The ghetto mod thread

[Dan81]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

Upgraded a Monorail Computer many years ago and upgraded the CPU from 166 to 333mhz. Needless to say there wasn't room for the heatsink and fan, but the chipset heatsink assembly from a G5 worked well with a little...persuasion.

That HDD molex plug looks quite weird... one 5v and 3 grounds?

[Agent24]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

That HDD molex plug looks quite weird... one 5v and 3 grounds?

They probably just ran out of yellow cable, or never bothered to use it. Just because a wire has black insulation doesn't mean it's a ground!!!

[goontron]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

They probably just ran out of yellow cable, or never bothered to use it. Just because a wire has black insulation doesn't mean it's a ground!!!

it could be line like in the US!

[stj]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

it could just be random - ever looked at the colours used in those 5v/12v psu's for IDE/SATA > USB adapters!

[Dan81]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

How can a Deer achieve 450W of power?

Well,here's what case it should have:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix1w75Xy2No

[c_hegge]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

My boss scored himself a free Core i7 HP envy 17 LeapMotion SE laptop. The only problem was, the touchscreen overlay was cracked. Since we didn't want to have to pay $300 for a whole screen assembly (HP doesn't sell the glass separately, nor is anything available on fleabay), he decided to just remove the bezel and not use the touchscreen function (after all, who uses that on a computer anyway?).
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1437620741

The only trouble is that it looks quite ugly. The solution?

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1437620741

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1437620741

Tape. Looks as good as new (at least at a glance)

[Agent24]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

He decided to just remove the bezel and not use the touchscreen function (after all, who uses that on a computer anyway?).

The people Microsoft marketed Windows 8 and Metro to. They seem to think such people exist - I've never seen one...

[momaka]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

The solution?

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1437620741

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1437620741

Tape. Looks as good as new (at least at a glance)

Good one!
I am guessing (and hoping too) that is electrical tape. If it was me, I would have done something more permanent... like hot glue and glossy black paper

Been a while since I posted in this thread. I have so many ghetto repairs now that I don't even think they are ghetto anymore .

[c_hegge]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

It is indeed electrical insulation tape.

[c_hegge]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

A fan like this: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2x-12v-12...item4198df0390
+
One of these - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/221254025...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
and some more electrical tape

and here's the end result - a fan that somewhat resembles the now-discontinued Enermax Vegas.

For reference, that 3rd fan on the top there in the second picture is a regular 4-LED 140mm for the sake of comparison

[Compgeke]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

Somehow my Antec BP500U got rusty on the outside during the move so rattlecan time.

I could've done a better job masking the power socket and switch but honestly this only ever gets used for testing (not permanent installs) so it's good enough.

[kc8adu]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

most exceed that as they blow up!

How can a Deer achieve 450W of power?

Well,here's what case it should have:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix1w75Xy2No

[momaka]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

Somehow my Antec BP500U got rusty on the outside during the move so rattlecan time.

I could've done a better job masking the power socket and switch but honestly this only ever gets used for testing (not permanent installs) so it's good enough.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1438123911

That actually looks quite alright.

But while we are on the topic of ghetto-painted PSUs, here's what a classmate of mine did when he was doing an ATX to bench PSU conversion.

Everell, if you are reading this, please sit down (on a sturdy chair) before continuing below. What you are about to see is one not-so-happy-looking Bestec ATX-250-12Z PSU.

Ready?
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Alright, here we go. A back shot below.

Here you can see the dude spray-painted all over without removing anything.

The front doesn't look that much better either.
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1440088269

And the top...
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1440088269
I think he had some type of cover on the top when he was painting it? Or maybe something else? Beats me

I think the fan takes the cake, though:

Just look at it! Even the dust on it got spray painted . And all of that electric green made my eyes see everything as slightly pink afterwards

Apparently, he simply took the PSU and just spray painted it without removing or taping off anything. Here is the case without the PCB:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1440088269

So how did I get this PSU across my desk? Long story short, we were talking in class about computers, and I told him that I prefer to fix older stuff, especially PC PSUs. Then he told me about the bench PSU he had and how it was "all fine" and working until he accidentally dropped it one day. I said I'll look at it and eventually did.

The problem: blown fuse. I found it almost immediately while in class, so I told him I would need to take it home and examine it in more detail, since a blown fuse means something serious must have happened to it. After checking much of the main stuff (bridge rectifier and other silicon parts) and finding nothing blown, I put a short across the fuse and used a series incandescent bulb. Much to my surprise, the 5VSB came up. Then I tested the main PS by shorting PS_ON to ground, and that also worked.

So, I went to Radio Shack and got a bag of 8A glass fuses. Soldered some leads to one of them and put it in the PSU. Then tested everything again. Here's how the replacement fuse looked:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1440088269

It bothered me that I couldn't figure out the cause of the blown fuse. So I started thinking. Meanwhile, I also started fixing some of the wiring hacks that were done to this PSU by my classmate. Here is an image of it, since it goes a bit beyond my descriptive abilities :
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1440088269
Just worth mentioning is that the heat-shrink tubbing on all of the wiring was loose. The wire connections underneath it were simply done by twisting the wires together. But hey, at least he had the right idea of using heat-shrink tubbing .

