Under-case Lighting

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blink182prj

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 28, 2004
Messages
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Hey, I was wondering if you experts out there had any advice for someone building his first computer. I want to add some lighting under my case and was wondering what you guys thought the best way to do that would be. There is only about 3/4" clearance under the case. I was thinking of using some of that glow tape and going around the base of the case, but I'm not sure how well that would acheive the desired effect. Any advice?
 
Yeah, IMHO though they look kind of gawdy. I just want a nice glow coming from the underside. I also have a Thermatake Tsunami, which I don't think those will work on. I realize there are feet out there that work on Tt's, but they look even worse. Any ideas for just an ambient glow?
 
Cut a couple holes for fans, install LED fans. That will give you a nice, even glow and improve your case's ventilation, too.
 
What if I just cut a window in the bottom of my case and let CCFLs inside the case glow through that?
 
Mount a CCFL tube underneath the case, cut a small hole for the inverter wire. Bob's your uncle.
 
Thanks all for the advice!

waddles said:
Mount a CCFL tube underneath the case, cut a small hole for the inverter wire. Bob's your uncle.
Click to expand...

I've never worked with CCFLs before, is 3/4" clearance enough room?

][V][AGIC said:
ive never used this stuff myself but it looks like it would work for you pretty well.
http://xoxide.com/5ftgreenelca.html
glue some of that round the bottome of your case would put a nice glow around the bottom
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I was originally thinking of doing. Anyone have any complaints about the "high pitched whine" what those inverters give off? Can you hear it througha closed case?

Thanks all again!
 
Something like THIS would be excellent for the ultimate in undercase lighting. :D

And no inverters.
 
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How bright would something like this be? Could I get a good 2" of glow if I taped it along the edge of the case?
 
Id Go with Battery Acid!! get a Hole Saw and mount 2-3 fans then your pulling cold air fron the bottom to the inside! 2 birds one Stone ;)

The EL wire in my car makes a Whining noise (no its not the altenator) does get annoying... :(

Up to you tho :p
 
Yeah, I'm thinking I'll do that in the future once I have some practice modding. This is my first build so I'm a little nervous to just cut open my case. For now, I think I'll go with EL tape. Can anyone make a suggestion for a nice true blue (not aqua or icy blue) EL tape?
 
Gotta start sometime mate :)

If you dont do it now, chances are you'll neva want to cut her up :p
 
Personally, to give it a bit of style, i would cut a rectangular hole in the bottom of the case. Then make a metal mesh box for the CCFL to fit in so there are some nice shadows and details to the light.....mount it, run power..etc. It's been done before, though I can't remeber who did it at the moment....Basically a similar concept to the mesh box that Mashie made for his little doom3 shuttle mod that allows the big video card water cooler to protrude from the side of the case..

Perhaps i will do it on my own box.....
 
Wouldn't that make a krazy amount of dust in his machine? or would there be a layer of plexi?
 
http://www.thepcmodshop.com We will be selling underglow kits again shortly. The bases are made from acrylic etched to the size of the case, and then lit from the back. There is an example on the web-site already.
 
Well, I went ahead and bought some MutantMods EL light tape for the underside of my case and, boy, am I disappointed. It was only $11 from provantage.coms hipped, which was a good deal. However, the light really does not provide ample glow and in order to use two strips (i was going to run each one lengthwise down the underside of my case) i have to purchase a whole extra el tape kit. They made it sound like I could cut the EL tape and plug it in to my existing inverter, but they don't provide you an extra plug. Oh well, that's my fault for being a newb. As well as not providing an ample glow, the color is more of an ice blue rather than a deep blue like the fans in my case, so the color doesn't even match. Looks like I'll be looking for other alternatives.

If someome would like, I'll sell the EL tape for $5 + shipping. PM me if you're interested.
 
Sorry for posting again, but does anyone know if any EL wire is made that is a nice deep blue to match the color of my CCFLs and fans? Everything I see online looks bluish-green.
 
You will only get a Sea Green with EL, soz to say it but its true.. i got Neons in the car and they ARE BLUE, i also got EL wire and its Sea Green/blue.

Best bet is look into CCFL's
 
Yeah, sounds like it. I'm also thinking about biting the bullet and drilling some holes in the bottom for a fan or two. So indecisive...
 
Go for it mate, Mask everything off etc and do it right and you'll be fine :)

Just look in Worklogs to See how people mark out their stuff :)

Cheers

Pugs
 
The only problem you might run into with fans on the bottom is an excess of dust entering the case. Just filter them and get the case off the floor, if possible, and you'll be good to go. :)
 
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