I finally finished my home component box, and the pictures and descriptions are up at riocar.org.... here.

I got the case from a friend who got it from Markertek.com. It's model CH-2 made by Middle Atlantic Products. $55

It's all working very well, with the exception of the AC plug holder that docks with the empeg... it's sorta fiesty and doesn't work every time, so i'm gonna have to reconsider how i mounted it. Should be easy to fix though. Overall it was easy to do, just very time consuming to measure it all out, come up with support rigs, and cutting all the holes with a dremmel. I went through about 20 cutting disks. Total cost was around $80. Not to bad.

So, Tada! Any questions?

Loren,

Looks great! Thanks for those pics. I think you have now set the new standard -- raised the bar. I may yet succumb to that CH-2 box. I like it offet, too. Like you say, headphone amp, ice maker, who knows?

Did you really destroy a dozen Dremel cutters?? I only destroyed one overproced 1/2" Forstner bit! (never meant to drill aluminum, I don't think.)

I really like your back panel bracketing of the RJ-45 connector, and the RCAs -- very clean. I may need to re-do!

On the bracket for power plug, can you put an additional bracket inside the sled that holds the plug closer to the Empeg -- the way the RJ-45 bracket is closer in? I will say that seems to be one good thing about the plywood approach; it grips the plugs very close to the back of the docked Empeg, and it seems to stabilize both connectors in line pretty well.

Now to watch for Bruno's extruded Empeg alarm clock!

Loren, would you mind following up here or in the original thread with exactly what kind of serial adapter you've used to mount on the back? One of the things I forgot to buy yesterday was a serial connector to panel mount.

Bruno

See my post in one of the other component box threads - not sur which one I'm going to put the text into yet...

Bruno

Thanks guys =]

As for abracket inside... yes, that's exactly what i plan to do. I'm just gonna retool the one i already have for the inside of the box... or just make a new one, whichever is easier. I thought it'd be okay for it to have a little play , but it definitely needs to be precise... moreso than the ethernet plug.

And I lost track of the number of Dremmel cutting discs... but it was at least around 20 or so. Those things where down very fast .... oh, and i'm fairly sure the drill bits i used are worthless now as well...

It's just a gender changer... both sides are male.

here's a pretty good shot of it. It's not panel mount at all, i just had to cut a hole in the back panel for the shield, then two tiny holes for the screws, and screwed it in from the back. Add a dab of hot glue for strength, and voila.

Great work Loren.

One quick thing. Shouldn't you also run the ground of the power socket to the case chassis? Anyone a sparky to confirm this?
OK two quick things. Maybe put in a disclaimer about connecting power things if you mention power connections.

drat. Three quick things. If you're switching mains, I think you should be using a dual throw dual pole (DPDT) switch to totally isolate the mains power from the rest of the unit.

Just some suggestions. Great tip for cutting the sled opening. did you have to use the Dremel for it?

Shouldn't you also run the ground of the power socket to the case chassis?

Not a sparky here (and I occasionally confuse back and white!), but I think green ground wire to appliance chassis is SOP. I thought it was...Ah, I see...just to outlet. Yes, it looks like the ground is a dead-end in that socket. I would say that another green wire to the case is called for.

(I stand ready to be contradicted and humiliated by a sparky!!)

Great tip for cutting the sled opening. did you have to use the Dremel for it?

Gawd, I hope not!

Yes, i had to dremmel the whole thing =] (and it wasn't really that bad, cuts quick!)

Okay, as for the ground issue... i'm clueless. If anyone who's an electrical nut could clear that up, i'd much appreciate not getting shocked. But at the moment... i can't see a need for it.The plugs in this ancient apartment don't have grounds as it is, so i'm forced to use adaptors from 2 to 3 prong for the plugs. Nice eh?

But at the moment... i can't see a need for it.

Lots of small applicances and such have only two prongs yet carry certifications like UL. I have no idea what the criteria is for requiring a 3-prong grounded plug in consumer goods. In general terms, having a 3rd-prong ground wire that really goes all the way back to ground/earth provides a harmless path for bad-bad-bad electricity to follow in the case of a short rather than having that bad electricity follow a path to ground through your forearm and thorax. That's certainly a good thing.

