#4896675
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Thanks Glenn! The foam sheets idea seems simple and effective.

In terms of the LED holder inserts, is this what you're referring to? https://www.amazon.ca/Pieces-Black-Plas ... B00K85965W
Glenn Frederick liked this
#4896714
Glenn Frederick wrote:I have never tried the Led holders before since the foam seamed to work for me but I would assume they should work depending on the inner diameter and length of the reflectors.
I think the LED holders are a great idea. I certainly like it better than using hot glue. Hopefully I can find some LED holders locally, rather than waiting for 2-3 months of shipping from China, lol.
#4897192
Attaching the Cyclotron LED lights to the reflectors

Turns out those LED holders on Amazon are much too big for my reflectors. Thankfully, I found another simple solution.

After ordering a grey crank knob replica and standard loom clamp from Bishopdonmiguel, he suggested that I cut some discs out of sintra with a larger diameter than the lens opening, cut a hole in the middle for a wall anchor (bigger than the LED), then epoxy the holder to the inside of the reflector. Once cured, pass the LED through the hole, slip it into the anchor, then set the anchor in the hole.

This was an excellent idea, but I didn't have a hole saw small enough to cut the discs. Instead, my dad offered me some faucet spacers that he had lying around.

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Turns out, they were the perfect size and the diameter of the hole is large enough to pass the wires, but smaller than the LED. I cut a slit to pass the wire through.

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My plan is to crazy glue the spacer to the bottom of the reflector so that it looks like so (I haven't glued them yet):

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Mounting the N-Filter vent light

I had to think of a solution to mount my LED light to the motherboard and elevate it into the N-Filter cylinder attached to the shell.

I decided to use sintra once again and have it secured by the bottom screw that is holding the 6.5" speaker. Like usual, I started by designing a template with the centre of the speaker as the point of reference.

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Here is the template cut and mounted to the speaker:

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I also needed to build some sort of holder for the LED. I knew that Fincher's e-cig LEDs are mounted in a PVC cylinder, so I went to Home Depot and found a white 3/4" piece of PVC coupling. I also found a red hose that held the LED light very snug, but also fit well in the PVC coupling, like so:

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I cut a piece of the hose to the desired length, then I used hot glue to secure it into the PVC coupling. Essentially, I let placed the glue on the hose, then pushed the hose upwards until the bottom of the hose was flush with the bottom of the coupling. That way, the hose held very tight with no mess.

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If you recall, in order to mount my LED into the hollow N-Filter cylinder, I had originally cut a hole in my shell that was the same diameter as one of my reflectors (plans change, I guess). Using a stick of wood that was slightly smaller in diameter (but very close) to the the opening inside the shell, I found the location on the sintra shelf where I should place the PVC holder. I also drilled a hole to pass through the electrical wires. Here is the shelf mounted on the speaker with 1) the shape of the PVC coupling drawn in the appropriate place and 2) the hole for the wires:

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Then I used super glue to attach the PVC to the sintra shelf:

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Finally, this is what it looks like once completed and mounted:

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So far, the shelf is proving to be very solid, even if it is only anchored by a single bolt.

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Last edited by canpara on August 19th, 2017, 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Glenn Frederick liked this
#4897208
Excellent solutions all around. Nice work!
canpara liked this
#4897783
Installing the loom clamp

I purchased a loom clamp from Bionic Moon Labs and mounted it to the motherboard today. The clamp is based (with permission) on the original design by The Wiz. I chose the standard sized option, even though he offers a shorter one as well.

Sadly, I didn't take a picture of the loom clamp before I made modifications to it.

Normally, a larger mouse hole (on the shell) is necessary so that the standard-sized loom clamp can fit through it. The shorter loom clamp option is meant to be hidden inside the pack for a more movie accurate look. In that case, the mouse hole only needs to be the diameter of the loom.

