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Roisin Dearg (a Scratch Built "Modular" Case)

2 minutes ago, Voxels-Box said:

Great progress!  I appreciate the effort and design of your custom brace.  Excellent work!

Thanks! However, it looks like I won't be using it in favor of the one Tekred suggested.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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6 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Because every support bracket I've seen up to now blocked the two PCI-e brackets below the card. This one, however, only blocks one PCI-e slot so it may be worth looking into (or I might try to make one like it). Can you post a link to the one in the picture you posted? Never mind, I found a similar one in blue.

 

Thanks for pointing this out to me!

 

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the one you pictured since I can easily shorten it to better fit the length of my card. If it works out, I can always repaint it. Thanks for putting me onto this. Now I guess I'll just put the one I made back together and put it into storage in case I decide to use it in the future for whatever reason.

Glad I could help. Keep up the good work

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1 hour ago, Tekred said:

Glad I could help. Keep up the good work

Thanks!

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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I'm baaack!

 

 dragged my ample asset out of bed early this morning and painted the home brew fender washers I made to go between the bottom of the frame legs and their rubber feet but forgot to paint the last time I painted.

 

FedUp's (aka FedEx) system was down yesterday and they didn't have a clue what to do without it so packages that were supposed to arrive yesterday didn't arrive until today (why they don't have backup systems is beyond me). I finally got the connector body I needed to finish the MOBO jumper cable I started and some more of the acoustic foam for the interior panels. I also got some graphite thermal pads I'm going to try between the CPU and the CPU cooler. I needed only one but I like having spares in case I mess up. They don't transfer heat quite as well as regular TIM but I rarely ran my CPU very hot on the old rig that had an inferior cooler to the one I have now so one of these should easily be adequate for my needs plus they are resuable, do not dry out, and I don't have to worry about how much TIM to put down and clean off every time I remove and replace the cooler (Linus did a video on these lately and there is a thread on them somewhere here on the LTT Forums). 

 

Here are the washers left hanging out to dry after painting. I ran a string between two of the uprights on my carport awning and hung each washer from a large bent paper paper clip for painting. I'll take them inside tonight.

 

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I hope that wasn't too exciting for you.

 

Now for the new play pretties.

 

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I needed only one connector body but I went ahead and ordered some extras just in case. The biggest expense was the shipping.

 

I'll probably finish the jumper cable later today, then I'll get started (probably tomorrow) on installing the foam on the interior panels and the PSU bump out, then installing the panels in the frame. I already chased all the threads on the mounting holes on the frame with a tap but still need to chase some on one interior panel and on the PSU bump out.

 

I still need to decide how I'm going to glue down the veneer to the exterior panels. Both spray contact cement and brush or roll on contact cement have their pros and cons. Decisions, decisions! 

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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I ran into a slight problem getting the jumper off the MOBO. There was a tiny screw on the graphics card in the way (mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble). I had to loosen the card and flex it over slightly to get the jumper out even though I hadn't seated it in the socket yet. 

 

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It won't be a problem in the future since the completed jumper will be permanently installed.

 

Ok, now all I have to do is just poke the pins on the end of the jumper cable into the connector. Easy peasy, right? Yeah, right! >:(

 

I fought with those miserable misbegotten pins for half an hour trying to get them to click in but two of the rotten little buggers just wouldn't click (mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble). I crimped a pin from a different batch onto a short piece of wire. It would click into the two holes with no trouble--they were even were easy to remove--so the problem had to be with the pins I had used. I used a small pair of flush cutting dikes to gradually snip off the pins piece by tiny piece on the two wires (that was "fun"), then crimped on new pins from the different batch. Those slipped in as slick as snot on a broom handle. I have plenty of the good pins so the bad ones are history!

 

Once the pin situation was takeen care of, I snipped a bit off the end of the sleeve, brushed a bit of Krazy Glue on the wires near the new connector body, then stretched the sleeve until it was snug on the wires and held it over the glue until the glue set. After that, I "slud" the shrink sleeve up against the connector body and hit it with the heat gun to shrink it into place. The shrink sleeve has mastic inside to lock it onto the wire and sleeve but I like to use the glue to keep the sleeve stretched out without getting my fingers too close to the hot air from the heat gun.

 

Here is the completed jumper.

