Bugbyte's 2001 New Beetle -Mac Mini Install - Page 2

shizzle · 05-31-2005, 01:32 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Bugbyte

Aww, man! I just glued the DVI adaptor into the dock today! Thanks for the offer, I'll take you up on it if it looks like space is so tight that the current solution won't work.

Dont you need another one for the house anyway?

Bugbyte · 05-31-2005, 01:37 AM

Ha! Well, I guess I DO! I've got a 15" Apple LCD that uses DVI but it would be a real pain to unplug it and replug it to the Mini. It runs through the desk and around to the back and all.

On second thought Willy Mach-1, I'll take you up on the offer! I'll PM you to figure out how to pay for shipping it.

tj!2k4 · 05-31-2005, 11:42 AM

Looking great Bugbyte, I can't wait to see this project completed! =)

Bugbyte · 06-01-2005, 11:16 PM

@tj!2004 - Thanks! Me neither!

I finally disconnected the dock from the Mini tonight. Here's what it looks like:

I need to pack some epoxy into the gaps, but the 1/8" audio out is where the biggest gap is, followed by the twin USB ports. Otherwise, there's not really very many gaps at all. That actually worries me because that means it's mostly hot glue holding everything in and on a hot summer day, it could get soft.

I'm thinking about using my drillpress to drill some holes vertically through the plexi down and VERY SLIGHTLY into each connector. They I can either put an R/C model servo screw (very small) or maybe a bit of epoxy into it. That would "lock" it into the connector.

Trouble is, the dock has come together without a problem so far. I'd had to crack the plastic drilling through it.

Also, do you think I need to double the plastic with another layer of 1/4"? That would make it stiffer when inserting and detaching the Mini from the dock. Any advice is appreciated.

Bugbyte · 06-05-2005, 09:31 PM

Today I cut a hole in the heater duct to get the depth I need to put the Mini into the dash of my car. First, I fit everything back together and marked where the bottom cut should be. Using a Rotozip saw, I made the bottom and side cuts. By the way, the side cuts were too close to the openings on each side and so I switched to my Black & Decker imitation dremel tool. Using a Rotozip bit, it worked like a charm, so if you have a Dremel try one of these bits in it the next time you need to cut through ABS plastic or wood. It worked very well.

Here's the bottom and side cuts.
dash intial cuts

And here's the rectangular hole cut open.
dash final cuts
You're looking directly into the center plenum air duct for the heater/air conditioner. The air into this area is controlled by the heater controls. When you set them to the upper vents, a door opens inside and allows air to flow into this chamber and UP to the circular vents you see in the picture.

Naturally, in the summer this is a bonus but in the winter, hot air will flow over the cables and actually be able to enter the Mini, since the exhaust for the fan is to the back and into this chamber. I think I need to build a "box" around the back to protect everything but haven't decided how to do it yet.

Here, I'm test fitting a piece of cardboard cut to match the size of the sides of the dock I built for the Mini.
test fit

Here, I've tested the actual dock to see if it fits the opening. It does!
test fitting the dock

Below, I've fit the center console back on and am test fitting the dock for the first time. It fits both the din slot for the head unit and the hole I cut in the heater plenum.
test fit with console on

Of course, that was only a test fit. Now, I have to figure out how to attach the dock (most likely using screws through the sides and into the din sides) in such a way that it will allow the Mini to easily dock and detach at will.

So far, everything looks good. I may see about adding some plastic to the floor of the dock so the Mini gets guided in positively.

Next steps: figure out what to do about the dock hanging into the heater ductwork. Probably by building a box around the back end. But I still have to figure out what to do with the heat that come out of the Mini.

More homework to do.

replicant · 06-06-2005, 03:16 PM

Looking great Bugbyte! I definitely look forward to seeing some more progress. It helps the time at work to go by as I'm debugging code.

tj!2k4 · 06-06-2005, 09:31 PM

Excellent work. I always marvel at your precision and wish I could be so thorough!

scott_fx · 06-06-2005, 09:50 PM

aww man! your work is always the coolest!!

Bugbyte · 06-06-2005, 11:51 PM

Thanks guys. We'll see how it actually turns out.

Tonight I drew up a sketch of my proposed solution to the heater duct problem.

The basic issue is two-fold. First, the back of the Mini hangs into the heater/air conditioner duct. The flow comes from the bottom up to the top, passing over the Mini in the process. Second, the exhaust for the fan inside the Mini is exposed to this same air flow. That means that hot air in the winter could be forced INTO the Mini. I presume the fan would switch on and it would then exhaust the air into the duct, but I dunno for sure.

I need to do two things. First, protect the cables from the hot air. I think the hot air would loosen the hot glue and I'm not certain there's enough epoxy to protect it, even though I used a paintbrush to try and protect all of the hot glue blobs. Second, I want to ensure that heat from the mini is exhausted overboard into the heater duct work.

My proposed solution, after lots of complicated thoughts is to put a plastic box around the bottom and back of the cables and a slot at the top to let hot air out. I think that with the flow of the heat, it will be carried along and out the heater vents in the dash.

