Lian Li PC-80 Ultimate Worklog, take a look :) Options

[connor0007]

Ok so i've been planning for this build for so long and now the case and all the parts have finally arrived

I got carried away earlier and didnt take pictures of a few mods ar the biginning, like the bolt on window and the mesh i put on the bottom of the case. but to start i have a few pictures.

Bolt on Window


Mesh Bottom


as you can see, i've turned our living room into a battle zone and have stripped the case. and taken apart everything.



So i will be mounting a 360mm black Ice Xtreme radiator in the drive bays, so i need to take out the HDD cages, the only thing they dont mention, is you can take them out with out dissasembling the entire front of the case and then drilling extra holes. grr.


here is what wont come out without taking apart the case


because of this screw


so i took apart and drilled four holes like this so i could get a screw driver in to take out the screw


on the bottom of the case i dremeled out a small metal peice that was preventing me from mounting the radiator on the very base of the case, and therefore freeing up one more drive bay to use.


by using some tape, i was able to cut and file without scratching the black to bad, unfortunately i really scraped the inside of the case, but that'll be hidden in the end


as you can see it just perfectly fits in leaving three bays left for an HDD, an optical drive, and either a fan controller or a bay drive.


This post has been edited by connor0007: Jul 31 2008, 11:43 PM

[knightmaric]

Woohoo for another Armoursuit owner among us!
Do have fun with that case =P

I like the window.
A tad small but i can imagine what the look is going to be like overall.
I thnk it shall be a dantastic mod.

I love this case so much.
I was thinking of using the front drive bays to mount a 360 rad if i gave watercooling a try to =D
I'm so glad i'm seeing someone do that on this case.

I'm actually quite excited to see how this is going to turn out.
Good luck with this Connor and make us Armoursuit owners proud!

I love my P60 to pieces.

[connor0007]

thanks Knightmaric, yes i know, i think i might get a taller window, but maybe just two inches, there is a good reason its a tiny window though. a very good reason.

lets just say that the alot more is going to be added to the side panel. ALOT

and ill do my best Knight to make us armorsuit owners proud!!

more coming soon in an hour or two

[connor0007]

Ok time for update number 2.

enlarged the holes for WCing over the rear exhaust fan with a dremel and then filed it out. that way i can fit a radiator up there (in the way i like to mount radiators, without a radbox)


last night and all afternoon i spent bending, measuring, and cutting acrylic sheets... let me just say that is probably the hardest mod i have ever done.

so im sorry i couldnt take any pictures of the process, but the actual bending required all of my focus, but i will explain the process.

(the following is for 90 degree cuts and 5mm acrylic, keep in mind 3mm acrylic will be much much easier to work with)
1. place aluminum angle across the acrylic and weight it down on one of the angle wings with at least 20-40 lbs.
2. with one wing facing up and another facing away from you, set your heat gun to 1000 degrees (on almost every heat gun) and slowly move back and fourth, moving about an inch a second in the middle and a half an inch on the ends (because the middle will get twice as much heat as the ends will and this will prevent serious bowing)
3. after about 5 minutes of tracing the bend mark, quickly put one hand on one side of the acrylic (WEARING LEATHER GLOVES) and grab the other side and bend it up till it is even with the angle, in fact i found it better to bend it about 10 degrees past 90 degrees because as the acrylic cools it shifts.
4. before anything else, clamp the aluminum angle to the acrlic so as it cools it wont change shape to much.
5. take a wet sponge and squeeze out all the water along the bend line to speed up the cooling process (makes no difference in warping)
6. let cool in the clamp for 30 minutes before removing and cutting.

There you have it, the freakishly hard way to bend acrylic. It may sound easy, but its super frustrating, because no matter what you do the acrylic will bow, for me in about 2 feet there was a half inch difference between the high middle and low ends.

ok picture time!!!!

Bent acrylic sheet


the man cave


cutting....


after using a dremel....


after 600 grit sand paper...