 

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And here is the jumper setting in place on the MOBO although I haven't seated the connector into the MOBO socket yet. I can get it back out after it has been seated if I have to but it's a bit of a chore so why bother?

 

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This silly little cable will make removing the MOBO tray assembly from the case a lot easier since I won't have to remove the cooler and loosen the graphics card to get the cable out of the way. I can just unplug the cable from the PSU from the end of the jumper instead.

 

It seems like for the past two years I keep running into stupid little problems like these. It's getting older than I am! Well, i need to go outside, bring in the washers, and remove the string  the washers were hanging from before some idiot (such as me) gets clotheslined.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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Be sure to triple check your cable's endurance under load..

I've seen may extensions fail over time,tho I have never made one from scratch myself..

 

Keep up the good work xD

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2 hours ago, mAs81 said:

Be sure to triple check your cable's endurance under load..

I've seen may extensions fail over time,tho I have never made one from scratch myself..

 

Keep up the good work xD

Thanks for the advice! I've made numerous cables in the past (I made all but one of thePSU cables in my current machine-the 24 pin is stock-and I haven''t had any problems from them) so I'm not worried about this one. I used #16 wire, which is one size larger than most PSU cables use, so it will more than easily handle the load. Although I was careful to keep the wires lined up parallel, I was a coward and checked them with a DVOM.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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I started putting foam on the internal panels today. I was going to start with the back panel and temporarily installed it and used tabs of tape to mark the edges of the mounting flanges so I could determine where (and where not) to put the foam.

 

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However, It was going to use mostly smaller pieces of foam so I decided to wait until I had more scraps. Instead, I started with the simplest panel first; the MOBO tray back plate.

 

First, to make laying out the cut lines and checking the fit easier, I had to trim the release paper overhang off.

 

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I used scissors to cut the foam in the past but, this time, I decided to use an Xacto knife instead. It actually was easier and definitely less nerve wracking. Here is the final result.

 

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The cutout in the center was a tad undersized but the overhang can't be seen from the foam side and the other side will be covered by the MOBO tray.

 

The leftover foam piece from the hole was big enough to finish off the left side panel after trimming it some.

 

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Now onto something more fun: the PSU bump out.

 

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The rivet nut inserts were in the way, making it a bit trickier. I had to tuck the foam under them using the back of a knife blade.

 

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By this point, my allergies were driving me nuts and I was making stupid measuring mistakes (all of which I managed to catch in time) so it was time to break for lunch, take something for the allergies, and sleep it off. Once I feel better, I'll start foaming something else. I'm also going to have to order some more foam.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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After a rest, I foamed the fan plate. That did't go quite as well as I wanted. Even though I measured umpteen times, the piece I cut was a little too narrow. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem but it keeps trying to lift on the edges where it's supossed to curl around the top edge. On the left side of the case, that won't show when the left side panel is removed but it will show when the right side panel is removed. I might screw or rivet a piece of angle to the frame to cover the gap and keep the edge folded down where it belongs. For now, I'll just have to live with it because I will need to paint the angle first and it's just too darned hot right now due to the delightful heat wave we are having. Eventually, it will cool down enough to let me paint it.

 

Instead of trying to precut the fan holes and trying to get them to align with the fan holes in the fan plate, I just stuck the foam down, then used an Xacto knife to cut out the fan holes. That went better than I thought it would.

 

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I used a jeweler's screw driver from underneath to poke holes through the foam for the screws. Some I couldn't reach from underneath but I figured once I got two or three screws in a fan, I could poke the holes from above. The hole poking went fine but getting the blasted screws to go into the blasted threads turned out to be a nightmare, which is weird since the dry fit before I foamed it went well. I had to fight with the fans and grills for over an hour to get all of them and the screws installed. I pray to God I never have to replace a fan!

 

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I still need to tighten down all the screws and make sure they won't interfere with filter but I needed a break and the news just came on.

 

It also just dawned on me that I forgot to cut out the foam on the MOBO tray back plate for the fan hub for the intake fans so I'll have to go back and do that (mutter, mutter. mumble, mumble).

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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I got all the screws tightened on the intake fans. I have another problem, though; they are around 3/16"  too long and are interfering with inserting the filter (mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble). I checked to see if I could get these in 1 1/4" but they jump from 1" to 1 1/2" so I'll have to remove them one at a time and shorten them (more muttering and mumbling).

