Chris C-T's Blog

Its Been a While!

2013-05-02T17:50:00.000-04:00

Well it has been almost a year since my last post. Being in college now, I have been very busy with school work and other school related activities. However now that it is almost summer, I have a little bit more time to hopefully post a few of the projects that I will be working on this year.

A picture from the WPI Motorsports meet. Photo credit: Justin Miller.

Since my last post there have been a few modifications to the Volvo in terms of cosmetics. In terms of under the hood modifications, the engine covers and front support plate have been repainted to match the Ash Gold paint, the vacuum hoses have been changed to red silicone hoses, the front plate screws have been switched out to hex bolts with washers, and the intake manifold has been polished. For exterior modifications a tow hook has been added to the front of the car, a second Swedish plate has been mounted to the front bumper, and the headlight lenses have been switched out to clear glass lenses. There are new rims and tires, the roof rails have been removed, sport mirrors installed and I have a V70R spoiler on the way.

A great shot of the engine bay! Photo credit: Dan Howard.

For the interior, the climate control module LEDs have been swapped out for custom built blue LEDs, I fixed the gas gauge LED, and installed a digital boost gauge.

As for performance modifications, I modified the OBX exhaust and removed the resonator and muffler so that custom 2" straight pipe could be installed and the TCV was upgraded to the ARD TCV.

A picture of the dual straight pipe. Photo credit: Eric Sherman.

As for some of the upcoming projects, I hope to install a bigger turbo, get an ECU tune, build a heat shield for the CAI, build a custom power steering reservoir, switch out the exhaust piping for 3" pipe, get the hood repainted, lower the car 2", and add a few more LEDs here and there.

With all these projects I will definitely have some time to post a few writeups. So stay tuned for more car modification write ups!

Eagle One Engine Etching

2012-05-29T11:40:00.001-04:00

Hey guys! Just wanted to post up a quick tutorial/my experiences using the Eagle One MAG cleaner to etch my engine.

Before:

After:

All you need is:
bottle of Eagle One MAG Wheel Cleaner
rubber gloves
Heavy duty trash bag
Rubber bands/tape
set of sockets or flat head screwdriver
torx bits (T25, and T30 for my 04 XC70)
WD40
hose
towels
leaf blower
wire brush (optional)

To start off, make sure that the engine is clean and cool. The bottle doest specify wheather the engine needs to be dry (I didnt dry it before I sprayed on the Eagle One), however I think it will work better if it IS dry.

Now remove all the plastic engine covers (fuel rail cover, plug cover, timing belt cover) and the intercooler pipe. THIS STUFF CONTAINS HYDROCHLORIC ACID AND WILL STRIP OFF PAINT ETC!!! Using a heavy duty trash bag, cover the exposed boost tubing couplers and intake filter if you have an aftermarket one (I also covered my fuse and ECU cover because they are painted). Finally place a towel (or plastic if you can do it well) over the ignition coils to prevent any standing water or Eagle One from eating through the plastic.

With the engine prepped, put on your gloves and grab the bottle of Eagle One. Starting with a test section, spray the Eagle One onto the aluminum making sure that there is a thick foam covering the section. Wait 30 seconds to a minute and FLUSH THOROUGHLY with water. If you see a difference then you can spray the rest of the aluminum. If not then try a second or third coat until you see a noticeable difference, scrub with a wire brush if necessary. With the test spot a success, begin to spray the rest of the aluminum parts by section. Also do not get this stuff on any polished, chromed, or buffed surface because it will either turn it purple or make it dull. After each etching stage, flush the area to make sure that there is no acid left anywhere on/in the engine for an extended period of time. Keep applying, and flushing each part until you reach the desired results.

Once the all the aluminum has been etched, flush the whole engine compartment one last time to make sure that all the acid has been neutralized/diluted. Next take a towel or leaf blower and dry all the aluminum. The aluminum must then be coated with WD40 to protect against future damage/corrosion. If you do not put WD40 or powder coat the aluminum it will corrode and turn white/nasty. Replace all the engine parts that were removed earlier and now you have an etched and clean engine without the hassle of media blasting!

More before and after pics:

XC70 OBX Catback Exhaust

2012-03-26T18:23:00.000-04:00

Max checking out the new exhaust!

Finally had time today to upload the before and after pictures of the new exhaust that I installed with a friend a few weeks ago. The exhaust is a catback system manufactured by OBX Racing Sports and was purchased on Ebay for $350 including shipping. So far I am very pleased with my purchase due to the ease of install, quality of the stainless steel/welds, and because of the noticeable performance boost. The exhaust itself is a little bit lighter than the stock catback and has dual 2" pipes from the resonator to the muffler. It is very quiet for an aftermarket catback and looks AMAZING on my car. I would highly recommend this exhaust to anyone looking for a budget catback exhaust for a Volvo!

Here are the only pictures I took of the install. Looking back at it now I should have taken more pictures of the process.

The stock exhaust (with a MASSIVE muffler)

The only picture of the actual install, my friend checks the rust on the pipe leading to the stock resonator

Shiny stainless steel!

And thats it for the exhaust install! I will be posting the full writeup of the newest computer modifications once I finish the build!

Computer Watercooling + Others Update!

2012-03-03T01:27:00.001-05:00

I am redoing the watercooling loop of the desktop computer. I will be posting updates as soon as I get more supplies!

