PSU - Sleeving & HDD Tower
Ok, now that that's settled, on to other things. :lol:
I've requisitioned my dad's EOS 600D and ordered some proper studio lighting (haven't
gotten it yet though), so I hope to provide some better quality pictures (and maybe videos)
in the future. For now I'm just experimenting with the camera and familiarizing myself with it.
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Sleeving - Part One[/size]
I'm not yet done by any stretch, but I've managed to cut the 24 pin to size and sleeve it as well
as the EPS 8 pin.
Opening the PSU
I'm sure you all know that opening a PSU is not a very good idea if you don't know what you're
doing. It's not magic of course; as long as certain precautions are taken it's perfectly safe
(how else would a manufacturer's technician do maintenance and repairs?
), but people
who do not take those precautions leave themselves open to being nominated and possibly
awarded a Darwin award.
Anyway: It's not a terribly impressive PSU, but it doesn't need to be. It just needs to do its
job, and do it well. Going by BQ's reputation, that should be the case here.
Feel free to mock me for the terrible hideousness to the left of the PSU. :lol:
Cutting Unneeded Wires
Since I will be needing neither the PCI-E auxiliary power cables nor all of the SATA and
Molex power connectors, some of the wires have been cut and their remains kept inside the
PSU. I've left enough wire to have something to solder on to should I ever need to do that
for whichever reason (unlikely, but not impossible). The brownish stuff on the red wires is
just tape residue, not a burned wire, for those worrying.
I've numbered them and written down what connects to what in case of restoration.
Cable Lacing
I have to admit: I'm not terribly fond of zip ties. They look ugly, it's much too easy to over-
tighten them and crush a cable's mantle, and they are terribly wasteful with all that remaining
plastic being chopped off and binned.
Therefore I started to investigate alternatives to zip ties a while ago, and stumbled upon the
ancient art of cable lacing. Before the advent of zip ties, this was how cables and wires were
organised. Since it's rather time consuming to do this properly, it has fallen out of favour in
many areas and been supplanted by zip ties. However, there are still areas where cables
are laced instead of zip tied, most notably the aerospace industry (NASA has a rather nice
manual on it somewhere).
Those of you who have worked in telecommunications will probably have learned and used
this, depending on how old you are. Personally I've only learned about it recently, so I'm still
very much in the early stages of developing my technique.
These are my first experiments. Once I have a process that's actually satisfactory, I'll post
more information on it, these pictures serve more as a documentation of my learning process
than anything else.
Front side of my very first try during the process:
Same try, later stage:
The back side of that wire group:
24 Pin
Ok then, let's try this on a double layer cable with a bit more wires:
Notice that the 24 pin is rather short at this point. This makes it a bit tricky to get it neat
and tidy. This is not the end result; I'll post pics of that once it has actually achieved its
final form
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HDD Tower[/size]
Since the top of the HDD tower (or however one chooses to call it) is anchored to the 5.25"
bay enclosure in the case's standard config and said enclosure has been discarded in this
build, I've had to devise a new plan to make sure the HDD's stay in place and everything looks
right.
I've decided to anchor the HDD tower's top place directly to the underside of the PSU. So,
let's make a few holes:
HDD Tower - Overview
The tower is pretty much straight now, its top end is 0.5 mm further away from the case front
than its bottom part. It's measurable but not really noticeable.
SATA Power Cable
Let's make this nice and straight, shall we? The remaining bits of wire at the bottom will
of course be cut off. The PSU is still open at this point because I still need to make a few
adjustments to it.
Current Overview
I've placed the pump in for taking some measurements, and I've moved the fans between the
back panel and the radiator. Notice that the cable lacing on the 24 pin has changed, but since
it's not yet in its end stage I haven't taken a separate picture of that.
RIP - Trusty Friend
After more than seven years of loyal service my lighter has given up on me. It's a jet flame lighter,
so it's actually pretty well suited not only for melting paracord, but also for heat shrink since
it's possible to quite accurately regulate the heat output getting to the heat shrink (also, it
does not leave any black residue).
I originally bought this during my army time for officer candidate school; it was very well
suited for lighting those pressed charcoal sticks you use for warming your hands (it was rather
cold and we were outside a lot :lol: ). It's served me extremely well during the years, although
I've not used it all that much as a non-smoker.
I've taken it apart to see if I could fix it, but it seems the valve for the Butane tank is defective,
so I'm not hopeful
That's it for today. Next up I need to get a new lighter ASAP, and then I'll finish the PSU.
Once that's done I'll be able to start with the W/C loop and putting everything together for
the first time to test it. After that I'll take everything apart again for painting those bits that
need painting (the back panel's radiator opening, most notably).
Thanks for visiting.