Razzle_Dazzle Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 So I found an old G5 case at a dump site and decide to work on it. Taking it apart I went ahead and saved the parts wanted. Jan. 26 Of course the saved stuff, the fans, the tray which held the Hard drive tray and more fan and the power block The power supply is a slim line that fits into this long box. It is only at 450Watts I plan on getting a 750watt and seeing how it fits into the case. Modification might have to be made. Apple making it hard to remove the tray got it bent out of shape, don't worry a good press in the vicegrip will bring it back to shape Good look after a nice gut out, The G5 heat sink duct cover will be used again don't want to throw this away. Placement of where and what I need to work on. The Mustard yellow is where I will modify the back end so a mATX board will sit in place. The green is where I plan on doing my cut out for the slots and I/O panel, Baby blue is where the front slot ports will be cut and placed (audio out, mic, USB 2.0x2 and card reader), Yellow and orange is where the HDD and optical drive will be sitting using the same tray as before. Feb. 12 So I made a list of things I will be needing and was able to get a couple donation from some great friends and clients. So one of the donation given to me was an old dell desktop. The tower had a 1tb hard drive but entire system was out dated and slow using of all things intel centrino 1.8Gb processor and 1.5Gb 400Mhz DDR Ram. Was a free donation for helping my client out in choosing a nice HP slim window 8.1 desktop (she prefered window 7 but I installed start8 and gave her back the ability to use a REAL start menu) From the dell I was able to take the back I/O panel from the back tray and wipe the hard drive clean of information after transferring my clients data from that hard drive to her new computer. Using the DELL mATX board as a "template" I layed out where the board will be sitting with PCI card in the 1 slot. I was able to see where I can place my I/O panel I was planing on keeping the stock original pci slot but I see I might have to rethink that and instead might need to use the one on the i/o panel. This of course all determine on what mATX motherboard I will be using. as for now I am waiting on the donation from a friend who owns a classic car restore shop to donate some scrap sheet metal to do the rest of the work. I will have to move the two 92mm fan hole a little more out so i can sit the I/O panel in place with the sheet metal that will be used as a back panel. I want it all to match with the anodize aluminum paint that the case has. Matching paint will be difficult but seeing I have now a new used and repair donated airbrush I might be up for the challenge later on. This is all for now, ordering a .22in (5.58mm) clear plexi which will be used to hold the motherboard in place. The stock riser from the case was made only to hold the Mac motherboard specifically made for the G5 case. since I know how height it needs to sit the stock 5mm riser will go ahead and give me the right height for the board to reach. The rest is placement Feb. 15th So I went out to lowes, in another thread Modder matt posted some good tools to cut plexiglass. I went and got myself not only the plexi under $20 for the thickness and size but as well as the multipurpose cutting kit 565 for the dremel tool .22in (5.58mm) thick 18in x 24in plexi glass and Dremel multipurpose cutting kit mATX dell board on the 5mm plexi and the new cutting kit on my chicago dremel tool (bought at harbor freights for $23) great thing about my multipurpose cutting kit is the set of depth which can help me cut through the thickest plexi or can help me channel cut into the plexi thank you again Modder Matt for the information. Great buy. Well that is it for now, talking to my friend before I start to cut my new tray for the case. Feb. 16 Well I decide to go ahead and plan out the cover for the PSU as well as the motherboard tray. I went ahead and did a quick sketch with measurements. Since the tray is a simple measurement I extended the edges of the tray by 1/8 each end to give me room to fit. The sketch is not true to the actual size but the measurements are this will be covering the PSU of course I will be covering the plexi with vinyl but I question as to backlight the cover and tray or tray or nether. Speaking of PSU I took my donated DELL parts and measured up the low profile PSU from the apple tower. Internal hardware shows the massive and tall heatsink for the PSU Apple 450 Watt PSU low profile heatsink Dell 250 Watt PSU :/ hmmm well I can always cut it down but I will not be using this power supply in either case I will also beside building the case be donating some parts. This are extra power cable. Since they use 8pin connection like those on a PCI-e connection I will be adapting my power supply to this same power connection. I plan on using a 750 Watt PSU.. Why not go with the 450 watt?? We since the max wattage is at 450 (peek) it only RMS to half that or at 225 watt normally which mean the PSU will only go as high as 450 from time to time and will hold it for less than a couple seconds and return back to the RMS. Now keep in mind that this build might include a graphic card they normally need 350 to 450 watt, add as well the processor which needs (determining the build) a 65 to 95 watt .. This will be WAY out of the PSU capacity so a 650 or 750 WATT PSU is what I need and will be useful even if I do not use a graphic card I will still need 12volt to run both Hard drive and optical drive as well fans and I plan on running internal lights so the power consumption is something big to think about. Having too much means the system will not be starving to consume but having to little and the system will not work in peek capacity and will suffer either by causing random shut down or not working components. Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 So one of the things I order for the mod arrived today. I am still waiting on other things to arrive but at least I got my hands on this Official apple slot load optical drive (CD-RW/DVD-RW burner) ' Spring loaded for that easy slide One good thing is that the slot load optical drive does come with the load gate bezel which means I can work my way around simple cut and slide it. J/B weld will hold it all together My homie came through and gave me a bigger then asked scrap of sheet metal, Yeah painted but not to worry can be easily sanded down after I cut Once now I got the parts I needed (with more to come) I went ahead and fully took the G5 mac case apart. Took awhile about maybe 2 to 4 hours with the wrong tools that got the job done of course. Got to say just for the case it self it had LOTS of nuts and lock screws. But I managed to take them all out. The back tray is also part of the frame, Taking the enclosure makes the rest of the job easy. I think I might take off most of this raiser off and fill in any holes with J.B. weld and then do a nice paint touchup. The front gate for latch slides down when the tray needs to come out. My plan is to J.B. weld the slot cover in place flush with the case after the slot drive cut out then build the slot drive itself around it on the inside. As for the power supply I found a nice low profile (micro atx) power supply at 650 watts. Should be arriving in the by this Friday if not by or before next Wednesday. I am still waiting on responds from my brother from another mother on what board (type) he would prefer to use. I have a mind set of a mATX but the build can go full ATX. In the main time I will start off the build by working on the tray/frame and try to get the front I/O going as well as get the power supply as soon as it arrives in place. More to come as days goes by. Feb. 20 and Feb. 21 So not much was going on today, mainly work on my clients laptop. On my moment of rest I decide to get the shell fully apart. I was also able to take the power switch out of the case. Bit tricky but a small slip ring keeps the switch in place. The small switch board has a very large SMD and a tact switch since most switch for the PC is momentary I see no reason to not use the same switch. I don't know which polarity this three lines are. I believe the line like a NPN (Negative positive negative) Well I decide to make a template for the slot drive. I might have to triple the amount of sheet metal due to the thickness is the same as that as the cardboard. I notice a slight recess and I am only using two cardboard. So today the power supply finally came in I order a Micro ATX (650 Watt) and what I thought was a low profile power supply actually came a mini power supply Size compartment to an Axe colon can Though the power supply is rated at 650 Watt I doubt in some way for it's size it will have that much wattage. But the size does fit perfectly into the case. So back and forth today between my clients laptop on my down time I went ahead and checked the micro ATX power board, found two spots where I can solder some fan slots Well I went ahead and solder my fan slots but later on found out one of the "fan slot" wasn't connected after hours of trial and errors and not wanting to burn my new power supply I gave up on the idea. And decide to splice the wire together and run it off the only working fan slot. with that I also decide to use some quick disconnect connection so if the board needs to be changed I don't have to desolder the whole thing. I also painted the fan blades white though they will not be seen I wanted to test out my plasti dip spray paint. A quick run to see if the fans are connected properly Even though the board offer no PWM control to the fan and loads 12v to each fan they run nice and actually does a great job pulling air through the board. My next work will be the x8 and x24 connection on the PSU then back to the shell. This weekend I will going to my brother from another mothers house and having a one on one conversation on what he want's to do with the mod and where we want to take it. Feb. 24 So slow day again this time I had down time no clients as well I had no parts to really work on :/ Bore! I went ahead and decide to take apart the stock Mac fans and do a quick paint test job. First a side by side viewing of both fans on the original Apple side door. Krylon metal converter (Left) and Krylon Chrome Aluminum (Right) Close up of the Krylon Metal converter (front) Close up of the Krylon Chrome Aluminum (front) From the two I think Krylon Chrome Aluminum is close to the anodize color of the shell which is very promising. Since it was a slow day today I also decide to take apart the fan and pull the fan drive. I wanted to use the original Mac fan but doing my research as to which wire does what came out a blank :/ So i thought about how to go around and using the original fan and decide to go think outside of the box. Pulling both Mac fan board and a fan board from a ATX PSU. The coil off of the PSU fan is way to small, thou it drives the fan (forgot to take a picture of the test run) it was a little loud (used a 9volt battery) So i went ahead and desolder the coil from the original Mac fan controller board (which is broken but the coil is just ok) and solder it to the PSU board. Not really knowing if it will work or not but hay that is the fun part about learning After setting the bearing back in and setting it up I went and did a test run using the same 9volt battery End result really speaks for itself works awesome fan hums not to loudly but I am using a fan controller board that is suppose to work in a PSU so not to surprising. I guess because this was a promising experiment I