Mounting motherboard to the inside of my cabinent

[drpcken]

Does anyone have any tips for mounting a PC motherboard and components to the inside of my cab?  I planned on putting it on the actual motherboard on vertical side (wood of course).  The PCB was mounted there.  What can I use to mount the hard drive and PSU?

Thanks!

[orion]

For the motherboard, I just use 1/4 spacers from home depot and wood screws. Also you could use something like this  http://www.twistedquarter.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=112 For the hard drive just be creative, velcro worked just fine for me with a laptop harddrive

[drpcken]

Ahh the velcro is a clever idea   Thanks!

[Franco B]

For the HDD I have used aluminium L section and drilled holes in it the same posistions as the threads in the HDD and used the original screws to fix the bracket to the HDD. You can then just screw etc the bracket to the cabinet etc.

[Haterot]

Ace hardware.  1/4 inch plastic spacers with appropriate sized/length screws to mount the MOBO to a piece of MDF. L brackets for the HD and then the whole thing has 2 strips of velcro on the back of the mdf which is attached to the cabinet wall. No drilling to hold it in place.

[ChadTower]

Haterot is right, mount them on a separate piece of wood, and mount that wood in the cabinet.  You want to be able to remove the whole system without undoing 450 screws.

[javeryh]

I use a Bic pen cut into 1/2" sections with a 1" screw running through the motherboard, through the plastic cylinder and into the wood.  No need to spend money on this!  I also use velcro to hold the HDD and power supply in place.  It works GREAT and you can mount them in like 30 seconds and they will never move.

[Waynetho]

For the HDD I have used aluminium L section and drilled holes in it the same posistions as the threads in the HDD and used the original screws to fix the bracket to the HDD. You can then just screw etc the bracket to the cabinet etc.

One warning about the HDD mounting.  Whatever you do, add rubber grommets to your mounting holes and mount only through the rubber grommets.  Don't let the screws make metal to metal contact with the mounts.  The only thing that should support the mounts should be the grooves in the grommets.  The top of the screw shouldn't touch the mount, and the mount shouldn't touch the wood.  This will provide sound isolation to your cabinet.  If you do not, it is very likely that your arcade cabinet will HUM when it is turned on.  The vibration from the drive motor in the HDD will be transferred to the wooden cabinet and the cabinet becomes a sounding board.

I cheaped out and used an old HDD cage that I pulled from an old PC case.  I cut four small slots on the bottom side of the cage, a left and right slot in each end.   I then slid the grommets into the slots and mounted the cage using screws and washers through the grommets.  Before the grommet modification, the HDD caused my cabinet to hum loudly, but afterwards, it's totally quiet.  Other that the sound out of the speakers, there is absolutely no mechanical noise coming from my cabinet.

[Drakin]

Waynetho,

A very good tip!

Thanks

[gryhnd]

I cheaped out and used an old HDD cage that I pulled from an old PC case.

I'm always one for saving a dime, being creative, and using something you already have laying around too. 

For my HD, I happened to have an old external ZIP drive: I gutted it, cut a hole in the top for an old CPU cooling fan, drilled 4 holes in the bottom half and mounted that to the cab.  The IDE and power cable run through the slot the ZIP cartridge would go into. Put the top half back on, and the drive is now nice and protected.

See pic, left side, blue case.

[severdhed]

i used those little brass screw in motherboard stands that you would normall use in a PC case.  drilled some holes, threaded them into teh wood, and then mounted the motherboard to them just like it was in a PC case.  it worked just fine.  however, looking back, i wish i would have mounted it to a separate board for easy removal.

[Beretta]

for mounting the board i can 2nd what javeryh  said, a bic pin cut into pieces works fine, the pieces dont even need to be perfectly the same size but try to get close.


as for mounting the hdd, be creative i would'nt go with velcro but L-brackets work fine.

dont feel the need to lay it flat either, you can mount hdd's on their ends if you like..

im gonna try to mount mine with a shelf built across L <-> R, of the cabinet, so i'll be mounting my hdd vertically to save space on the board, which also means only needing 2 mounts instead of 4.

if you're mounting on the side of the cabinet vertically though you may want to go with a horizontal mount on the drive.

for the power supply L-brackets also work for those.. although i have used something as simple as doubled over plastic from packaging before.

