Got a New Case!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Oh-kay, since you asked. Again, I'm fighting with glare, even with a satin finish.



Not much to see. It will make more sense once it's installed in the case but that won't be until after I do the swap.

 

[Britton30]

Thanks, looks simple enough, making the measurements must be a bit fiddly. How did you get the nice bend, sorry if you've already went through this before.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Thanks, looks simple enough, making the measurements must be a bit fiddly. How did you get the nice bend, sorry if you've already went through this before.

The measurements were a bit fiddly but no worse that what I've done before.

I had the Divil's own time getting that bend because I don't have access to a sheet metal brake and the 12" x 12" aluminum I bought was a lot harder and springier than the T6061 I've used in the past. Seriously, I've seen softer spring steel in the past.

Prior to making the bend, I cut the aluminum to the length of the shroud in my little bandsaw; I left the width oversized at 12". I then guesstimated where the bend needed to be so that each leg of the resulting angle would be oversized by around the same amount to give me some room for error. I then clamped the aluminum between two pieces of aluminum angle left over from the side fan braces in a Workmate workbench. I had planned on hammering the bend in using a piece of 1/4" plywood to avoid denting while I was pulling on the free end of the aluminum; that did not end well. After muttering a few sweet nothings under my breath, I tossed the plywood and just whaled away with a 20 oz. hammer until I finally got a good sharp bend (I still wish I had had access to a brake!).

I did get some denting but I was able to hammer and file out most of it; the little that was left I was able to level with a thin layer of glazing putty during the priming and sanding part of painting it. The bend was closer to the bend line than I had expected since I didn't have a brake. After bending, I cut each leg to width in the bandsaw. I had to clamp the fence outboard since the saw frame wouldn't clear the vertical leg otherwise. Some more filing and sanding and it was ready for paint. I had to wait for a day that was cool and wind free enough in the morning outside to apply paint. We finally got that day last Thursday and Friday. I felt lousy Thursday so I did the job on Friday.

 

[Britton30]

Sounds involved but doable. I have no bandsaw nor Work Mate but have some C-clamps and angle iron. My landlord has a racecar shop and I have a bro who works in a factory that makes hydraulic drives. I can probably get some help. Maybe even some racecar body sheet metal.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...Here is a reminder of what the gizmo looked like:

View attachment 322561

This is what it looks like after painting and replacing the PCB and with a 2.5" HDD in it (I'll be putting the SSD in it when I do the swap).

View attachment 322559

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Ok, more on the gizmo and tray. In the post about it before the quoted one above, I mentioned that the only downside of the gizmo is one has to remove it from the tray to be able to install a 2.5" drive in it and also mentioned I thought that I could live with that. Well, it's been nagging at me ever since since it is a royal PITK (pain in the keister) to get the gizmo out of the tray. The obvious solution, of course, would be to drill some holes in the sides of the tray that I could poke a screwdriver through to get to the screws holding a drive in the gizmo (I hope the technical jargon isn't off-putting) but I was worried that any holes there would weaken the tray too much until it dawned on me that the little lugs that hold a 3.5" drive (and the gizmo) and the screw in the center of each side would be more than enough reinforcement to compensate for any added weakness. So, this morning I got a feral follicle shaft up my onager and went after it.

Here is a reminder of what the tray looks like. The arrows point to the mounting holes for 2.5" drives. Those are easy to get to from the bottom of the tray. The position of the mounting holes put the SATA power and data connectors in the same place a 3.5" drive's connectors would be. However, since a 2.5" drive doesn't go from side to side in the tray, like a 3.5" drive will, the tray can flex and will sag over time. So, when I saw the gizmo online, I saw it as a solution to the problem.



However, 2.5" drives mount from the side in the gizmo instead of the bottom (see arrows). The gizmo has openings in the side that a screwdriver can be poked through but the tray does not. Thus, the need to remove the gizmo from the tray to be able to get to the screws holding the gizmo in place.



The arrows show where holes would be needed to be able to get at the drive mounting screws in the gizmo. As I said, I was concerned holes there would weaken the tray too much until it dawned on me the gizmo would reinforce the tray.



Figuring how to layout the holes (top arrows) was a bit of a bi...stinker but here is what I wound up with. The hole closest to the tray latches on each side had to go through a taper on the other side and are too close to the locating lug alongside it so the bit drifted a bit (mutter, mutter). I had to take a file to those holes to pull them back to where it belonged, hence the raggedy look. You can see the drive mounting holes through the holes in the tray (lower arrows). Perspective makes it appear the holes are misaligned but they actually lined up surprising well.