In other news, I recently painted my rims black using Rustoleum High Performance Wheel paint which has held up surprisingly well. I also just ordered a cat back exhaust system and will be posting pics soon!

XC70 LED Gauge Mod

2012-03-03T01:24:00.003-05:00

DISCLAIMER: I will not be held responsible for any damage, tickets, or failed inspections if you choose to do this mod. This mod requires a good knowledge of electronics, SMD soldering, and general disassembly.

You will need:
-Torx 35 screw driver
-PLCC-2 LEDs (http://www.oznium.com/plcc-2)
-Soldering Iron (preferably with SMD/SMT tip as well as solder etc)
-Solder Remover Wick

Optional:
-Printer Paper
-Rubber Gloves
-Exacto Knife

Lets begin. First you will need to remove your gauge cluster/console from the dash of your xc70. To do this, you first need to move the steering wheel all the way down, and then pull it all the way towards you, using the adjustment leaver on the left hand side of the steering column.

This will give you enough room to pull out the gauge console trim and the console itself.

So now that the steering wheel is out of the way, you want to pull up the rubber guard on top of the steering column that prevents dirt and dust from getting into the dash. Now that that's popped out, slide your hands under the trim and pull outwards.

The trim should come out with no problems as it is only attached by a few tabs, and when it is removed, it will expose four torx 25 screws the corners of the gauge console. Unscrew these four screws and you should now be able to pull out the console itself.

Unplug the green connector at the back of the console and slide the whole unit out on either side of the steering wheel. So now that we have the gauge console removed, we can head over to the work bench to begin disassembling the unit.

With the unit on the table, you want to start on the right side, and begin to undo the clips holding the cover and inner trim to the actual panel where the PCB is attached.

Once all the tabs are undone, remove the clear plastic cover that protects the gauges as well as the the other plastic cover.

Now that you have all the gauges exposed, proceed by removing the needles and gauge faces. Make sure that you DO NOT touch the gauge faces as any hand oils will stain them.

The easiest way i found to remove the needles without seriously uncalibrating them is to hold them in place with your thumb and pointer finger while using your other hand to pry the needle off the shaft.

Once all the needles have been removed, you will then turn the panel over and unscrew all the gauge faces. After those have been removed and set aside, you can then unscrew the remaining screws and separate the PCB from the plastic panel. If you are going to swap out the information displays LEDs, remove the LCD from the PCB at this point.

Now that you have the PCB separated from all the plastic pieces, locate all the SMD LEDs that you would like to swap out. There are 3 LEDs for the accelerometer, and tachometer; 1 LED for the fuel gauge and temp gauge; 5 LEDs for the left information readout LCD and 3 LEDs for the odometer LCD and clock LCD. Once you have found all the LEDs that you would like to replace you can begin desoldering the stock LEDs and replacing them with the new ones.

To desolder PLCC-2 LEDs, I like to first add a little bit of solder to all the contacts so that the solder wick has something to really catch onto.

After adding a little more solder, take your solder wick and place it above the solder. Then press the solder tip on the wick while pushing down onto the solder. This will melt the solder into the wick so that you can remove the LED. After the solder is removed from both sides of the LED, put the iron on one side melting the solder underneath the LED, and flick up. This will lift the LED off of the trace pads allowing you to remove it. Remember not to hold the iron on the trace pads too long because it will burn the PCB, also be careful not to melt any other part of the board. Once all of the LEDs that you want swapped are removed you can then solder on your new LEDs.

Now you can get your new LEDs and place them where the old LEDs were while making sure to orient them the right way (the notch on the LEDs should point to the top left corner). Using a pair of tweezers or some other small item, hold the LED in place while you apply a small dab of solder to the pad and foot of the LED to reattach it to the board. Repeat this until all of the LEDs that you want swapped are change out. When you are all set, take the PCB back to your car to test it before you close everything up. Plug the PCB back in BEFORE you put your key in the ignition. If everything works, you will now have custom lit gauges!

If every thing checks out, you are now good to go! However if you changed the information displays LEDs, I would recommend making a new filter to dissipate the light from the LEDs.

First take the LCD that you removed earlier in the tutorial and remove the metal shroud by bending the tabs.

Now remove the LCD and you should find a neon green diffusion sheet which will look something like this.

Take this diffuser and place it on a piece of medium weight printer paper and using a sharp exacto knife, cut out the diffuser onto the paper. You should now have an exact copy of the diffuser but white. Using the white paper will diffuse the light better without adding a green tint.

You can now reassemble the LCD and attach it back onto the PCB. If everything checks out ok and the LEDs all function fine, you can reassemble the gauge cluster. Congratulations, you now have a custom lit gauge cluster!!!!

Gauge LED Swap

2012-01-27T21:08:00.004-05:00

Hey guys!

Here is the tutorial I wrote on how to do an LED swap on a Volvo XC70 gauge cluster! Sorry its on a forum but I will repost it here this weekend.

Volvo XC70 Gauge LED Swap

Router Shootout: Is the most expensive router really the best?

2011-11-25T22:10:00.001-05:00

Its finally here!! Yes that's right, now that I have a little free time I can finally post this review that I have said I would post months ago!

