image/svg+xml Openclipart 2007-11-20T10:29:44 Some shapes from photos. http://openclipart.org/detail/8766/tree-silhouettes-by-chrisdesign-8766 Chrisdesign clip art clipart image media nature png public domain shape silhouette svg tree

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Danger and Medusae

09 May 2007

My main desktop computer is cased in acrylic. I had never owned an acrylic case or even seen one in person before, so I figured I would try it out. I even went as far as buying a power supply cased in acrylic. I mean, if I can see the power supply, I might as well be able to see through it.

Danger

Well, the problem that plagued the acrylic power supply and case was that the fans on the power supply contained LEDs that only turned off with the computer. So, after looking into the power supply (because I could), I determined that the fans were just regular computer fans with three-pin connectors. These would be easy to replace.

The first thing to remember is that the power supply contains huge, dangerous [capacitors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitors “Wikipedia Capacitors”). These capacitors, if touched, can be quite painful or lethal. I left the computer unplugged for over 12 hours and kept the power button down for over ten seconds while it was off. Without any kind of measuring device, I did the best I could. Removing the fans was straight-forward and took about twenty minutes with cleaning.

Power Supply 1 Power Supply 2 Power Supply 3 Power Supply 4 Power Supply 5 Power Supply 6 Power Supply 7 Power Supply 8

Medusae

I named this computer Medusae, because it resembles this form of cnidarian (jellyfish).

After finishing up with the improvements to the power supply, I decided to cleanup Medusae a bit. I had gotten a couple UV cold cathode lights. One of the major downsides of the acrylic case is that dirt, dust, and scratches show up a lot easier. So, I got in there deep and got it spotless. I also got the cables managed well.

This took me about three hours, making the project a much longer one than expected. When I had first put together Medusae, I tried to get some good pictures of the process and the end product, but to no avail. I was determined to get some good ones this time, now that she looked her best. I used my Panasonic Lumix and some makeshift solid stands, as I do not own a tripod, and shot away. I am quite pleased with how the pictures turned out. Here are some highlights:

Medusae 1 Medusae 2 Medusae 3 Medusae 4 Medusae 5 Medusae 6

You can find the full album of pictures with high-quality images here.