Sources for various silencing and tidying materials?

[ecsdude]

I'm about to put together a system using an Evercase 4252 and am looking for inexpensive sources for the following parts:

1. SOFT MINI WASHERS (plastic, rubber, or other non-metal, and about the diameter of the metals circles like the ones found on motherboard mounting points.) I want to use these throughout the case to place between screws and
drives, pci cards, motherboard, power supply, and etc.

Way back, I had an AMI motherboard that came with soft red washers but I haven't been able to find anything like that in the hardware stores I've checked at.

2. HEATSHRINKING CABLE WRAPS. I want to neatly separate and wrap my PSU cables and drive data cables. I really don't want to pay too much for these though.

What I'm thinking about doing with the drive data cables is do what I've saw in a tutorial on the internet, where you make like 10 equal divisions of the data cable and then stack them and tie them together with zip ties or something. They end up narrower and sort of like rounded cables. I then want to use some heatshrinking cable wraps to wrap them.

This seems like an inexpensive solution for tidying up cables and you don't have to redo your cable origami everytime you add/remove drives.

Anyone know of any disadvantages to this method? I suppose there's some risk in not making clean cuts to the cable strands and end up exposing the wires.

3. SOUND DAMPENING FOAM. I don't want to fork out $50 for Acoustipak, and was wondering if I can achieve the same results or nearly the same results using either the flat or "lumpy" spongy packing materials that come in shipping boxes sometimes. I am trying to find out where I might find some that people usually are going to throw away. I'm thinking of using double-sided tape to apply these to the case frame and panels.

4. UNKNOWN. I need an effective and good looking solution to get rid
of rattles caused by the case side panels not fitting as tightly all the way around as they should, resulting in rattling sounds when you tap on the sides of the case. I don't want to just jam a piece of paper between the panels and the frame.

5. PAINTING. I got a beige case, but am considering painting it all black.
Does anyone have experience painting these cases from beige to black?
I am wondering if it'll look as good as the black models that come from the factory. I think I'd need to use vinyl dye for the plastic front panel, but not sure what to use on the metal panels and if I should use primer or some or all of the panels, and what sort of preparation I would need to do to make them ready for painting. In the case of the front panel, I have no idea how you remove the leds in the power button and the HD LED prior to painting. Looks like you need to break the plastic behind the front panel that locks them in place in order to remove the them from the panel, but I was hoping there'd be a way to do it w/o breaking the plastic that holds them in place. Also, once they are removed, how do you remove the LED that's integrated into the power button prior to painting?

6. CPU AIR DUCT. I didn't buy an Evercase with the black air duct that
mounts to the side panel. What I'd like to do is buy or construct something similar to what the Fong Kai FK-320 and some Dell models used, where you mount it to the rear fan exhaust (in my case 120mm) and have the air blow in towards the CPU. But I'm wondering if I can run an AMD Athlon XP 2400+ like the Dells by just using a heatsink like an Thermalright SK-7 w/o a fan directly on the heatsink. I think the Dells were using a cooler-running PIII cpu, not sure.

Any sources, tips or words of caution about any of the above would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Bluefront]

Home Depot (USA) has all that stuff.....from small nylon washers, to rubber paint, to tie wraps, and all sorts of foam padding and mats. Just go there and look around.

Oh and no doubt you'll regret it later on if you cut your wires to fit a particular setup. As soon as you finish you'll want to change something and your wires will be too short.

[esn]

I've been using split tubing to wrap my wires. Not quite as neat as shrink tubing or nylon mesh wrap, but easier to apply, remove and reuse. Wires that are too long can be doubled up inside the stuff. I've used plastic zip ties to close off the end but recently found silcone tape and tried it out last night. I liked the way it worked and looked and I just might get away from using zip ties. Spiral wrap tubing works well also but long runs can be pain as you have to wrap it around the wires.

Splitting the data cables sounds like a hassle compared to the price of rounded cables.

I'm about to put together a system using an Evercase 4252 and am looking for inexpensive sources for the following parts:

2. HEATSHRINKING CABLE WRAPS. I want to neatly separate and wrap my PSU cables and drive data cables. I really don't want to pay too much for these though.

