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Overview
When I decided to do this project I started with the desire to do a case mod.
Something unusual and different, but I wasn't sure what. I looked far and wide
for a case that inspired me enough that that I would just have to tare it apart
to turn it into something else. But what type of case, and what project should
I do? Should I make this cool looking, or cool performing? A basic window kit
or none at all? So after mulling this around I decided to jump on Newegg and
see if I could get inspired, and there it was. The case and the inspiration for
the project, the mid tower mini fridge! Next I had to decide weather to use a
compressor based refrigerant system or maybe a peltier based heat pump.
Sticking with a desire to use some tried and trued overclockers favorites for
the actual cooling system, the peltier was the obvious choice. While giving it
that air of "look I made this my self and it didn't blow up!" |
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The Case
What a royal pain in the butt finding the right case was. I had toyed with
several different cases from several reputable makers. So why did I choose this
one? Well frankly it reminded me of a refrigerator. The case is all brushed
aluminum so it has that nice appliancey feel to it. And the front door opens up
just like a fridges doors! It's a good mid ATX case with some cool lighting
effects. But when it comes down to it, it's a Thermaltake case, and what could
be cooler than modding a cool case to be cooler than cool?
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The peltiers
I did a fair amount of hunting for peltiers when I started this project.
Peltiers are fairly common devices and they run a rather large gambit of
prices. Looking mostly at a price friendly solution I looked for some surplus
peltiers on eBay. While that yielded many good useful results, it still was a
little more than I wanted to spend. So I decided to go to the ole S-Mart. After
some looking at there mini fridges and about a million other products I didn't
need, I found in there camping section the powered coolers. For 14.99 each I
picked up 2 of these babies with healthy sized peltiers and all the heat sinks,
fans, cold plates and even wiring all ready to go.
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Insulation:
So once you have the ability to cool something down you need to keep the cool
where it matters. Home Depot has sheets of Styrofoam board 1 inch thick for
about 5 bucks each. This stuff is fairly sturdy as it is laminated on both
sides, and this will also help cut down on the mess it makes. We will need just
one sheet for this project total.
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The Power supply:
One of the bonuses of using the thermal take case we got is it came with a 400
watt power supply with it! While this cant is mounted normally so as not to
suck all our cold air out of the case, its still about perfect as it has a 2
fans in it and draws air out of the bottom to the back of the case. With some
simple hotwiring it can be made to run when the power supply is turned on.
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Optional Components:
One component that we absolutely had to have was a nice LCD display so we could
closely monitor the heart and sole of the inside of the case. We found this
great thermal monitor / controller for about 15.00 on newegg.com. This is
really nice to add to the case so you know when your cold ones are cold enough.
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Great Stuff!:
This stuff is really fun to play with! We will use this self expanding foam
insulation to both seal any air leaks in the case, but to also adhere the
panels of foam together in the case. Just be careful because you will never
know trouble like getting this on your skin and cloths
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Plexy:
I chose to use plexy in this project because it's easy to work with and has
good thermal characteristics. If you used a window kit in your project this
also adds a "cool" factor for lighting and what not.
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Tools
that we used
( I.E. you may want to use as well )
One note on power tools: use them at your own risk. Be sure to read and
understand any and all documentation on the tools you use. No amount of
documentation can make up for experience, but there are many people with
serious eye injuries at the school of hard knocks. If you don't know what you
are doing, don't do it and find some one that can help.
Screwdrivers
Foot
Pliers
Knifes
Glues
Wire cutters
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help
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