Dschijn's 2nd G5 Mod - dust free

[ADK_XJ]

Very cool idea - did you have trouble with dust in the first build you did? I'm assuming yes based on the desire to go "dust free" with this one but, since I'm spec-ing out my build now I figured I'd pick your brain on the main culprits introducing dust to the interior...

 

[Dschijn]

First build is draging in dust, yeah. Cleaning is annoying in the G5.
For the better airflow I don't want to blow the flow to the GPU, because that is currently the hottest section.

 

[minihack]

The LianLi tray has a distance of 35mm as you guessed right. But the G5 tray seems to have 33mm :/ What a pity.

 

[Dschijn]

Today I used my new Dremel the first time and cut a hole into the G5 PSU for a 120mm intake fan. Because the front fan tray will block the two 60mm fan intake holes this should work properly.
Last thursday I was able to solder some extensions for the PSU wiring and am now able to place the 2nd PSU board further away.
Tomorrow I will try to fix the boards to the housing by gluing it with two-component adhesive.

 

[rickyreall84]

What cables are you planning on using for your PSU? sleeved?

 

[Dschijn]

What cables are you planning on using for your PSU? sleeved?

Hi,
I will try and use the regular Seasonic PSU cables. If these are too long and look ugly I will shorten them and maybe sleev them. Sleeving seems be a lot of work >_<

 

[kiwisincebirth]

Today I used my new Dremel the first time and cut a hole into the G5 PSU for a 120mm intake fan. Because the front fan tray will block the two 60mm fan intake holes this should work properly.
Last thursday I was able to solder some extensions for the PSU wiring and am now able to place the 2nd PSU board further away.
Tomorrow I will try to fix the boards to the housing by gluing it with two-component adhesive.

A couple of tips/observations:

1. Make sure you seal the front 60mm fan intakes, so that no air can escape, you want all the air from the 120mm fan to travel over the main PSU board.
2. Make sure you use decent thickness wires for your extension, and at least the same number as the original configuration. There don't appear to be many cables in the pics, is that a low wattage PSU?
3. When you say glue it to the enclosure, you have to be careful that the PSU board is connected to the enclose the same way as in the original enclosure, generally that is with screwed metal standoffs. This is important because the standoffs create an earth circuit with the enclosure. If you glue the standoffs (epoxy is an insulator) then the earth circuit will be broken and the PSU may not function.
4. Lastly the PSU board should have come with a plastic insulator to protect the underside of the PSU board, make sure you use this.

Sorry if you know this already, but they have been several posts ending in failed PSU conversion on this forum.

Kiwi

PS What was your eventual HDD drive bay conversion ? Did inverting the rails on the Lian Li work ?

 

[Dschijn]

Thanks for the input Kiwi! It's always good to use more than one brain

It's a 560Watt Seasonic X PSU, so a mid power PSU. I extended every cable with an own extension and used the wires of an external power cable.

No. 3 made me thinking... All the holes to attach the board seem to be isolated and without contact to the electricty on the board. Can that be right?
I dont want to screw the board to the case because of the height underneath it. Maybe with countersunk screws... Or I will wire it directly with cables to the case...

The plastic insulator will be reused and I also got new thermal pads because I messed up one of the original ones.

 

[Dschijn]

3. When you say glue it to the enclosure, you have to be careful that the PSU board is connected to the enclose the same way as in the original enclosure, generally that is with screwed metal standoffs. This is important because the standoffs create an earth circuit with the enclosure. If you glue the standoffs (epoxy is an insulator) then the earth circuit will be broken and the PSU may not function.

I finished the PSU yesterday and attached some extra cables to the glued standoffs, so I have it attached to the ground.
But there are just a few holes with metal rings on it. Most of the holes for the standoffs are just pure PCB and can't provide electric contact. Are they really for ground contact?

 

[kiwisincebirth]

I finished the PSU yesterday and attached some extra cables to the glued standoffs, so I have it attached to the ground. But there are just a few holes with metal rings on it. Most of the holes for the standoffs are just pure PCB and can't provide electric contact. Are they really for ground contact?

Metal rings on the surface of the PCB around the holes would indicate a connection. But as you say if its just pure PCB then there is unlikely a connection. The only sure way is a multimeter.

Are they really for ground contact?

Yes they are, they connect the DC 0 volt ground from the power supply to the chassis. Which in turn is connected to the Earth ground via connection from chassis to the AC plug (the green wire). This arrangement means that the equipment is protected i.e. an electrical short circuit against the chassis will cause the current to be drained safely away. It also means that interconnected devices (ie a monitor) have a common reference voltage.

I am not an expert on this so don't know if I have done the best job explaining it, I know it is more complex than the above. Hope this helps.