical.

I used a router table with a 1/2" dia. straight bit with a ball bearing guide on the end.

I had to cut one of the panels a little different. I think you can see why.

I also cut he holes for the USB/firewire/sound ports.

Next I had to paint the ugly silver bezel on the lcd display.

Ok, now I've come to the point of needing the leds installed. Here is what I'm using.
Its a roll of 300 red suface mounted led's. on a very thin flexible pcb strip with adheasive on the back!!! Its 5 meters long. with 300 leds. -that works out to an led every 5/8".

The led strip can be cut into 3 led segments. So I was able to cut it to the perfect length to go around the case 3 times. One at the top, and two at the bottom trim.

Here is a close up shot.

Here is a shot showing the strip lit.

This shot is with the flash on. You can still see the leds!

Just for a check, I placed the red and black plexi over the top and you can really see how much red glow it gives off.

The cool part is you can solder wires to the back side so all wires will be hidden!

Here is the case with the top row only installed.

VERY BRIGHT!!!

The leds do have a little thickness. -about 1/16" so I drilled some holes in the back side of the red plexi.

Then I glued it on.

Thats all the farther I got tonight.

Hope you guys like the LED's. Most of the light will be hidden behind the black plexi. but It should give a very nice red glow around the edges. -Which is what the whole design was to begin with.

Later!

[rendermandan]

Hey everyone, thanks again for all the support!!!

Its been a while since I made an update, so here we go.

I finished the last update with this picture of the red plexi on the front of the case.

I temporarily put the black plexi cover infront of it so you can see how the glow will eminate around the edges. Obviously I haven't removed the paper yet.

I took a small break from the plexi work to route some water tubing and morewires.

Here is a shot of the bottom chamber. I know its quite messy at this point, but I really don't see any way of cleaning it up. there is so much going on down in this area that its impossible to make it look good.

Ok, back to the outside, I installed the remaining 2 stips of red leds around the case.

Then I went back to fabricating some plexi pieces.

These are the 5/8" wide stips that will go around the top of the case

Here are the round pieces that will go around the hard drive windows.
There are clear pieces that will be the "window"
then the two rings match the trim on the rest of the case.

I also started to cut the trim around the intake fans.

Made a quick copy with he router.

I had to route a channel out of the back side of the red plexi in some areas to fit the modders mesh. Again, I used the router.

Here are basically all the pieces I hade to fabricate. This doesn't include the front panel that is already installed on the case.

Then I cut some modders mesh to fit the parts.

Well thats all I've done this far. I'm getting close to being done.
I still need to route some channels for the leds. Glue the modders mesh in place, and then install it all on the case. Then comes all the polishing on the edges of the black plexi. Fun Fun!

[rendermandan]

Thanks you guys.

I've spend a little time working on the fan controller.
Here is a screen shot of the board design. If everything looks ok, I'm going to order it tomorrow.

You can see there are 6 fan headers that will be windows controlled.

2 fan headers that are not controlled but will report the rpms. (i'm thinking about adding a jumper to change them from 12v to 5v options). -Edit: Done!
These 2 headers can also be used for Water pump rpms.

This particular board also has my servo controller and power led controller on it. So there are headers for the servo, LED and a 6v power input that comes from a transformer plugged into a power strip.

Then there is a typical PSU Molex connector. and a USB to serial converter.

I've ordered all the parts and if the board gets ordered tomorrow, I shoudl have it by the end of next week. (Hopefully!)

Here is the latest version of the software by the way.

I still have some programming to do once I get the fan controller built.

[rendermandan]

So is the suspense killing you guys. Muahhaaaahhhaa (evil laugh).


Ok, enough playing. Here's the update.

I worked on finishing installing the red plexi pieces. I had to glue some painted modders mesh to the back side of the pieces first.

Here is the glue and accelerator I used.

This is basically the back of one of the piece. You can see all the holes I had to drill (almost 400 of them!) so the pieces fit over the top of the red led light strips. You can also see the mesh glued into a channel in the back of the plexi.

So basically here is one of the pieces with the mesh glued on.

I then cut it to length and beveled the ends so they pieces fit together.

I also glued the clear plexi windows to the rings that go around the hard drive windows.

So here is the finished red plexi.

And here it is with the leds on.

Kinda bright?
Well keep in mind there is a layer of black plexi that goes over the top of all the red plexi. I also did not polish the sides of the red plexi on purpose. This diffuses the light better.

Now that the red plexi is done. I can start to polish all that black plexi.
In fact, here are all the pieces.

I picked up some different grades of sand paper.

And this polishing kit.

But I found the polishing wheels to be too big, so while I was in Florida at a flee market. I found these dremel polishing wheels for 50 cents a piece.

I started with one straight piece to get the feel for how much work it will be.
Not too bad.
Here is a piece polished next to an unpolished piece.

Thats the only piece I got done before the Custom PCB board came.

And here it is. Front side.

Back side.

If you look closely, you can see I even put a title on it. I also put Gediminas' and my name on it in another spot, but it came out a little too small to read.

Now, I know what your thinking. It doesn't look like a pcb board. -Well, it is the same board as all other electronics, it just doesn't have the green solder mask and white silk screen printing on it. -To add those two layers, almost tripled the price. I got three of these boards for around $60 shipped. Not too bad.

Here are all the parts waiting to be soldered on.

I started with the headers.

Then added the Molex connector.

Then I installed the voltage reguator and IC sockets and a capacitor.

Next was the resistors.

Some Transistors.

and finally, the fan headers and USB to serial connector.

All finished.

You may notice that there is missing IC chip. Well, I'm waiting on Gediminas to finish programming the chip first so I can't test the fan controlls just yet.
I was able to test the led power light and servo controller, and they work Perfect!

Well, thats a pretty big update for now. I'm so close to being done!!!

Later,