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ROGBot
Hi there! It’s my first post here so I thought it would be nice to write a few words about myself before I proceed to the project log. I’m not a native English – I live in Warsaw in Poland – but I will do my best to use proper English 🙂 I’ve completed several small mods that are not even worth posting here but I think I’ve learnt a lot while building them. Oh how much metal sheets I have trashed before I’ve caught how to do stuff.
Now thanks to my older brother who’s set up a small workshop in the basement I have a chance to make something better.
Ok but lets get back to the project. I’ve stared it in July 2012 and I kept a log only on my local forum. Now the build is quite close to an end so I decided to share it with you.
I was thinking about a way to write this log for a while and because there’s a lot of stuff to show I’ve decided that the best way would be to divide it by particular parts of the case. I don’t want to spoil the fun and end this log too quickly 🙂 And I must admit that writing this log takes more time than I expected.
Hardware. It's not really anything to be proud of, just my computer for every day usage.
CPU: Athlon II x4 640
MB: MSI 870-C45
RAM: 2x2GB Kingston HyperX
GPU: GeForce GTS450 512GDDR5
HDD: 120GB Kingston SSDNow oraz 250GB Seagate
PSU: Chieftec 450W
I’m proud to say that all water cooling parts used in this build were sponsored by EK Water Blocks.
I want to make a case that will look like old, a little seedy like it was used for many years in bad conditions, in a factory or something. You know – rust, cracks and so on. I was inspired by some old control and measurement instruments and stuff that I’ve found on the nearest scrap yard 🙂
I’ve started looking for some case in the online shops and I decided to buy second hand Chieftec BX-03. It was cheap and looked like easy to mod.
I’ve started from modding the front panel. Striped parts removed and mesh put instead. Luckily everything was mounted only with some latches so there was no need to cut.
Then I cut the mesh and bent it. It’s all screwed with nice rusty screws that I kept for a special occasion.
Overall view of the front panel.
The right side of the case also needed some change. There were two air-holes, I decided to get rid of them and put some mesh instead.
Again: cutting and bending and finally it's a perfect fit.
In this photo you can see the screws but then I decided to use pop-rivets, but the mesh must rust before riveting it.
I left all the mesh outside on the rain to rust and started work on the left side panel. There will be a lot to do with it 🙂
More to come soon...
and sorry for my bad English 🙂
Now thanks to my older brother who’s set up a small workshop in the basement I have a chance to make something better.
Ok but lets get back to the project. I’ve stared it in July 2012 and I kept a log only on my local forum. Now the build is quite close to an end so I decided to share it with you.
I was thinking about a way to write this log for a while and because there’s a lot of stuff to show I’ve decided that the best way would be to divide it by particular parts of the case. I don’t want to spoil the fun and end this log too quickly 🙂 And I must admit that writing this log takes more time than I expected.
Hardware. It's not really anything to be proud of, just my computer for every day usage.
CPU: Athlon II x4 640
MB: MSI 870-C45
RAM: 2x2GB Kingston HyperX
GPU: GeForce GTS450 512GDDR5
HDD: 120GB Kingston SSDNow oraz 250GB Seagate
PSU: Chieftec 450W
I’m proud to say that all water cooling parts used in this build were sponsored by EK Water Blocks.
I want to make a case that will look like old, a little seedy like it was used for many years in bad conditions, in a factory or something. You know – rust, cracks and so on. I was inspired by some old control and measurement instruments and stuff that I’ve found on the nearest scrap yard 🙂
I’ve started looking for some case in the online shops and I decided to buy second hand Chieftec BX-03. It was cheap and looked like easy to mod.
I’ve started from modding the front panel. Striped parts removed and mesh put instead. Luckily everything was mounted only with some latches so there was no need to cut.
Then I cut the mesh and bent it. It’s all screwed with nice rusty screws that I kept for a special occasion.
Overall view of the front panel.
The right side of the case also needed some change. There were two air-holes, I decided to get rid of them and put some mesh instead.
Again: cutting and bending and finally it's a perfect fit.
In this photo you can see the screws but then I decided to use pop-rivets, but the mesh must rust before riveting it.
I left all the mesh outside on the rain to rust and started work on the left side panel. There will be a lot to do with it 🙂
More to come soon...
and sorry for my bad English 🙂
Sponsored by EKWB
Afterwards I began the work on the left side panel of the case. I remembered having old switch that I've found on the scrap yard.
The switch is mounted, it was a quick job, only three holes were needed. I've decided to make a series connection between those black buttons so they will work as reset switch only when pressed together. The red button will be power switch of course.
And a quick look on the insides 🙂
Now it was the high time for bigger changes in this case. After some quick welding the radiator mount is made. Photo was made before drilling holes for screws.
The radiator is mounted.
As you can see in the photo above the radiator is sticking out a mile from the case, so I had to cut the left side panel.
A day ago I saw a perforated metal sheet and I couldn't resist to buy it. It turned out a great solution for building the radiator cover.
Cutting...
..bending...
Finally I made a nice box
and welded it onto the side panel. In this snapshot you can also see the lines for cutting the window.
It was quite dark already but it didn't put mi off. I prefer to use grinder outside because my workshop is very small 😞
Once I cut it I could get back to the basement 🙂
How do you call this kind of gasket?
The window will be made from parts of an old laptop broken screen.
Hope I didn't overdo with this cracks.
