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You are not logged in. [Log In] AppleCentral » Forums » Mods and Hacks » Desktop Mods » Case Mods » Hiding cables
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#476799 - 05/14/09 04:26 AM Hiding cables [Re: monneysi]
TCPMeta Offline
MacModder

Registered: 11/16/07
Posts: 1816
Loc: Florida, USA
I'm thinking to try and turn ether one of my many PCs or one of my macs and hide all of the cables. When you open a system all you see are cables and wires. To me it looks like a spider web. As a modder I like for my system to look good outside and inside.

For the motherboard/logicboard I was thinking to desolder the power supply connectors and install them on the reverse side. For hiding ribbon cables I was thinking to mask them and run them under the motherboard/logic board to the connections. I wouldn't resolder them but get much out of the way is the point. The hard part is hiding power connections for the drives. I was thinking to shorten or even making them longer and running them out of sight as much as possible. The real hard part would be the power supply itself. If the power supply circuity is small enough it can be turned around and make the cables stick out the side and the right side panel keeps it hidden. For a mac you would do it the other way around.

I'm going to test this on a junk system I don't car about then try it on a working system. This way I won't end up with a paper weight that once was a working system.

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#476800 - 05/14/09 11:18 AM Re: Hiding cables [Re: monneysi]
legomactrumpet Offline


Registered: 08/23/08
Posts: 52
Sounds great, it will involve much more cable to wire around the back, i could not find anything on backwards power connectors so it looks like you will have to fly blind on that. A way to hide the Molex connectors is to string them around the top of the case and drop them over the drives, hiding the wires in the case. But, like I said, if it is a PC that was not custom built, it will probably not have enough length in wires to string them everywhere.

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#476801 - 05/14/09 02:25 PM Re: Hiding cables [Re: monneysi]
TonimusMaximus Offline


Registered: 01/08/08
Posts: 137
Since you're going to be adding cable, whichever way you go, you could make it a spider web. Using coated copper wire to tie at the intersections, that'd make for a unique presentation.

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#476802 - 05/14/09 02:45 PM Re: Hiding cables [Re: monneysi]
TCPMeta Offline
MacModder

Registered: 11/16/07
Posts: 1816
Loc: Florida, USA
My two macs are Sawtooths and both have 500watt ATX power supplies and the cables are very long and even have a few connectors that are not needed like the 4pin connections and a few drive molex connectors.

As for the backwards connections I was planing to remove the plastic portion of the connector or simply repin the power supply 20pin ATX connection. It looks simple to do on the drawing board but when I start on it, it will kick my butt a bit at first.

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#476803 - 05/14/09 08:23 PM Re: Hiding cables [Re: monneysi]
Oelmuvun Offline


Registered: 12/29/08
Posts: 67
You could just solder the wires of half an ATX extension to the backside of the motherboard and cut a hole in the mobo tray for it to fit through. That way you do not need to rewire any PSUs and such.

As for drives, if you have an ATX case look into mounting them with the connectors behind the front panel.
wink

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#476804 - 05/15/09 04:13 AM Re: Hiding cables [Re: monneysi]
TCPMeta Offline
MacModder

Registered: 11/16/07
Posts: 1816
Loc: Florida, USA
Both seem like killer ideas.

I love the drive idea, i might use that for sure.

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#476805 - 05/15/09 03:56 PM Re: Hiding cables [Re: monneysi]
Oelmuvun Offline


Registered: 12/29/08
Posts: 67
The only downside is that to remove a drive in one of my front 3.5" bays I have to take my front panel off. But lets be realistic here, How often do you need to swap HDDs? and in my situation the two drives on the bottom of the case are super easy to remove so I can just stick whatever drives I want there.

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#476806 - 05/16/09 12:31 AM Re: Hiding cables [Re: monneysi]
TCPMeta Offline
MacModder

Registered: 11/16/07
Posts: 1816
Loc: Florida, USA
Gives a great reason to install a piano hinge and a couple of lock tabs for easier access.

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#476807 - 05/16/09 04:37 AM Re: Hiding cables [Re: monneysi]
Oelmuvun Offline


Registered: 12/29/08
Posts: 67
Good point.

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#476808 - 05/16/09 11:50 AM Re: Hiding cables [Re: monneysi]
TCPMeta Offline
MacModder

Registered: 11/16/07
Posts: 1816
Loc: Florida, USA
Well tomorrow morning i'm going to start. I'm going to do two mods in one. Put my sawtooth into my old 4ft tall case and mask the wiring.

There will be plenty of pictures as well.

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