First MAJOR mod...lots of wiring involved....

nst6563 said:
The only thing I had to make a special circuit for was the 10/100 switch since it used 7.5v. I asked in the electronics forums for some help on that and am grateful for the responses I got.
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Do you have any more info about doing that? - or links :)

It looks great in black & althought you cant really see it most of the time, the psu would look excellent in silver.

[edit] also if you spray the fan grill at the top black it would contrast with the silver fan underneath nicely :) [/edit]
 
as far as info, here's where I got the info....
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=800054

When I get a chance I'll take a picture of it. The batteries died in my camera and I won't get any until sometime this week (I tried the ones on the remote...but they didn't have enough juice to run the camera...I must have taken them out of the camera last time to put in the remote :p ). It's a very small circuit.

and I think I will paint the PSU silver. Maybe replace the fan in it with a blue or red LED fan too.

I'll mess around with the fan grill too...I've got an extra one here I'll try :) If all else fails, a black fan guard will look good on the Silver psu ;)
 
a couple more shots...had to kick the wife off the internet again (I think she's gettin' real annoyed at that lately :p ) to finish up this part....

A shot of the newly painted PSU from the inside...nevermind the smudge I have on the upper right corner...I didn't polish that off before I took the picture. It's gone now though...
silverpsu2.JPG


A shot from the backside....
silverpsu.JPG


:EDIT: I never noticed before....but the paint finish is pretty reflective actually...judging from the fact you can actually see the wires reflections on the inside shot. Oh yeah, and I painted the fans silver too...couldn't resist...
 
Looks good! - thanks for the link :) sadly I didnt understand most of it! :( - is it possible to buy it pre-made?
 
hmm...I don't think it's possible to buy one pre-made...unless you paid someone to make it for you :p
It's a very simple circuit to build...took all of about 20 minutes which included cutting the perf. board to the right size, mounting the components, soldering them together, and putting the molex connectors on for a final test before plugging it in.
 
finally got around to posting the shots of the VR circuit to supply 7.5v (from the psu's 12v molex connection) to the 10/100 switch.

Here they are....
The VR circuit.
vr-1.JPG

Now, everyone has their favorite test psu...but come on...THIS is a test psu...
test-psu.JPG

Here's the test-psu hooked up to the vr circuit for testing...I got 7.58v...WOOT!
vr-test.JPG


that's about it....

any more comments????
 
wow...that's pretty cool. i like how it's an all-in-one solution, will make things look very professional
 
nst6563 said:
finally got around to posting the shots of the VR circuit to supply 7.5v (from the psu's 12v molex connection) to the 10/100 switch.

Here they are....
The VR circuit.
vr-1.JPG
Click to expand...
i dont see why it has to be so complicated lookign when all you need is a molex port with a resistor of the right resistance in the positive line?
 
wayne said:
i dont see why it has to be so complicated lookign when all you need is a molex port with a resistor of the right resistance in the positive line?
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I suppose I *could* use that method, but I'd feel much safer using a dedicated VR circuit for the job. Besides, I don't know the exact electrical characteristics of the 10/100 switch for which I made the VR circuit. So, if the load changes depending on how many machines are hooked up, then the resistor could very well fail it's intended job...and it would totally suck ass to have your switch go up in smoke during a lan! :eek:

If you're going to do a mod like this with all the wiring, jacks, and power mods...why skimp out the last piece and just use a resistor?? That and I have to keep the perception to my wife that I'm nuts...and this mod just about got me a certificate! :D


:EDIT: oh yeah...and I still have one last thing to do and that is to make a new back plate for the motherboard (where the ps/2 and serial/parallel connections are). I lost it somewhere in the early stages of the mod....I think one of the kids ran off with it... :confused:
 
i was wondering if you could post the schematic for the VR circuit. I've been looking for something alnog those lines but most people either buy premade or do a resistor and like you i dont want to spend to much or blow up any peices cause im cheep. heh.
 
looks great! hows it all working for you?

