My case lighting started when I found CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Light) kits while browsing through my local Tiger Direct store. (when they were still open!) A pack with 2 ring lights that can be mounted on an 80mm fan. The kit had an inverter to power 1 or 2 lights, a molex dongle to plug into your power supply for 12V power, which is wired with a switch mounted on a bracket that you can screw into the back of your case (into any unused card slot). The UV kit intrigued me, mount it on a UV reactive fan and add UV reactive sleeving over the wires! I also picked up a set of UV reactive IDE and floppy cables.
That inspired me to start shopping online for different things. This is when I snagged the stellar vinyl wrap for the case. Discovered Lamptron lighting and products such as these UV reactive slot protector covers. UV blue sleeving kit and a Yate Loon UV blue 120mm case fan. Clear acrylic case feet with blue LEDs like these from Xoxide were a bit of a challenge. The feet needed a hole for the LED, that was already there. But the case had feet pressed out of the bottom which left a smaller surface for the feet to adhere to. I have to be careful when moving the case so that I don't knock off the feet. I also added some felt furniture pads onto the bottom of the feet. Now I can slide the case along the table without worrying about tearing the feet off.
The case feet also had a switch mounted on a card bracket, like the CCFL kit. But since the LEDs used 5V and the CCFL was 12V, I couldn't use one switch to control both lights, (well, with a double pole switch instead of single pole I could) I like the idea of controlling the inside lights separate from the outside foot lights! I did mount both switches onto one bracket. And I put diamond plate foil on the bracket so it blends in with the case.
The case feet also had a switch mounted on a card bracket, like the CCFL kit. But since the LEDs used 5V and the CCFL was 12V, I couldn't use one switch to control both lights, (well, with a double pole switch instead of single pole I could) I like the idea of controlling the inside lights separate from the outside foot lights! I did mount both switches onto one bracket. And I put diamond plate foil on the bracket so it blends in with the case.
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So, this is the result of my first round of lighting. At first, one ring light was mounted on the CPU fan. But since the UV light didn't directly hit my cables, I came up with my Power Supply Mod. You can see the second ring light mounted direct to the front of the case instead of on a fan. And since the bottom of the motherboard did not get any illumination, I bought a set of 12" lamps and installed them on top and bottom, just behind the lip where the side panel mounts onto. |
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Here, Stimpy and Fuzzy (or is that Wuzzy?) show off the bottom of the case and the glowing CCFL lamp. You cannot see the lamp when the side panel is in place.
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To hide the inverter module from view, I tucked it behind the drive cage. I sleeved the wires and carefully routed along the front of the case. (I only sleeved the visible parts of those wires!) The fully sleeved power wire at the bottom goes under the motherboard to a switch on the back of the case
click to enlarge
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You can see the foot LEDs shining into the case, this was resolved later when I added foil inside the case.
Here's a better view of the UV effect. I replaced the clear UV reactive Yate Loon fan, the blue LEDs were too bright as you can see in the first picture. It was also too noisy for me, so I replaced it with a Noiseblocker BSF-XL1 fan instead. The frame is black, but you can see a nice UV glow on the fan blades.
Here's a better view of the UV effect. I replaced the clear UV reactive Yate Loon fan, the blue LEDs were too bright as you can see in the first picture. It was also too noisy for me, so I replaced it with a Noiseblocker BSF-XL1 fan instead. The frame is black, but you can see a nice UV glow on the fan blades.