will see if I can get 4 more set of fans (cheaply of course) with 3 pin connection and do this once more as well I plan on painting the fan duct white, I really do not want to leave the stock looking gray plastic and I think the white will give the case a brightness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabius Bile Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted February 27, 2014 Author Share Posted February 27, 2014 Nice work! Thank you still working on fans right now. Uploading an update for today. Feb. 26 So I painted a couple more fan today and worked on a few more fan control boards. Swapping the coils around to other fan boards and rebuilding my fans The white paint used is plasti dip. It has a very rubbery feel with a good grip which I enjoy and easy to clean. Of course before putting the fans together I lubricate the micro bearing using 3 in 1 oil with a 20 weight that helps prevent rust and protects while lubercating. I was only able to do two fans for today. The board shown was not the correct one to use -.- simple kept pulling air instead of pushing. I did find a replacement which worked out fine. I will be building another one tomorrow and then have to order a fan to disassemble. 80mm fan 3pin for $4 I say not a bad price. 1800Rpm is low but only will be used to cool down the hard drive and maintain air flow through the case. For now I got this two matching back fans which will be tie in together with one line and sleeved I also have order a couple things from frozenCPU, I shop there often for parts including sleeving very excellent costumer service and quick process and shipping. My order should arrive if not on the 27th or a day after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabius Bile Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Nice. I also would like to use the original fan, but i don't have the skill for your method.You don't know a simple mode for connecting the fan with an normal molex or fan connector? Bye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 Nice. I also would like to use the original fan, but i don't have the skill for your method. You don't know a simple mode for connecting the fan with an normal molex or fan connector? Bye thank you, My way has low soldering skills but there is Minihack way of doing it. His way is way simpler in his thread he shows you what brand of fan he used. Mainly any brand will work as long as it is a 92mm size fan. Ebay sells a bunch from $3 and up. His tutorial actually got me thinking about my frankenstein version of using an original fan with adaptation. So a big thanks to Minihack for the help on thinking outside the box Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabius Bile Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Thanks, but too late i have already done it: Video Fan Test Maybe it's not perfect like your solution, but works, and I have not had to buy another fans. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 Thanks, but too late i have already done it: Video Fan Test Maybe it's not perfect like your solution, but works, and I have not had to buy another fans. That is what we call a 12volt mod just the main full 12volt using the molex as an adapter. The yellow line is the +12volt and the red line is a +5 line. Black is ground and either black can be used. very well done you get two thumbs up and a cool star Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 Mar. 2 So I finally got my caliper yesterday and man is it ever useful So I went ahead and did my measurement for the slot drive. What I plan on doing is bending small 3/32 to grip onto the edge of the case as well some flips so I can grip onto the case all will be JB weld together. I was finally able to hang out with my brother from another mother and gave me notification about the list of things he needed to get. Mainly the motherboard, processor, RAM, graphic card (if we plan on using one) Since he let me choose it out (he paying for it) I went and did my research and found a proper board and processor. will be a mATX board with that I went ahead and made plans to fit it into the case first my design idea on the plexi I am planing on making a small lip lift where if needed the board with back plate can be slide out and swapped. Working with the measurement I thought I would have room for the original "G5" logo to fit into the case as is but I see now it will not be done So I plan on cutting out the G5 logo since I want to keep the original going. Now I know in what direction I want to go in I can now keep going on this project hopefully in time for a special bro-ham birthday. I hopefully get my order from FrozenCPU in soon would love to get working on the power supply and have that finished off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabius Bile Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 That is what we call a 12volt mod just the main full 12volt using the molex as an adapter. The yellow line is the +12volt and the red line is a +5 line. Black is ground and either black can be used. very well done you get two thumbs up and a cool star Thanks buddy. Interesting your idea for the plexi, unfortunately my G5 logo is in bad condition, and cannot use it. I follow you, bye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 Thanks buddy. Interesting your idea for the plexi, unfortunately my G5 logo is in bad condition, and cannot use it. I follow you, bye. thanks and awe man that sucks. I am planning on cutting the shell of the G5 down as so to fit in the case. Though personally I do not want that :/ at all I prefer to maintain it as is. The "G5" logo is scratched on the shell which is why I covered it up with paper tape (masking tape). I am also planning on where the rise will be to drop in the name of the case "AnoDized" I decide to do the rise of the plexi so when it need be the whole tray can be easily removed. I am also going to cut a channel so I can lay my light strip and backlight the tray. Mar. 3 So my package came into from FrozenCPU YAY! I didn't order much just what I thought I needed for the starting mod for the powersupply. 