Those little 3-to-2 prong kludge adapters have that little tab on them that ties the 3rd prong into the body of the electrical outlet through that little screw. But, as you suggest, that only helps if the outlet body is actually grounded. If it's an older, ungrounded 2-wire setup, then what's the point?

I think you can do no harm by running the green ground wire to your CH-2 case. Some day, you may plug it in to a real 3-prong outlet and may save yourself the embarassment of getting zapped like that bad guy in Goldfinger.

When I get confused about black and white -- as happens with increasing frequency -- I just make sure to use one of these .

Some of my questions were already asked in your OT post about power, which I hadn't read, sorry.

Another option for the power would be to replace the socket on the back with a switched, fused, filtered model. All in one unit. What do you do with the switch on the front? just switch the DC. Much safer. You don't have to worry about switching high voltages and it's a direct connection between the socket and the power adapter inside.

I really think you should have the ground connected to the chassis, irrespective of how your apartment is wired. You might move one day.

The socket on the back just acts like a passthrough... it's exactly the same as if the power brick was plugged into the wall, only it's got a switch between it and the wall. I'll ground though, especially since i'll probably end up bringing it to work.

Any plans to add a fan? (Didn't see one in the pics). My empeg was sitting on top of my DSS receiver all last night during a party and it got hot as hell! Compared to my CD player and DVD player, the sound wasn't that great. Had to crank my SonyES amp up to 1 o'clock or so. Maybe this would be different with the 4v outputs of the car sled.. So, I'm thinking of getting a bare bones system to house my backup mp3 collection and also get a Rio Reciever or something to use for parties.. (I'm getting a bit off-topic here..)

Awesome craftsmanship on that Loren! I like that it is rack mountable too!

I'll take that Dell Reciever off your hands if you want!

Hey Loren, great job! Thanks for all the pics, they will help a lot when I give it a shot myself. There has got to be a better way to cut through the case than a Dremel though, I hate blowing through those cheap little cutting blades too. I wonder if my run-of-the-mill router will work on metal with the right bit.

I am not a "sparky", though I do have some training in the subject, and my understanding is that that third prong will not matter unless something goes wrong and there is a short somewhere.

You could always buy yourself a hydraulic press and punch the cut-outs from the mounting plates. Might be a bit expensive per punch if it's not a tool you would normally use in your day-job.

Let me know what you find with respect to router bits. It would certainly be a lot easier to get straight edged cuts using a jig.

Bruno

how about a jig saw ?

Sweet install-pr0n, loren! Nice job. Thanks for the great pics.

I'm thinking about it. . . i know it's gonna get hot as hell on that reciever. I have some slotted 3.5" drive bay covers that i was just gonna slap on the back... but i also have a couple of 3" fans laying around... i just didn't want to deal with powering them at the moment. Another day. =]

Great job Loren! Want to make one for me? I get the feeling that this was a labo(u)r of love and you aren't going to be interested in mass producing them...

;-)

- Jon

I have no idea what the criteria is for requiring a 3-prong grounded plug in consumer goods.

In the UK at least (and I suspect these things are international accords), the criterion for a 2-prong mains connection being acceptable is being double-insulated: in other words, made so that no single breakdown of an insulator can expose mains; two coincidental breakdowns must be required. That's why mains cables run each conductor in its own plastic sheath, and also have an overall plastic sheath. If either one fails, mains is not exposed; both must fail coincidentally.

The symbol for double-insulated is a square box inside another square box. You can see the symbol next to the (two-pin) mains feeds on Rio Receiver and Rio Central.

Anything that's not double-insulated, must be grounded (i.e. have 3-prong mains).

Peter

Let me know what you find with respect to router bits. It would certainly be a lot easier to get straight edged cuts using a jig.