As you may recall, I had already cut a mouse hole one-inch in diameter before I even planned on installing a loom clamp. I bought the standard sized loom clamp because I liked the extra length. As I started planning how I was going to install it, I decided I would leave the mouse hole as it was (I decided against enlarging the hole to accommodate the dimensions of the clamp). Essentially, I chose to use the standard clamp in the way that the shorter version was intended.

This decision came with its own challenges that required modifications to the loom clamp. 1) I had to position the loom clamp completely inside the pack despite its longer length. 2) I had to saw off the bottom of the clamp to reduce its height. The height of the hole (or loom tunnel?) of the loom clamp had to match the height of the mouse hole through the shell, which meant making sure that the loom sat flush against the motherboard. 3) Since the loom clamp was interfering with the mounting bracket for its proper position, I had to cut a piece of the bottom of the left side of the clamp (the square part with the bolt going through it) by about a quarter-inch it height. This allowed the clamp to overlap over the aluminum bracket.

This isn't the greatest picture, but it helps to illustrate what I mean:

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I thought that the loom clamp, once mounted, would interfere with the sintra shelf I constructed for the vent light. It turns out that the shortened height of the loom clamp was perfect to anchor that end of the sintra shelf. I drilled a hole in the sintra shelf so that the loom clamp bolt could fit right through it. Then I placed the nut on the bolt to properly secure both the clamp and the shelf, like so:

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It is the biggest fluke, yet it looks so calculated!

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In the end, it was so satisfying to secure the loom with the new loom clamp. Here it is going through the mouse hole. It ended up perfect! I really like the functionality and the look.

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Last edited by canpara on September 4th, 2017, 10:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#4897791
Wow, that's quite an alteration! I think the hose would have made the bend if you left the base intact, but everything look great and you did the right thing keeping the original hole. Looks very clean.

For proper credit, Wiz-GB008 created the original design. Ours is a slight modification of his great work.

Looking forward to seeing more.
canpara liked this
#4897860
Installing an external volume potentiometer

I changed my mind and decided to replace the volume potentiometer that is on the amplified soundboard with an external volume potentiometer.

The guide for the amplified soundboard advises a 5k to 20k linear taper pot if one wants to install an external pot to the three screw terminals on the bottom right of the soundboard.

Hence, I bought bought a 1/2W 10k ohms (linear) pot, whereby I soldered a black wire where I thought the ground would be, a brown wire on the what I thought was the wiper connection and a red wire where I thought the positive connection would be (please excuse my shoddy soldering skills, haha).

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I decided to install the pot onto my Spengler plate (I had an extra hole to fill). In order to get the pot to fit through the existing hole in the plate, I used a 5/16"-18 tap. This worked great, since I was able to screw-in the pot solidly. I will also screw-in a nut to fully secure the pot onto the plate.

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I then removed the board pot with scissors, as suggested in the guide (no desoldering necessary). However, even with the board pot removed, I had a problem where the volume was set to full blast and I couldn't adjust the volume with the new pot.

I was able to fix this problem by reversing the the cables in the screw terminals: the red wire to the ground screw, the brown wire remained in the wiper screw, then the black wire to the positive screw.

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Now, thankfully, I am able to adjust the volume. Yet for most of a clockwise turn, the pack is silent. Then, in the last degrees of the turn (before the knob stops), the volume goes up exponentially. I mean, it becomes so sensitive that I barely have to touch it for the volume to explode. It works, but it's not very practical.

It's almost as though my 10k pot is behaving logarithmically like a 50k-100k pot (judging from the description in the soundboard guide).

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could correct this?
Last edited by canpara on September 7th, 2017, 7:00 am, edited 2 times in total.
twmedford23 liked this
#4897862
Just for clarity, there is no positive or negative on a 3-terminal potentiometer. The first is one end of a resistive strip. The second is a wiper that moves between the beginning and end points of the resistive strip. The third is the other end of the resistive strip.

If you measure between the first and third terminals, you will get the full resistive value of the potentiometer.

If you measure between the first and second, the value will depend on the location of the dial and the manufactured curve.

