Paper Hack.

There often comes a time where an obsession so insignificant collides with a compulsion so random and absurd that it just has to be done. Given how bored I've been lately, I have encountered just such an issue and conquered it with basic common sense (of the thermodynamic kind). Today's issue of geeky OCD is brought to you by a noisy computer.

Ever since I got a new heatsink for my computer (flashy metal thing with a fan that keeps your CPU from burning up) I've noticed that the noise my computer generated was nearly double that of its unmodified self. It turns out that sometihng or other in my computer was defective and the heatsink's fan just ran at full speed no matter what. A) That's ineffecient, noisy, and wasteful of a few volts of electricity. B) My fancy new (now old) heatsink (ZeroTherm BFT-90) not only wicked away heat super-effeciently, but resonated super-loudly when the fan revved up. It's kind of like a guitar. If you pluck a wire, you don't hear much. But if you pluck a wire strung across a hollow wooden frame, you get a loud, rich sound because the guitar body amplifies the acoustics. My big copper heatsink was amplifying the vibrations of the fan attached to it.



What I decided to do was to remove the heatsink fan, and use the exhaust fan of my computer case to cool the entire contraption. I would use a duct to channel the airflow through the fins of my heatsink and out the back of the case. The ambitious case-hacker/modder might break out sheet metal, and welding gear to do this. I pulled out paper and scotch tape.

The entire setup does work, albeit at a reduced effeciency, since the airflow isn't as strong, but it is *MUCH* quieter, which is what I'd been aiming for. I didn't do any of this blindly either, I ran a set of 'before and after' benchmarks to make sure I hadn't compromised the cooling capacity of my computer. The before and after temperatures showed a 5 degree difference in cooling ability, but still within safe limits.

I also took the time to tape up empty 3.5" drive bays, since my computer case has a small fan in the front to cool my hard drives. This forces most of the air to flow over my hard drives instead of dissipating uselessly.

LED Keyboard Hack

For awhile now, I've been eying illuminated keyboards with envy. They're cool, and they make typing in the dark a wee bit easier. With all of winter break to work with, I decided I'd try making my own. With a budget of $0. That's right. ZERO. Everything I needed I found at home. Here's my woeful tale.


Click for Project Album

Materials Used:
Generic Keyboard
Fiber Optic Tassel (salvaged from an old toy from the circus years ago)
LED (de-soldered and removed from a light-up pen)

I began by locating a usable keyboard. It just so happens I had an old one lying around, from ~2003. Its design allowed me a little more flexibility around how I would implement my evil plans. The first step was deciding where I would place my LED and fiber optics.



After some hasty planning, I had to prepare the keyboard for surgery. I removed the circuit board with the Num Lock, Caps Lock, etc. indicators and de-soldered the LED for the Scroll Lock. No one uses it anyway. I would use the scroll lock button to turn on my illumination LED instead of the indicator LED.



After disfiguring the plastic slightly, I threading the fiber optics through a slit I made (I folded the tassel end in newspaper to keep the strands together).



The tassel end, I glued down, to keep the under side clean. I had to put a pair of pliers and a hand vacuum on it to keep it from popping up before the glue was dry.



Then came the tedious part. Placing and securing each and every strand of fiber. This took scotch tape, Elmers glue, and more patience than should be spent on something so frivolous.



Some of the keys needed to be reshaped because the fiber optic bundle was too thick. In reality, the uneven edge is hardly noticeable, and it even opens up more gaps for light to shine through.



The de-soldered Scroll Lock Indicator socket needed to be connected with the LED I was using. Wires from an ancient headphone set were sacrificed to make this happen.




The end product: a surprisingly intact keyboard with a little more flair for the useless, that's even still unique in daylight. And I did achieve my budget of $0.