 

Shortening the screws will keep until tomorrow. Instead, I carved a recess in the foam on the MOBO tray backplate to accept the fan hub. I poked holes in the foam for the screws, used longer screws to secure the hub base to the top of the foam, used an Xacto knife to cut around the perimeter of the base (that poor thing has been getting a workout today), removed the screws and base, then used a wood chisel to clear out the foam where the hub goes (that stuff really sticks!). Like the fan hub for the top panel, this one also had an adhesive backing. Between that and the screws, that hub isn't going anywhere in my lifetime (unless I want it to and, even then, that will be a chore to remove).

 

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The hub is held onto the base with double sided adhesive foam tape. To protect it from damage, I won't install the hub itself until I've installed the panel in the case.

 

And that is enough for one day.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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What fans are those? 

My Systems:

Main - Work + Gaming:

Spoiler

Woodland Raven: Ryzen 2700X // AMD Wraith RGB // Asus Prime X570-P // G.Skill 2x 8GB 3600MHz DDR4 // Radeon RX Vega 56 // Crucial P1 NVMe 1TB M.2 SSD // Deepcool DQ650-M // chassis build in progress // Windows 10 // Thrustmaster TMX + G27 pedals & shifter

F@H Rig:

Spoiler

FX-8350 // Deepcool Neptwin // MSI 970 Gaming // AData 2x 4GB 1600 DDR3 // 2x Gigabyte RX-570 4G's // Samsung 840 120GB SSD // Cooler Master V650 // Windows 10

 

HTPC:

Spoiler

SNES PC (HTPC): i3-4150 @3.5 // Gigabyte GA-H87N-Wifi // G.Skill 2x 4GB DDR3 1600 // Asus Dual GTX 1050Ti 4GB OC // AData SP600 128GB SSD // Pico 160XT PSU // Custom SNES Enclosure // 55" LG LED 1080p TV  // Logitech wireless touchpad-keyboard // Windows 10 // Build Log

Laptops:

Spoiler

MY DAILY: Lenovo ThinkPad T410 // 14" 1440x900 // i5-540M 2.5GHz Dual-Core HT // Intel HD iGPU + Quadro NVS 3100M 512MB dGPU // 2x4GB DDR3L 1066 // Mushkin Triactor 480GB SSD // Windows 10

 

WIFE'S: Dell Latitude E5450 // 14" 1366x768 // i5-5300U 2.3GHz Dual-Core HT // Intel HD5500 // 2x4GB RAM DDR3L 1600 // 500GB 7200 HDD // Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon

 

EXPERIMENTAL: Pinebook // 11.6" 1080p // Manjaro KDE (ARM)

NAS:

Spoiler

Home NAS: Pentium G4400 @3.3 // Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 // 2x 4GB DDR4 2400 // Intel HD Graphics // Kingston A400 120GB SSD // 3x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200 HDDs in RAID-Z // Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000w PSU // Antec Performance Plus 1080AMG // FreeNAS OS

 

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6 hours ago, MEC-777 said:

What fans are those? 

Phanteks PH-F120MP 120mm SP PWM 500-1800 rpm. All 12 of the fans (8 intake and 4 exhaust) will be the same fan.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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I got the screws shortened today and that went better than expect. I didn't get started until after lunch because I was up and down all night with leg, foot, and hand cramps.

 

First here is a shot of the underside of the frame showing the installed fans from the intake side...

 

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...and these are some of the offending screws that are keeping the filter from sliding in.

 

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To cut down on the work and to break up the task, I worked in batches of eight screws by removing only one screw at a time from each fan. This actually worked out very well. I found that threading each screw in the appropriate screw cutting hole in my Waldom crimpers until the end was flush in the hole was exactly the right length. That really simplified things and sped up the process.

 

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Once threaded into the cutter, placing one handle on the floor and giving the other handle some not so gentle love taps with a hammer made short work of cutting the screw. I also figured that if I chamfered the ends of the screws after cutting them, it would be easier to get them started in the fan screw holes. I used my little 18v impact driver to run the screws further in to the cutter so I could use the cutter like a vise to hold the screws for filing the chamfer (I needed to use the impact driver because the first few turns were too hard to make with my fingers and driving them the rest of the way with the driver was faster since the driver was already in place).

 

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(Ignore my ugly, old lady hands.) It actually was pretty easy to hold and rotate the screw that way so I could file the chamfer.