[Blackeagle]

www.mcmasters.com

A very good place for water coolig fixtures.

They also have sound deadening foams both smooth and egg carton types with NRC rates for them.

Same site has 0 rings that can be used like washers or nylon washers.

I've purchased copper water fixtures at this site, shipping is VERY fast 1-2 days. Even NewEgg can't beat this places shipping.

[Gooserider]

ecsdude
I'm about to put together a system using an Evercase 4252 and am looking for inexpensive sources for the following parts:

1. SOFT MINI WASHERS (plastic, rubber, or other non-metal, and about the diameter of the metals circles like the ones found on motherboard mounting points.) I want to use these throughout the case to place between screws and
drives, pci cards, motherboard, power supply, and etc.

Way back, I had an AMI motherboard that came with soft red washers but I haven't been able to find anything like that in the hardware stores I've checked at.

2. HEATSHRINKING CABLE WRAPS. I want to neatly separate and wrap my PSU cables and drive data cables. I really don't want to pay too much for these though.

What I'm thinking about doing with the drive data cables is do what I've saw in a tutorial on the internet, where you make like 10 equal divisions of the data cable and then stack them and tie them together with zip ties or something. They end up narrower and sort of like rounded cables. I then want to use some heatshrinking cable wraps to wrap them.

This seems like an inexpensive solution for tidying up cables and you don't have to redo your cable origami everytime you add/remove drives.

Anyone know of any disadvantages to this method? I suppose there's some risk in not making clean cuts to the cable strands and end up exposing the wires.

Both of these items can be found at a GOOD electronics store, either online or Brick and Mortar. Look for the sort of place that supplies manufacturers, not a retail place like Radio Shack.

However I would STRONGLY advise against doing the 'cut and stack' trick on your drive cables! The electronic characteristics of the signals in an IDE cable are such that the engineers who designed it had to do a great deal of careful trickery to get as fast a signal over that cable as they do. Part of this is the use of ground wires alternating between the data wires to reduce cross talk. If you do the cutting trick you defeat a great deal of this engineering and are likely to pay a high price in terms of HDD performance. You are far better off to stick with flat cables that are just long enough to do minimal cablegami and get them out of the way. (Note that even the commercial 'rounded' cables are not approved by most drive makers for full speed operation, there is a reason....)

3. SOUND DAMPENING FOAM. I don't want to fork out $50 for Acoustipak, and was wondering if I can achieve the same results or nearly the same results using either the flat or "lumpy" spongy packing materials that come in shipping boxes sometimes. I am trying to find out where I might find some that people usually are going to throw away. I'm thinking of using double-sided tape to apply these to the case frame and panels

Search the threads in Cases and Damping for Roofers Tape and Rebond Carpet underlay foam. Those appear to be the best 'low budget' sound solutions.

4. UNKNOWN. I need an effective and good looking solution to get rid
of rattles caused by the case side panels not fitting as tightly all the way around as they should, resulting in rattling sounds when you tap on the sides of the case. I don't want to just jam a piece of paper between the panels and the frame.

Local hardware store, look for foam weatherstripping tape. This is also good for isolating other parts, especially where grommets don't seem suitable.

5. PAINTING. I got a beige case, but am considering painting it all black.
Does anyone have experience painting these cases from beige to black?
I am wondering if it'll look as good as the black models that come from the factory. I think I'd need to use vinyl dye for the plastic front panel, but not sure what to use on the metal panels and if I should use primer or some or all of the panels, and what sort of preparation I would need to do to make them ready for painting. In the case of the front panel, I have no idea how you remove the leds in the power button and the HD LED prior to painting. Looks like you need to break the plastic behind the front panel that locks them in place in order to remove the them from the panel, but I was hoping there'd be a way to do it w/o breaking the plastic that holds them in place. Also, once they are removed, how do you remove the LED that's integrated into the power button prior to painting?