In this review, I will be comparing four different routers on their performance, price, speed, ease of setup and build quality. The four competing routers are the Netgear WNDR3700v2, the Netgear WGR614v9, the D-Link DIR-825 and the TP-Link TP-WR1043NDv1.8. Now the main purpose of this test was because my house was in need of a new router and because I could not connect to the internet from the family room which is a few rooms away from the router. So I figured I would kill two birds with one stone and review some of the routers I was buying.

For the test, I wanted to get a whole range of routers not just the high end ones. I bought two high end routers, one medium end router and also tested the cheap router I bought over five years ago. In the high end category, we have the Netgear WNDR3700v2 which retails for $130 and was number three on the top ten router list. Next we have the D-Link DIR-825 which retails for $110 and was number four on the top ten router list. Going down in price range to the medium category we have the TP-Link TP-WR1043NDv1.8 which retails for $70. Now this router brand is not very popular but does have comparable specs which is why I added it to the test. Finally we have the five year old Netgear WGR614V9 which retails for a mere $30. Going by the prices we would assume that the Netgear WNDR3700v2 is the best but as I will illustrate later, it is far from it.

To test these routers I ran speedtest.net and used both inSSIDer 2.0 and Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector to check the network and signal strength. All of these programs are free and can help a great deal in testing and checking your wireless network specifications. For the test computers I used my Asus G73SW laptop and my Droid X.

Now the whole point of the test was to find the best router for range, ease of use, and power. So I set up all the routers in the room that they would normally be in and had my laptop on hand so that I could move around the house testing the network.

So to start off with, I set up the routers one at a time and checked to make sure they all worked before I went and tested them all. For the Netgear WNDR3700v2, it took under five minutes to get it all set up and updated. The Netgear WGR614v9 and the D-Link came in second taking about 10 minutes to fully set up. Now the TP-Link was by far the worst of the four and took over 15 minutes to setup and I had to restart the setup multiple times due to a bad setup.

After all the routers were setup I then opened up the two wifi programs and began scanning.

This screenshot from inSSIDer shows all the routers turned on and broadcasting. Now because the three newer routers are dual band B/G/N routers they should have a slightly weaker signal than the B/G, five year old, Netgear router. This is the case for the TP-Link but the two "high end" routers are significantly lower in signal strength than the old Netgear. I then moved up to the family room to test the signal strength/range of the routers because this room is the know "dead zone". After refreshing both Xirrus and inSSIDer, I found that only the dual band N routers showed up and that the old Netgear router was non-existent.

As you can see by the graph in the screenshot of Xirrus, the WGR614v9 and the TP-Link are very strong at first but then drop off almost immediately after I leave the room. The D-Link and WNDR3700v2, however, slowly decrease in signal strength and then reach the levels of the WGR614v9 and the D-Link. But the WNDR3700v2 does stay a bit higher than the rest of the routers and has a pretty level signal. So I turned off all the other routers and began to test the routers one by one.

Because the WNDR3700v2 had the best signal when in the family room, that was the one that I chose to test. In the screen shot below, we see that the two programs can pick up the signal but that it is in the 75 range (the lower the number the better). I then used the built in connection tester in Xirrus and tested the network. As you can see, the results were what I expected from a router that far away and with that kind of signal.

I then tested the WGR614v9, the TP-Link and the D-Link routers. Out of the three, only the D-Link passed which was very interesting because it was also in the 75 range and had a choppy signal.

So I then tested the network using Pingtest.Net. The results were far from excellent but still mediocre for the signal strength/quality of the router.

As a final test I opened up Firefox and tried to connect to google.com which failed. I re-ran the connection test which then came back as all fails.

At this point I realized that If I wanted to get internet in the family room, I would need to get a repeater/range extender, or a new antenna. So I began to look around for antennas on both the internet and in local electronics stores. Since the WNDR3700v2 and the D-Link placed best out of the four routers I chose, I looked for viable antenna options for those models. Because the WNDR3700v2 has internal antennas, it made more sense to choose the D-Link because of the external antennas.

After some time, I finally found a decent $30 7db antenna at a local electronics store and brought that back home for testing. With this new antenna I found that the signal jumped from 48ish to 40. Now this is a significant improvement from the old signal strength but I had expected more since the antenna was so strong and because I was so close to the router. I then realized that I had not configured the router. When I went into the configuration module, I found that the router was broadcasting both 5ghz and 2.4 and that it was on channel 1, which is the default channel for most routers. So I turned off 5ghz broadcasting which left only the 2.4ghz N and switched over from B/G/N broadcasting to just G. Using just G allowed for fewer conflicting frequencies and allowed the router to focus on just one band as opposed to trying to broadcast all three. I then switched from channel 1 to channel 7 and saw a significant jump in signal strength (from 40 to 25).

Here is the router originally.

After attaching the antenna.

And after changing the channel and band.

I then moved back to the family room and low and behold! INTERNET!!!!

And to wrap up heres the main info on all the routers.

Netgear WNDR3700v2

Speed: 300mbps n 2.4ghz/300mbps n 5ghz

Setup: Very easy. Under five minutes to get it up and running.

Build Quality: Sleek glossy black plastic. Very nice looking. Stealth. High quality plastic

Price: MSBR $130

Netgear WGR614v9

Speed: 54mbps g 2.4ghz

Setup: Easy. Takes about 10 minutes

Build Quality: High quality plastic, matte white color with clear edge. Small

Price: MSBR $30

D-Link DIR-825

Speed: 300mbps n 2.4ghz/300mbps n 5ghz

Setup: Easy. Takes about 10 minutes

Build Quality: Glossy white. High quality plastic. Black band around edge. Very durable

Price: MSBR $110

TP-Link TP-WR1043NDv1.8

Speed: 300mbps n 2.4ghz Couldn’t even connect to the internet.