 

Here is what a chamfered screw looks like.

 

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I didn't try for a pretty job since this is a case of where good enough is good enough. I had no trouble replacing each batch of screws before removing the next batch for cutting and chamfering (there were only four batches of eight screws each).

 

Here, you can see how much shorter the screws are now.

 

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Overall, everything went quite well; it was just tedious and time consuming.

 

That's probably all I'm going to be doing today. I'm officially pooped!

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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The bottom of the 5.25" bay needs to have some space between the intake fans and the bottom 5.25" device so I took three Lian Li blank bay covers, joined them together, and foamed the backside to make some dummy covers (I did this quite some time back). Here is where the dummy covers will be installed (note the foam that is sticking out on the side of the fan plate that was supposed to wrap around from the top to the side; I will be coming back to this shortly).

 

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Here I've installed the dummy covers (pretty much all the bay devices will have Lian Li bay covers adapted to them for as consistent an appearance as possible). Outside view.

 

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And the inside views showing the screws holding them in.

 

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On the right side of the case, there is the problem of the foam on the fan plate not wanting to stay stuck down where it bends over the edge (mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble).

 

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To push the foam down and hold it in, I cut and notched a scrap piece of 1/16" x 1/2" x 1/2" aluminum angle to fit in the area. Here, I'm checking the fit.

 

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The fit is ok but the vertical leg of the angle sticks up a bit high and could become a crud trap so, when I removed it, I trimmed about 1/16" off, then filed (pardon my profanity) it smooth and deburred the edges. After sanding it with a fine Scotchbrite pad, it looks like it came from the factory that way.

 

I drilled three holes for 4-40 flat head screws and used those holes to drill pilot holes in the frame for 4-40 rivet nut inserts. I then opened up the holes in the frame for the rivet nut inserts. Here, the rivet nut inserts have been installed in the frame (the silver dots on the black of the frame).

 

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I then countersunk the holes in the angle. Here it is before doing the final test fit.

 

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Here the angle screwed into place to check the final fit.

 

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It's doing a great job of anchoring the edge of the foam. I've since removed the angle for painting when it gets cool enough outside (it's too darned hot right now).

 

Back to the foam sticking out on the left side of the case in the first picture. It's doing that for the entire left side of the case. I tried forcing the foam to stick down by wedging in some wood strips so it would have time for the adhesive to set but that does not seem to be working out very well so I'm probably going to have to spend the rest of the afternoon making an angle similar to the one on the right side of the case. This one will be more "fun" since I have to dodge around a frame upright and the LED channels around the left side panel opening.

 

 

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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 The foam edge on the right side of the case wasn't holding well so I made another piece of angle to hold it own for keeps. This one was definitely more "fun" than the other one (if it had been any "funner", I wouldn't have been able to stand it). It was a lot more fiddly than the other one due to tighter quarters. At least, I needed only one shallow notch instead of two.

 

One I got it cut to length, I had cut down both legs of the angle and file them smooth. Next was to drill holes in the angle, then use them to locate the holes in the frame. There wasn't room to install rivet nut inserts so I had to tap the holes in the frame for 4-40 screws. That made me as nervous as a squirrel in a dog park with no trees since the metal was rather thin for threading. So far, it seems to be holding but I may put some kind of thread locker in each threaded hole when I reinstall the angle after painting. I may also put some VHB tape on the bottom of the angle to give it a little more help.

 

Here, I've installed the finished (but unpainted) angle to check for fit.

 

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It fits but it's a tight fit. I have to jam it down with the blade from a 12" combination square and hold it until I got the screws in to help ensure I didn't strip out the threads.

 

Here are the two angles awaiting painting. The one in the front is the newest one.

 

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I don't know if I'm going to do any more today. Right now, I'm on hold (more like ignore) for the USPOS. The foam I ordered has been in limbo in Kirkland, WA for the past 26 hours. Their tracking is claiming that the package has been accepted and that it is awaiting acceptance (what?), even though they show it has been received.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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5 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

I don't know if I'm going to do any more today. Right now, I'm on hold (more like ignore) for the USPOS. The foam I ordered has been in limbo in Kirkland, WA for the past 26 hours. Their tracking is claiming that the package has been accepted and that it is awaiting acceptance (what?), even though they show it has been received

And I thought our postal services only were bad , lol

 

Looking good,I'd love to see it assembled!