[edit] I wouldnt mind a plan of exactly how you did it aswell :) [/edit]
 
nst6563 said:
I suppose I *could* use that method, but I'd feel much safer using a dedicated VR circuit for the job. Besides, I don't know the exact electrical characteristics of the 10/100 switch for which I made the VR circuit. So, if the load changes depending on how many machines are hooked up, then the resistor could very well fail it's intended job...and it would totally suck ass to have your switch go up in smoke during a lan! :eek:

If you're going to do a mod like this with all the wiring, jacks, and power mods...why skimp out the last piece and just use a resistor?? That and I have to keep the perception to my wife that I'm nuts...and this mod just about got me a certificate! :D
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how does load changing of the machines cause the resistor to fail?

i just find it simpler to just stick a resistor in there
 
wayne said:
how does load changing of the machines cause the resistor to fail?

i just find it simpler to just stick a resistor in there
Click to expand...

The resistor itself may not fail, but the job it's doing with regulating the voltage/current will. A resistor works with a constant load, if that load changes, then so does the voltage drop across that resistor. I'm not an EE, and I'm sure someone with a lot more electronics background can explain it better....it's been 5 years since I took an electronics course...and haven't used much of it since then.

:Gamma_Blade - I'll get a schematic posted for you sometime today. It's actaully a VERY easy circuit to build. :EDIT: Here's a link to the thread I got the schematic from..http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=800054

:[M]aynard [M]cGuffin - thanks!

:Malice - Thanks!. It's working extremely well actually. What sort of plan were you thinking? a network diagram, case layout, etc?
 
Really cool mod. I would go with the suggestion of a single sheet of alum on the front bays, that way you could arrange the act leds in a design for a cool look :D
 
It goes like this, V=IR, where Voltage is the voltage drop across the resistor, I is current, and R is resistance. So, if the current draw goes up, so does the voltage drop across the resistor, and the voltage supplied to the router goes down. If it drew a constant load it'd work, but a circuit with an lm317 like he made is better.
 
rm.o said:
It goes like this, V=IR, where Voltage is the voltage drop across the resistor, I is current, and R is resistance. So, if the current draw goes up, so does the voltage drop across the resistor, and the voltage supplied to the router goes down. If it drew a constant load it'd work, but a circuit with an lm317 like he made is better.
Click to expand...


Props given--homeboy pulled out the HighSchool Physics!!

This solution is hot. It'd be nice if you had a radeon all in wonder card in there ot the tv wonder and hookedh te cable up to it...that way you could get PVR working on that thing as well. All it would take is a secondary hdd....and no one tell me hte cpu's can't pull it off w/o dropping frames, my 266 gets 30fps from digicable, no problems.

I have a dual 1ghz board ...err two of them,ii wanna ressurect. this looks like hte kind of thing that'll make it SO worth it. i'm gonna hit up ebay and buy some used networking equip this weekend.....man oh man my head hurts...gonnah ave SO many questions!!!!

anyone know a good deal on fcpga (type 1) cpus? I need two of them...prefereaably in the 1-1.13ghz range.
 
Hey just reread this and realized how good it is, wondering i kinda young and want to know how you were able to convert it to a molex connector, cause i want to try and expieriment on an old 10/10 hub :p

Anyway any help appreciated, and great job!
 
Oneos: It really depends on what voltage your hub runs on. If it's a 12v input, then you can simply solder the molex on with no voltage regulator in between. Simply solder the 12v line to the positive and the ground to the ground. I'll take a closeup pic to show you where. The easiest way to know there to solder the power line (if your unsure of the connector on the hub) is to take it out the case, plug it in and use a meter to find out which connection on the power terminal is positive (has voltage) and which connection is a ground.

and thanks for the positive feedback! These forums rock too....it's nice to be around people that appreciate something and have some knowledge. I was on the smoothwall forums asking how to make an initial ramdisk image so I can boot of the HPT366 controller on the motherboard in this computer and all I got were comments like "are you sure your hard drive supports that speed?", "you don't need to run from that controller", and my favorite...and this is a direct quote..."OK, the DMA33 controller is built into the MB... and the faster controller is built into the MB too?"....um...yeah man...they actually make motherboards with TWO controllers on them....welcome to the 21st century.... :rolleyes:

needless to say, they're about useless over there if you're trying to tweak your hardware....
 
