A case of G4 Cube fever

[spence4]

I used the Dremel. Man it smells terrible when you cut through the little plastic guards around all the holes on the baseplate. I found that I needed to grind down the inside edge of the baseplate on the sides in order to get my mono in. Is this normal? I only ask because I have never seen mention of it. I think the fan should work as you described, but I'll need to drill the holes in the mount out a bit to get the rubber feet in there. Basically all I am waiting on is my 1U copper heatsink and then I can put this lady to bed. I mean I still have to do the power switch and Bluetooth wiring. Not to mention figure out the wifi problem, but lion is running and the board fits.

 

[spence4]

Minihack,

I saw in another thread you recommended Brasso to get the scratches out of the acrylic case on a cube. After a little research on the interwebs, it seems that there are two varieties of Brasso: the regular one and the US version. Some people have major problems using the original on plastics. Here in Hong King we get the original I think as it comes in a metal can, not the plastic container I saw described for the US version. Will this work for me or will worsen the condition of my case? Sleppek seemed to love that xerapol stuff, but I can't find it here.

 

[minihack]

Minihack,

I saw in another thread you recommended Brasso to get the scratches out of the acrylic case on a cube. After a little research on the interwebs, it seems that there are two varieties of Brasso: the regular one and the US version. Some people have major problems using the original on plastics. Here in Hong King we get the original I think as it comes in a metal can, not the plastic container I saw described for the US version. Will this work for me or will worsen the condition of my case? Sleppek seemed to love that xerapol stuff, but I can't find it here.

All I know is the stuff they sell over here in the UK works well. For deep scratches I use a medium grade wet and dry paper and then go fine, then brasso. Basically though it is silver polish, if you find it too coarse you can always finish off with a final cut on something like the Novus fine scratch stuff and their polish. But as Novus comes in such small containers, I find that Brasso works quicker and much more economically to get the majority of the work done, so you can save the more expensive stuff until you are almost finished.

 

[spence4]

So Brasso works by grinding away the area around the scratch until it is the same thickness as the deepest part of the scratch. I think the xerapol stuff works by filling in the scratch. I'll give a little more thought to how I want to proceed. Thanks.

 

[spence4]

Minihack,

As I am not using a pico PSU, I am a bit stuck on the cube switch modification. You say that I need to connect the cathode on the switch to pin 16 on the atx power supply, a power on pin. I do not have a pin 16. I am guessing I cannot just connect this thing to the power led connection that is part of my front board. Thoughts?

 

[minihack]

Hi,
You could modify to attach LED to just like a normal Power LED (i.e. it'll be on when the machine is on and of, when off) but it will not glow then to show a proximity condition. The glowing is quite subtle, so you probably would not really notice.
Basically the guy who modded it that way effectively desoldered the LED and then just soldered it to his Power On LED mobo outlet. He said the switch still worked fine and did not need that LED to be in the circuit. I'll dig out the link for you.
Here you go. http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=34439&p=216481&hilit=cube#p216481

 

[spence4]

This is not a slight against you, but I think I am going to use that method for the power switch rather than yours. First, I am worried that adding the resistor will impact the space constraints I have up there by the switch already with my build. Second, although yours will recreate the legit cube functionality, I like the idea of the LED pulsing while asleep. I bought a soldering iron, some wire and some heat shrink to extend the wires and get this sucker rigged up. Will also use the new toy to give some breathing room to my BT cable. Between this being my first time, soldering, dremeling and heat shrinking this is going to be a build no one wants to see once I am done!

I found a plastics guy here who can make up some little brackets for me (parism is no longer doing that over on cube owners.com). I figure I can just measure out the specs and make it myself. Speaking. Of making it myself, would it be outrageous for me to st get two blocks of acrylic/Perspex and try to make my own using a dremel and files of various types?

 

[minihack]

Don't be silly. No slight....

Modding is all about doing it your own way once you have figured out the options.

And of course there is nothing outrageous in trying something new or different. New is what we all want to see.

 

[spence4]

So when I try to mount my new 1U copper heatsink, the back brackets cover up some small chips. I am guessing this is bad. It also makes it difficult to actually connect the thing properly. Should I just put some short mobo stands in the holes for the cooler and fasten them with nuts? Should I cut the brackets and remove the sections that cover the chips?

 

[minihack]

So when I try to mount my new 1U copper heatsink, the back brackets cover up some small chips. I am guessing this is bad. It also makes it difficult to actually connect the thing properly. Should I just put some short mobo stands in the holes for the cooler and fasten them with nuts? Should I cut the brackets and remove the sections that cover the chips?

Kind of impossible to advise not seeing it first hand.....

General principle though (you must know I am sure) is that the cooler should make good contact with the CPU without impeding other components. If you have to crush a capacitor to fix it then it's no good (for instance!). I noticed in the link I gave you yesterday that it looked like Boumbi was using the same type of cooler as you - do his pictures help???