Lian-Li Mods, GOO style.

Lian-Li Mods, GOO style.

Right – first things first. I’ve got to blame all of this on Mat-D-Rat.

Why?

LCDC of course. I’d already had a serial LCD from Milford Electronics (Stop sniggering at the back…), and it was cool running a very early version of Mat’s masterpiece. But then I buggered up the backpack trying to swap the LCD for a VFD and I ended up having to wire the VFD as a parallel display. Which doesn’t run LCDC. Damn.

So I ordered a 4 x 20 MO VFD display, just so I could use the bloody software again. Sad, Eh?

Of course, putting the MO in involved modding my Lian a great deal more than I’d done before. And once in, I couldn’t stop there….

1 - VFD

It’s only right I start here, as it inspired the rest of the case. The display in question is a MO VK204-25-V, a 4 x 20 display, with 6 GPO’s and a keypad interface. More details can be found on the MO site. As most of you will know, a 4 X 20 display doesn’t fit in a single 5.25 bay, so two where commandeered for it.

The Bay covers where covered in masking tape, and then the window for the VFD was drawn on – half on one, half on the other, as the display was going to be mounted centrally


Once a rough cut out had been Dremeled out (a couple of mm in from the layout lines), The opening was filed back to the finish dimensions.

Two blocks of MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard, for our American pals and other people who haven’t seen an episode of Changing Rooms) were custom cut to fit around the display, and to allow it to sit flush with the back of the bay plate. These where hot glued in place either side of the paired up covers.


Once the glue had set, the LED mounts where drilled. These are just 3mm holes, straight through the Aluminium and MDF.

I had planned on using some thin wood screws to hold the display in place, but a rummage in my bit box came up empty. Well – apart from these eyelets that worked really well (and saved me a trip out) – and it’s tool-less, just like everything else in a Lian!


After a test fit, I put in the blue filter. This is just a piece of blue gel sheet, as used in lighting rigs and Disco set-ups (Maplin Part #QZ71N). It’s held in place by the display itself. I then wired the GPO lights. These are 3mm Hibright LED’s (Maplin Part #JA22Y), soldered onto old case wiring plugs – the sort that you plug into the motherboard for HDD activity lights. The LED’s were a push fit into the holes drilled earlier.