The measurement between the second and third will always be the difference between the total resistive value and the value of the first and second.

To illustrate, if the potentiometer is a 10k linear and the dial is 1/4 turn, then 1:3 = 10k, 1:2 = 2.5k, 2:3 = 7.5k.

So if you find the dial changes volume in the reverse direction, just swap the wires on the first and third terminals and the dial will operate as expected.

Now that we have the basics covered, it seems to me like you have a bad solder connection. The potentiometer should work in reverse when you switched terminals. I'd check those connections very carefully. If those look good, remove the potentiometer wires from the board and check the resistance with a voltmeter. You can check the total resistance and curve type by measuring the terminals as noted above.
canpara liked this
#4897865
bishopdonmiguel wrote:Now that we have the basics covered, it seems to me like you have a bad solder connection. The potentiometer should work in reverse when you switched terminals. I'd check those connections very carefully. If those look good, remove the potentiometer wires from the board and check the resistance with a voltmeter. You can check the total resistance and curve type by measuring the terminals as noted above.
Thanks, Bishop, for your prompt reply and keen insight (as always). Last night, I contacted Spongeface about this problem by private message and he echoes your deduction. Here is his response:
Spongeface wrote:That pot operation sounds like something is wrong. The pot you purchased sounds ideal. Do you happen to have a volt-ohm meter or DMM (digital multimeter)?

With a couple of measurements we could probably figure out where the problem is.

If not a couple of things to try:

With all three lines of the pot disconnected from the screw terminals the volume should be low, but still be able to be heard. If you have a voltmeter/DMM, the center of the pot to GND should be a bout 2V.

With the pot set to the middle, connect the red and black wires to gnd and pos, but leave the wiper connection open. The volume should stay the same. What should happen when the wiper is connected is the volume should increase a little and the wiper voltage should go to 1.5V.

If the volume is turned completely off or gets very loud, swap the red and black wires and see what that does. (make the volume very loud or silent).

If this happens either the pot is broken or there is a short between two of the leads. [canpara has bolded this sentence for emphasis.] If you have an ohmmeter (or ohm setting on a DMM) you can measure the resistance between the leads of the pot. removed from the screw terminals and with the pot set to the middle, you should read about 10K ohms between the red and black wires and about 5K ohms between the brown (wiper) and the red wire and also between the brown and the black wire. Depending on what you measure will tell us where to look next.
He subsequently added the following:
Spongeface wrote:Best guess is that the black and brown leads are shorted together near where they are soldered to the leads of the pot. Then when black was GND the brown wiper was also grounded and that would be max volume - independent of what the pot was set to.

With the Red wire grounded and the black connected to POS, there is a protection resistor on the board that would have to be overcome and would only lower the voltage when the pot was near the absolute end of its range.
It is pretty clear to me that my shoddy soldering is at the heart of the problem. I will clean that up once I get home from work this evening and report back.
#4897878
GohstTarp wrote:Your pack is looking great... and solid and clean build. Just subscribed and looking forward to more updates.
Solid praise considering I stole so many ideas from your build thread (hehe), notably the ground loop insulator and the Bluetooth module. Your pack build is very inspirational to me and I really appreciate the support! GohstTarp probably has the cleanest build I have seen thus far.

I'm looking forward to more updates on your build thread come December!
#4897887
Installing an external potentiometer (part deux)

Without doing anything to the pot (except unscrewing it from the Spengler plate), a friend and I tested the leads through a digital multimeter. It turns out that the pot was functioning as it should, so perhaps the short circuit between the black and the brown wires occurred on the Spengler plate somehow. The wires did have to bend a bit to fit in there properly... Who knows.

In any case, we cleaned up the soldering on the leads. To be extra clean, we put some heat shrink over each solder, like so:

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When I plugged the the wires into the screw terminals, the pot worked like a dream. Tomorrow I will screw it back into the Spengler plate and try it again.
Last edited by canpara on September 7th, 2017, 11:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#4897897
Connecting the N-Filter vent relay light

Since the N-Filter vent light LED that I installed is the same voltage as the battery (12V for both), I used the "switched" screw terminals on the amplified sound board to create a circuit rather than splicing into the actual battery wires.