Unfortunately, I had to remove all of his work there to redo some of the wire "joints". While at it, I noticed what had caused the fuse to blow:

Yup, look like the case touched the primary heatsink. Most likely from the drop. Given that the PSU was given to me without a top cover, this seemed to fit the scenario. When I asked my classmate about the accident with the PSU, he confirmed the PSU fell to the ground without the top cover. When I explained to him what was the problem and the cause, he was a bit amazed how I figured it all out . I told him to put the cover back on when he gets it home to avoid this problem again in the future AND that the primary heatsink is a shock hazard.

By the way, this was all back in the spring when I was getting ready to graduate, so I didn't spend much time to fix it up more properly. Therefore, I didn't charge him anything either, even though he did offer so. I simply can't accept to do that, knowing that I left CapXon caps behind. They are all over the secondary of this PSU. Sure they appear fine, but we all know that means nothing, especially when it comes to CapXon .

[Compgeke]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

I'm honestly surprised that someone that would have a need for a bench PSU would be as careless as that, especially painting a fan. Also looks like he stood way too close with a rattle can doing it - that thick and peeling that easy looks like a really thick single spray rather than 2-3 coats and patch as needed.

While I didn't remove the PCB or whatnot completely I did at least throw cardboard over any vents and separate the casing prior to painting.

[Per Hansson]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

One of the most entertaining posts on Badcaps, thanks Momaka!

[stj]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

i'v not seen a painjob that bad since the guy next door painted his car --- with a brush!!!!

[Agent24]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

Now that's Ghetto!

[Agent24]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

Wanted to test a video card with a dead fan. Borrowed a 120mm PSU fan and attached it to the heatsink with twist-ties.

No, the 12v cables aren't pulling the card down - it was already bent like that

[momaka]

Re: The ghetto mod thread

I guess video card heat sinks are a popular item to ghetto mod.

I myself have been doing quite a bit of it lately, especially since I have a box of various Xbox 360 GPU and CPU heatsinks.

The last time I made a heatsink for my Radeon 9700 video cards, it looked like this:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...3&postcount=26

It does the job well, but I came up with a newer version now:


It's basically done with one of those "revised" GPU heatsinks for the Xbox 360. I only had to cut a small piece in one of the corners of the heatsink to make it fit (approx. 15 by 35 mm). Then also file two corners on the under side to make better clearance for a few ceramic and Tantalum caps.

Speaking of underside, I still use the same method as the previous version - i.e. an Xbox 360 X-clamp with two sides cut and a small block of wood in the center to raise it a bit from the board so that the X-clamp doesn't short out anything. Here is how it looks:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1444966169

The most notable difference in that last picture between this version and the previous version is that I no longer drill holes through the X-clamp for the screws. Reason why is because those X-clamps are made from really hard steel, and even after drilling one hole with my Titanium drill bit, the bit wears out and I have to sharpen it. Moreover, if I make a slight mistake with the screw hole distance, that makes it much harder to mount the heatsink afterwards. So instead I came up with a different method: use thick steel wire to hold the screw to the X-clamp. This not only saves me time (and trouble) to not have to drill the X-clamp, but I can also move the screw anywhere along the X-clamp's side. So, I can accommodate not just this Radeon 9700 video card, but also many other graphics cards with different screw distances.

And here is a picture that shows the side of the video card with the heatsink:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1444966169

For now, I do not have a dedicated fan for the video card. Instead, what I do is I take a 120 mm case fan and put it at the bottom of the case to direct airflow towards the motherboard. This creates enough air movement around the video card to keep it cool. And while the Radeon 9700 doesn't have an internal temperature probe to tell me at what temperature the GPU core is running, I have tested the same heatsink and 120 mm fan setup on my eVGA GeForce 6200 that I fixed a while back. With average room temperature of about 25C, the GeForce 6200 ran about 47C idle and 55C max under load (3D games). Using my highly temperature-sensitive finger , the GeForce 6200 heatsink got only mildly warm. The Radeon 9700 appeared to run only slightly warmer than that - probably around 40C when I touched it. So I am guessing my modded Radeon 9700 probably runs around 60C max under load. (But again, that is truly a guess.) Anyways, that heatsink should be enough to keep those Radeon 9700 video cards from artifacting again. IIRC, the Radeon draws about 30 and 50 Watts under idle and load conditions, respectively. So I think that heatsink and *some* airflow from a nearby fan around should be enough to keep the card cool. Eventually, though, I might add a dedicated fan on this heatsink. Right now, I just don't have many suitable fans for that.

Wanted to test a video card with a dead fan. Borrowed a 120mm PSU fan and attached it to the heatsink with twist-ties.

And I bet it ran much cooler than with the stock fan, didn't it.

[jakdedert]

Re: Ghetto mod thread

Does this qualify? I think so....

Some time ago, my old phone decided to quit charging its battery. The phone itself worked fine...just wouldn't charge. Battery was good, so I hacked up an old phone, and with some gaff tape and a cassette case, made a new charger. In the background of the first pic is the phone that donated its mb to make the charger.

Worked until I got a new phone.....