Thanks... i'll talk it over wit my dad (yeh lol)

and since i have two of these old 10/10 ones i think i can expieriment freely if i get the parts :p

and yeh its a 12v, and that picture would be great
 
Here's one of the photos. I'll take another WITHOUT the wires and circle the points so you can see an unobstructed view. NORMALLY, on those round type power connectors the positive side is the center, which is soldered to the board toward the BACK of the connector. While the ground is soldered to the side.

In this photo, you can see the round power connector below the board, the black wire off to the side is the ground, the red toward the back of the connector is positive.
closeup.JPG


Pic of the top of the round power connector (from a Speedstream 5260 DSL modem in case anyone is wondering)
power1.jpg

Pic of the bottom of the power connector with the ground (green) and positive (red) circled.
power2.jpg

Top of the card, rear of the power connector.
power3.jpg
 
can i ask a question? why not just mod a power strip in and save the trouble of the vr and all? im lazy. gr8 mod though.
 
netcoord said:
can i ask a question? why not just mod a power strip in and save the trouble of the vr and all? im lazy. gr8 mod though.
Click to expand...

powerstrips inside the case = RF = bad
 
theshadow27 said:
powerstrips inside the case = RF = bad
Click to expand...

not to mention that since it's only a small mid-size tower case, there's absolutely no room for a power strip, adapter bricks, and the hubs, lan cards, switches and router...plus the wiring to go with them.

besides...soldering = more fun. :D
 
Thanks this will help alot, now i just need a molex connector handy, and then a soldering kit :p Then i can test her and see if it works

And i'm wondering did you bother removing the old power connector?

And do these work when the power is off on the computer and they still run off the psu? i think mashie did this with a power button light, cause my current setup we have out modem/router/hub/printer hub, running all the time so me and my bro can use our comps in our rooms on the net, and my mom in the dining room.

Anyway thanks, now off to do that novel study!
 
netcoord said:
can i ask a question? why not just mod a power strip in and save the trouble of the vr and all? im lazy. gr8 mod though.
Click to expand...
i secured one into my network box

my box is just a milk crate with a handle i modded on for transportation purposes... and a cardboard bottom... then my cable modem, router, switches, and hub (all small home stuff like 4-5 ports kinda thing).... and the power strip is like zip tied so its rock solid on the back and all the wires are organized and all.... i think its pretty cool :D
 
Oneos said:
Thanks this will help alot, now i just need a molex connector handy, and then a soldering kit :p Then i can test her and see if it works

And i'm wondering did you bother removing the old power connector?

And do these work when the power is off on the computer and they still run off the psu? i think mashie did this with a power button light, cause my current setup we have out modem/router/hub/printer hub, running all the time so me and my bro can use our comps in our rooms on the net, and my mom in the dining room.

Anyway thanks, now off to do that novel study!
Click to expand...


I left the original connector on, just soldered to the bottom of the circuit board.
If the PC's off, so is your network :)

bored-sarcasm: I'd take a picture now, but it's mostly healed up. Since the cut was so clean (ie, not jaged or torn), it healed up pretty quickly...that and the superglue I put on there probably had NOTHING to do with keeping it together so it'd heal faster
:p
 
hahaha

i just took 30 mins takin pics of it (alot of em were blurry cause my hand kept moving so i had to keep redoin em) and now i cant find the cable, but it seems similar it should be find if i can find the cable... maybe my mp3 player one will work

[edit] well looks like im gonna have to go buy a new cable... oh well
 
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