I'll have to take a look at that, too. I used my jigsaw, and it was certainly fast, but, probably due more to my own paranoia (you can always make a hole bigger, but you can't make it smaller) than to the blade wandering, I had a lot of clean-up filing left to do. I have a nice Porter-Cable router, so maybe next time....(although, thinking about it, the router runs such high RPM, not sure there's any bit that wouldn't seriously overheat even in soft metal. Hmmm)

Yeah, I second this, I'd pay a good premium for one of these things. I have a rack-mount DJ cart which holds my stereo equipment and a mixer and I'd LOVE to have a nice place to dock my Empeg. I could probably build one myself but I have like nineteen other electronic and software related projects going on right now.

Loren, want to make some cash?

Yep, but that is exactly what the "third prong" is there for - for when something goes wrong!!! Worst case scenario (well unless someone can think of a better one ), something gets really hot in the case and the solder holding the phase wire lets go, it touches the case, and because it is a nice metal case and you didn't connect up the ground pin, guess what, you are the only path to ground next time you touch it. OW!! That could be slightly fatal. Of course if your appartment only has 2 pin plugs, you lose! I can't believe things like that are legal!! Or maybe you are only allowed to use double insulated appliances in your appartment ...? Crazy!!

I WISH i had the time and space to make a bunch of these... as well as the TOOLS to make a bunch of these. It took me a week to do, with a few hours after work each day, and one long Saturday. I live in a studio apt. in downtown San Francisco so the whole thing was done in my living/bedroom as you can probably see in some of the pics. My girlfriend would kill me if i went into full production =]. Sorry fellas.

Not a problem... Maybe once my MAME cabinet is finished I can think about starting an Empeg enclosure project... Though I might run out of time to buy a sled... Guess I'll chance it.

Sweet. Post pics when you finish it. That's on my list of projects as well... woulda been done by now if i had a place to put it. =] That, a photo booth, a Vespa, and a few others i can't remember at the moment are on my list.

Will do on the pics, I have some taken but not hosted anywhere just yet. Lots of work to be done...

Question about your component box.. You hacked up an Empeg sled... Wouldn't it be possible to build a box without a sled? Like, it seems to me all the sled is doing is holding the Empeg in place... I think I could fashion some kind of contraption to slide the Empeg into that would do the same thing without spending $100+ on a sled... Is there any reason you chose to hack up a sled? I never liked the idea of powering the Empeg via the sled's power, and I see you use the AC adaptor instead... So really you're just using the sled to hold the Empeg in place, right?

looks like he's using it for the audio outputs too...and serial...

Ah, but how about the cool things you can do with the sled's connector? It's also hard to get a mating fit with the audio, serial and power all at once.

I want to use the mute line to trigger a snooze button function (hopefully you'll get on that alarm clock project again - this is one of my requests for it to support ) I also want to use the remote to trigger some other stuff in my box (amplifier to drive some small speakers (also built in))

Bruno

I'm keen to build one of these, but I don't know where to get a decent box. My amp and CD player sit inside a cabinet that is only just wide enough for standard hifi components. Rack mount stuff is just too wide, including the mounting lugs.

Anyone have any ideas for where to get a suitable box in the UK?

cheers,

Paul

I am working on placing a blank sheet of black annodized aluminum on a old broken CD player case. Just the right size for a stereo component and the is just the right size inside for all electrical components plus it has the RCA outs and AC cord already mounted.


Micman2b

> Anyone have any ideas for where to get a suitable box in the UK?

Or in the U.S. for that matter? That ch-2 box looks nice, but I don't have any rack mounts to attach it too and would like something that looks like any other home audio component.

Jump into the OT forum and find my thread on this topic. Then check the thread started by SMU in the Installation forum (I put more links in there I believe).

Sources in the US, UK, Germany, Belgium as well as Taiwan for lots of cases. I also posted a link to a nice idea for making your own out of aluminum channel. That's what I'll be doing and I'm very confident it will look a lot better than any of the black boxes or unfinished project boxes being sold. The best looking stuff is from THL in the first thread. But I have no idea how to get any of it locally (maybe someone should check to see how much they cost and how much to get shipped from Taiwan)

And for everyone's info, a lot of high end audio comes in rack-mount sized chassis. Often with rack-mount-like front plates (for instance, Bryston amps by default - optional flush face at request)

Bruno

> Jump into the OT forum and find my thread on this topic.

Thanks Bruno. There is some good info there.