Custom wire quick connect/disconnect

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Lord_Vyper

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Jun 28, 2005
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I'm trying to figure out a system that will allow me to connect/disconnect the fans mounted on my side panel when I remove that panel, without having to reach in and manually disconnect the 2 3pin connections.

I'm thinking of taking 2 small pieces of breadboard and mounting strip headers on the edges to accomplish this. The problem is that those headers seem to be fairly delicate, and not able to withstand the normal twisting and uneven forces that happen when I put the panel back on.

Does anyone have any alternative ideas for connection schemes that are more rugged?
 
Get one of these and one of these for each fan if you don't care about the RPM sensor, or one of these and one of these if you want all three conductors. Alternately, you could choose a plug and a jack for each fan from this page, if you don't care about RPM. Granted, you don't have to (and probably don't want to) necessarily buy from radioshack, but those were the quickest links I could find. You can get similar connectors for cheap from other electronics suppliers.

EDIT:
Of course, you could always go with a plug and a jack that are actually intended for use with DC power.
 
Opps, guess I didn't make it clear. I'm wanting to mount one side of the connection on the case, and the other side on the side panel. That's why I'm messing with the headers and breadboard (though I'll probably mod in thermal management circuits since the breadboard's already there :p )
 
Let me see if I understand what you want. You want the connection to be mounted on the case and side panel so the fans just start spinning as soon as you put the panel on the case? So no plugs of any sort?
 
Mohonri said:
Get one of these and one of these for each fan if you don't care about the RPM sensor, or one of these and one of these if you want all three conductors. Alternately, you could choose a plug and a jack for each fan from this page, if you don't care about RPM. Granted, you don't have to (and probably don't want to) necessarily buy from radioshack, but those were the quickest links I could find. You can get similar connectors for cheap from other electronics suppliers.

EDIT:
Of course, you could always go with a plug and a jack that are actually intended for use with DC power.
Click to expand...


Any idea how you would go about hooking multiple wires up to any of those connectors? Having 1 connector rather than 2 or 3 quick-release things, is intriguing.
 
Each of those connectors has either two or three contacts. So you could use them for, say 12V and GND. They generally unscrew and have handy places to solder on the wires.
 
Mohonri said:
Let me see if I understand what you want. You want the connection to be mounted on the case and side panel so the fans just start spinning as soon as you put the panel on the case? So no plugs of any sort?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be doing this with the power on, but yes, that's the idea.
 
hmm ..

that's a bizarre idea ...

you will have to mod both the side panel and the case in order to do that ..

You need to create some sort of interface that will allow the connection to close as soon as you mount the side panel ...

Kinda hard explaining it without paint brush ...
 
Yea, I've been thinking of using these Strip headers on one side, with the female version on the other.
Then i started thinking about how much twisting/torqueing happens when you put a side panel on or take it off, and I'm worried that those pins would eventually bend/break.
 
That's probably why such a thing was never attempted. Very hard since some people are more aggressive than others when it comes to pulling the side panel.

The best place to put it would be at the front of the side panel


If you connect it at the front you will only pull it back and forward, it will be impossible to mess it up but you never know. I would just avoid it unless you do it in such a way that 2 wires come into contact with a metal surface that's fully shielded and insulated between it and the case. When the 2 wires from the fan come into contact with them, as you close the side panel the fans start.

That would be a way but connecton is not guaranteed
 
I guess it depends a lot on how your panel comes off. Is it a 'door'-type that swings open, or is it the kind that slides back, then off?
 
mohammedtaha said:
I would just avoid it unless you do it in such a way that 2 wires come into contact with a metal surface that's fully shielded and insulated between it and the case. When the 2 wires from the fan come into contact with them, as you close the side panel the fans start.
Click to expand...

This is for a plexi case, so there wouldn't have to be much shielding/insulation.

Are you suggesting something like... taking a conductive pen, or foil of some kind, and having the 2 connect at the edge of the panel/case juncture?
 
