80 replies to this topic

[DDH69]

@Talantyyr, thanks for the support.

 

I've built a number of media centres previously and despite all the claims of quiet fans I still hear them.  I decided while I had the opportunity and for about $10 more I'd make separate power rails and control the voltage to get exactly the fan speed and noise I was prepared to live with.  I have bought "silent" fans, from memory about 19dB full speed.

 

I agree when playing a game I doubt I will hear them, after all I got big speakers to "go loud"!

[Talantyyr]

Ah ok. Both of my fans have ~15db. I've plugged them to my PC and was surprised how silent they are.

 

Regarding media centres... I have a xbox360 in the bedroom for watching Netflix and gaming. That fans are sooo loud

Maybe i'm just used to it

[viktory2k1]

As far as controlling fans, my gaming rig is set to auto now. I have 4 case fans, 2 in the window and 2 on top. They are Coolermaster silent 120's. 1 or 2 are quiet, something happenes when there on all at the same time(especially with vp)at full bore. It's like they resonate or something. Very hard to describe. They are quiet but when they hit a certain rpm, the combined noise makes some sort of very annoying sound. It's not loud but like very irritating. Kind of like it you have 2 high pitched sounds going off at the same time but one is like 2 hz lower pitched, it creats a sound all of its own, I have warrantied them and it still happens. I am not 100% sure if I can set the case ones individually but if I stick a toothpick on the flat center of one(any one it seems) just enough to slow it by like 1rpm, the sound goes away. I have no idea if anyone can make sense of this. I can actually hear it from the other side of the house, not loud, just the frequency. Thats why I am going to use a controller on mine. I don't think these cabs get too hot do they? The pc thats going into mine is liquid cooled so its just the cab fans for the tv's I will controlled.

Oh, I love messing with electronics. Still got my 50:1 electronic project kit that I got for Christmas when I was like 10. The crystal radio was so cool that you could build! My son got one when he was around the same age and maybe I should play with it because it has way more complex gizmos then my 33 year old one. I'd like to see what they have now for those. Probably would help me with my cab wiring.

 

@ Talantyyr, I don't think any game system is louder then a Sega Dreamcast! Sounds like a vacuum cleaner. lol

 

That is one nice cab if it is your first. I try to plan but I am mostly making it up as I go along.

[Talantyyr]

I do have a dreamcast and it's still in use, but the xbox360 is way louder! Believe me

[DDH69]

FYI, this is the fan (OK 9 of them) that I went with.  The balance between  cheap and quiet.  So anywhere between 20.8 and 12.3dB.  Essentially going with low sped but high air volume.

[viktory2k1]

WOW! The CFM for just 1 is almost a bathroom fan. Great price too. I think my son has a X-box 360, gotta go hear it. Maybe I was thinking the Saturn. I still have a bunch of the old systems, Atari 2600, Intellivision, Colecovision with all add-ons, 2 commadore 64's 2 TI994a (1 still in box with the pe-box)still want the MBX system for that. A bunch more. Still need a Neo-Geo cartridge system though and a Commadore Amiga. I will probably just use fans form my old PC's over the years but only a few had LEDs. Of all the PC games and programs I run, my newest gaming rig gets the hottest running the pinballs, Why? Gotta have something to do with the muli-core I-7 ???? 4GHz.

I don't know if I asked this but did you order the hardware kit from Virtuapin?

[DDH69]

I don't know if I asked this but did you order the hardware kit from Virtuapin?

 

Nothing from Virtuapin for my build as yet.

[DDH69]

So, a long (4 day) weekend for Easter here in Australia and I've spent it so wisely ...... building my pinball machine     (well I did go out for a couple of walks with my lovely wife as well)

 

Anyway, enough chit-chat, what did I do.