Of course, I checked with Spongeface before attempting this. He was very clear that this plan should work with a 12V LED light on its own, but he warned me that it wouldn't supply enough power for an e-cig setup. I decided against installing an e-cig for venting, so this was not an issue for me. A million thanks to Spongeface, once again, for helping me think this through.

The reason I used the "switched" screw terminals over the "constant" ones is because I already have my Bluetooth module wires in the "constant" screw terminals. The "constant" terminals power the Bluetooth module when the "power up" switch on the wand is on or off, so I can listen to music even when the pack lights off (as long as the battery is on, of course). Conversely, the current coming from the "switched" terminals depends on whether or not the "power up" switch is on or off. Functionally, this really has no effect on the N-Filter vent light, but it would make a difference if I was trying to play music via Bluetooth through this terminal.

The vent relay board's screw terminals are not powered, so I needed to create the following circuit to power the N-Filter vent relay light from the amplified sound board (which is in turn powered by the blue brick battery):

Vent screw #1 -----> (Red wire) -----> soundboard "switched" POS screw

Vent screw #2 -----> (Black wire) -----> LED light -----> (Brown wire) -----> soundboard "switched" GND screw

The two screw terminals on the vent relay board do not depend on polarity, so it does not matter which screw you tighten your wires into.

When one is venting, the vent relay board will short the two screw terminals, causing the LED to light up. I adjusted the two pots on the vent relay board so that the delay is to a minimum (counter-clockwise) and the hold is to the maximum (fully clockwise).

The result is a sight to behold:

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#4897970
Drilling a hole in the motherboard for the wires leading to the Spengler plate

I believe this was the last hole that I needed to drill through the motherboard for my pack build.

I found a good spot next to the bottom-right "L" bracket to drill a 1/2" hole in the motherboard. This hole will be key for threading wires through the motherboard to the Spengler plate.

I copied another one of GohstTarp's ideas and I bought a rubber grommet (13/16" outer diameter / 1/2" inner diameter) to surround the aluminum edges of the hole, both from the interior and the exterior.

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The grommet should do a good job protecting the wires even if I plan to wrap them with heat shrink as well.

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As you can see, the 1/2" diameter of the hole/grommet is perfect for feeding through the battery charger connector. This is the largest end that needs to fit through the hole.

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Paint it black

Once I removed everything from the motherboard, I painted both sides using Rust-O-Leum Universal Satin Black spray paint (the same paint that I used on my shell). I put masking tape on the outside of the mounting "L" brackets because I thought the bare metal could help me see the tapped hole for the mounting screws. Everything else was painted black.

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Modified loom clamp

As I unmounted the components on the motherboard before painting it, I was able to take a better picture of the modifications I made to the Bionic Labs standard loom clamp. As I noted earlier in the build thread, I had sawn off the base of the clamp so that 1) the loom sits flush against the motherboard and 2) to remove height. I also cut the bottom portion of the left ear of the clamp so that it may overlap with the bottom-right mounting "L" bracket.

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Fixing the cyclotron reflectors and the Cyclotron TVG lights to the cyclotron shelf

While waiting for the paint to dry on the motherboard, I worked on permanently fixing the reflectors and lights to my cyclotron shelf that I made from sintra.

The first thing I did was to label each light "1," "2," "3" or "4" (with some masking tape) in the order of their lighting sequence. On the inside of the sintra shelf, I did the same for each hole. I really did not want to glue a light in the incorrect order by negligence, so I thought this was a necessary precaution.