Setup: Medium. I had to restart a couple of steps. Took about 15 minutes

Build Quality: Cheap plastic. Copies dlink outer black ring.

Price: MSBR $70

So overall I would definitely purchase the D-Link DIR-825 router because of its customizability, specifications, price and build quality and would also strongly recommend purchasing a higher strength antenna if you face signal problems.

Well I hope you enjoyed this lengthy post and I will also be uploading a few more projects very soon!

Mini-Kart!

2011-08-17T23:17:00.000-04:00

Hey all! Like I promised here are some pictures of the Mini-Kart. It is an all electric, mini, go-kart that is supposed to weigh under 53 pounds. So far it is within the weight limit and looks as if it will run beautifully.

The frame is made of 1/4 inch aluminum that was water jetted with cutouts allowing support as well as keeping the weight under the limit. The remaining supporting sections of the frame are made of 80/20.

The rear wheels are belt driven by two motors, with one motor per wheel. The wiring is quite simple in comparison to the Cap-Kart, which was extreamly tedious, and took only a matter of days. I hope to get a video of the kart in action this Sunday. I also have a router review coming up in a few days also.

Update!

2011-08-09T20:17:00.001-04:00

Well by now you have probably gotten the sense that I don't check my blog/post very often.... Between school and other activities I have found it hard to find time to post. As for my last post, there will be no water cooling post as I was unable to obtain the funding necessary to purchase all of the requires supplies. I feel that I have not been very organized or devoted to this blog and will try to update it more often.

Now as far as updates on what Ive been up do, I have recently gotten back together with the Summer Engineering group and we are currently building a Mini electric go kart for this summers project. Our goals are to make it weigh 50 pounds or less and be easy to use etc. So far we have built the frame out of 1/8th inch aluminum sheet that has been water-jetted and are now moving onto the wiring stage (my department!). I will post pictures this weekend and will try to update you guys on the project as it progresses.

As for my DJing, I have slowly been building up my arsenal of lights and equipment. I post a new mix every few months and try to snag any gig I can get. I have now moved on to playing more Dubstep than Hardcore as people are more accepting of that type of electronic music. If you would like to listen to my mixes or want to like my artist page please visit www.facebook.com/audioinfection. There you will find links to my mixes/more info.

I also recently purchased my first laptop. It is an Asus G73SW and a beast of a laptop if I do say so myself. It gets the job done wonderfully and can run SolidWorks and high end games like a breeze. I will post more info soon. Another update computer wise is the new wiring in the desktop PC. I got sick of seeing the semi organized cables and decided to modify the case a little bit to accommodate the massive amount of wires. It now has a very clean look and I look forward to redoing the water cooling loop.

As I final note I just want to say thanks for all the loyal followers. I know that I have not been as dedicated as you have and would like to try and change that. Thanks for your support and I hope to keep updating this blog!

Watercooling Review and Testing!

2011-04-24T00:41:00.000-04:00

Hey guys! In a few weeks I will be posting a complete guide and step by step info on my new water cooling setup for my Desktop PC. I already have an all in one water cooling unit on the computer but I want to upgrade the loop and do some benchmark testing. What I will be testing for is performance differences between an all in one water cooling unit and a custom build loop. So stay tuned as more posts will come!

Chauvet Hurricane 700 LED MOD

2011-02-09T16:27:00.000-05:00

Since getting into DJing, I have purchased a large amount of DJ gear including a Chauvet Hurricane 700 fog machine. After using this great fogger for a while I encountered a problem which was fixed in the newer models; you cant see the fluid level meter in the dark. So I did what what any other LED fanatic would do. I grabbed my screw driver and took the fogger apart with the hopes of adding an LED to the fluid tank so that I would be able to see the fog level in the dark. So here is the instructable I whipped together a while ago to show how I went about adding an LED to the Chauvet Hurricane 700. Enjoy!

Chauvet Hurricane 700 MOD

UPDATE?

2011-01-29T15:29:00.000-05:00

In my last post I stated that I would continue to update this blog and continue to post all the projects that I have worked on... Well I guess not. It has now been seven months since my last post and I still have not completed my Xbox 360 mod due to personal reasons (I have gone through 3 Xbox 360s now and dont want to break another one....). Yes I will eventually finish that project but for now I am putting the project on hold.

As far as the projects go, I have not been working on any major ones recently. Due to the tremendous amount of school work that I have to do this year I haven't really had time work in the basement. I have been working a little bit on my old M1A1 Abrams model tank kit which is coming along nicely, as well as a few Airsoft modifications/rebuilds, and also some DJ light mods. I will post a few pictures in the coming weeks of the different things that i have been working on. Sometime this year I also plan on rebuilding the water cooling system of my computer and will definitely post pictures of that, so stay tuned!

As for the fish, they are doing swimmingly (excuse the pun) and are happier than ever. However since my last post about fish, I have had a large number of fish die. There is now only one guppy tank with two guppies left, and one shark and three tiger barbs have died in the 55 gallon tank. :( On the bright side, Humphrey has continued to grow as well as the two ID sharks (im going to need a bigger tank soon). I have also decided to redo all of the fish tanks so that they will be cleaner and will be easier to clean.

