A quick "Control Panel" mod i did (UPDATE!)

DAE_JA_VOO · Post by **DAE_JA_VOO** » 27 Jul 2007, 18:11

So, a few days ago i converted one of the rooms in our house to a modding room for myself. In this conversion, i added a PC, an amp, and some speakers so that i can watch a movie or listen to music while i mod. The PC was placed under one of the tables, right in the corner. This was a problem for me because that meant that i needed to get on the ground and under the table to turn on the PC or eject the DVD RW. That can only mean one thing. Modding time.

I wanted to make a little "Control Panel" to put onto one of the tables. This panel would have a Power Switch, a Reset switch, and an eject switch for the DVD-RW. My plan was to make this, but just 3 switches would look to plain, so i decided to chuck a 120mm fan in there too, just to look cool. So here's the project:

First thing i did was some sketching. I did this in class on wednesday:

Then i was time to start bringing the sketches to life. A piece of plexi nicely marked up and ready for some work:

After i had cut and sanded it to the right size, i marked the hole for the 120mm fan:

Unfortunately i haven't gotten myself a 114mm holesaw yet, so i had to make the hole using my scroll saw and lots of sanding. Even after all the that hole still wasn't perfect. No problem though, nobody will ever see the hole:

Then i made the holes for the three switches:

Here's the fan i'll be using:

Wanna know why i chose this one? Let me show you:

That's right, it's a Thermaltake fan. I wouldn't trust that fan to cool anything, so now i'll use it in a mod where it doesn't actually have to fulfill it's purpose (not that it could even if i wanted it to).

Then i added one of the sexiest fan grilles i've ever seen in my life:

That fan grille was sent to me by one of my sponsors, MNPCTech. It's THIS grille. That is such a nice grille holey moley. I have no use for it anytime soon though, because i've already decided what i'll be using for grille's in my mod anyway, so i'm using the grille in this little mod. No point in the grille going to waste

So, here's a test fit of everything in the plexi:

Then it was time to sand the plexi and polish the edges. I owned my finger though while i was cutting the excess masking tape off the plexi:

Anyway, SANDING TIME!!

Sanding and polishing done. I also rounded the corners:

Now all i needed to do was bend the plexi. Once that was done, i mounted everything. I also added all the wiring involved, after i had sleeved it. So here are some final pics:

Looks great in my opinion. The third switch is just there for redundancy. The PC i'm using in this room doesn't have a reset button, but only two switches in the plexi looked horrible, so i'll find a use for the third switch in the future sometime.

So, when the PC is turned on, that fan will spin. I'll be feeding the fan only 5V though, i dont want to give it 12V like i should and have it fail on me in a week. I also dont want any unnecessary noise.

All i need to do now is the PC side of things, wiring the additional switches and so on. That's no biggie though.

That's it, let me know what you guys think

D3PART3D · Post by **D3PART3D** » 27 Jul 2007, 18:22

This thread needs a rating of 16 for violence

It does look great, I like the blue and silver combo. Good clean job.

pienkie · Post by **pienkie** » 27 Jul 2007, 18:28

I'm not gonna lie...:

I WANT ONE TOO!!!! 8O

Hehe well done man, I dig this random, often meaningless mods... they make life so much more colourfull

jcd · Post by **jcd** » 27 Jul 2007, 18:31

Is that little control panel made to fit with "Epiphany"?

It looks great

DAE_JA_VOO · Post by **DAE_JA_VOO** » 27 Jul 2007, 18:32

Thanks Guys

@ jcd: Nope, it's for the PC in my modding room, but now that you mention it, it would fit with Epiphany perfectly!

I wont use it for Epiphany though...

jcd · Post by **jcd** » 27 Jul 2007, 18:38

It fits epiphany, I like it

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 27 Jul 2007, 19:01

that is so friggen kickassly cool.

D3PART3D · Post by **D3PART3D** » 27 Jul 2007, 19:06

It's so amazingly friggen kickassly cool, Wik1d had to say it twice!

Post by **Anakha56** » 27 Jul 2007, 19:16

he did? i only see him saying it once

very nice, i take it the fan is to cool you down when things get to hot during a mod session?