Originally, I used hot glue to secure the reflectors, but it did not take very long for one of the reflectors to pop out. So I went to the other extreme. First, I doused the hot glue with isopropyl rubbing alcohol to break down the glue and remove it from the sintra shelf and the aluminum reflectors (this worked incredibly well). Second, I used Lepage Ultra Gel Control super glue to fix the reflectors to the shelf. That alone probably would have created a sufficient bond, but since I was planning to attach light bulbs on the reflectors, I thought the wires might place stress on the bond. Third, I decided to reinforce the super glue bond with Bondo (I have tons of this stuff and I need to use it, haha).

After the Bondo had dried and hardened, I super-glued the black discs (holding the cyclotron TVG lights) to the back of their respective reflectors in the manner that I described in an earlier post. It worked quite well... And I do not think they are going anywhere!

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That little piece of light blue plastic that you see caught under the black disc of the bottom left light is actually a piece of the glove that I was wearing while I was holding the disc/light in place (for five minutes) while the glue was drying. Please don't try this bare-handed!

Here is a view from the top. You can see the Cyclotron TVG Lights board and the Vent Relay board mounted to the upper face of the cyclotron shelf:

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In sum, I really like how the cyclotron shelf, reflectors, lights and circuit boards are cohesively grouped as one piece or module. It is easy to mount and unmount the whole from the 6.5" speaker, while the whole is only tethered by one cable coming from the Powercell. This, to me, is a simple and elegant way of organizing the electronics.

More updates coming tomorrow, so stay tuned.
#4897972
Looking great. Couple of suggestions.

Is that Bondo Spot Putty from a tube? If so, it isn't a very strong reinforcer. It is meant to be very thin. In thick sections, it will crack easily. In this application, it will probably provide some support but Milliput or Plumbers Epoxy or Apoxie Sculpt would be better for true strength.

Did you sand the motherboard before painting? Looks like some of those holes still have burrs. Could just be the lightning. For clean holes, lightly use a countersink bit to remove the burr then sand the entire motherboard with super fine grit paper then buff with steel wool. Clean with a paper towel and alcohol spray.
canpara liked this
#4897976
Hi Bishop,

Thanks for recommendations! I could use your advice all day.

Bondo is a product manufactured by 3M that is more like a goop than a putty and it comes from a can (similar to a paint can). It is like epoxy in the sense that you need to mix a red hardener cream into the beige goop for it to take on its filler and adhesive properties. It is an automotive product meant as a body filler. I think it is very strong and it likely will not crack.

I used countersink bits on most of the holes on the motherboard and, for those that I didn't, I used a file to remove the burs. I think the holes are clean. I should have thought to sand the motherboard with fine grit paper and steel wool, though. Darn. I'll assess how it looks this morning, since I have to wait 24 hours for the paint to dry completely.
#4897977
canpara wrote:It is like epoxy in the sense that you need to mix a red hardener cream into the beige goop for it to take on its filler and adhesive properties.
Yep, that's the good stuff. Bondo also sells red "spot putty and filler." It comes in a tube and is meant for filling in small holes and leveling. Much softer than the 2-part stuff. Color is about the same so wasn't sure what you were using but you're good with that.

Carry on! :)
canpara liked this
#4897983
Installing the crank knob

One glaring omission on my shell was the hole for the crank knob. This was because I wanted to find a crank knob with set screws so that I could use an non-functional volume potentiometer that my friend Stefan had given me from an old electric guitar. I liked the idea of using the pot because it would allow me to turn the crank knob with some resistance, which in turns gives one the impression that it is a functional part.

After months and months of contacting sellers for a legitimate crank knob, I found out that Bionic Moon Labs made a resin replica with set screws. Even the upper knob handle can rotate. That made my day.

Here is a picture of the crank knob (in light grey) with the old volume pot:

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Luckily, the crank knob fit perfectly over the 1/4" shaft of the pot.

I made a template to mark the location of the hole many moons ago. Luckily I still had the template with me. I drilled a 3/8" hole in the shell, which was perfect for fitting through the 23/64" threads under the shaft.