Let me know if you like it, expect the next update in next few days 🙂
Afterwards I began the work on the left side panel of the case. I remembered having old switch that I've found on the scrap yard.
The switch is mounted, it was a quick job, only three holes were needed. I've decided to make a series connection between those black buttons so they will work as reset switch only when pressed together. The red button will be power switch of course.
And a quick look on the insides 🙂
Now it was the high time for bigger changes in this case. After some quick welding the radiator mount is made. Photo was made before drilling holes for screws.
The radiator is mounted.
As you can see in the photo above the radiator is sticking out a mile from the case, so I had to cut the left side panel.
A day ago I saw a perforated metal sheet and I couldn't resist to buy it. It turned out a great solution for building the radiator cover.
Cutting...
..bending...
Finally I made a nice box
and welded it onto the side panel. In this snapshot you can also see the lines for cutting the window.
It was quite dark already but it didn't put mi off. I prefer to use grinder outside because my workshop is very small 😞
Once I cut it I could get back to the basement 🙂
How do you call this kind of gasket?
The window will be made from parts of an old laptop broken screen.
Hope I didn't overdo with this cracks.
Let me know if you like it, expect the next update in next few days 🙂
Thanks guys! Hope you'll also like this update.
That's gonna be a bigger update! This time I'll show you the building process of the reservoir.
Sponsored by EK Water Blocks:
The mesh that I put into the side and front panel rusted nicely.
Let's get around to the res.
Started with aluminium pipe (60mm diameter)
A while of milling. In this photo there are three separate 'bean' shapes cut but then I thought that a one longer will look better.
Now it's time for the res window. First time I've made it from epoxy resin
it went out pretty good
but sadly there was a small leak between the window and the pipe (don't know how that's possible, I think it's because of different thermal expansion of the epoxy and the pipe), so I came up with a new idea. Drilled and rifled 8 holes that will hold a plexiglass. It's now sealed with silicon. No more problems 🙂
Then I proceeded to the 70 diameter 20 mm thick aluminium rod slices.
After a while of turning they changed a bit. They will be the reservoir caps.
This one will be the bottom one. Two G1/4" threads.
And this will be to upper one.
The plug for connecting the UV diodes that will sit inside the res and the plug for filling the reservoir.
That plug needed some turning to allow it to screw in completely.
Once the res itself is made it's time to make it's mount. It wasn't hard, just a 2 flat bars with 4 holes in them and a 2 rifled 5mm diameter aluminium bar.
I also made a pass inside the case for the hose.
And the final look on the front.
Hope you enjoyed, sorry for the mistakes and stay tuned! Next update soon 🙂
That's gonna be a bigger update! This time I'll show you the building process of the reservoir.
Sponsored by EK Water Blocks:
The mesh that I put into the side and front panel rusted nicely.
Let's get around to the res.
Started with aluminium pipe (60mm diameter)
A while of milling. In this photo there are three separate 'bean' shapes cut but then I thought that a one longer will look better.
Now it's time for the res window. First time I've made it from epoxy resin
it went out pretty good
but sadly there was a small leak between the window and the pipe (don't know how that's possible, I think it's because of different thermal expansion of the epoxy and the pipe), so I came up with a new idea. Drilled and rifled 8 holes that will hold a plexiglass. It's now sealed with silicon. No more problems 🙂
Then I proceeded to the 70 diameter 20 mm thick aluminium rod slices.
After a while of turning they changed a bit. They will be the reservoir caps.
This one will be the bottom one. Two G1/4" threads.
And this will be to upper one.
The plug for connecting the UV diodes that will sit inside the res and the plug for filling the reservoir.
That plug needed some turning to allow it to screw in completely.
Once the res itself is made it's time to make it's mount. It wasn't hard, just a 2 flat bars with 4 holes in them and a 2 rifled 5mm diameter aluminium bar.
I also made a pass inside the case for the hose.
And the final look on the front.
Hope you enjoyed, sorry for the mistakes and stay tuned! Next update soon 🙂
Is too damn low! :)"
Sponsored by EK Water Blocks
I expect this case to be quite heavy, so I added four eye nuts as some kind of hooks.
Fitting before welding them in place.
Drilled 4 holes for the screws and welded.
There's really not much to say about that, see the outcome. Later I will remove the zinc coat from the nuts to make them look old.
Close-up.
Overall view.
I like how it went out 🙂
In this build I will have several things which voltage I'd need to control (fans, light, pump and so on) and I don't want to use ordinary control panel so I decided to build one from scratch.
After a while of wondering this is what I made.
I think it's the simplest circuit possible based on the LM317t. As gauge I will use 12V bulb per channel running on 6V when max output volatge is set, so they won't dazzle eyes.
After bending this is gonna be the controller case. 2mm thick steel.
Good hammer comes in handy!
I had left some perforated steel so I used it on the sides. That's finished controller case.
First run of the controller. Dat feeling...when everything works fine on the first try!
I also had this connector at the very bottom of the closet with computer stuff . Don't know from what it is, it's only important that it's quite old 🙂
Made the mount for it from the flat bar and welded it onto the top of the case. The pass for cables is also visible in this shot.
All controller in place, final shots (of the controller, not the case!).
Ouch there must have been a shorting in the circuit as there are several burnt cables 🙂
View on the case, I think the controller completely change its appearance, didn't it ?
