One big case

[UncleBob]

I have finally gotten round to building a really big case. Not one you could have bought from any store, either. Think big, I mean like 2 of these stacked one on top of the other. The combined outside dimensions are 36" wide x 68" high x 24" deep or just over 34 cubic feet of space!

The idea came to me from my previous home where I had at one time 16 PC's running in my upstairs office. The heat was unbearable! The clutter and dust was unsightly as well. To manage the heat I had to have a constant flow of cold air in and hot back out of the house. It seemed like a real waste, but there was no real way to manage it. Here are some pics, you can easily see what I mean!
All the pics are thumbnails to save time for those with 56k. Simply click on the pic to view full sized in another window.

[UncleBob]

Those of you with wives....well, never mind! You can see part of my wife the "Lovely Mary Jo" in the third pic. She was actually very patient with me and I am very grateful. I really don't have too many other hobbies so she indulges me. The noise and heat (especially in the Summer!) was a source of let's say "friction" between us, OK?

Well, we moved.....to a bigger and brand new house this Summer. It's 3400 sq. ft and we love it. Moving was a pain, thank God we don't do it very often!
Nice from the outside.

Great view out the back.


One big problem is the room I wanted to setup the PC's in was never going to work like the last one. I wanted something better. Oh sure, I setup some PC's, but I just couldn't create the mess permanently. I had to have a better plan.

[UncleBob]

The room is downstairs and has nice double glassed doors. It's semi private and allows me to be near the action downstairs. The real plus is it back up to the garage. Once Mary Jo and (yes, we assembled and installed 24' of cabinets in the garage and are still happily married!) got the cabinets in I started working on dedicating one for PC's.


I chose the these two:


It took weeks before I had the time to do anything more and during the hiatus I started planning more in depth just what I wanted to do. I wanted to get the heat that this cabinet would generate to either be exhausted outside in the Summer or reclaim it in the colder season. I had 2 4" ducts installed. One went directly to a vent in the attic. The other went to connect to the cold air return for the furnace. I had heavy gage spiral wrap pipe installed so I can still store boxes above the cabinet.

[UncleBob]

Well the next thing I did was to run 2 dedicated 120 V 20 amp circuits into the cabinet. Then I cut the bottom off the top cabinet and cut the top off the bottom cabinet, making it one 'huge' cabinet.


Then I measured 4 times (yes, 4 times...) and cut 2 3" holes through the garage wall to the office inside.


These will be filled with 3" ABS pipe (or sewer pipe for the layman) to hold electrical power lines, water cooling lines, KVM cables, and Ethernet cables. The ABS pipe is about the cheapest pipe you can get and serves the purpose well. Then I cut in the air intake area in the bottom of the cabinet. It will use throw away 24" x 14" air filters. This way cold air will enter through a filter at the bottom of the cabinet. This will provide the coldest air to the cabinet and when the doors are sealed and closed, allow only filtered air to flow through the cabinet. The garage has a 6" pipe going outside already installed to provide fresh air for the furnace and water heater combustion air. Handy, huh?

[UncleBob]

That's all for today, I'll be installing some electrical boxes and shelves tomorrow!

[sttubs]

Wow
And my wife thought I was bad with too many computers.

[JokerCPoC]

Cool pics, Mine will be delivered soon, Oh, Oh crap, I better shop for Canon 5x0 Digital Camera.

[wahoo_man]

Nice, UB!

You may want to consider the sort of filter that catches 99.9% of the dust, as those throwaway filters catch squat. Just a suggestion, it's nice having ANY type of filter. I need some better filtration, personally, but I make up for it with plenty of canned wind.

[UncleBob]

Wow
And my wife thought I was bad with too many computers.

Tell her you aren't bad, just thoroughly focused!

[UncleBob]

Cool pics, Mine will be delivered soon, Oh, Oh crap, I better shop for Canon 5x0 Digital Camera.

This is the camera I got this Summer Casio Z1000 10MP and it's great.

Nice, UB!

You may want to consider the sort of filter that catches 99.9% of the dust, as those throwaway filters catch squat. Just a suggestion, it's nice having ANY type of filter. I need some better filtration, personally, but I make up for it with plenty of canned wind.

Yes, it's for a preliminary filter only. Over the top it will have a washable filter. I plan to use two Delta 120x38mm FFB1212EHE fans. Specs from Sidewinder:

Specifications: 120x120x38mm, -->190.00<-- CFM @ 4000 RPM, 59.0 dBA, 24.00 watts, 2.00 amps, 12v DC, 3+4 pin Molex connectors.

Do not use the Sidewinder Rheostat with this fan. Also note the power requirements of the FFB1212EHE, there is a 3.00 amp startup requirement too.

[Fluff n Stuff]

Wahoo... I'm not sure "Canned Wind" is a subject you should bring up around Uncle Bob...

Nice camera...

[JokerCPoC]

This is the camera I got this Summer Casio Z1000 10MP and it's great.
Yes, it's for a preliminary filter only. Over the top it will have a washable filter. I plan to use two Delta 120x38mm FFB1212EHE fans. Specs from Sidewinder:

Nice Camera, But I'm not a member, I've had decent results with a Canon point and shoot though.



It's a 6.2Mp camera that I'm looking at buying.

[zetachi]

[quote=UncleBob;3918574]This is the camera I got this Summer Casio Z1000 10MP and it's great.

Damn howd they fit a 10 MP in a camera that slim?

BTW that's some computer project UB.

[liquidsoul]

Awesome setup UB. I might be looking at a similar setup in my new house.

[StompinRound]

looks to be an interesting layout - I Like it

keep us updated on how it goes