The problem that I encountered was that the shell was too thick for the threads to protrude enough from the hole to secure it with a nut. Inside the shell, I marked the outline of the pot, then I used my Dremel to dig into/level out the shell somewhat.

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I didn't have to dig very much with the Dremel to allow sufficient clearance of the pot threads:

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Then it was a cinch to place the crank knob and hold it together with the two set screws.

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Needless to say, I am very happy with the crank knob!

Reasearching how to install the gun mount to the shell

Now I am researching how I will install Freeky Geeky's gun mount on the side of my shell.

I see that certain builders (such as PsssdOffJay and DonBishopMiguel) reinforced their mount on the inside with an additional metal plate. Seems like a good idea to me.

Freeky Geeky does not provide an interior spacer like this, so I need to figure out how I intend to do it. I think these holes will be the last ones that I need to drill into my shell. Suggestions are always welcome!
#4898024
Installing the gun mount (GB1 metal v-hook)

After much deliberation, I decided that the two screws provided with Freeky Geeky's gun mount parts should be sufficient to withstand the weight of the wand. Like Bishop and Jay, however, I opted to use a steel plate on the inside of the pack to act as a very large washer to increase the surface area and better distribute the weight of the load.

While referencing Stefan's plans, I tried to estimate the best location for the gun mount on the shell's exterior. The dimensions of the metal parts do not match those on the plans, so I looked at other build threads to see how they positioned their back plate and screws. Ultimately, I eyeballed the location to what I thought looked consistent with other builds.

Here I drilled two holes with an 11/64" drill bit:

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I found a piece of scrap steel in the garage to build the supporting plate in the interior. It's not pretty, but it's strong. The plate of steel already had some holes in it, but I could not use those ones. I had to drill some new ones for the two bolts.

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And there you have it... I believe those were the last holes that I needed to drill into my shell! What do you guys think?
Last edited by canpara on September 11th, 2017, 8:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
#4898030
Looks great! Good decision using a backplate.
canpara liked this
#4898065
Installing the Spengler plate onto the motherboard

With the motherboard painted and having fixed the short circuit on the external volume potentiometer, it was time to permanently mount the Spengler plate.

First, I passed the wires for the battery recharge cable, the main power switch and the external volume pot through the 1/2" hole that I drilled earlier in the motherboard (the one with the black grommet). Second, I surrounded the wires with a piece of black 1/2" heat shrink to further protect the wires and try to fill the empty space inside the hole.

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Once the wires were in place, I used two rivets to permanently attach the Spengler plate to the exterior of the motherboard.

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Below is a side view. As you can tell, there is no lack of heat shrink!

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Here I would like to take the time here to formally thank NStevic01 for his excellent Spengler plate and battery cables. His products make the blue brick battery connections a breeze, while his communication and client service are outstanding. Nathan even lengthened the battery cable for me at no charge (other than shipping costs) and he did so within the shortest possible delay. He is a true credit to the South Florida Ghostbusters. I hope everything is alright for him down there.

Mounting all the components to the motherboard and cleaning up the town

After riveting the Spengler plate in place, I did the same thing to the Powercell shelf. Those were the only rivets that I put through the motherboard.

Next, I pulled the wand lights ribbon cable through the splitless loom with the help of some thin metallic wire.

The moment had come to start mounting all of the other components to the motherboard, starting with the ALICE pack frame and the 6.5" and 4" speakers. Then I moved onto the loom and the loom clamp, the N-Filter vent light (and shelf) and the cyclotron lights "module." For the purposes of clean cable management, I made sure that all the wires from the Spengler plate and the N-Filter vent light went through the inside of the sintra cyclotron shelf (or box) and out the upper right corner.

Then I mounted the battery/ground loop isolator shelf. This piece includes the Bluetooth module and its long wire, which goes inside the right wall of the cyclotron "box," under the N-Filter vent light shelf, through the left side of the cyclotron shelf before screwing it onto the exterior left side of the cyclotron box. I thought this was an appropriate place for the Bluetooth module because it was as far as I could place it from metal, which can potentially limit its wireless signal range (according to the instructions manual).

