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| B&W G3 Tower Simple Light Mod |
| Written by Adam Whitlock | ||||
| Wednesday, 12 January 2005 | ||||
The B&W G3 Tower Simple Light Mod
Prerequisites ::
Preperation Work Installing additional lighting into your original G3 case can be difficult with the lack of open holes in the system. It will involve hours of drilling, cutting a window hole, or possibly giving up and buying a bottle of Appleton's Jamaican rum at the end of the night. In other words, there are not too many options, but I offer you hope! It's a mod that does not take too long and will look great, and also easy on the pocketbook. The mod that I'm talking about will involve a simple part on the case. It's the logo on the front cover. Since the logo is already clear, the need to replace it with any other plastics is not necessary. Also, the logo is situated above where the 5.25" drive bay is located, so there is plenty of room to work with. I started this mod by removing the handles on the case to get an even Macintosh to work with. If it can be avoided, do not drill on uneven surfaces. After removal of the handles, the front cover came off, which has a total of SIX pressure tabs. They can be easily popped with a flathead screwdriver inserted from the front and pushed towards the inside of the case. Since the handles and front cover are now removed, look at where the Apple logo used to be. If you are fortunate, there may be an outline from where it was. If there is not an outline, the first thing you need to do is remove the Apple logo itself. All you need to do is push it from the front side and the logo will pop out. After it is removed, place the front cover back on carefully and score the surface where the open hole is. A nail, screwdriver, handy Swiss Army Knife, or even a pencil can be used to score it. Just remember that if you have a clear case that you may be able to see the scoring. People with painted cases, like myself, do not have this worry.
After the drill mark has been scored, take some masking tape and place it behind where the hole will be drilled. This will help keep the shavings from flying into the case. The shavings should not go into the case very far, but I cannot guarantee that they won't. For some extra prep, which I will admit I did not do but I would suggest, lay some newspaper in the case and tape over where the board is and anywhere that shavings would fall (i.e. top of drive bay). This will allow quick removal of the shavings if they come into the case. Get the power drill ready because it is time to drill the hole. Be careful, because it may slip and accidentally scratch the front of the case (for you original B&W G3 owners). I would suggest about a 1/4" bit because it is about half the size of the Apple logo and will allow optimal light into the front of the case. Something to remember is that it is not a flush lay between the plastics on the case and the actual metal casing, but they have plenty of spacing between. This spacing is actually going to be an asset because about any hole you drill should allow lighting into this area.
The hole has been drilled, it's now time to move to lighting. There are many choices of lighting, including LED's or Cold Cathode Tubes (CCT). LED's have the advantage of precise lighting, so you can decide if you want a different color behind the Apple logo than what is behind the rest of the case. CCT's have the advantage of giving the uniform lighting of the rest of the case, and require no additional work. This is something you will need to decide. LED Install To install the LED, you are going to need additional wiring and a resistor to keep the voltage from killing the LED. If you bought an LED that can handle the full load of a 5v tap, which is great, though many cannot handle it. Take one end of the LED and connect it to the resistor by using solder or just plain old electrical tape. Solder would be preferred. After attatching the resistor, take the wiring and plug it into the 5v Molex connector (that's a hard drive tap to lay men). You can pop the Molex off and place the wiring where it comes into it and place the connector back on. Since it is wired now, you will need to mount the LED into the case behind the hole. Some LED's come with mounting and it may be a simple glue job to the case. Hot glue works fine, though a cyanoacrylate glue may not since it is a steel case. If the LED that you have did not come with a mount, there are a few options. One of which is to just drill the hole the same width as the light, put the LED into the hole, and seal the back end with hot glue. This will provide a flush look for the inside of the case, or what I call the 'correct' option. You can take a piece of metal or cardboard and mount the LED on it and then place it inside the case. This is the 'lazy' option. The last options for straight LED people is to just dangle the LED on the inside of the front of the case. This is the 'WINTEL modder option' available. I'd go with the first suggestion. Assemble the case again and you should see a great looking lighted Apple now! Cold Cathode Tube Install Well, since the hole is now drilled, install the CCT's into the computer case. Once the tubes are installed, turn them on. You should see the blue through the hole. This is a really easy install, and I do not apologize for it. It does look great though, and will make the Apple logo glow very well.
Assemble the case again and you should see a great looking lighted Apple now!
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