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9 hours ago, mAs81 said:

And I thought our postal services only were bad , lol...

The USPOS still hasn't got their act together. Apparently part of their systems were down because the package suddenly showed up in Phoenix near where I live early this morning. They still haven't given a delivery date.

 

Something similar happened with FedUp (aka FedEx) last week. Their system went down and, apparently, they couldn't scratch their backsides without it, let alone do any deliveries. I had a package delivered a day late because of it even though it was already just around a dozen miles from my shipping address when their system went down.

 

What I don't get is why so many major companies that are heavily dependent on their computer systems don't have a backup system in place. The electic/irrigation utility (the second largest utility in AZ) I worked for for 32 years had at least one backup system I knew of. They would test it seeral times a year by shutting down the working system to see if the backup picked up seamlessly. The only reason we knew is they would announce the test beforehand and say there may be a slight system slowdown during the test, which I never noticed, even if I was doing a lot data entry and/or retrieval.

9 hours ago, mAs81 said:

...Looking good,I'd love to see it assembled!

Thanks! I'm also eager to see it assembled and even more eager to get it up and running. I'm already sick and tired of being stuck just using my little notebook since my old rig died (how rude!).

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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The acoustic foam sheet I ordered was delivered to my mail service today so I'll be picking it up tomorrow. And I'm definitely going to need it.

 

I started foaming the right side 5.25" bay panel this morning. Right off the bat, when I tried to temporarily install the panel so I could mark where not to put foam, I ran into a problem. The foam I put on the intake fan plate was in the way of the bottom of the panel. >:( So, I had to use an Exacto knife to carve a groove in the foam to accommodate the panel. Here I started cutting the groove...

 

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...and here it is finished.

 

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It's pretty ratty looking because the close quarters made cutting and digging out the foam "fun". It doesn't look as bad once the panel is in place.

 

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At least the foam going on the panel will cover that ratty edge.

 

After sticking little tabs of tape in place on the panel to show where I didn't want to put foam, I removed the panel.

 

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Since the tape tabs are where the foam is going, I had to put tape opposite the tabs, then remove the tabs.IMG_0011.thumb.JPG.e8f0bdc660997b0e6d5a1d9e4ef199d5.JPG

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Cutting and putting the big pieces of foam in place was fairly easy and went quickly. I had considered making slots in the foam for the slots in the panel but, besides being one heck of a chore to lay out and cut, getting the slots in the foam to align with the slots on the panel would have been nigh on impossible so I just ran strips of foam between the columns of slots, then cut little pieces of foam to fill in the spaces between the pairs of slots. Here, all the large pieces of foam are installed and I've started on those umpteen little fiddly pieces.

 

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Those little pieces were TEDIOUS as all get out to cut and install but, otherwise, not particularly difficult. Eventually (it only seemed like a week), I finished.

 

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I temporarily installed the panel to make sure it still fits. It's snug but it still fits.

 

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And that ratty edge of the groove got covered up nicely.

 

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I haven't screwed in the panel yet since I might decide to cover the blank space under the 5.25" bay rail on the inside of the bay panel but, even with the sheet of foam I'm picking up tomorrow, it's going to be cutting it close for the left side 5.25" bay panel, the rear panel, and the PSU bump out cover, even with all the scrap I have left (I used quite a bit of scrap today). If I have enough left over (or I'm forced to buy one more sheet of foam, I'll cover it. Otherwise, I'll just leave it uncovered.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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Despite thinking I didn't have enough foam for the job, I decided to get started on the 5.25" left side panel. It turned out I was wrong and actually got the thing done without any unnecessary splicing.

 

To start, I ran into a familiar problem. I had to remove a thin strip of foam on the PSU bump out to make a slot for the MOBO back plate to slip into. I did a little better job on this one.

 

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I still can easily get in the screws that fasten the MOBO back plate to the PSU bump out.

 

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The reason I had to horse around with the slot first was I figured it would be easier to see where I didn't want foam if I assembled the PSU bump out and the MOBO back plate to the 5.25" bay left side panel. I figured right. Here is a shot of the finished results.

 

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Again, the little pieces between the slot pairs were the most time consuming. I had been dreading those so I'm glad they are done!