IE: like say the thick plastic packaging you get when buying headphones or something.

be creative you just need something strong enough ot keep it mounted tight to the wood.. metal L-brackets obviously are great but are over kill strength wise, it only has to support the weight of what ever you're mounting.
you can also mount power supplies in either origination, vertical or horizontal if you like.


EDIT: oh almost forgot if you have sheet metal clippers its' easy to make your own metal brackets.. i've made lot sof things out of old broken cd-rom cases, etc.. you can even use expansion card slot covers for computers..

they're a good thickness to be strong yet easy to work with and drill.. just get a pair of pliers, needle nose works good for making sharp 90 degree bends, drill you some holes and voila you got a handy custom made mount.. may not look as nice as the store bought L-brackets but work well.

if you have a lot of computer junk like i imagine most of us here do then you probably already have a baggy full of them.

[Finchbyrd]

Ace hardware.  1/4 inch plastic spacers with appropriate sized/length screws to mount the MOBO to a piece of MDF. L brackets for the HD and then the whole thing has 2 strips of velcro on the back of the mdf which is attached to the cabinet wall. No drilling to hold it in place.

Geez, what kind of velcro should I be looking into? If it's holding up MDF, a hard drive and power supply I think it'd need to be pretty serious stuff. I also don't know where to find grommets locally, any ideas?

[Haterot]

Grommets can be found in any Ace hardware or Lowes or Home depot. The velcro I use came from Michaels Hobby store. Standard stuff. 2 strips on the board, each strip is about 14 inches long. The MDf base sits on the bottom of the cab, up against a side, the velcro holds it in place. Im not suspending the mobo/MDf from the top or anything.

[Finchbyrd]

Haha, that makes more sense. I was going to have mine in the same area the CPS-2 board was, which was suspended. We'll see what I can do with the space available. Thanks!

[severdhed]

i just tried the bic pen method for my DK cabinet and it worked great. best of all it was cheap.

[FlatEarth]

What do you do to support the video and sound cards?  You would not want them moving around and breaking the motherboard slots, and without the case there is no support for the top of the card.

[Ryglore]

I'm using some plastic tubing, which is basically the same size as the bic pen method. =)

[orion]

High temp hot glue works great for mounting things like bulky power supplies. It also won't harm motherboards or hard drives either, just don't expect to be able to remove them easily without causing some damage. The pen idea is pretty cool, I had never thought of that before!

What do you do to support the video and sound cards?  You would not want them moving around and breaking the motherboard slots, and without the case there is no support for the top of the card.

I think most people resort to hacking up old PC cases for the PCA card holders for that.

[severdhed]

here is how i secured my motherboard and  video card in my dk cabinet, using the bic pen method.  I just bent the bottom of the metal plate on the video card up at a 90degree angle and drilled a small hole in it.

[BobA]

Ace hardware.  1/4 inch plastic spacers with appropriate sized/length screws to mount the MOBO to a piece of MDF. L brackets for the HD and then the whole thing has 2 strips of velcro on the back of the mdf which is attached to the cabinet wall. No drilling to hold it in place.

Geez, what kind of velcro should I be looking into? If it's holding up MDF, a hard drive and power supply I think it'd need to be pretty serious stuff. I also don't know where to find grommets locally, any ideas?

If you go to Home Depot or some other big box hardware store they have what they call Industrial Velcro that is much stronger than the regular stuff.  Do not use anything from a dollar store or the like as the glue is useless.  Problem with the Industrial quality velcro is that some of the packages are quite large and therefore quite expensive.

[Kman-Sweden]

I would not trust velcro. that's my 2 cents.
I used screws and/or L-brackets to fasten everything. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95205.msg1017965#msg1017965