My version of Corsair's LT100 RGB towers. What do you guys think?

[NadeMagnet69]

Corsair's LT towers are neat and all. But not 200+ bucks neat for 2 of them, at least to my wallet. So I set out to see if I could make my own. They turned out well in my opinion. Certainly not as polished as Corsair's, but if I was able to have my own plastic housing made like they can, the costs would end up defeating the purpose in making them to begin with. But at least mine are taller and light better since they have way more densely packed together LED. I don't know how many are in the LT100 but mine have the full 60 LED that is the limit of one channel of a lighting node pro or commander pro.

 

I went with these particular lens and channel combo because I didn't want any hot spots. So I picked the deepest channel and protruding lens as I could find. Now that I can see in person just how effective the frosted lens is, if I had to do over again I probably would have gone with the first ones I was looking at that would have put the pricing at around 40 bucks instead of the hundred with taxes and shipping. But live and learn I guess.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/aluminum-channels/lipod-led-strip-channel-architectural/6388/14371/

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/housing-accessories/g-l-cover-frosted/1424/4389/

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/housing-accessories/lipod-end-cap/6412/14372/

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/housing-accessories/gil-end-cap/1422/3327/

 

I used these 100 LED per meter strips to make the 60 LED I needed to run them off of Corsair's ICUE. 60 LED long would make them almost 24 inches tall. Almost as tall as my 43 inch Acer CG7 monitor. Which they were going next to so that matched up better than the 144 per meter that would make 60 LED only 16 inches tall.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087TTFGHQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I already had an extra acrylic sheet left over from making a PSU shroud. But you can find them at most hardware stores for around 15-25 bucks per sheet. It's just a simple matter of measuring, scoring, and snapping. Then gluing them to make a box for the base. I didn't use glue though, I used a solvent specifically designed to weld acrylic that I also had left over. I think it was like 6 bucks if I remember correctly. The welds turn out stronger than the acrylic itself so it makes it much easier to sand. The boxes are 4x4x1 inch.

 

Some weights so they stay stable. lol Which I'm glad they make. I was first thinking about something like just tossing a bunch of spare nuts, screws, and or washers in as weight.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RR13KDJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

A bit of modding on the end caps since they don't make them for that particular lens channel combo. lol Tried the solvent. Nope, wrong kind of plastic. So superglue gel worked good enough to bond and sand on.  

 

Some cable grommets. Which turned out to make it way simpler to assemble. I had kinda rigged up in my mind how to fix the channel to the base with some sort of L brackets, but those grommets and the hole I cut for them turned out perfect. So the only thing holding it vertically in place is the hole and grommet tension. Didn't need to reinforce it despite those weights adding 12 ounces to each tower.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082H356GL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Painting them which lol just like making an acrylic PSU shroud, turned out to be the hardest part of the project for me. I don't know why but I always manage to screw it up. It'll either run and drip because I held it too close or long. Or lol a hair or dust will somehow get stuck and stand out like a sore thumb on acrylic. Just like the shroud I had to sand the paint off and do it twice on one of the tower bases.

 

And this is what I ended up with. The color is a bit off on the vid and it doesn't do them justice. I just got this S10 plus phone and it suppose to have a good camera but I haven't looked into its settings yet.

 

 

So I might have ended up spending more than I intended, but all in all I'm happy with the results. The fun of making something yourself is priceless after all. And if you're wondering what the red switch is on the desktop or why it's bare particleboard? I'm resurfacing the desk and waiting for the fake carbon fiber vinyl wrapping to arrive to finish. And the switch is to shut off all lighting outside my PC like behind the monitor, TV, and now these towers. I'm powering all those off of a 650W PSU I had laying around from an old PC that I mounted under the desk. So that switch lets me turn everything off without having to go under the desk to reach the PSU to do it. The lighting node pro used to control the towers is also mounted under the desk. All lighting aside from a couple of strips behind the monitor and TV is being controlled BY ICUE BTW.

So what do you guys think? lol I'm so happy with them I'm already contemplating making 2 more only with the 144 LED per meter strips that would make the towers 16 inches tall to go next to these. The height progression down from the monitor might look good. But then again I don't know. I'd want them to match these so that would mean those channel lens combos again and it was already more than I wanted to spend to make the first 2.  Maybe one day I'll make more.

 

Oh and I almost forgot. As a bonus of making these it left me with 2 40 LED sections from what I cut off. So I soldered on 2 of these so now I have 2 extra 40 LED strips for behind the monitor or wherever.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NBSF724/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Tristerin]

I guess I dont understand what this is for.

 

However, neat DIY!

 

Any reason not to use wood for the stands?  You mention you paid someone to create them in plastic - what was that cost?

[Velcade]

28 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

I guess I dont understand what this is for.

RGB bruh.

[Tristerin]

38 minutes ago, Velcade said:

RGB bruh.

Im 50/50 atm with my first RGB (whether or not I want it in the Fractal Case for a media center) venture.  The problem I have is...way to many fans already lol and do not need more 120mm fans regardless of extra lights lol

[NadeMagnet69]

1 hour ago, Tristerin said:

I guess I dont understand what this is for.

 

However, neat DIY!

 

Any reason not to use wood for the stands?  You mention you paid someone to create them in plastic - what was that cost?

lol The same thing anything sparkly is for. It's fun to look at. Why do you think humans have lusted after gold since like forever ago? 

 

Thanks

 

I only have the most basic wood working tools and already had a sheet of acrylic. But I did consider wood. That would have been the next step if the acrylic didn't work out. I needed to do things like not only mount the channel but also run the wiring. An empty box is much easier to do that with than a block of wood.

lol No, I said I didn't have that option to have it made for me. I said "but if I was able to have my own plastic housing made like they can." They can have things injection molded for specific products since they're making things to sell and already have the infrastructure and relationships with manufaturers. I don't know what that would cost me but I know it's more than I'd spend for these simple things.

[Tristerin]

8 minutes ago, NadeMagnet69 said:

lol The same thing anything sparkly is for. It's fun to look at. Why do you think humans have lusted after gold since like forever ago? 

 

Thanks

 

I only have the most basic wood working tools and already had a sheet of acrylic. But I did consider wood. That would have been the next step if the acrylic didn't work out. I needed to do things like not only mount the channel but also run the wiring. An empty box is much easier to do that with than a block of wood.

lol No, I said I didn't have that option to have it made for me. I said "but if I was able to have my own plastic housing made like they can." They can have things injection molded for specific products since they're making things to sell and already have the infrastructure and relationships with manufaturers. I don't know what that would cost me but I know it's more than I'd spend for these simple things.

Gotcha - well I love DIY and excellent work, was at work at the time of the original post so was more skimming the paragraphs and misread that.

 

 

So I did just get to watch the video at the bottom of your post (couldnt on that network) - I do have to say, thats a real classy RGB setup as far as RGB goes in my books.  Very nice

 

[NadeMagnet69]

56 minutes ago, Velcade said:

RGB bruh.

Every RGB item adds 5FPS...

[NadeMagnet69]

7 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Gotcha - well I love DIY and excellent work, was at work at the time of the original post so was more skimming the paragraphs and misread that.

 

 

So I did just get to watch the video at the bottom of your post (couldnt on that network) - I do have to say, thats a real classy RGB setup as far as RGB goes in my books.  Very nice

 

Thanks. This is my third PC but the first one I built myself so I wanted to go all out on the setup.