So hope you have enjoyed this update and I PROMISE that I will update this blog more regularly!

-Chris

P.S. Sorry about all the ads... I decided to use AdSense so that I can make a little money :)

Xbox Mobile Update

2010-05-03T20:36:00.000-04:00

After a long period of inactivity, I am sorry to announce that the Xbox Mobile project will be postponed for a while. My Xbox started to malfunction and wouldn't work with my wireless controllers so I am holding off on the project until I can obtain a new Xbox. Thanks to all my readers!

EDIT: I bought a new Xbox on Ebay and hope to continue the project in a few months.

Xbox Mobile Update

2010-02-06T18:15:00.001-05:00

>>Xbox Mobile V1.0: Part 2 (water cooling unit)<<

After the main disassembly of the Xbox and the water block installation, I then moved on to the water cooling unit. To begin, I started off by disassembling the liquid cooling unit (for those of you who don't know, this is the CoolIt Systems Domino ALC unit).

The unit before disassembly

First I removed the four rubber anti vibration screws and the four regular screws that attach to the 120mm fan.

Next I removed the side panel that attaches to the radiator and the PCB inside.

Here's a picture of the PCB

Then I proceeded by draining all the coolant from the closed-link system. So I grabbed an old glass container with a lid, and cut the tube with an Exacto knife, which allowed the coolant to drain.

I found it was easiest to drain when the radiator was elevated.

All the drained coolant

Now that all the liquid had been drained I cut off all the old tubing from the remaining parts. Remember to be careful to not cut too deep; this can damage the hose barbs.

After all the tubes had been removed I then removed the pump from the radiator. To do this I used a hack saw and cut the metal outlet port to separate the pump from the radiator. Make sure you don't cut too close to the pump inlet port.

The pump after separation

The outlet port after cutting

Next I used a file to smooth the edges of the outlet and inlet ports on the radiator and pump.

Almost done!

If you look at the picture of the radiator outlet port (the one above the pump) you will notice a black plastic ring inside of the port. This is the male end of the pump that was used to couple the pump and radiator together. For our application we will need this removed. So I grabbed a drill and flat head screwdriver and pried it out.

After the ring had been removed

After looking through several hardware stores I was unable to find a hose barb that would fit inside the outlet hole. So I was forced to find another solution. While thinking about how I could solve this problem, I came across the original water block that came with the ALC system. This water block had two hose barbs that had the same ID (inner diameter) as the other barbs (the one on the other side of the radiator and on the pump), thus creating a perfect solution.

So I once again grabbed my hack saw and cut off the two barbs at the base where they connect to the water block.

One more barb to go!

After removing the two barbs, I filed the bottoms so that there would be a nice flat seal on the inside of the port.

Next I placed the filed barb inside the outlet port to check the size. The base of the barb was just a little bit too big, so I got out my drill and widened the hole.

Before drilling

After drilling!

After some pressure leak testing, I found that for the most part, the new barb had created a tight seal. But there was still a little bit of water seeping out. So I grabbed my Gorilla epoxy and applied a generous amount to the base of the barb.

On the right side of the barb you can see a small puddle forming.

Gotta love epoxy!

Now that the epoxy had been applied, I let the radiator sit for a few days to dry. In the mean time I took the remaining barb and attached it to the input side of the pump. To do this, I drilled out the middle of the pump input port so that the remaining barb could fit inside.

The pump after the newly drilled hole

Yay it fits!

Now that the other hose barb had been attached to the pump, I applied some more epoxy to secure it.

This concludes part 2 of the Xbox Mobile modification. Stay tuned for more updates and part 3!

>>End of part 2<<

Xbox Updates

2010-01-27T19:29:00.000-05:00

After a few hours of contemplation, I have decided that I am going to take my Xbox mod to the next level. Since this mod has only been done a couple of times (to my knowledge), this seems like an appropriate endeavor. Not only will I be water cooling my Xbox, I am also going to build it into a Husky tool case, with a 20" LCD monitor, water cooling (of course), and maybe a keyboard. For this mod I will be implementing many of the same techniques as Ben Heck, who is in my book, a modding genius. If you are interested in other game system mods, and an amazing Xbox 360 laptop, check him out at http://benheck.com/.

Also my last post explains my reasons for doing this mod and some terminology that may be helpful to know.

So now lets start off with some of my goals for this project. My over all goal for this project is to have a working Xbox laptop/mobile case. The Xbox will be water cooled and integrated into a Husky metal tool case with speakers, a 20" monitor and maybe a keyboard if it will fit. So what are we waiting for?! Lets go!

>>Xbox Mobile V1.0: Part 1<<

After much indecisiveness on whether or not I was going to take my Xbox apart, I finally made the decision to modify my beloved Xbox 360. To start off I brought my Xbox down into my basement workshop and began to gather my main materials. For basic materials I used an Xbox 360, an XSPC Xbox water block, and a CoolIt Domino ALC Liquid Cooling system.

Next I proceeded by disassembling my Xbox (for this project I wont show the disassembly process. If you don't know how to take your Xbox apart here is a good guide http://llamma.com/xbox360/repair/Xbox-360-Disassembly.htm).