Lord_Vyper said:
This is for a plexi case, so there wouldn't have to be much shielding/insulation.

Are you suggesting something like... taking a conductive pen, or foil of some kind, and having the 2 connect at the edge of the panel/case juncture?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what i was thinking.
 
Get 2 small pieces of plastic or rubber. Just big enough to hold as many brass tacks as needed for how many leads you have. 2 fans would need 3 brass tacks, 2 for power and 1 for ground (EDIT: on second thought, one positive lead should be okay for 2 fans eh?). Push the tacks thru the plastic and solder wires to the pins sticking thru the other side. Wire up the fans appropriately.

The trick is to mount one piece of plastic to the door and one piece to the case so that the tack heads will touch with the door in the proper closed position. Does the door slide in or swing out cleanly. Line them up vertically or horizontally so that you wont get a short if the door needs to slide into place (EDIT: these contacts will be live with the PC turned on. If this would be a concern, you could open the positive lead with a switch. Something like a case intrusion detection switch that you see on old Compaq's.).
 
upriverpaddler said:
The trick is to mount one piece of plastic to the door and one piece to the case so that the tack heads will touch with the door in the proper closed position. Does the door slide in or swing out cleanly. Line them up vertically or horizontally so that you wont get a short if the door needs to slide into place (EDIT: these contacts will be live with the PC turned on. If this would be a concern, you could open the positive lead with a switch. Something like a case intrusion detection switch that you see on old Compaq's.).
Click to expand...
The case is all plexi, so insulating the contacts wouldn't be a problem. And the side panel is held on by 4 screws in the corners.

This seems like it'd do the trick, but also seems to be a fairly ghetto mod as well.
My main concern is that if I do the same sort of thing with, say the front panel (11 connections) I'd wind up having a large, very visable wad of tacks on the edge of my case :p
 
Use foil tape (like used in the old days for window alarm systems) on your panel put small piece (positive)in top rear corner another (negative) lower rear corner wire your panel circuit to these. inside case use the tack idea 1 in each of those corners on a springy material so you have good contact when the panel is in place. At these distances it would be impossible to short them.
 
Lord_Vyper said:
This seems like it'd do the trick, but also seems to be a fairly ghetto mod as well.
My main concern is that if I do the same sort of thing with, say the front panel (11 connections) I'd wind up having a large, very visable wad of tacks on the edge of my case :p
Click to expand...

I thought of the tack idea for the case door because of the frequency that you would be opening it. No pins to bend and such. It would only be as ghetto as you allow it to be. A nice plastic block with evenly drilled holes and neatly routed wires. And a matching plastic backing to hide your solder job. Could be done cleanly. What sparked the idea for me is the portable VHF radios we use at work. The batteries have copper pads on the bottom. When they are placed in the charger the pads rest on small copper spring leafs.

With the front panel, maybe your IDE header pin type thing would be better.
 
How about taking the contacts from ..say..a cheap/broken/whatever cordless phone and using the contacts from that? Use the phone-base contacts on one side and the contacts from the phone on the other (mix contacts to case+door as you see fit). Slide the door on - presto. ;)
I've never tried it, put I think the idea is sound, as long as you can properly mount the contacts.

Another thing popped in my head too. Metal-strip contacts kind of like the way a bumper-car touches the ceiling?
IE:
 
Ok, what I think I'm going to do for the side panel is this:

Build 2 small thermal regulation circuits onto the fans themselves, and eliminate needing to route/run RPM wires, and be able to aggregate the 2 positive and 2 negative wires down to 1 and 1.
Take brass tacks, and countersink them flush into the back panel of the case (the side panel sits on the back edge). Drill halfway through through the back plate to the hole that the tack fits in, and solder the wires to the tacks.
On the side panel, I'll use 2 thin gold/copper strips mounted on the edge of the panel, with the 2 wires soldered to the ends of the strips.