This shot shows that a screwdriver goes through the side of the tray and aligns up with the drive mounting holes just fine. The original holes were just going to clear a #1 Phillips head screwdriver (the appropriate size for the M3 screws 2.5" drives use) but, after filing out the two holes that drifted, those were able to accept a #2 Phillips so, being the anal old bi...broad I am, I drilled out the other two holes to also clear a #2 Phillips.



I'll now be able to easily R&R drives in the gizmo without having to remove it from the tray. 'Tis odd how being lazy can be so much work.

I may be moving the innards from my current rig to the new case this weekend, depending on how I feel. Our "monsoon" is finally arriving and humidity levels will be going up which will reduce the potential for problems from ESD.

I'm just going to temporarily use my present SATA data cables for now. One of the drives I'm currently using and up to 7 more in the future will be fed data from my HBA card that has to use SAS to SATA forward breakout cables. The remaining drives, present and future, get fed from the MOBO. Due to a lack of room to stuff the extra cable length of all those DATA data cables (14, including ODDs, swap bays, and e-SATA port), I will need to make custom length SATA cables I can then bundle and sleeve. I will cut down over length cables to the correct length and solder new connectors on the end (that gives me an excuse to buy a new soldering iron that can handle that fine of work; whoohoo, new tool!). I stumbled on a place that had the connectors last night and ordered some. That is going to be one SERIOUSLY TEDIOUS job! Yes, I am insane!

 

[NoN]

Well done!

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Well done!

Thanks, NoN!

 

[Indianatone]

Thanks for the update and good luck moving your system over to your new case. I know you don't need any advice but my Tammy always tells me don't rush, take your time and check the connectors and cards are plugged in where they are supposed to be once twice and then again before you fire her up. There is something I always forget like HD led backwards or speaker beeper one connector over. Of course you'll have to do a step by step photo shoot so we can all be enthralled. Seriously you tell a good yarn.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Thanks, Tony! Yeah, I'll take my time doing it when I do it. I'll try to remember photos although it will be kindasorta like watching paint dry.

 

[ZaLiTH]

However, 2.5" drives mount from the side in the gizmo instead of the bottom (see arrows). The gizmo has openings in the side that a screwdriver can be poked through but the tray does not. Thus, the need to remove the gizmo from the tray to be able to get to the screws holding the gizmo in place.

Is (was) that the way the drive tray came, or is the current drive mounting point thanks to your modifications? If it is stock, I'm surprised that the drive tray wouldn't have holes to allow the screw driver to get to the screws needed to mount the drive the way they planned.

On that note, not sure if you know of it already, but I stumbled onto a very interesting drive mounting bracket while searching for something for my case. Ever seen the Lian-Li EX-35A3? Nothing quite like four 3.5" AND two 2.5" drives in three 5.25" bays. Very tempted to get one myself for my new build..

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The plastic drive tray is (er...was) a stock tool free HDD tray used in the HDD cages of several Corsair cases. It is designed to hold a 3.5" HDD without having to screw it directly into a cage. One can insert and remove the drive and cage just by squeezing the two handles together and pushing or pulling the tray/HDD in or out of the cage. Besides not needing tools, it makes it possible to turn the HDDs 90° to take up less length in a case and still be able to get each drive in and out without tools or having to remove the cage and to hide the wiring off to one side of the case. The HDD mounts in the tray by flexing the sides of the tray so the little lugs will register in the front and rear side mounting holes of the HDD. A hole that aligns with the center mounting hole of a HDD is provided on each side of the tray for an optional screw to provide a bit more rigidity to reduce possible vibration.

The tray also has four mounting holes on the bottom of the tray for mounting a 2.5" drive so holes in the side for mounting 2.5" drives aren't needed. The gizmo I installed is designed to allow 2.5" drives to be installed in 3.5" trays and still have the connectors align in the same place as the connectors of a 3.5" drive, something that would be a must in a NAS, swap bays, etc. that uses a backplane for HDDs to plug themselves into. The stock Corsair tray has the 2.5" mounting holes offset to accomplish the same thing but it leave the tray unsupported from side to side. That's why I got the gizmo; to support the tray when a 2.5" drive is installed since it uses the mounting lugs normally used with 3.5" HDDs. The problem was a 2.5" gets installed in the gizmo by the side screw holes instead of the bottom ones necessitating me adding previously unneeded holes in the side of the tray.

Clear as mud?