There are threads all over the net on how to paint cases, if you check some of the other modder forums (look for the ones that are heavy on the Bling Bling as opposed to performance oriented forums) you will find lots of advice. Be warned though that painting is a bit of an art form, and if you need to ask basic questions like the above you are likely to be less than thrilled with the end results. All I can suggest is that before you start painting on the case, get some scrap stuff and put in some serious practice.

6. CPU AIR DUCT. I didn't buy an Evercase with the black air duct that
mounts to the side panel. What I'd like to do is buy or construct something similar to what the Fong Kai FK-320 and some Dell models used, where you mount it to the rear fan exhaust (in my case 120mm) and have the air blow in towards the CPU. But I'm wondering if I can run an AMD Athlon XP 2400+ like the Dells by just using a heatsink like an Thermalright SK-7 w/o a fan directly on the heatsink. I think the Dells were using a cooler-running PIII cpu, not sure.

Best bet for ducts is to 'roll yer own' there aren't all that many good commercial solutions. You need to be creative and search for something that will let you get the results you want. I'd suggest searching the forums and galleries here and elsewhere for photos that will give you ideas. Then go cruise the aisles of the local hardware stores and home centers while looking for unconventional uses of materials and other idea sources.

Gooserider

[PretzelB]

Paint - I painted an old Antec case I had using spray paint. I made sure that I was ready to throw the case away if things went bad before I started. It turned out pretty good. I even used regular paint on the plastic bezel. I didn't see a difference with using primer and not using primer. I painted the outside black and the inside gold. The inside paint chips a lot because of all the rubbing that happens - not sure this can be avoided. The paint is also easy to scratch. You need a well ventilated area - spray paint is one of my least favorite things to work with.

Washers - I read an article here on psu mods where the person used rubber tubes to create washers. Just cut the tube into small thin pieces like you're cutting a carrot. Seemed like it was a real cheap solution.

Spiral Wrap - I used some from Home Depot and liked it.

CPU Duct - You might not be able to do this. I think the problem with mid-sized cases is that the cpu, psu, and rear exhaust all get bunched together. If you put a duct in that corner you might end up generating more noise that it's worth. Experiment with paper and cardboard before you buy anything.

Sound Dampening - I read a post here about egg shell foam. It can be found for cheap on the internet. Its something I'd like to try.

[bronwyn]

5. PAINTING. I got a beige case, but am considering painting it all black.

I painted my Antec SX630 a year or so back, including stencils on the sides and top, and details picked out in a second colour. If you can get the black one instead, for a reasonable price, do. Then you can spend your effort on a custom design instead of the finicky details.

I washed and sanded the case first. I used metal paint (gloss black Tremclad), the kind you apply with a paintbrush, for both metal and plastic parts. I'd used spraypaint before, and while there are more colours, it is hard to control. But with either kind, you want to have a well-ventilated indoor area to paint in, so that the paint can dry without getting dust and bugs in it!

For fine details such as drive fronts, buttons, and near LEDs, I used these methods:
-be very very careful and use fine brushes from an art supply store (the middling cheap kind, since they will be ruined)
-mask buttons using a cylinder of paper, by sliding it into the crack between the button and the surround -- this mostly prevents gluing things shut
-have a good Xacto or other art knife on hand to delicately slice things open again (e.g. cdrom tray, panel handle)
-take the drive fronts off, as shown in http://www.casejunkiez.com/articles/pai ... aint.shtml (I didn't have the guts for that; my drives didn't unclip neatly)

After the front, sides and top were all black, I made two stencils with overhead transparency plastic (from an art supply store, to get a heavier gauge), permanent markers (to trace the design on the transparency) and an art knife to cut it out. I tried a brush, and then a hobbyist's airbrushing kit to apply the paint. I practised on the panel insides before doing the real thing. Keeping the stencil put with spray glue was too messy and hard to clean up. (I had a complex stencil with a lot of fine tracery.) Holding down the stencil with masking tape and fingers worked best. Airbrush spray perpendicular to the surface being stencilled was best.

The paint job has stood up pretty well. The Utena box is a heavy beast and a stay-at-home. I have been careful while moving it, but the paint does seem to have toughened as it cured: it was easily damaged when fresh, but now is not.[/quote]