And for the front panel, with the number of wires involved, and the fact that I'm not going to remove it very often, I'll go with the strip headers and bits of breadboard.
Heh, I'll probably add a resistor or 2 to the bright ass LEDS while I'm at it.

Like so...
 
How about taking the contacts from ..say..a cheap/broken/whatever cordless phone and using the contacts from that? Use the phone-base contacts on one side and the contacts from the phone on the other (mix contacts to case+door as you see fit). Slide the door on - presto.
Click to expand...
Bingo. That's exactly what you want. I was thinking of a similar thing, but I can't upload drawings from work, so I couldn't show what I was thinking.
 
Now I get to go on a hunt for something similar to a roofing nail (large-sh, flat, thin, head & 1"-1 1/2" long) And made out of something more conductive then galvanized aluminum.
 
So you're going with the tack idea, eh? I was going to suggest some sort of spade connector mounted to the case and the door. I do like the tack/nail idea, though. The cordless phone idea is good, too.
 
Grab some sticky back coper foil and away you go.

It's commonly used for stained glass so you may be able to find it at your local arts and crafts store.
 
Why not just wire up an RJ45 connector and just break off the clip?
 
Lord_Vyper said:
Now I get to go on a hunt for something similar to a roofing nail (large-sh, flat, thin, head & 1"-1 1/2" long) And made out of something more conductive then galvanized aluminum.
Click to expand...
They do make copper roofing nails.
 
Roach said:
Why not just wire up an RJ45 connector and just break off the clip?
Click to expand...
Small wire + possible higher amperage (by higher, I mean <2 but >.7), I've had some crazy fans (.8A 92mm "Silent Fan" and 1A Aero4 coolermaster) on the side of my case :)
 
I can't use a RJ45 or spade connector for the same reason I can't use a strip header. Too much wiggling required to put the panel back on. I'd eventually break them loose, bend then, or mess them up in various other ways.

I've been prowling around one of hte local arts/crafts store, and found flat topped decorative copper tacks, used for leather furniture. The head diameter is small enough that only a little bit of dremeling will be required.
On the side panel, I found 1/16" wide copper strips used for decorative window treatments. I've already been playing with them a little bit, and so far so good. Just have to make sure to use a really low wattage soldering iron, because that copper is thin!
 
You won't melt the copper with a soldering iron, but you may burn up the adhesive. Also, keep in mind that copper conducts heat VERY well--don't expect to hold it in one hand while you solder it with the other.
 
Mohonri said:
You won't melt the copper with a soldering iron, but you may burn up the adhesive. Also, keep in mind that copper conducts heat VERY well--don't expect to hold it in one hand while you solder it with the other.
Click to expand...

Was worried about buring off the adhesive and possibly discoloring the backside of the copper. But didn't have any problems. And as for soldering, I have a little gizmo I picked up at a yard sale a while back that has 2 alligator clips on adjustable arms that holds small soldering/modeling work quite nicely for me.

And a little update. On the back piece of the case, I've drilled/wired/mounted the tacks, and added in a small breadboard that functions as a PWM/thermal monitor circuit for both fans.
Sprayed on non-conductive sealant, and broke out the flourescent paint. Makes a nice little piece when viewed from the inside.
 
Lord_Vyper said:
I'm trying to figure out a system that will allow me to connect/disconnect the fans mounted on my side panel when I remove that panel, without having to reach in and manually disconnect the 2 3pin connections.

I'm thinking of taking 2 small pieces of breadboard and mounting strip headers on the edges to accomplish this. The problem is that those headers seem to be fairly delicate, and not able to withstand the normal twisting and uneven forces that happen when I put the panel back on.

Does anyone have any alternative ideas for connection schemes that are more rugged?
Click to expand...

Well this is how I did it using a 3 pin extension from fans and you can be as ruff as guts with it. But then I guess how ruff you are depends on how good your case fits your side panel. No more un-clipping wires and when it's all closed it's hidden.



 
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