The Xbox after disassembly

After removing the two case halves, the motherboard was revealed.

Then I proceeded by removing the disk drive, fan duct, and fan from the metal case. All that was left was the main board.

Now that the Xbox had been stripped of its main components, I then began to remove the heatsinks from the GPU and CPU. Here is a picture of what the CPU and GPU looked like after removing the heat sinks.

I have alot of thermal paste to remove...

In order to remove the old thermal paste, I used rubbing alcohol, some Qtips and alot of patience. Because the thermal paste was old and had under gone many temperature changes, it was hard and gummy, so I dabbed the rubbing alcohol onto the old thermal paste and let it sit for a while.

In the mean time, I picked up a pack of Thermaltake Copper Memory Heatsinks, and applied them to the surrounding chips. These heatsinks will hopefully disperse even more heat.

Nice!

After applying heatsinks to all the large chips I moved back to the cleaning process at hand. I kept reapplying the alcohol when it had evaporated, until I felt a change in consistency of the paste. When I felt that I had soaked the thermal paste in the alcohol long enough, I then moved on to using Qtips and paper towel to smear off the paste.

Almost done!

Finnaly after 3o minutes of work, I had succeded in cleaing off most if not all of the old thermal paste.

Its so shiny!!!!!

Now that all the thermal paste had been removed, I grabbed my recently purchased tube of Arctic MX-3 Thermal Compound, and began to apply it to the freshly cleaned chips.

Oops! Applied a little too much thermal paste!

I then grabbed my XSPC water block and screws, and positioned them on the mother board (I found that it was easier to attach the water block when holding it sideways so as not to smudge the thermal paste).

After a long and uncomfortable 10 minutes, I had finnaly attached the water block to the mother board (yay!). Now time to take a break after a long day...

All done!

Next we will be focusing on the water cooling system so stay tuned!

>>End of part 1<<

Updates! ~NEW~

2010-01-23T22:08:00.001-05:00

After nearly five months of inactivity, I have resumed blogging/updating this site. Since my last post there have been many new changes and projects that i have either begun or finished which I will be updating you on shortly, so sit back and let the barrage of updates begin.

My arsenal of fish has dramatically increased with the addition of two ID sharks to my 55 gallon tank and a whole slew of baby guppies in one of my 10 gallon tanks. My RC boat is still under construction due to the fact that I need one more A123 battery and a new gear (I drilled the last one off center). As for new projects, I have decided to undertake the task of water cooling my Xbox 360. Since I believe that I will actually complete my water cooling mod on my Xbox, most of the new updates will focus on that project.

For those of you that own Xbox 360s, we all fear the dreaded RROD (red ring of death for those of you who don't understand gaming lingo :P). It haunts us in our sleep and sends shivers down our backs whenever we think of turning our Xbox on. This creates a never ending cycle of fear which can cause unwanted stress on ones self. That is why I decided that I was going to fight back against the cruel and evil clutches of the RROD and instill peace and tranquility to my one and only Xbox. Viva La Revolution! No, I'm not talking about marches and starting riots, I'm talking about water cooling my Xbox!

The RROD is a hardware malfunction that is very common with the Xbox 360. It is caused by either a direct hardware failure or the most common condition, over heating. Yes, you might be asking yourself "Doesn't the Xbox have adequate cooling?" the answer is "no, not for long term use."

The Xbox 360 is cooled by two heatsinks, one for the CPU (central processing unit) and the GPU (graphics processing unit), and a dual 60mm exhaust fan. When the RROD occurs, it is usually due to over heating. This can be cause by a variety of factors, most of which precede long term use or improper ventilation. When the Xbox is in use, it can produce massive amounts of heat. The heatsinks are used to dissipate the heat along a set of copper or aluminum fins. If the Xbox gets too hot, the circuit board could bend or worse, components could fry. The usual case with the RROD is the heat sinks getting dislodged from the GPU and CPU. The heatsinks are held in place with two X clamps (one for each processing unit) and eight retention screws. The clamps attach to the bottom of the circuit board and screw into the heatsink, sandwiching the processing unit chips. When the circuit board over heats, it begins to flex and bend. This can cause the x clamps to bend and become loose, which in turn, stops dissipating the heat produced by the chips. This then causes the RROD error and renders the Xbox useless, unless you are willing to send it to Microsoft or have the proper knowledge to try and fix it yourself.

Even thought I have never gotten the RROD, I still fear its wrath, that's why I decided to water cool my Xbox and because I love to void warranties. Water cooling or liquid cooling is a cooling method in which a coolant flows over a component, gains heat, and is then pumped to a radiator where the heat is dissipated, and the liquid cooled. This method can be extremely efficient in cooling certain components and is mostly used in high end PCs and other high heat applications.

In the next few weeks I will be posting pictures and eventually a full project description for use as a guide. In the mean time feel free to browse my blog and dont forget to comment, or email me! Also, check out some of my other projects in the side bar to the right. >>>>>>>>>>>>>

Happy modding!

Updates!

2009-08-22T19:08:00.000-04:00

Well school will be starting for me in about one week which means that I dont have much time to work on any major projects. But as far as projects go, the last one that I will be attempting to complete for this summer is converting a brushed RC boat into a brushless RC boat. Most of the parts needed have been either bought or made. Right now im finishing up the paint job and will then move onto the electronics of the boat.

