How about two or three layers of paint, fairly thickly applied? Cheaper, and paint is basically plastic. When the paint dries, make sure you have a completely covered area and check it doesn't conduct anywhere with a multimeter or similar.

Thanks bacteria. I defiantly keep that idea in mind.

Seriously, the biggest thing I'm lacking at the moment for this is funding. So anything I can do to cut cost is helping me do one more thing on it.

Also, I need heatsinks. I'd like to go with copper, pin-style ( http://www.xoxide.com/enzotech-bmr-c1.html ), simply because it seems to me that they'd cool better than fin-style on the fact that it doesn't restrict airflow to just one direction.

Will these work, and what sort of fan should I pair with them? Xoxide has a few PCI slot fans, but only a couple of them have statistics. One of them is rated at 32 CFM! The downside being a 30 dBA motor ( http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-slot-cooler-uvblue.html ). But other than a little case noise, will that really effect anything? I mean, I'd rather have case noise, then an over heated motherboard.

What say you, O' wise residents of forums.benheck!!!

This is looking good! Can't wait to see the case!

HBN - better than paint, use a thin sheet of card to insulate the metal!

Any fan is fine, if you can feel the air move, you are fine. Preferably have air sucked out of case than forced in (better airflow).

If you want a low-power, quiet fan, get one from a dead laptop. The ones that I've seen are all 5v, which would be good for a portable, just tap into a 7805. You could even use the heatsink thats attached to the fan.

Lots of information lost... *sigh*... I don't remember the last few things I had updated. Which is okay, because I've had some changes in my plans.

IE: The laptop case itself. I know I had promises of something shocking, and unknown. But, sadly, shocking and unknown, apparently, costs A LOT of money. So. In the interest of saving money, and being able to finish this project faster. I'm going with a standard, low-profile aluminum laptop carrying briefcase (Approx. $65. Rather than around $265. It'll also match the P1 controller (I've seen them as thin as 1.5"...I doubt I'll be able to go that low, though.)). I'm sorry to disappoint.

However, seeing as I wont be using the material any time soon (due to cost), I can tell you what it WAS going to be. Silver-tone Carbon Fiber.

The controller case I'm getting is about twice as thick as it needs to be, but because of its build, it'll be easy to trim. I'm not worried about that. I continue testing the P1 controller on many games. It makes it very realistic when playing Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. Takes some getting used to, but it works beautifully.

If anybody wants a motion sensitive N64 controller, let me know via PM, and we can talk about cost.

~Video Update~

Just the controller, folks. Nothing special (much). Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeHiHQ5fhJg

I made it to RadioShack today. Got some parts I need for the power supply.

I need to make one pretty much from scratch seeing as the case I would like to use for this isn't going to be big enough for the unmodded power plug (Which is needlessly big) to jack in. And because this is a laptop style system, I figure the power supply should be the same. IE: Wire coming from the wall, going into a black box with a power indicator light, and a wire coming out of that, and going into the system.

So. My parts list I got today include:

Male / Female 9-pin plugs (The same type you'd find on the monitor cable for a computer. They get a nice solid connection). To many pins, but I'm not worried about that.
Full Wave 8 amp Rectifier.
Diodes
12v 40mm cooling fan. I probably don't need it, but I wanted it. And it was a good price.
12v power indicator lamp (I chose blue. Green is way over used. Red means death (Or that your HDD is being accessed, in some cases). Yellow is a rookie color...literally! And IR is hard to see).

I still need a transformer to drop the 120v wall voltage to 12v, but other than that, I should have successfully converted my 120vac to 12vdc to run the fan, and indicator lamp.

Ya know...I just thought of something. I'm not sure why this didn't occur to me before, but...Why didn't I just get a 120vac - 12vdc 1000 miliamp wall transformer and crack the case open to put the pre-made board into the encloser? .

ID-10-T Error. Oh well. I have a rectifier I don't need right now. But I may need it later.

Thats my update. Hopefully I'll have this all ready to test next weekend. I just was employed to rake five acres of leafs by hand on top of my regular job, so I don't have a lot of time durring the week. But its more money I can use to finish this project, so in the end its worth it. Thanks for keeping in touch, and helping me out.

Oh, and if your curious what happened to the original power supply for the N64. The screws were being a royal pain. So I got out my torch-lighter and burned out out, and split the case by hand from there. Thats the one part I'm still using. So in truth, this is an update of stuff I didn't REALLY need to do (except for the whole part about the original power supply NOT fitting). But at least this way I know its done right. Because I did it myself. And isn't that the whole point of this, anyway?