Today i'm getting novus plastic polish so ill edit this when i polish this and it is perfectly see through :)

and now you get to see why i went to all this trouble!!


these will be holding up the triple radiator and three fans (110 CFM scythe slipstremes arriving today) and three black mesh aluminum fan filters, also arriving today.
however, the acrylic suupports are no where near done, i ordered 24 3mm LED lights and a ton of resistors. and ill be mounting these inside the case at the edge of the acrylic so you wont see them, but it will shine int he acrylic and then bend and the turn and light up the rail edge very nicely.

however if anyone has any expert experience in LED wiring i would like some help, I bought the regular 470 ohm resistors for each LED, but i really dont want to have to do a separate loop for each LED so i used a calculator that told me how to set them up in one loop. here is the schematic


can someone help me decipher this PLEASE!!

To fit the 480mm radiator on the bottom, i had to cut out the bottom PCI expansion slot


It serves 2 purposes, it lets the radiator fit, and i get to take this cool picture hahah



This post has been edited by connor0007: Jul 31 2008, 11:55 PM

[jarvo]

Woah nice! Let me get this straight, you're gonna have 2x 360mm rads AND a 480mm rad in this badboy?

I was tempted by that case but wasn't ready to go chopping lots of holes and things into it to fit a load of w/c stuff inside at the time I bought mine. Definately looking forward to seeing this evolve though, I think I see where you're going with the LED's and it should look awesome, great job so far!

By that graphic, theres 8 parallel banks of 3 series LED's, so it looks like you'd want to wire up the 8 banks of 3 LED's and 1 resistor, then connect all the - (resistor ends) to a connector block and into the -ve power, and all the + (LED ends) to another connector block and into the +ve power, using as much wire as is needed to place them where you want them, if that makes any sense, hope it helps a little....

This post has been edited by jarvo: Jul 30 2008, 08:46 PM

[raz187]

the mesh on the bottem is going to hinder air flow?. maybe cut circles in it, for the fans, for better airflow and less noise?
other then that, nice craftmenship


imo o/c...

[connor0007]

Woah nice! Let me get this straight, you're gonna have 2x 360mm rads AND a 480mm rad in this badboy?

I was tempted by that case but wasn't ready to go chopping lots of holes and things into it to fit a load of w/c stuff inside at the time I bought mine. Definately looking forward to seeing this evolve though, I think I see where you're going with the LED's and it should look awesome, great job so far!

By that graphic, theres 8 parallel banks of 3 series LED's, so it looks like you'd want to wire up the 8 banks of 3 LED's and 1 resistor, then connect all the - (resistor ends) to a connector block and into the -ve power, and all the + (LED ends) to another connector block and into the +ve power, using as much wire as is needed to place them where you want them, if that makes any sense, hope it helps a little....

haha i wish i had that many radiators, no i have a 480, a 360, and a 120, but all with 110 CFM fans on them, so im hoping for some pretty cool temps.

yea i got the case just cause its so freakin massive and chopping holes is fun IMO

oh wow u really lost me on that one, ok first let me get this straight on a molex connector, when you take the two wires out, (like in those passthrough connectors for cold cathode tubes) what are those? is that like the + and - on a battery. if so i think i will have to take the + and split it 8 ways so go the separate banks and then go straight to the resistor, and from there go to the 3 LED's in sequence, and then regroup the 8 ends and hook them up to the negative wire. but i think im totally missing the whole fundamentals of this.

the mesh on the bottem is going to hinder air flow?. maybe cut circles in it, for the fans, for better airflow and less noise?
other then that, nice craftmenship


imo o/c...

yea, its probably only 50% airflow.
but thats ok cause i swapped it out for some Meshx HEXX last night which is mid 80% airflow. so thats alot better.

and dont worry im gonna OC the Bejesus out of all these parts


thanks to all for you Support. Im gonna work on posting all my updates for the last day!!