Here's a sketch of the problem (on the left) and my proposed solution (on the right).

shizzle · 06-06-2005, 11:57 PM

Man.... you doing that dock leaves me with fewer excuses!!!! Damnit and thanks!
But seriously, awsome work so far.
I would like to make a suggestion:
What about another layer of plastic behind the plugs of the dock but connected to the other plastic... effectively making it impossible for them to slide out backwards when docking the mini... which seems like it would present the most stress on the dock, while undocking would pull the plugs in firmer. Does this make sense? Kinda like a plug casing.

shizzle · 06-06-2005, 11:58 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Bugbyte

Thanks guys. We'll see how it actually turns out.

Tonight I drew up a sketch of my proposed solution to the heater duct problem.

The basic issue is two-fold. First, the back of the Mini hangs into the heater/air conditioner duct. The flow comes from the bottom up to the top, passing over the Mini in the process. Second, the exhaust for the fan inside the Mini is exposed to this same air flow. That means that hot air in the winter could be forced INTO the Mini. I presume the fan would switch on and it would then exhaust the air into the duct, but I dunno for sure.

I need to do two things. First, protect the cables from the hot air. I think the hot air would loosen the hot glue and I'm not certain there's enough epoxy to protect it, even though I used a paintbrush to try and protect all of the hot glue blobs. Second, I want to ensure that heat from the mini is exhausted overboard into the heater duct work.

My proposed solution, after lots of complicated thoughts is to put a plastic box around the bottom and back of the cables and a slot at the top to let hot air out. I think that with the flow of the heat, it will be carried along and out the heater vents in the dash.

YES!! That could effectively block most of the heat, and help hold the cables in place if you were to make it a firmly attached part of the dock.

EDIT:I would still worry about the heat in general if the heater was running.... maybe a bit of insulation?

Bugbyte · 06-07-2005, 12:01 AM

An excellent suggestion! I could also tap a screw through the bottom of the newly proposed plastic box and ever so slightly into each connector to ensure they hold in place. If I crack the plastic doing it, no big deal, just rebuild the box, not the whole dock.

I'll first build the box, then see if that keeps the connectors where they need to be. If not, I'll tap the screws. Thanks!

Edit: yah, maybe I ought to put some tinfoil or foam insulation on the plastic to insulate it. Don't ask why, but one day last year I put a thermometer into the duct when the heat was on high and got 137 degrees. Hot, but not really hot.

RFMan · 06-07-2005, 11:34 PM

How about using CA (Cyanoacrylate) glue to hold the plugs in place. It's availabe in almost all hobby shops. That stuff is incredible when bonding plastic parts together, and is incredibly heat resistant.

Bugbyte · 06-08-2005, 01:19 AM

Quote:

How about using CA (Cyanoacrylate) glue to hold the plugs in place.

That's a good choice and I use CA when I build R/C aircraft. It probably would have been better to do that when I first glued the plugs in place, although even gap filling CA doesn't always work so well, even with Zip Kicker to accelerate it. But I don't suppose it could hurt anything to put some thin CA on it. That stuff would definately seep into the tiny cracks, which is what I'm after.

Anyhow, not much progress to report today other than I bench tested the dock for the first time and found out that all of the cables work and that the dock didn't self destruct when I plugged and unplugged it. The DVI cable makes it seat very tightly, both when plugging it in and when unplugging it. Once the dock is permanently mounted, I don't think that will be a problem.

Here's a pic of it running iTunes with visualization after plugging it into the dock.
test run

Here's the Mini in the dock at its approximate final location inside the center console...

mini in final position

Here's what it will look like for the front. I'm setting it back a ways so I have room to either put my HU faceplate here for an uber stock appearance, or maybe I'll put a vacuum flourescent display behind smoke glass that displays song/computer status, etc.

front view

Bugbyte · 06-11-2005, 01:12 PM

I've given some thought about how to solve the ducting problem and sketched out a plan that I'm going to work on this weekend.

Here's a better picture of the problem and of my proposed solution:

The upper left of the plan shows the side view. The problem is that the back of the Mini hangs into the heater/air cond. ductwork. After considering a solution I posted earlier that vented into the ductwork, I've decided to reject that one. I think that the higher pressure in the vent when the fan is on would overwhelm the Mini's fan and force hot air through it. Also, air conditioning, while beneficial, might cause condensation inside the Mini.

So I'm going to vent the heat out the bottom of the Mini. The only issue with that is that the air intake for the Mini is on the BOTTOM of the unit. Venting the air to the bottom might cause it to recirculate warm air through the Mini.

Soooo...I'm not only venting it out the bottom but also have to route it out to the sides and into the dashboard. Since the dash is pretty big, I'm not too worried about heating up the inside of the dash. After all, the Mini's fan has never come on during the times that I've used it. I presume it may come on more often in a hot car but I'll use temp monitoring software to keep from damaging it.

The basic plan is that the lower ductwork is fixed in place while the upper ductwork is attached to the dock. For all intents and purposes, once the dock is put in place, it won't move either, but the two pieces aren't joined physically. I'll use foam to seal any gap between the two, just like they do with the current heater ducts.

Below is my cut and fabricate plan for the upper and lower ductwork. I'll first fabricate the box around the cables and enclose the exhaust, then use that to figure the exact dimensions of the lower ductwork.

This may take awhile...

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