I looked at the Lian Li HDD cage you linked. That is a clever arrangement to maximize the number of drives in the amount of space it takes up but it wouldn't work for me. I have only four 5.25" bays and all four are in use (and I wouldn't mind having a fifth one). Also, to get at any one drive, the cage has to be removed from the case and and at least partially dismantled. That's why I like the trays ans cages I have in the 650D. I can get at any drive without having to remove anything else (other than the cables going to that drive).

 

[ZaLiTH]

The plastic drive tray is (er...was) a stock tool free HDD tray used in the HDD cages of several Corsair cases.

Yup, recognised it from the two Corsair cases I have. Hmmm.. I'm not collecting them or anything like that, just by the way..

The gizmo I installed is designed to allow 2.5" drives to be installed in 3.5" trays and still have the connectors align in the same place as the connectors of a 3.5" drive, something that would be a must in a NAS, swap bays, etc. that uses a backplane for HDDs to plug themselves into. [...] The problem was a 2.5" gets installed in the gizmo by the side screw holes instead of the bottom ones necessitating me adding previously unneeded holes in the side of the tray.

Clear as mud?

Aha, that would be the part I missed. For a moment there I thought it was a slightly different version of the bracket I'm used to seeing.

I looked at the Lian Li HDD cage you linked. That is a clever arrangement to maximize the number of drives in the amount of space it takes up but it wouldn't work for me. I have only four 5.25" bays and all four are in use (and I wouldn't mind having a fifth one). Also, to get at any one drive, the cage has to be removed from the case and and at least partially dismantled. That's why I like the trays ans cages I have in the 650D. I can get at any drive without having to remove anything else (other than the cables going to that drive).

Fair point. I imagine it would be more practical for someone (like me) who doesn't do much after a machine is set up. I'm planning a 2x SSD, 2x (or 3x) HDD setup myself, so something like that would allow me to completely remove the standard drive cages. Might be useful considering I'm hoping to add a full case length GPU wind tunnel at some point.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...Fair point. I imagine it would be more practical for someone (like me) who doesn't do much after a machine is set up. I'm planning a 2x SSD, 2x (or 3x) HDD setup myself, so something like that would allow me to completely remove the standard drive cages. Might be useful considering I'm hoping to add a full case length GPU wind tunnel at some point.

I don't plan on doing much once my machine is resetup, other than adding HDDs as I fill the others up. However, it will be nice to not have to wrestle with the machine when I do do anything; I'm too old for that stuff.

 

[Britton30]

Jeannie making something easier to use isn't laziness, that's innovation girl! Good job there on the gizmo thing-a-ma-jig.

 

[Layback Bear]

Jeannie how many case fans are you going to have when done?
The reason I as is because this takes a lot of headaches out running the wires and power connection. It can also be use with a fan speed control.
They are small and you can put them anywhere. I use Velcro instead of their supplied double stick tape.

Amazon.com: NZXT Technologies AC-GRID-10-M1 Grid Cooling, Black: Computers & Accessories

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Jeannie making something easier to use isn't laziness, that's innovation girl! Good job there on the gizmo thing-a-ma-jig.

Thanks, Gary! I've always said laziness is the mother of invention.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Jeannie how many case fans are you going to have when done?
The reason I as is because this takes a lot of headaches out running the wires and power connection. It can also be use with a fan speed control.
They are small and you can put them anywhere. I use Velcro instead of their supplied double stick tape.

Amazon.com: NZXT Technologies AC-GRID-10-M1 Grid Cooling, Black: Computers & Accessories

I have a total of six case fans.

1 200mm front fan (filtered)
2 140mm side intake PWM fans (filtered)
3 140mm exhaust PWM fans (1 rear and two top)

All the 140mm fans are the same.

Thanks for the fan hub suggestion. I'm going to run all the fans off the MOBO. My MOBO has four 4 pin chassis fan headers rated at 1A each that can run either voltage control or PWM. There is a jumper on the MOBO that determines if all four chassis fan headers run on voltage control or PWM. If set to PWM, a non-PWM fan will run full speed. I've tested the front 200mm non-PWM fan directly off the PSU and it is quiet enough at full speed, I will probably let it run full speed, especially since it has to pull through a filter, so I can run the other fans on PWM. It draws only 0.3A so the front fan header can easily handle it. If full speed should prove to be too loud (and I doubt it will), I can always throw in a speed reducing resistor. Another option would be to run all the fans on voltage control so all can have their speeds adjusted (I just won't have as much control range).