The boat will be powered by five A123: 32113 cells which deliver about 3.6 Volts each. The motor is a 2900kv brushless motor thats anodized pink. I have added an aluminum watercooling sleve to reduce the motor temperatures and to make the motor look cooler. As I begin to finnish up the project I will post pictures and eventually the whole process.

In other news, the BWD Electric Scooter has been completed and has successfully passed its maiden test run. Click the link in the side bar to go to the website!

More updates soon!

Aquarium Update

2009-08-14T13:55:00.000-04:00

Humphrey, my blue lobster, has molted a second time and has successful destroyed all plants in my tank. If I want an aquascape I may need to buy another tank, without a blue lobster. In other news, the new lights are working wonderfully, I now have a nice layer of algae growing on the hood glass and a few spots on the regular glass. Time for some extreme cleanup!

More updates soon!! Happy fishkeeping!

Aquarium Update

2009-07-29T16:30:00.000-04:00

Since my last update, I recently purchased an overhead florescent shop light as my new hood for the 55 gallon tank. It is 48" long and fits perfectly over my existing plastic hoods. Now I have two 6700K full spectrum lights illuminating my beautiful tank.

In other news, Humphrey, my blue lobster, molted. He is now twice the size he used to be, and has a more navy blue shell. Even though hes nocturnal, he still comes out during the day to harass the Gouramis or "catch" food floating in the water. One of his funnier stunts has him rearing up on his hind claws and trying to jump and catch the food floating in the water. This keeps him healthy and makes my family laugh. He is one amazing little critter.

More updates soon! Happy fish keeping!

Aquarium Update

2009-07-22T12:09:00.000-04:00

In my previous aquarium update, I talked about the fish that I was planning on getting "Fish wise, I plan on adding a cobalt blue lobster, and more gouramis." The lobster I planned on getting was from my favorite fish website drsfostersmith.com.

This site usually provides the average and low income fish owners with AMAZING deals. The site has a great selection of products as well as great deals and sales on usually expensive products. I would highly recommend this site for your inanimate aquarium supplies.

The sister site that provided Cobalt blue lobsters, looked legitimate and professional. The lobsters were being sold at a price of $34 per baby lobster. When I went to a local fish store to check out the store itself and the fish it provided, I found the same lobster being sold for $10 (baby lobster) and $20 (adult lobster).

I was extremely surprised that this local fish store would have a better deal then the highly acclaimed and amazingly reviewed site drsfostersmith.com. Even though drsfostersmith.com has great deals on many different products, I would do my research first and check out my local fish store, because you never know what great deals you will find.

My Cobalt Blue Lobster

In my 55 gallon freshwater tank, I now have a cobalt blue lobster. These little guys are both beautiful and enjoyable invertebrates to have. They clean the bottom of your tank as well as provide a new dimension to your tank. These critters, start out about an inch in length, but can grow to a maximum size of five inches, and can be long lasting companions if taken care of. From beginners to professionals, I would highly recommend this invertebrate for your tank. They will provide enjoyment and will add color to your tank.

DIY Fish Tank CO2 Diffuser

2009-07-19T19:18:00.000-04:00

In this DIY, I will be showing you how to build a CO2 Diffuser for planted aquariums. A CO2 diffuser diffuses the CO2 into microscopic molecules and bubbles of CO2. The plants in aquariums need CO2 in order to photosynthesize in the water. Although fish and other organisms produce CO2, there's not enough in the water to provide adequate carbon dioxide for the plants.

This diffuser is simple and yet effective and will provide your plants with a healthy source of carbon dioxide.

The materials needed in order to build this diffuser are:

A 2 liter soda bottle with cap
1/4 diameter vinyl airline tubing
1/4 diameter valve
A small power head (used the power head from a small sponge filter)
A plastic cone/container (the longer the better)
A drill
Silicon/hot glue
Check valve

First we'll start off with the 2 liter bottle. Drill a hole into the cap of the bottle, that’s big enough to snugly hold the airline tubing. Next seal both sides of the cap near the airline tubing with silicon or hot glue (I used hot glue because the silicon kept coming off). Now cut the airline tubing about two inches away from the cap. Fit your valve and make sure its snug. Next, measure out the appropriate length of airline tubing that will connect to the other end of the valve and lead into the tank. When you have finished measuring, cut the tubing and attach one end to the remaining end of the cut off valve (adding a check valve is optional but highly recommended to prevent back siphoning). The other end of the airline tubing will connect to the plastic container or tube. Drill a hole near the edge of the top of the plastic container. Push the airline tubing into the hole and seal. Next drill another hole for the end of the power head and seal. Now place the diffuser in the tank and make sure the seals are working correctly. If your diffuser is sealed correctly then tilt the container so that the opening is facing down and make sure that there is no air inside the container. Your diffuser is now complete!

My finished diffuser

In order to produce CO2 we will need the following:

Yeast
Sugar
Water

The CO2 is created by the yeast germs in the 2 liter bottle. The yeast consumes the sugar in the water and then respirates, creating CO2. The CO2 is then forced through the airline tubing and into the plastic "chamber". In the chamber, the water in the tank and the water being forced into the chamber via the power head, mix the CO2 into the water and into smaller bubbles. Because CO2 is less dense than water, it wants to rise to the surface, but the top of the container keeps the CO2 inside. Thus, the CO2 is mixed and only the small bubbles and molecules escape and are released into the water to help perform photosynthesis.