 

After taking everything back apart, I noticed a possible problem. Inside the area where the PSU bump out was fastened down is a a blank area that doesn't have any foam on it.

 

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I'm debating whether I should bother to try to foam it or not.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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Debate over. I foamed the space inside the PSU bump out. Again, it wasn't as hard as I had expected. Here is a shot of the panel after I added the foam.

 

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I also put foam on top of the flanges on the inside of the PSU bump out.

 

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And here is the inside of the bump out after being installed to the panel.

 

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That's it for tonight. I promise; no more.

 

I'll be picking up the last (I hope) piece of foam and the graphics card anti-sag bracket tomorrow after I paint those angles and while running some errands.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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Today, I picked up the replacement graphics card anti-sag bracket I ordered to replace the clunky one I made. I forgot to take a before photo but this is a screen shot from Amazon.

 

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Right off the bat, I ran into problems. A nut insert was in the way of putting in a screw (mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble).

 

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I fixed that by trimming a bit off the back edge. Even then, the flat washer I used barely cleared (I might drill out a 4-30 washer to get a little more clearance or just skip using a washer).

 

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The manufacturer provided two different height bumpers made of machined polyethylene but the fit over the bar was pretty loose and I could see it shifting over time so I shimmed the slot with five layers of cellophane tape...

 

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...then used a felt pen to blacken the edges so the tape wouldn't show.

 

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That snugged things up nicely.

 

This what it looks like installed. Since the bar was considerably longer than the card, I cut off two of the slots on the end of the bar. I also had to use smaller head screw than the ones provided because of that stupid nut insert.

 

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The card isn't going to sag any now but I'm not happy with how the bar itself sags. One possible solution would be to open up the mounting slots slightly so they will clear the shoulder on the blue thumbsrews I wanted to use but couldn't because the threaded length was too short. That would tighten up tolerances considerably and may eliminate the sag. You can see what the thumbscrews look like in this picture.

 

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I also picked up the foam today. I'll work on foaming the last two panels either tonight or tomorrow.

 

After ragging on the USPOS recently for having their heads where the sun don't shine, I'm happy to report on some outstanding service from McMaster.com and UPS. I ordered some screws last night around 9 PM. They actually got the order filled and delivered to UPS soon enough that, when I got the tracking number early this morning (insanely early), the package had already made it to Phoenix and the estimated delivery date had been updated from Friday to today! It had been delivered to my mail service by the time I got there shortly after lunch today.

 

The reason I was up insanely early this morning was so I could get those two angles for holding down the edges of the foam on the fan plate painted before it got too hot to apply paint (the color coats should be applied at 40-80 degrees).  Now, it's just hurry up and wait for it to dry enough to install on the frame. For now, I'm leaving them hanging outside to let the AZ toasty sun hasten the drying before bringing them inside tonight. After painting and hauling trash down to the dumpster, I went back to bed until lunch time (I didn't sleep well last night).

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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I'm thinking I should have gone to bed instead of working on what I hope is the last of the foaming. I got it done but it was a bigger headache than I anticipated and kept screwing up.

 

Again, I found it easier to temporarily assemble the PSU bump out to the rear case panel. I'll spare you all most of the gory details and just show you the final results. First, the panel with the PSU bump out still attached.

 

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Because of the flange that mounts the PSU bump out to the panel, there is an unsightly gap in the rear panel foam around the bump out. I might try to see if I can foam that flange tomorrow to fill in the gap (then again, maybe not).

 

Here is the rear panel without the PSU bump out. When I flipped the panel over to remove the bump out, I discovered I had forgotten to cut a hole in the foam for the rectangular hole below the bump out. I tried cutting it with my Xacto knife but got a raggity edge. Like I said, I should have gone to bed. It's in a place where it won't be very, if at all, noticeable so I'm not going to worry about it (much). Any road, here 'tis.

 

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At least it fits fine on the frame.

 

I also foamed the inside of the PSU bump out cover. I did it midway while working on the rear panel so I could determine the best way to cut the new sheet of foam with minimal waste. As simple as that one was, I still managed to cut it too narrow and had to splice in a piece. A least the splice will be buried inside the PSU bump out.

 

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I'm thinking about also putting foam on the back panel of the MOBO tray up to the fan. I'm going to have to sleep on that decision for a day or two.

 

Insane foamer signing off for tonight. :S

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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love the effort! the fab work looks mint!

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