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I connected all the wires that I could before moving onto the amplified soundboard shelf. I made sure that I passed all of the wires through the slit I had cut in the middle of the soundboard shelf before screwing the shelf to the motherboard. I adjusted the length of the wires before connecting them in the proper screw terminals of the soundboard. Then I bolted the soundboard to the shelf.

The rest of the work was simply tidying up the wires with zip ties and braided sleeves.

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It felt so satisfying to flick the main power switch on the Spengler plate and have everything light up with sound as it should. Everything worked properly. I knew I had achieved a significant milestone in my pack build.

Spot painting the shell

Earlier in the day, I further sanded the parts of my shell that were affected by the paint wrinkling off the polyurethane. I moved from coarse grit all the way to extremely fine grit before washing those areas by hand with a clean rag.

Once the pack was dry, I placed a large transparent plastic bag over the shell. With the use of scissors and masking tape, I only exposed the sanded sections that I wished to repaint.

As Samuel L. Jackson would say, "hold onto your butts." Painting is probably my least favourite part of this build. After building up some confidence, I spray-painted two coats of grey primer, which are currently drying in the temperature-controlled garage.

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Tomorrow night, I plan to spray paint some coats of Rust-O-Leum Universal satin black over the exposed areas so they can match the other parts of the pack.
#4898142
Lowberg wrote:Those internals are so clean....love it....amazed!
Thanks, Lowberg! I believe they turned out quite well and I'm quite proud of them. I appreciate the kind words.

While I'm waiting for the paint to dry on my shell, I laid out my wand parts last night to start thinking about how I'll put them together.

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Luckily, RJ pre-drilled most of the holes, so that will simplify the assembly. Nonetheless, I will have to get out the Dremel and sand down parts of my Nick-a-Tron grips to have them fit properly on the wand barrels.

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I'm looking forward to getting started!
#4898182
They're back...

I waited 24 hours to spray paint my second coat of satin black over the shell sections that needed to be repainted.

It did not even take 10 seconds for the stupid wrinkles to start reappearing.

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Stranger Things season 2?

Luckily, the wrinkles did not appear on the other sections that I painted... At least not yet.

I really do not understand how this is happening. Does anyone have any ideas? Ugh. I would be better to go to bed and think about it tomorrow.
#4898188
This can happen for several reasons. Poor adhesion. Rapid drying. Base coat not cured.

Most importantly, what does the can say about recoat time? Usually it will say, recoat in 2-8 hours OR after 48-72. Something like that. My guess is the base coat wasn't fully cured.
#4898193
bishopdonmiguel wrote:This can happen for several reasons. Poor adhesion. Rapid drying. Base coat not cured.

Most importantly, what does the can say about recoat time? Usually it will say, recoat in 2-8 hours OR after 48-72. Something like that. My guess is the base coat wasn't fully cured.
The can says to apply a second coat either within an hour of the original coat or after 24 hours.

I started by applying a coat of grey primer. Then I waited 24 hours before applying a coat of satin black. 24 hours after that, I applied the second coat, which created the paint wrinkles. So as far as I can tell, I followed the instructions accordingly. In the future, I think I will need to wait even longer for the paint to dry completely.

The good news is that the other sections that I repainted did not show any sign of paint wrinkles. Furthermore, the wrinkles that did show up are not not nearly as bad as the first time I painted the shell last spring. They will likely be much easier to sand down, too. Here is a picture that I took this morning before going to work (about eight hours after the second coat of satin black):

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It sounds like I will need to redo that section of the shell again. This time I will give each coat even more time to dry.
#4898201
Those instructions probably have a disclaimer about dry time being dependent on temperature and humidity. Longer cure, the better. Also never hurts to lightly scuff the surface before applying second coat.
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While you're 100% correct about the function[…]

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Sorry, I hadn't seen any of these replies. Either […]