Case- & Hardware Modding

[Margot Robbed Me]

On 11/23/2023 at 3:22 AM, sivispacem said:

It might just be their images, but it feels a bit tight for water cooling with 2 360mm rads (or 420/280), though? I can't see any examples of people doing custom loops in it either...

 

420mm rear and 360mm bottom should fit fine. I opened the box today and measured clearances.

 

475mm long and 175mm wide for the bottom. The rear has the same clearance.

 

 

The rear radiator mounting slots go up pretty high. High enough that I think the plug ends of a rad can actually run lines straight into this upper section. Then you can probably do a 90 degree run through the PCI slots, which would look neat with a custom cover over the PCI slots.

 

 

If someone wanted an even larger radiator, you could probably mount a gigantic one externally on the rear of the case lol.

[Margot Robbed Me]

Has nobody else here gotten into 3D printing, considering how useful it can be for case modding?

 

Anycubic is selling refurbished Kobra and Kobra Neo printers on Ebay right now. With the sale code, you can get the Kobra for $80, or a Kobra Neo for $63. Which is dirt cheap for what you get. 110C max bed temp, auto leveling, direct drive extruder, quiet drivers, and a PEI surface.

 

It is ready to print materials like ABS/ASA out of the box, and if you want to print carbon fiber filaments, you'd just need a hardened nozzle swap (a consumable $1 part that takes a minute to switch out).

 

At $63, it is over $100 cheaper than one of the most basic entry level 3D printers you can get, the classic Creality Ender 3. Which doesn't have auto leveling, direct drive, a silent board, or the PEI sheet. Either of these printers, plus a roll of PLA filament for $12 is all you need to get started.

[sivispacem]

Sadly they're full price in the UK, otherwise I'd be all over that like a tramp on chips.

[Margot Robbed Me]

They may have realized it was priced perhaps a bit too cheap.  They just bumped the Kobra Neo up to $100.

 

For the UK, there seem to be some refurbished ones, but one is listed with a "70%" tag, and I can't find any information on what it actually means except their own description which says 90% chance of normal operation. This could just mean that it needs to be leveled, or belts tightened. Which would make it a great deal as well.

 

This is the Kobra Neo for the UK, and it shows a discount code available for me. Not sure if it will for you.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/395176222744?itmmeta=01HPKKTVZWHSMFPS3RJ03NZ0RM&hash=item5c0256a018:g:in4AAOSwH3lkCVRh

 

Here's a regular Kobra that doesn't have the 70% refurbished associated with it, it is simply listed as Used. Also has a discount code.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394771704074?itmmeta=01HPKKTVZWW4X0GK4TTJRHNHD8&hash=item5bea3a290a:g:jOsAAOSwI-RiQYCX

 

I see these as no different than getting a used one from a local classifieds. You'll just need a roll of filament to get going.

 

The regular Kobra with a discount code brings it to about £87. If that's $110 USD, that's still much lower than an Ender 3 printer, even here in the US. Looking at the other 3D printer prices in the UK, this seems to be the best available deal. The great thing about these Ender 3 style printers is that a lot of the replacement parts are universal, especially the hot-end.

[Margot Robbed Me]

On 2/14/2024 at 2:18 AM, sivispacem said:

Sadly they're full price in the UK, otherwise I'd be all over that like a tramp on chips.

 

Here's one marked as Used direct from Anycubic for £79, instead of that 70% Refurbished nonsense. Verified to be functional. It has no accessories included, but the accessories are worthless for most printers. They'll usually include a rubber spatula for peeling finished prints off the bed, some sample filament, and an microSD card for transferring print files from your PC to the printer. Any card will work on it.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334860374301?itmmeta=01HQ6JFEVTQV256WCSF7PA10CX&hash=item4df73bd11d%3Ag%3AaIEAAOSwBcljQ8Sa&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwPtgovIOEmX1vR3azU1qQmKWud9sf7I48JaaICIJuN1aH3QGi9y9cHmSoKxQFvghZQyCOImtDJoUo4Axy1qLEXeIt0Cr4dC33PprugDj91M%2By%2FCGbbX8wrsxmUoaiHEYkvEGZe4FsA3AXRlo7iKdyu4Yh1lxbgjMarneg23sNbrFcFlYjSChw50P0rbqq4LGIWZ6vZ5DaJeLUnxhucCdbeKkKXeDz5%2BW2OuyUfwYi%2BuPbim0UVsw9fMAnAXrYWzLng%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_ztvdK5Yw&LH_BIN=1

 

Edit: Oh, and if you do get one. I bought three during their US sale, so I'll be able to answer most questions you might have. 

 

Another edit: Went from 2 in stock, to out of stock in an hour. Welp...

Edited February 21, 2024 by Margot Robbed Me

[Margot Robbed Me]

I've been out of watercooling for years now so I'm late to all of this. What is going on lol.

 

 

 

[Margot Robbed Me]

I took my spare CM Stacker 830 out of the box out of boredom to modernize the front panel. I still have no plans to use this case, but I've kept it since it's been one of my dream cases since the 2000s, and seems to be one of the rarest variants. It's also why I decided to make this modification non-destructive. No cuts or holes were made to any of the original case parts so it can be returned to OEM without any signs of modding. The old PCB and wiring was just disconnected, and I modeled the replacement plate to friction fit into existing dimensions. I was tempted to machine a fancy power and reset button out of aluminum but I decided to go with a live hinge type of button instead. It made it a lot simpler as well since I could just 3D print it into the plate as one piece. Printed in carbon fiber PETG.

 

Two USB3.0 ports and a dual 2.5" hotswap dock.

 

 

The 3D model of the one piece plate, with the two printed mounts for the microswitches (power and reset).

 

For reference, this is how the original looks like from 2008.