Overview:
When I decided to do this project I started with the desire to do a case mod. Something unusual and different, but I wasn't sure what. I looked far and wide for a case that inspired me enough that that I would just have to tare it apart to turn it into something else. But what type of case, and what project should I do? Should I make this cool looking, or cool performing? A basic window kit or none at all? So after mulling this around I decided to jump on Newegg and see if I could get inspired, and there it was. The case and the inspiration for the project, the mid tower mini fridge! Next I had to decide weather to use a compressor based refrigerant system or maybe a peltier based heat pump. Sticking with a desire to use some tried and trued overclockers favorites for the actual cooling system, the peltier was the obvious choice. While giving it that air of "look I made this my self and it didn't blow up!"
The Case:
What a royal pain in the butt finding the right case was. I had toyed with several different cases from several reputable makers. So why did I choose this one? Well frankly it reminded me of a refrigerator. The case is all brushed aluminum so it has that nice appliancey feel to it. And the front door opens up just like a fridges doors! It's a good mid ATX case with some cool lighting effects. But when it comes down to it, it's a Thermaltake case, and what could be cooler than modding a cool case to be cooler than cool?
The peltiers:
I did a fair amount of hunting for peltiers when I started this project. Peltiers are fairly common devices and they run a rather large gambit of prices. Looking mostly at a price friendly solution I looked for some surplus peltiers on eBay. While that yielded many good useful results, it still was a little more than I wanted to spend. So I decided to go to the ole S-Mart. After some looking at there mini fridges and about a million other products I didn't need, I found in there camping section the powered coolers. For 14.99 each I picked up 2 of these babies with healthy sized peltiers and all the heat sinks, fans, cold plates and even wiring all ready to go.
Insulation:
So once you have the ability to cool something down you need to keep the cool where it matters. Home Depot has sheets of Styrofoam board 1 inch thick for about 5 bucks each. This stuff is fairly sturdy as it is laminated on both sides, and this will also help cut down on the mess it makes. We will need just one sheet for this project total.
The Power supply:
One of the bonuses of using the thermal take case we got is it came with a 400 watt power supply with it! While this cant is mounted normally so as not to suck all our cold air out of the case, its still about perfect as it has a 2 fans in it and draws air out of the bottom to the back of the case. With some simple hotwiring it can be made to run when the power supply is turned on.
Optional Components:
One component that we absolutely had to have was a nice LCD display so we could closely monitor the heart and sole of the inside of the case. We found this great thermal monitor / controller for about 15.00 on newegg.com. This is really nice to add to the case so you know when your cold ones are cold enough.
Great Stuff:
This stuff is really fun to play with! We will use this self expanding foam insulation to both seal any air leaks in the case, but to also adhere the panels of foam together in the case. Just be careful because you will never know trouble like getting this on your skin and cloths
Plexy:
I chose to use plexy in this project because it's easy to work with and has good thermal characteristics. If you used a window kit in your project this also adds a "cool" factor for lighting and what not.
Tools that we used: ( I.E. you may want to use as well )
One note on power tools: use them at your own risk. Be sure to read and understand any and all documentation on the tools you use. No amount of documentation can make up for experience, but there are many people with serious eye injuries at the school of hard knocks. If you don't know what you are doing, don't do it and find some one that can help.
Dremel tool
Drill + assorted bits
Can of black or dark grey spray paint
Screwdrivers
Allen wrenches
Pliers
Paper
Razor
Printer
Motherboard mounting posts
Sand paper