The side fans will run off the bottom fan header. Since I need to be able to easily disconnect and reconnect the fans so I have a PWM fan hub I modified to two connectors to take the factory cables from the two side fans. See post #62 in this thread for more about the hub. Each of the 140mm fans draws only 0.3A so running two off a single header is still well within its rating. The side fans also are pulling through filters so they also need to run at a faster speed though probably not at full speed unless the computer starts running too hot when I'm thrashing it. Obviously, both fans will run at the same speed.

The rear fan will run of the rear header. The two top fans will run off the top header and will be connected to it through a short PWM splitter cable and, like the side fans, will run at the same speed. The rear and top fans are exhaust and will run slower than the intakes to help maintain positive pressure (I hope) unless the case temps should rise while thrashing the computer (which will not happen very often for very long).

Using the MOBO to power the fans simplified wiring them dramatically over using a separate fan controller and will make controlling them much easier. My MOBO has an excellent program (AI Suite II) for accessing many UEFI settings while the computer is running, including the speeds of all the chassis and CPU fans. Each fan header can be controlled independently of the other headers. The speeds can be set to adjust according to temperature so I won't need to run the fans any faster than necessary. Once set, I can forget about it and just monitor CPU temps.

My current case has two 120mm front and one 120mm side intake fans and one 120mm back and one 140mm top exhaust fans. Despite the case being rather crowded, the fans do fairly well at keeping case temps down so I should have plenty of fans in the new case.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I finally decided the paint on the shroud was dry enough so I put on the magnetic strips that will hold it to the PSU.

Here is what the PSU area looks like without the shroud.



The lower arrow points at the reason I decided to cover both the PSU and the cables coming off the PSU. It just galled me to no end to have that label on top sticking out like a sore thumb and couldn't remove it without voiding the seven year warranty.

The upper arrow points at the flange that helps to keep the PSU in place. Since the shroud has to go over that flange, I needed to space the shroud 1/8" above the PSU. The quick and dirty way to do so that was to get some 1/8" magnetic tape. Here is the tape applied to the underside of the top of the shroud.



I goofed and cut the tape to go on most of the length of the shroud when all I needed was to put on the PSU end. It's not hurting anything to be too long and I might damage the paint if I tried to pull it off, not to mention have problems resticking it, so I'm leaving it alone.

Here is the shroud in place. I was surprised how strong the tape is holding the shroud to the PSU. I need to get some artists' fixative spray before I make and apply the label (maybe tomorrow if I have time while running errands).



Going off topic, I found a neat little trick after I cleaned out my present rig a couple of mornings ago. Dust is a huge problem where I live—if there was a market for it, I'd be (ahem) filthy rich!)—and my rig is a huge dust magnet. I had to clean the outside of the case off again about an hour after the initial cleaning, which is understandable since I clean the case in place rather than lug it outside; frequent cleaning keeps down the amount of dust that gets blown into the room. Later in the day, I had to dust the outside of the case again; either that or plow it and plant potatoes. I got a little P.O.ed and used some el cheapo (aka store brand) furniture polish on it. That got the dust off but it also gave the finish on the case a soft glow. The plastic even had a richer look to it. After two days, there is barely any dust on it. The front grill, where the front intake filter is, usually shows dust fairly quickly but I can't see any today. The same is true of the side filter although the grill is coarse enough to let me see the filter foam inside and it has a nice collection of dust starting to build up.

I did the same for my flat bed scanner at the same time and, again, there is very little dust buildup. Everything else in the area is showing a fair collection. Pity I can't use the polish on the monitor and TV screens.

 

[Britton30]

The Shroud of Kingman looks Very Pro Jeannie.

Good tip on the polish for the case. It's a bit like Armor-All on vinyl in a car. Be careful though the stuff will be slippery making it a bit hard to hang on to when you do lug it. Stuff like Pledge may have a lot more oil than the cheap store brand and actually better in this case.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The Shroud of Kingman looks Very Pro Jeannie.

Good tip on the polish for the case. It's a bit like Armor-All on vinyl in a car. Be careful though the stuff will be slippery making it a bit hard to hang on to when you do lug it. Stuff like Pledge may have a lot more oil than the cheap store brand and actually better in this case.

Thanks for the advice. I have to remove the side panels to be able to lug the 650D around (it's amazing how much that sound dampening foam on the side panels weigh) so I am able to get a good grip on the top flanges. I have been able to handle the old case but I'm about ready to start pulling the side panels off on it, too, before moving it around to keep my back happier.

Btw, it's the shroud of Tempe. I'm a long way from Kingman.