A 3D printed computer case build log. I'm going to use 400 LEDs...

[thorkon]

Hi guys. I posted my previous log on here and it had some interest so I felt like you guys might like this new one I'm working on. I've been modding for 10 years now and usually my themes are of a pixelated design. This mod is named Aurora Cubes as the case will be built to look like it's made out of hundreds of cubes that each have a LED and will have patterned lighting effects. It will be quite a light show (I hope!). I will be 3D printing this case and expect to use about 6 lbs of plastic to make. Here are a few designs so you can visualize the project.

Components
ASUS ROG MAXIMUS X HERO WI-FI
ASUS GTX 1070 STRIX
TEAMGROUP T-FORCE Delta RGB 16gb DDR4 RAM
TEAMGROUP T-FORCE Delta RGB 250gb SSD
Raidmax NV-R120B RGB FANS (5)
CPU undecided
Heatsink undecided

Heres a few photos of my previous work

If you have any questions or even ideas on a cool lighting pattern for this, let me know 😀. I'll be back with some progress from the 3D printer in a bit also.

Just throwing it out there, do you guys think mid-range PSU can handle 400 leds on its 5v rail? I've done some math and it seems like it should be fine but I'd like others input on it if they got some knowledge about it. Thanks!

 

[thorkon]

Back with some new progress now that I've printed a few sections out. Having some stringing issue due to a mod I put on the printer so I've been troubleshooting it but still giiving some issues.

THE STRINGINGGGGG

Fix'd after some easy cleanup

Next issue was the this tall section having a weak stability

Nothing a little 3d pen cant fix. This section will be strengthened once the whole frame comes together.

And heres the base being clamped together. Its a bit bigger than I expected honestly but not an issue. I'll be back with the rest of the frame coming together.

 

[thorkon]

Going to be some rapid updates as I move into finising printing most of pieces now. I've ran into a few issues...

Spaghetti monster, colorized
What happened: I was printing 3 pieces but the 3rd piece dislodged from the printbed and began printing in the air. Luckily the 2 pieces were easily salvageable and cleaned up for use.

This is the top in sections. Will house a 120mm fan, a usb hub and a power button.

This is the window section of the case. I'll be adding plexiglass to it last. Still brainstorming ideas on how to have the glass removable while still looking nice.

 

[Paperdoc]

The power requirements for that many LED's pertain to three systems. One is the source of power - the computer's PSU or something else. Many RGB systems I've seen consume about 3A at 5 VDC for 50 to 60 light positions, so 400 LED's could use nearly 25 A for the lighting alone. You might be better off adding a dedicated 5 VDC 25A power supply unit for the lights alone.

The second is the output limit of the RGB strip controller channels. Most of the common ones I've seen are limited to about 3 A at 5 VDC, which translates into about 50 (or maybe 60) LED units - depends on the specs of the lights used. So for 400 LED's you will need a much different controller system, OR some system of many controllers that somehow share a common source of control signals. That might mean that each branch of this system - say, 8 controllers with 50 LEDs each - might have to operate exactly like all the others from that shared control signal, and not every light position could be controlled separately. I guess I'm talking here about the Addressable RGB system, as opposed to the simpler three-channel 5050 colour system.

Lastly, you'd have to consider the wiring gauge of the lighting devices you use if you plan to daisy-chain several light strips together in one group. IF you were to break the total system up into 8 groups, each using up to 3A current max, there would be no issue likely. But if you arrange differently with longer strips from a high-output controller, the wiring of the strips themselves will limit how long a daisy chain you can create.

 

[thorkon]

Thanks for this insight Grandmaster. I ended up buying a 5v 40amp PSU to handle the lights. I don't plan to go past 50% brightness so keeping the amp draw to 12 or so at most. I bought a big psu just to make sure in case they maxed out it would handle it without issue. I'm using a arduino mega to handle the lights atm. I'm using 14awg from 2 slots on the PSU to split the power draw for the front half and rear half of the pc. I'm using 16 awg to run from the led strips to the 14awg. its about 35 leds per 16awg wire to 1 of the main power lines (14awg). I have tested the leds on my arduino and it handles the 440 leds. The arduino itself will be powered by the computer psu so that when i turn the pc off it will turn off the data line to the leds. (this actually might just freeze whatever leds are lit up though at time of shut off. I'll have to look into this.

 

[thorkon]

Pic update:
Just about the whole body done.

These are the MoBo mounts:

The front with the fan placements about to go in:

Top fan:

 

[Paperdoc]

Looks great. Glad to hear you've got the LED designs figure out well.

 

[USAFRet]

Looking good.

That Loctite 401 is your general purpose glue for these?

 

[thorkon]

I've found that Loctite 401 does the best with PLA adhesion. I'm using it in combination with 3d pen "welding". Nothing beats a 3D pen weld tbh from my experience.

The equipment that will be inside of this mod!

ASUS MAXIMUS X HERO (WI-FI AC)

ASUS ROG GeForce GTX 1070 STRIX

TEAM GROUP T-FORCE DELTA RGB DDR4 GAMING MEMORY 16 GB

TEAM GROUP T-FORCE DELTA SSD

 

[thorkon]

I got caught up with Halloween costumes and waiting on a few pc components for the build. This is going to be a big post to catch up!

After doing some testing, I ran into an issue where the light wasn't being diffused as great as I wanted. I ended up sanding the case to rough up the texture to help even out the leds.

Hard to see sanding on transparent plastic so just this one photo of it outside

Light test (gif embedding doesn't work, so heres a link of the lights)
https://imgur.com/asG3hsw


My work area for all the wiring and soldering

Did this about 100 times. Pre-tinned the wires

Installing the LED strips

I was using this setup to test the lights as I went to make sure my solder skills were working

Sparkly test

Wiring so each can be removed individually if needed]

Wires before cleanup

Baby approved lighting test

I'm onto installing the pc components and cleaning up wiring. Shouldn't be long until I'm finished with a nice setup. Still need to program a few different things on the lighting though so that will be an interesting challenge.

 

[Paperdoc]

Thanks for the update. Keep 'em coming!

 

[thorkon]

After doing some math I decided to get the lights their own PSU. Here it is:

And after some handy dandy hiding magic...

The power button is going to be installed in the top near the usb hub

All the components!

All the wires!

Starting to hide the wires behind the mobo

From here its going to be the finished photos!

 

[USAFRet]

As always...excellent.

 

[thorkon]

Final Photos!

Gif of lights in motion here!

https://imgur.com/YxVzBaV

 

[Paperdoc]

Wow! Big job, painstaking work, great result!

 

[cin19]

WOW! Good job, I like it.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Seriously, another excellent job.

 

[popatim]

Superb!

 

[g-unit1111]

 

[USAFRet]

 

[thorkon]

Thank you guys!

 

[Ozherbie]

Final Photos!

Gif of lights in motion here!

https://imgur.com/YxVzBaV

View: https://imgur.com/YxVzBaV

Mate, I usually hate Unicorn Puke lighting. This has to be the best use of LED's in a build I've EVER seen. Totally awesome!