Okay, now that I'm aware of the issues of Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries (Thank you, bacteria. That information was very useful.), I have a question if those issues can be resolved.

A) What if I used diodes in between each cell to only allow the power to flow one direction? In theory, wouldn't that stop the self-recharging?

B) What about switching each cell individually? That could get a bit bulky, yes, but if you have room to spare, whats the difference? Besides, if you did it right you get a nifty NORAD-style control panel of switches. Which can look really cool.

C) An external removable solar cell to "Trickle" the batteries when not in use. That could improve standby battery life, correct?


What say you?

That's fine. I learnt the hard way.



You will lose voltage from each cell by using a diode, I think it is up to about 0.7v per cell, or 0.7v if using one diode for all cells (assuming it is happy with the voltage). Not ideal.



You could easily fry your PSone screen unless you inhibit the maximum voltage to under 9v (ideally about 8.4v max).

You also stand a chance of destroying some NiMH cells this way as if a cell gets under about 1v it won't recharge again properly and you can damage them. If you just flick a switch when you need more power, you will probably damage some batteries. I have had some NiMH cells binned after they got to under 1v, seemed to charge fully but actually drained very fast, so not so useful.

Some cells are better than others at maintaining power, even on same brand.

Make sure of course all the NiMH cells are photo grade, all the same brand and all the same mAh rating.



Might work, not sure; good idea.

You are better off with Li-ions - they maintain their voltage until near the end of their reserves, don't lose any power when not used.

Thanks again bacteria. You've been a great help in this project.

I think you misunderstood my NORAD-switch-idea.

What I meant was that I'd separate each cell from one another using a switch. But I'd turn all those switches on before I powered the system up.

Right now, it doesn't really matter. For now I'm just gonna run it off a power supply until I can buy the right cells. I just have to make sure I have room to spare in the case for the packs. But when the time comes, I want to know what I'm doing.

Has anybody experimented with gel-packs? They are usually good for high-draw applications. And highly sought after in the robotics community because of that. I realize that this isn't exactly a high-draw application, but wouldn't I be able to get a better run-time if my battery was designed for it?

Best advice is to steer clear of NiHM cells, make your system able to run off mains and make a space in the system to take a battery when you can afford one - either one of these gel packs (not come across these before, do you have a link?) or a 7.2v or 7.4v Li-ion camcorder battery. Don't get NiMH, waste of money for this.

Sure. http://www.robotmarketplace.com/products/0B-PS-605.html. Those would do nicely. Small, light, and expandable in 6v increments. You may better know gel-packs as "Lead-Acid". I checked with my dad, and he agrees that if used properly, you could get a helluva run time off a portable if you used gel-packs.

And for the rest of your battery needs, check this out: http://www.robotmarketplace.com/products/batteries_main.html. They also have case materials.

Seriously, I think my best contacts for completing this project are my robotics contacts. I mean, next to this forum, of course. None of this would have been possible without the residents here.

Hey, does anybody know the ball-park amperage draw of a 12vdc 15" LCD TV? Nobody seems to have that information (Of course, normal people dont need it). And I can't do much more work on the power supply until I know it can run a screen.

EDIT:

I took some two shots of the wired power indicator and fan I'm using in the power supply. In these pics, they are running off an old 12vdc supply I found in my garage.


Yes, the fan is running. The frame rate is just THAT fast. But...


That frame rate is shot to hell and back when I shut the flashbulb off.

Its not much, but its wired, and clearly working. And VERY quiet.

No.
Those cost $20 for 6v 500mAh. They weigh a forth of a pound EACH, and the size would add up super fast. It would cost $80 for 30 minutes (if you're lucky) of playing time. Those are just a crappy deal, my dad has a 12v 7Ah SLA battery that he got off ebay for $20-40 (I can't remember, but it was a ton better deal than those ones)
I say go with either li-ion if you can afford it or NiMH (you'll have to use sub-C, C, or D size, especially with a 15" screen).

Gel isn't light, I'll admit. But I've dealt with them. You are WAY off when it comes to your run time.

I didn't say it was cheap. Its a battery. They are NEVER cheap. Thats the nature of the beast. Just depends on how much you want to spend, what your budget is, and if your willing to pay extra for quality.

For now, as I stated, I cannot afford batteries period. I'll just make sure I save room for them in the future. And I'm seriously thinking about using the lead-acids. They're heavy (In comparison so some (not all) other cells), but having used them before, I know what they are capable of. And its worth it to me.