The exact measurements vary from person to person, but my recipe will create about two to three weeks of CO2. The materials required include:

Two cups of sugar
About four cups of water
A tablespoon of yeast

First fill the 2 liter bottle with two cups of sugar. Then mix in about four cups (or until three inches from the top of the bottle) of luke warm tap water. Next add about a tablespoon of yeast. Shake the mixture well for about ten seconds. Now place the cap that leads to the diffuser, on the bottle. In about two hours, if made correctly, the yeast should start producing CO2. If after four hours, there is no CO2 being produced, warm the bottle in a bath of warm water. DO NOT MICROWAVE. THIS WILL KILL THE YEAST!

My yeast mixture

In about a week or so the plants should be flourishing. If not then there are other factors that may be effecting the photosynthesis such as the lighting, how much lighting, water quality, and water temperature.

HAPPY FISH KEEPING!

AQUARIUM UPDATE

2009-07-19T18:30:00.001-04:00

After a long and time consuming school year, I now have the time to regularly update my blog. There have been a lot of changes regarding my fish and tank setups. I now have three fresh water tanks running. Two of which are 10 gallons, the third is a 55 gallon long tank.

The two 10 gallon tanks

In the 10 gallon on the left there are two neon's, and a plecostomus catfish. In the 10 gallon on the right there are three adult guppies (two females one male), sevin six week old baby guppies, twelve four week old baby guppies, ten 2 week old baby guppies, one HUGE 5 inch plecostomus catfish, one two-inch long ghost shrimp, and two zebra fish.

My 5" catfish

The six week old guppies

The four and two week old baby guppies

The New Tank

The 55 gallon features: two Penguin 330 filters by Marineland, one Visi-Therm Stealth Heater 200W by Marineland, one Whisperer 60 air pump by Tetra Tech, real drift wood, real rocks, live plants, three airstones, and one DIY CO2 diffuser. Later I plan on upgrading the filters to one Ehime canister filter, a T5 overhead 48" lighting system, and maby starting a saltwater tank.

The fish include: two blue gouramis, four tiger barbs, one plecostomus catfish, and two bala sharks. Fish wise, I plan on adding a cobalt blue lobster, and more gouramis.

The four tiger barbs

The two bala sharks

One of the gouramis

Stay tuned for more pictures and fish updates!

Aquarium Update

2009-05-03T16:30:00.000-04:00

All the fish have been acclimated to the tank and are doing very well. The tanks Ph has balanced out to 7.0 after buying a new stabilizer (The other ph down was defective so do not buy the TopFin line of PH products). I also bought a new gravel cleaner. The EHEIM Quick Vac PRO. I am very impressed and satisfied with the new cleaner because it doent require removing water from the tank or refiltering water (with the old syphen gravel cleaner it removed waste and water which ment i needed to add more water or filter the removed water). The Quick Vac PRO runs on 4 AA batteries and is fully submersable. A motor spins a small fan which sucks up aquarium scum/sludge. Overall this product is outstanding with its ease of use and amazing cleaning power. The one downside is that there is no "fish protector/screen" and i almost sucked up a ghost shrimp... Here are some pictures and a video of the EHEIM and some other photos.

A front view of the tank

A side view of the tank

The disgusting filter after 2 weeks of use (near the top right of the filter there is some weird clear gell like substance...)

The EHEIM logo on the box

The entire assembled EHIME measures about 2 whole feet!

Aquarium Update

2009-04-23T19:19:00.000-04:00

Since the last post I have been able to balance out the ph at 7. The tank has cleared up (The previous pictures showed a "foggy" tank....) and I have purchased 4 more fish. 2 Neon Tetras and 2 Zebra fish.

Here is one of the Neons

Heres a blurry photo of a Zebra fish... they are very fast.

The two guppies have become best friends...

I have not come up with names for them but I will very soon. I am also building an LED moonlight (blue Leds for night visibility of the tank) and still seting up the 24/7 Fish Cam. More updates will be posted soon... so stay tuned!

Happy Fishwatching!

A New Addition to The Family

2009-04-21T15:20:00.000-04:00

Ever since my hamster Theodore died, I have had a longing for a new pet. After cleaning out the basement and finding a large quantity of fish supplies, I became obsessed with fish. I prepared the 10 gallon tank and made several trips to PetCo to buy additional supplies ( a submersable heater, a bubble tube, fish food, and thermomiter). In the beginning, there were a few problems with the tap water ph, so I went to Petsmart to purchase a ph down solution. I ended up going home with a fake piece of drift wood and 3 Ghost Shrimps, 2 Guppies (male and female) and 1 catfish. After lowering the ph (from 7.8 to 7.0) and acclimating the fish to the new water, I released the fish. They are now happily swimming in my new tank. In the future I plan on upgrading from a 10 gallon tank to a 250 gallon tank (when I have enough money). I also plan on having a 24/7 webcam stream of the tank. I will have an update in a few weeks.

Here are some pictures of the tank and fish.

This is a front view of the tank with the PetSmart fish baggies in the water.

This is a side view of the tank

This is the catfish named George

These are the two male and female guppies named Yuppie (the female) and Guppie (the Male).

Here are the 3 Ghost Shrimps named Sly, Shadow and Sneaky