UVMOD101
Before even getting into the real deal, lets get the some terms straighten up.
1) fluorescent (AKA Neon) Color, is highly reactive with UV ray.
2) UV is also know as Blacklight, its not harmful so dont worry about exposing to it too much. The REAL UV Ray is harmful though.
3) CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) is the commonly used lighting in case mod. CCFL comes in a bunch of different colors; however, only UV CCFL can bring out the most shine from fluro stuff.
4) Single UV vs dual UV = its really just quantity difference....1 apple vs 2 apples.
What You Need for UV Mod?
1) Fluorescent Paper/ Fluorescent Sticker*
2) Double Sided Tape*
3) Fluorescent Paint**
4) Blade/Scissors*
5) Fluro Techflex(sleeve)
6) Electrical Tape/ Heatshrink**
7) Ruler*
8) Hole Puncher*
9) Uv reactive Fans and Accessories***
*You can get these from Popular Bookstore, or most stationary stores.
**Most hardware stores carry these.
***Widely Available in LYP, I prefer getting them from robyncom. Alternatively, try the bulk/garage section.
Which of these are optional? That depends on What kind of things your gonna use. Continue Reading.
How Many UV CCFL Do I Need?
You will need at least 2 x 12" UV CCFL minimum, I use 4 tubes as it covers almost every angle of my rig. anyhow, it depends on the size of your casing.
CCFL Placement
Here is an example of how I place my CCFL. It basically covers every single angle in my rig. If You've got only two tubes, have one placed on the top and another at the bottom.
Please excuse the messy setup as ive yet to tidy it up.
What do you consider as a nice UV mod?
There arent many UV mods out there that caught my eye, most of them are either lacking in highlights, or overly highlighted. One of the biggest mistake that I've seen is people sleeving their whole PSU with Fluro Techflex(sleeve), I find it freaking messy when it comes to presentation. When modding a UV theme, try to highlight only things that you believe is "worth showing", there is really no point sleeving all the cables in your rig, I'd rather have most of them sleeved in black and hidden. (one exception though.....full acrylic casing ) So, what are the things that's worth highlighting? Here is a checklist for you:
Checklist:
1) Fan Grill
2) Fan Blade
3) Fan Frame
4) PCB Sides
5) Top of the heatsink's fins
6) CPU retension bracket
7) IDE/SATA Cables (show only certain parts)
8) Other Cables (choose only cables you wanan show)
9) 3 pin fan connectors
10) Molex
11) Ram Slot
12) PCI Slot
13) Capacitors
14) Ram Chips
How To Mod?
Fluro Sticker:
You can try to find them in stationary shops, or you can make them yourself. How do you make it? Well...its really simple....just stick the back of a fluorescent paper with doublesided tape and viola u've got your own fluorescent sticker
Fans:
PAINT
You may paint them with fluro paint. I wont go into details of how to remove the fan and such, you can find guides regarding that matter in modding faq stickies.
STICKER
You may use hole puncher, and punch out some round shape sticker and ahve them stuck on your fan blades as seen in the above picture. when the fan started to spin, you would be able to see a glowing ring. you may also use the same trick to make the whole fan glow, that could be done by sticking a row of the rounded sticker vertically along the fan blades. I figure out this trick a few months ago, its less risky, than painting the fan, doesnt put on much weight to the fan like paint do, and you can customize the colors anytime you want. the only disadvantage of this mod is that the sticker might come lose if the fan get too dusty.
Capacitors:
PAINT
You can paint the caps as well, Its permanent and there have been a couple of cases that the paint sipped into the caps and caused the mobo to malfunction. Do it at your own risk.
STICKER
Using the same hole puncher trick, punch a bunch of round shape sticker out and place them on the caps
Heat Sink Fins
PAINT
Painting the tip of the fins is probably the easiest way to get this job done.
STICKER
Alternatively, you can measure the tip of the heatsink fin's dimension and cut out the appropriate dimension from the fluorescent sticker....this is really a PITA and I've done that for my Abit's flower NB hsf. the dimension was 1mm X 2mm. Took me an hour to "UV" the nb hsf.
PCB Side
PAINT
Again, probably the best way to have get this job done.
STICKER
Yet again, you can cut out the appropriate dimension and stick the sticker on the pcb side.
PCI & Ram Slot
STICKER
The same method, cut and stick. thats the only way you can do it. otherwise, you might wanna buy Vantec's UV Slot cover...which I find that they barely glow.
Other Cables
PAINT
You can paint them if you want, but the paint would not stick on cables with silky surface. i.e. sunbeam's CCFL cable.
Techflex(sleeve)
Best method here
Have Fun
UVMOD101 Tutorial *Massive Pic Bomb, All you need to know about UV Mod.