[connor0007]

ok so i moved over all my old photos to photo bucket but update number two lost the last two pictures so ill post them now, and then ill add one more post with alot more photos.


radiator ALLEY


the last picture for now. these two pumps will be mounted in the drive bays side by side so ill be trimming the sides of the drive bays to fit them, how i mount them, still remains a mystery to me haha but we'll see!!


Thanks for reading!

[connor0007]

Ok so I have been working diligently all yesterday and today and this is what i have so far

a cleaner mancave


here is the acrylic after using novus plastic polish, and its difficult to tell but its crystal clear


so i decided i would swap out the mesh on the bottom here is a side by side with the old mesh and the new meshX HEXX


here it is in the bottom of the case


because ill be elevating the case at least 3 inches off the ground i thought i should paint the bottom black

primer


black paint


I also decided i wanted the mobo tray to be black, but i didnt want to paint that cause i wanted a scratch proof covering, so i have some extra aluminum and used that,

here u can see the E6600 cement setting for cementing the aluminum plating


piece 1 (has the protective film on)


piece 2

[connor0007]

cont...

I also got a ton of new goodies!!!



7 fans, 1 HDD holder, 2 UV CCFL kits, 1 meteor lite kit, a bunch of cable sleeving, fan controller, wire splitters and adapters, LED's, and resistors, wire, and molex passthrough kit

and a fan filter/ grill


more later tonight, when i have the mobo tray finished, and the cracks touched up, as well as a few holes drilled in it

[raz187]

cool, that other mesh looks better and won't hinder air flow :)

[connor0007]

yep thats what im hoping, ok im way to lazy to post what i've done tonight and its 1 in the morning for me, but tomorrow i think im gonna go to a machine shop and attempt to get something machined cause i really want it to look nice and i cant do that.

cheers

[Ttocs]

With the LED circuit, basically connect the +12v wire to the circuit on the right hand side (the little circle with 12V next to it), and the 0V wire to the right hand side where it doesn't have a value for the circle. The other things are just saying that there will be a current draw of about 1.4A and that the ordinary small 1/4W resistors are fine for this application. And about 2W to dissipate, maybe think about watercooling the LEDs and resistors
As far as I know yellow is +12V and black is 0V (well technically ground).

[connor0007]

With the LED circuit, basically connect the +12v wire to the circuit on the right hand side (the little circle with 12V next to it), and the 0V wire to the right hand side where it doesn't have a value for the circle. The other things are just saying that there will be a current draw of about 1.4A and that the ordinary small 1/4W resistors are fine for this application. And about 2W to dissipate, maybe think about watercooling the LEDs and resistors
As far as I know yellow is +12V and black is 0V (well technically ground).

ok thats what i originally thought, so my question now, is shouldnt the resistor be IN FRONT of the three LED's? i mean whats the point of a resistor if its after the LED's?

hahaha maybe.... get a thin copper sheet and drill holes all the way through it and mount the resistors and LED's inside and then WC the top of that lol. can you say freakishly expensive??

This post has been edited by connor0007: Aug 1 2008, 08:34 AM

[becandl]

The mod is looking great. Post some more pictures when you can!

By the way, good choice on fan controllers. I have the same one in black, and it works very well.

This post has been edited by becandl: Aug 1 2008, 10:41 AM

[knightmaric]

Connor, WOW!
You've been ridiculously busy!

I can't believe how much work you've gotten done in such a short amount of time.
Radiator valley looks awsome =P
The first PC i've seen with rads in that order and placed like that to.
I love the blue acrylic holding it up to.
That's going to be a great mod when it's all finished.

That mesh you said was on the base of your case, was that there when you bought it?
Just wondering if it's just the P80 that has that mesh because it seems as if i have none lol

Can't wait to see what this is going to look like all in all.
It's going to be one hell of a mod and one hell of a case i can see that.

Good luck Connor.

[connor0007]

The mod is looking great. Post some more pictures when you can!

By the way, good choice on fan controllers. I have the same one in black, and it works very well.

