Introduction

Are you an electronics guru? Can you understand any of the schematics you see in how-to's for a rheobus? Do you not have the time to plan out a rheobus, go out and get the parts, or put it all together? If you answered no to all of these questions, or even to one question, and you really want a rheobus. Have I got something just for you. Introducing the Maelstrom. The Mael what? The Maelstrom. It is a brand new designed rheobus by Cole of Case Etc. and Ryan "Uller" Myers who is the creator of LCDriver. Two of the best in their field bring you the best in its class. The Maelstrom.

Maelstrom Contents

Not much really since all of the hard work has been completed by Cole and Uller.

• Maelstrom (PC Board with all components installed and ready to go)
• (4) Knobs with allen screws to tighten to the potentiometers polls.
• (1) Allen Wrench
• (1) Lexan cutout with 4 1/4" holes drilled out for a template.
• (1) Molex Splitter to connect Maelstrom to 12v power supply.
• (2) Rubber bands (Used to hold template to drive bay cover for drilling)

Talk about quality

Kit Top View

Kit Front View

Maelstrom

Knobs

Allen Wrench

Lexan Template

Molex Splitter

Rubber Bands

Rear View of The Maelstrom

Side View of The Maelstrom

Maeltrom Power Connector

As you can clearly see from the pictures, the Maelstrom has impeccable quality, design, and components. Good quality capacitors and LM317T voltage regulators. And just look at those monster heat sinks attached to the LM317T. There is no way that these will even get luke warm. The PC Board is not of cheap quality either like a lot of other rheobuses are. This is a double sided PC Board with quality written all over it.

Tools Needed

This kit is pretty simple and only requires 2 tools, 3 if needed. The 2 main tools will be a drill with a 1/4" bit and a small flat head screwdriver. The third, and probably not needed if you have a good drill bit, will be a small file to debur your drill holes. The allen wrench is included with the kit so you do not need one on hand. Now you will also need a drive bay cover if you plan on installing this the normal way inside a 5.25" drive bay. The drive bay I used for the Maelstrom is from my Lian-Li PC-60.

Front View

Side View (Arrow Up)

Rear View

For Lian-Li users, note the direction your arrow is pointing so you don't confuse yourself and mount it opposite to the way you wanted.

All you really have to do is align the drill hole template to your drive bay cover and use the included rubber bands to hold it. Once you have it aligned and strapped tightly to your drive bay cover, grab the drill and get to work.

Template aligned & attached (front)

Template aligned & attached (rear)

Holes drilled out

Very easy process as you can see. I am talking about 1 minute attaching the template to the bay cover, then about another minute drilling out all 4 holes. Now if needed you could spend a couple of minutes filing down your holes if needed. Lian-Li users do not worry, the Maelstrom fits perfectly inside of the 5.25" drive cover. Also note to other users, it will fit in your drive bay cover also, unless you have some super weird nonstandard cover.

Putting it all together

The hardest part is now done. You could put the rest of it together now at the dinner table if need be. Actually, during putting it together you will see what I consider as the worst flaw with the Maelstrom. And because it is the worst, doesn't mean it is all that bad. You might want to do a test fit before you somewhat permanently attach it. Here is what you should have when attaching it to the drive bay cover.

Double Sided Sticky Tape

Attached to drive bay cover

Knobs attached

Here is how the wires are attached
from the fans to the Maelstrom.

There you can see the flaw I just stated. The double sided sticky tape. Why is it a flaw? It is already attached to the potentiometers. So? Well you have a 100% bond to the potentiometers, when you go to press it into the drive bay cover, it is hard to get a 100% bond if at all possible. You get a good enough bond to hold in place, but how long this will last I don't know. And I am not going to spend the time waiting for it to fall off. Once again, Lian-Li users have an added benefit though. The Maelstrom fits nice and snug into the 5.25" drive bay cover.

In the case knobs right

In the case knobs left

Full frontal view

As you can see, I need to tweak my knobs and get them straight. Here is another thing that can be considered a flaw. When the knobs are turned all the way clockwise, the Maelstrom provides very little power, minimum. With the knobs turned all the way counterclockwise, the Maelstrom provides all the power, maximum. Now I am used to turning a knob counterclockwise for minimum and clockwise for maximum. To me, and maybe not you, but this seems reversed to what I am used to.

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