 

Well, I made the mountings for the 17" PC screen for the DMD, cut the hole for it in the base of the backbox and top of the cabinet.  I did a heap of work on the playfield TV frame, remembering it goes in from the top and will tilt up like a real pin playfield.  The difference is that while I can swing it up, I will be able to unplug it too and simply lift it out, the TV and frame is quite light.

 

In addition to all of this fiddly stuff I had to change a few things that I'd purposefully built flaws into (OK - stuffed up  ), ie the side rail bolt position had a brace behind it - fixed with a chisel and a couple of hours, no one will ever know (except you lot), also I thought I had the payfield TV and frame on the right position such that the hinge back clearance could be routed out of the playfield frame - well as it turned out I was 10mm out and the TV itself overlaps the hinge fixing back (the bit with the hex spanner slot that goes inside the cabinet), so a quick trip to my fathers and get him to shorted then bolt and fixing in hos lathe then counter sink it into the side of the cabinet.

 

Anyway a few pics of the cabinet base with the the TV frame, and one with the TV in.  You will see the side rails, coin door are, lock bar assembly are in place to check sizes.

 

 

After all of this fitting all parts are now in the wood shed for spray painting.  A few spray packs of mat black from the local hardware store and its starting to look pretty good.  After a recoat and some touch ups during the rest of the week I should have some good pics to come.

 

In between all of this a few other odd bits and pieces took shape as well.  My daughter (last year of high school) wanted something to build (no idea where she gets it from  ) so I let her build the plumbob mount.  She made it from 6mm clear acrylic.  I bought a scrap sheet for mounting things like this.  It has the bolts countersunk from the back and cut to length, plus a plug connector.  This makes it a nice modular design.  I then made a new set of buttons for the playfield TV.  These will mount on the bottom of the playfield TV frame so that I can manually control the TV through the coin door should I need to.  The original buttons were those surface mounted bubble things that were in the case I ripped of it much earlier.

 

 

Hmm, back to work now to pay for toys ....

[vampirolatino2]

loving all of it.

[Talantyyr]

Wow, you're playfield locking mechanism is AWESOME! The TV Button kit is a great idea! Love it!

[DDH69]

Another weekend working away and having fun.  Last weekend I left off as I started to paint the inside matt black.  Well here are a couple of pictures

 

 

So now that it is painted inside time to add the legs and let it stand for the first time like a baby giraffe

 

 

Next it was time to mount the playfield TV in its frame and connect those replacement buttons.  As you can see from the pictures the TV has essentially no edge hence how I am able to insert it from the top.

 

 

So then I thought, time to add the mains power and drill some tiny holes in that nice new painted finish for the zip tie mounts.  If you look closely you'll see two earthing blocks with wires to each leg mount.  I plan to have the plunger and lockdown bat earthed too.  Technically because of the way its wired this is not necessary but it does two things:

1) Removes any doubt about electrical safety

2) Stops the chance of any static that might screw around with the PC

 

 

Then I placed the backbox on just to see if it would fold with the DMD 17" screen.  Sadly it does not  , but it was only every a thin chance.  It took me a while to get the DMD ready to mount as I accidentally pulled out the plastic ribbon cable for the surface mount buttons.  The cable broke on the way out - ouch!    I had to solder a ribbon cable onto the surface mount component board in the screen - it both my glasses and a magnifying glass for that job!  I have always been able to solder well with a steady hand but the eyes just aren't what they used to be.

 

I also added two stainless steel latches to the back, why two, well it just looked right with the way I set up the fans.  Oh yeah, and if you've been following you's realise that I've used 16mm walls to make that 46" TV fit with a standard widebody lock bar.  That meant that the hingle fittings and bolts needed to get shorter.  Luck my father came up for a visit and loves to help ...... he has a lathe, the perfect tool to shorten those hinge mounts 

 

Anyway, a couple more gratuitous shots of how things will sit for a little while (well at least until next weekend).

 

 

The DMD panel has yet to have the speaker holes cut into it.  The DMD panel in 6mm MDF, it will then have 3mm plastic (perspex of some sort - forgot the name already) over the top to create a nice window over the DMD screen.  The plastic layer will have the speaker holes cut into it.  The speakers are cheap car speakers, so a cover on the front.

 

[viktory2k1]

Sweet!

Did you use a spray gun or rattle cans? I plan on using my spray gun but I have trouble with Rustoleum paint. I love the paint but it is too thick to spray with out thinning. I think the can says no more then 5% but its still too thick. Then again, it was 10F out last time I used it and thinned it almost 50/50. I will try what it says on the can now that its getting nicer out. I was thinking white on the inside but I like the black.

I still gotta set this all up on my desktop so I know how the software works. I'd be doing that now but I get caught up in the builds. Ah, it's only 3:38am, plenty of time...Thats a lot of fans.

[sc204]

You should be able to thin it as much as you need to.  I think they recommend acetone.  You will just need to spray more coats the thinner it is to get good coverage.  It took 2 coats for me using an HVLP gun setup.  Sprayed about 30 -45 minutes apart.  If you spray outside in the sunlight you can probably spray a second coat in 15 minutes or so.

 

The instructions on the can about one coat every 24 hours are for brushing or rolling, not spraying.

[DDH69]

I just got 3 cans from the local hardware store.  I figured it would be so much easier for all those tricky little places - and it was.

 

Some old clothes, a decent gas mask and eye protection, and I was away.  Just left to pick off the paint from the back of my hands for the following two days

[zany]

Really nice build!

[DDH69]

Thanks zany.  I have read about many builds in preparation, yours included.  In some way there is probably a little bit of you in there somewhere

[viktory2k1]

Thanks sc204. I read 70/30 with mineral spirits should work. Mine is the old school siphon style. I had to go back to the store to see the tip size, it doesn't say in the manual. It's a 1.8mm. I have xylene but don't think I can thin it with that. I read a bunch also and zany shows up here and there in mine too.

[zany]

Haha...but thanx guys!
Keep up the great work you both do!

[DDH69]

Well another big weekend of building.  Last weekend the mains power went in, this weekend I started with the fans, all 9 of them!

 

 

Next wire them up to that home made multi-rail power supply that also provides the switch on delay for the screens that need it.  Along the way, let the daughter (who loves to build) construct the panel that has the 4 fan speed controls, 2 x USB2 ports and a power LED.  Also a lot of the other parts are being fixed in place as and when it makes sense.  A couple of shots below ...

 

 

Then it was time to make some buttons for the de-cased DMD screen (that I broke a week or so ago).  After some very fine soldering of cables onto a surface mount board, I can now use buttons behind the DMD panel if I need to.  The power button has a parallel set of wires that go to my power supply / delay board to turn it on about 3 seconds after power up - and yes this worked perfectly when connected - yay!

 

 

After that it was time to cut and assemble the DMD panel.  I have a 6mm MDF panel with a cut out and speaker holes.  I then have 3mm clear perspex with just the speaker holes.  It makes a great window over the DMD screen.  I'm thinking my decal will go onto the MDF and be covered with the 3mm clear perspex.  While you can see the perspex with the paper on it, you really can't see the slear once assembled.

 

 

Now it was time to mount the backbox screen and place the DMD in front of the DMD screen just to make me feel good.  Still a bit of wiring (ie speakers) to go, but every now and again you just need to see it in place.

 

 

Well that's it for this week.  Back to work tomorrow and eeking out a bit of time to get a couple of cables and connectors.  I think a bit of switch wiring and soon time to mount the PC.

 

Hopefully I will get time to play around with the LedWiz up stairs in the study during the week.  That way I can figure out how I plan to connect that up, where to lay it out, what wiring and boosters I'll need, etc.

 

 

 

[viktory2k1]

I am trying to figure out how to make my own boosters. So far, I think the tip120 transistors will work. 60v 5A and cheap. I saw a lot of 10 on ebay for $8.