Thanks! i cant post any right now just cause im at a friends house and i havent yet uploaded my pictures from my camera.

yep, i have the fan controller in too, i got it cause i plan on using quad fan splitters to power 1 bank of four .53 amp fans which is 25.44 watts, and one with 3 .53 amp fans, and one with 2 .53 amp, and maybe another with two, and maybe another with four. haha so i have alot of loud fans

Connor, WOW!
You've been ridiculously busy!

I can't believe how much work you've gotten done in such a short amount of time.
Radiator valley looks awsome =P
The first PC i've seen with rads in that order and placed like that to.
I love the blue acrylic holding it up to.
That's going to be a great mod when it's all finished.

That mesh you said was on the base of your case, was that there when you bought it?
Just wondering if it's just the P80 that has that mesh because it seems as if i have none lol

Can't wait to see what this is going to look like all in all.
It's going to be one hell of a mod and one hell of a case i can see that.

Good luck Connor.

thanks Knight, i got a TON done last night, i finished the aluminum plating on the whole mobo tray, drilled the holes in the acrylic for the 3mm LED's and started the electrical wiring, as well as finishing some custom aluminum fan ducting,

today i hope to finish the electrical wiring for the acrylic rad supports, and get the pumps mounted, cut some wiring holes in the mobo tray, and cut out spaces for access to the back of the CPU, NB, and SB without removing the mobo tray.

[sli-sam]

WOW! Thats gonna be an AWESOME case!

[connor0007]

ok im really sorry i didnt get pictures up sooner, ive been super busy with other things and i temporarily lost my camera haha, dont worry i have all the pictures!!

Here is how i will get the case off the ground,

each one is 2.5 inches tall and an inch thick, ill cement them to the bottom, and im gonna add LED's to them :)

here is the mobo tray fully finished and the creases touched up with a little black paint

very nice!!!

I also finished bolting the bottom rad and fans to the mesh

i tested it.... they're so freaking loud haha

ok so i started with my aluminum fan ducting!

self made man powered bending break, just clamp it and pull up as you bend.


bent custom cut aluminum


ducting support, this is how im connecting it to the rad on the bottom. now you finally see why im making this ducting


however the screws are so long they'll hit the radiator so i made these spacers which are on both the angle and the screws


this is where the ducting is headed


ill use more angle on the far side to attach it to the side panel with velcro


and before you clame im retarted, here is the side panel taped and prepped for cutting, however i think im gonna take it to a machine shop and have it punch cut and have them help me mount the mesh on the inside of the case. that way it looks super high quality.

[connor0007]

cont.....

so i previously stated that bending acrylic was the hardest mod i had ever done, well thats actually a lie haha the electrical wiring for the LED's is actually the hardest thing ive ever done, thats like 50 solder joints with its bitsy wires and tails, so here it goes.

holes drilled and the 11 LED's mounted in the acrylic (ignore all the extra mistake holes haha)


3.5 HOURS later, the LED's have been souldered in their groups of three, with their resistors, and all have been sleeved and heatshinked.


hahah my first solder joint.... POS


but by the time i made it to my second and third groups they looked alot cleaner


however, because there are only 11 LED's per rail, that leaves with me with two that arent in a group of three yet, so i just tailed the end and will run it over the radiator and connect it to the top LED for the other rail.... but thats for later tonight


so here is my pass through connector, I have the 12V and ground lines being used, i split the 18 AWG wire quickly so that one segment could be used for the close rail and the other for the far rail, 1 wire is better than 8 crossing the radiator haha.


here is all the 26AWG wire connecting for the 12V and 0V (ground)


here is the LED rail lit up, i wish it was dark outside


with the radiator


with the radiator again!


oh and a side note for the LED's ill be hot gluegunning all open joints are leads to protect them from touching the case so please dont flame me, i just havent gotten to it yet, this is tedious work, keep in mind you cant even see half my work, a ton of it, like the resistors and other joints are hidden in teh sleeving.

ok thats it for now, im really busy until late late tonight so i wont be posting anything probably until tomorrow morning, but by then i hope to have the acrylic rail finished and the pumps mounted!!

thanks for reading