10feet sliver tight weave sleeving, 50 count gray 1inch precut 1/8 heatshrink, 3 x8 PCI-e, ATX male connection, 1 set of male PCI-e male pin, 1 set x24 pin male ATX and one x24 male power connection. I thought the 10 feet of sleeving will be enough for the mod but I was wrong later on. So Since I want to use as much original Mac part as I can I went and took apart the original mac power cable for Sata and molex connection. I modified a set of old pin pusher and grind down the end so to expend the pin to reach the side of the pins. All you needed to do is locate the locks on the side, slide the pin all the way down and away the pin goes. I snipped the pin's off the wire since the connection is a male x8 pin I needed to swap it around for a female x8 pin. which I need to order. I didn't calculate the much needed amount of sleeving and the end result is a short amount. I didn't also measure the original Mac power cables So I ended with 3 short line. I will need about another 36 feet to sleeve not only the original Mac power cable but the donated cable as well. I also want to learn how to tie together the sleeving as to dress them up and make them look nice. So another shopping list is being created. x8 female connect in white (2) x4 female connection (2) 36 feet sliver tight weave sleeving (1/16 and 1/8) Might change the sleeving to 15 feet sliver (1/16) and 15 feet black (1/8) with 6 feet white sleeving (1/16) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabius Bile Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 For sleeving i can recommend NILS: http://en.mdpc-x.com/ He has also a pre cut heatshrinks, very easy, and has great quality stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 For sleeving i can recommend NILS: http://en.mdpc-x.com/ He has also a pre cut heatshrinks, very easy, and has great quality stuff. Thank you for the link I registered to see how much the material will be very awesome for 33 meter (108 feet) for 7.8Euro is awesome but shipping will be expensive since I live in the states and they require a minimum of 20Euro. None the less thank you so much for the link. I usually get my sleeving from here http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l1/g35/SleevingHeatshrink.html?id=JM3hUQRB They charge $.49 to $.59 per foot of sleeving as well heat shrink unless you prefer precut. Shipping since there from the state is as low as $3.99 and up. Right now I am strap for cash till my client comes and pays me and picks up there electronic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabius Bile Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Right, if you live in the U.S., you have more expensive shipping costs. Forget it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Right, if you live in the U.S., you have more expensive shipping costs. Forget it. yeah the cost for standard shipping over seas from UK to US is $15 which again is great not that expensive total with the amount of sleeving and heat shrink tubes are around $35 which is the total cost of what I need to order for sleeving from FrozenCPU lol. thank you anyways if another project arise I will see if I can get my order from mdpc-x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Mar. 4 So between down times while working on clients electronic I came back to sleeve my power cable extension. Wanting to use the original Mac wire but I think i would be better off using the self donated wires. Sleeving only the color wires leaving the black ones behind unsleeve. Before I can finish I needed to see where I can connect my wire and how far I need to run them So I went back to my shell which has lines marked out to see where things sit properly. I put the back end since the back end holds the bottom. The line is still a little long but that is fine I can now place the x8 connection (PCI-e) in any place I choose on the power supply. With it where I am going to place the original parts to be used. I am marking down where the board will sit so then I can have an idea roughly where to lay a tray and movement of the back fan so i can fit the i/o panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Mar. 5 and Mar. 6 I managed to finish plotting my wireing for the hard drive. Need to buy a set of molex and then order my 50pin adapter to Sata for the optical drive. So working a little on the plexi now that I know what board size we will be using. I plotted out where my motherboard will be sitting as well as a hole to fit my hand through so I can lay and pick up the motherboard tray. With it I also laid out a plot for the top cover of my power supply. I plotted only the external and where I need to drill out my holes so I can sit the plexi on the PSU case. I need to get some cutting blade for my jigsaw, since I have a t shack style blade I need one for "multi purpose" So i can cut sheet metal and plexi. Before I plot out the rest of what I need to cut on the plexi I decide to cut the much need hole or square so I can go ahead and fit my connections in. I took my time figuring out where to place this x8 connection for few reason, 1. easiest to reach 2. out of the way. I decide to take the upper corner for this two facts. This is how the connection will look like in it's spot. How it all will look like once I am done. I am ordering a set of male and female molex connection, It is important I order a set to have for other projects as well I order a 2 set of multi purpose cutting t-shank jigsaw blade with 10 TPI (teeth per inch) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabius Bile Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I don't like this method, i prefer the cable exit of the power supply, because if you put the molex in these position, You need to cut the plate on top of the PSU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 I don't like this method, i prefer the cable exit of the power supply, because if you put the molex in these position, You need to cut the plate on top of the PSU. I was thinking of just laying the cable externally which I might consider doing but I am not going to be using the plate that hides the PSU instead i will be using 5mm plexiglass to hide the whole thing. I will have brush metal vinyl over the plexi and I might be back lighting the plexi for both the PSU and Tray. My cuts are rough since I do not have proper jigsaw blades I had to use metal shears which made a mess of the cuts. What I might end up doing is just drilling the hole for the line to pop out and JB welding the connection onto the PSU and measure out and plotting the position for the plexi glass to be cut. For the x24 power supply connection I might end up doing is drilling the holes to slide the line through the plexi after sleeving. Reason I choose the connection instead of running new line is because if we decide to extend and get a graphic card he can still use the secondary connection to run power to the graphics. Easy release connection are simple and quick just have to make the line you want the length you need with the connector you require and done. At the moment I am ordering some t shanks for my jigsaw. I am getting multi purpose blade since I will need them to not only cut plexi but the sheet metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabius Bile Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Yes, so it is more practical I'm still, because i do not have the money for buy the Laser Hive mobo tray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 Yes, so it is more practical I'm still, because i do not have the money for buy the Laser Hive mobo tray I could have spent what I earn on a hive tray but could have taken roughly a couple months to arrive. I am more of DIY then bought either way I feel more connected to my things when I can DIY them. I did my research and found out the motherboard tray is 5mm thick which is a plus since a 24inch x 18inch is around $12 the rest is measurement and proper tools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 Mar. 9 and Mar. 10 So I decide while I wait for my order for Lowes to arrive I would work on the PSU. I am still debating myself on wheather or not I should cut the line short I "Marked" the area of which each color wire will sit. Black is negative, Orange is +3.3, Red is +5, Yellow is +12, Green is PSU On, Gray is PG (Powegood), Purple is VBS (virtual battery system), Blue is -12 Well that is it for now till I get my tools that I order from Lowes. I went ahead and rush order a set of multipurpose T shank blade for my craftman jigsaw and as well added some circular metal cutting disc for my dremel tool. Well today I got my order in the mail and went right to work First time using a jigsaw.. I know shameful but I did decent I also bent the area looks great After drilling my hole I went ahead and did a test fit... :/ It's way off... But that is fine I can fix it tomorrow before vinyl. I went ahead and did my drilling and fitting of the new PSU cover. I am still debating whether to cut the whole block for the Power cable or drilling the holes out for the cables to fit through. Yeah I don't have a stable hand right now.. Had a whole day of cutting and filling I don't work well tired.. So a step closer to finishing the build and a step closer to building it all together. I am most likely going to back light the PSU cover as well as the mother board tray.. I want to fit it together before doing the Back I/O panel as well as I need to work on the sheet metal need more practice using the jigsaw before I can do a more decent cut for the sheet metal. Speaking off I want to use the original "G5" logo and will be squeezing that in some where... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabius Bile Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 According to you, the PSU with the fan not upper but in front, he can have a thermal problems? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 According to you, the PSU with the fan not upper but in front, he can have a thermal problems? No, the fan can be in any position. I used the fan originally from the PSU that was already there instead of adapting the fan over the PSU. The important thing is the air flow direction.... I will have to draw up what I mean to diagram but the air directional flow is important. The front fan pulls air through the PSU and around the heat sink -> .. And the fan over head does the same effect only it is pushing air V downwards and the air is being pushed -> outward. It is a more direct air flow, But as long as air is passing through the heat sink and pushing air out it will be fine. You just want cool air to circulate around the heat sink to cool it down as the Mosfet gets hot as it directs power but that is more of an electronic understanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabius Bile Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 In this direction? The fans extract the hot air off the psu case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzle_Dazzle Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 In this direction? The fans extract the hot air off the psu case? In the other direction but yes the fan pulls cool air through the case, it runs through the heat sink gathering the heat and pushing it out the back end. A fan on top will have the same effect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts