Blog of Travis Hydzik » modding

The Cool Cube featured in 10 Years of Mini-ITX eBook

thydzik — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:57:05 +0000

To celebrate 10 years of the VIA Mini-ITX motherboard, VIA had released a anniversary eBook titled Small is Beautiful: Ten Years of Mini-ITX, which features one my case modding projects, The Cool Cube.

Head over to viamini-itxebook.com to read about it and many other cool mods.

Heat problems with iStar BPN-350SAS 3×5.25″ to 5×3.5″ SATA Trayless Backplane

thydzik — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 07:01:45 +0000

Recently I posted about the use of an iStar BPN-350SAS in my RAID 6 array, well due to Australia’s extreme summer temperatures I have had a number of drives in the enclosure fail due to overheating.

Whilst I like the design and build of the BPN-350SAS there are some extreme flaws in the cooling design must likely due to implementation costs or interference with the units cosmetics.

Firstly, the 2x 60mm fans do not provide enough airflow; secondly, there are simply not enough paths for the air to flow. If you look inside the unit you will see 5 slits behind the PCB, and that is all there is for hot air exhaust. If you look at the front bezels, beneath the locking key hole plastic are 3 air vents, and this is all there is for the cool air intake.

Now, my solution has improved all off the above by first, removing the 60mm fans and installing 2x 80mm fans, these are connected via a molex connector. You can observe that 2x 80cm fans protrude 20mm on one side so it was necessary to install the protruding fan once the unit was installed into the case. Secondly, additional air holes on the back of the unit and on the top and under side of the unit to allow more air to circulate. I also removed the 5 springs that popped the drives out, but this was more to improve the backplane’s connection with the drives.

Start of new project, modding a JVC Videosphere into a computer (a Computersphere)

thydzik — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 08:28:42 +0000

I have had this idea for a while now, most of the parts, have just been too lazy. By starting a thread and posting it should get me motivated.

This project involves modding a JVC Videosphere into a working computer . I shall name it the Computersphere.

It will consist of two parts:
First part
Restoration of a Videosphere into its brand new condition, this will mostly include cleaning and buffing the plastic. I plan to use a 8.4″ colour TV to replace the existing black and white TV. However, all existing knobs and switches will remain and be operational. I have a feeling there is going to be some custom fancy circuitry to convert the analogue dials to digital.

Second part
Once the Videosphere looks and functions brand new, I will insert a VIA EPIA M from a previous modding project. This should be fairly straight forward as there is plenty of room. DVD rom drive in the base, red neons in the base and the top, as there are already ventilation holes.

Picture of the JVC Videosphere

Source: Graham Mancha – Design for Modern Living

Onto the modding…

First pictures of my videosphere (yes, it is already gutted, I was too eager to take it apart)

Now lets look inside

Very dirty inside. I keep everything except for the tube.

Next I plan to sand any deep scratches and buff the plastic shell.