DoOb · Post by **DoOb** » 27 Jul 2007, 19:31

Anakha56 wrote:he did? i only see him saying it once

very nice, i take it the fan is to cool you down when things get to hot during a mod session?

he would have to turn the fan around then,

D3PART3D · Post by **D3PART3D** » 27 Jul 2007, 19:38

Or he could switch the wires?

Anakha, you're so magic

DoOb · Post by **DoOb** » 27 Jul 2007, 19:39

it wouldnt work would it, im sure these fans only turn one way

Post by **Anakha56** » 27 Jul 2007, 20:27

maybe he wants the device to move around on the desk?

here's a mod idea get the fan to push air under the device and have it hover on the desk...

badguy · Post by **badguy** » 27 Jul 2007, 21:01

DoOb wrote:it wouldnt work would it, im sure these fans only turn one way

Try opening the fan and take out the diodes than it will work I think and place a peas of wire in place of the diode !

http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 000ww0.jpg

DAE_JA_VOO · Post by **DAE_JA_VOO** » 27 Jul 2007, 23:56

Thanks for the comments guys

G-Boy wrote:Or he could switch the wires?

Yeah but the fan wont be very efficient that way

DoOb wrote:it wouldnt work would it, im sure these fans only turn one way

It will work. If you feed positive through the negative wire and vice versa, the fan will just spin in the opposite direction. The fan isn't aerodynamically designed for that though and wouldn't do it's job, but it would certainly work

DoOb · Post by **DoOb** » 28 Jul 2007, 00:09

The fan isn't aerodynamically designed for that though and wouldn't do it's job,

yea thats what i was thinking. you would have to turn it around for blowing purpose, but ya, who's cares hehe

Frozenfireside · Post by **Frozenfireside** » 28 Jul 2007, 00:20

Thats a great mod.
You thought hard about this one.
A strong fan is annoying after all.
Well done.

DAE_JA_VOO · Post by **DAE_JA_VOO** » 28 Jul 2007, 02:25

Thanks frozen

Here are some pics of the unit running:

And here, my friends, is a VIDEO of it. Just a clip of me switching it on, you can see the fan spin up, and you'll hear the PC start up.

VIDEO LINKAGE

GREAT SUCCESS!!

RobThePyro · Post by **RobThePyro** » 28 Jul 2007, 07:45

lol nice! where are the LEDS! put aomw LED's in!!!! would look cool, i dunno where though just find some where!

oh and btw the fan wouldnt work in reverse dude. as some one said ealier the diodes would stop the current from flowing in reverse....

Off-The-Chart · Post by **Off-The-Chart** » 28 Jul 2007, 11:15

now just imagine if you had some of those 4" CCFL's lying around... then you could mount them where the fan is and have some light for those dark times...

don't you still have to bend down to pc to put a disc in the drive though?

ADV4NCED · Post by **ADV4NCED** » 28 Jul 2007, 11:18

Nice DJV, thats a killer mod

Very sleek & professional

Anakha56 wrote:maybe he wants the device to move around on the desk?

here's a mod idea get the fan to push air under the device and have it hover on the desk...

psYChowIt · Post by **psYChowIt** » 28 Jul 2007, 13:05

Haha, My pc is centimeters away but I still want one!!!

Spicy-McHaggis · Post by **Spicy-McHaggis** » 28 Jul 2007, 13:19

Off-The-Chart wrote:now just imagine if you had some of those 4" CCFL's lying around... then you could mount them where the fan is and have some light for those dark times...

don't you still have to bend down to pc to put a disc in the drive though?

Could use the 3rd switch for that...

Slasher · Post by **Slasher** » 28 Jul 2007, 13:27

I would rather suggest you make a 'plexi channel' to guide the wires to the back of the panel. Looks a bit messy with the wires just dropping out to the side...

Have a few suggestions for it, but not telling unless I get to pick up the switches from you tommorow...

WAJeff · Post by **WAJeff** » 28 Jul 2007, 15:13

What a sick mod Ett! Looks awesome dude :bigups: