PCMods.Com
Baybus Kit Review
Date : Sunday, 19 November 2000
By : Diceman
Product : PCMods.Com Baybus Kit Review
OK, It's finally here! The all-in-one solution to rigging up a bunch of fans, neons, or whatever else needs a 12 volt connection in your box. Today, I've got the New Dual-Voltage Led Baybus from PCMods.com! Here's a peek at the kit.
Price = $36.99 US
The Kit includes :
A close-up of the unit . Notice how well-laid out this is? It's quite incredible how everything is designed into such a small unit and still maintains complete functionality and very high quality. Also notice the little yellow trim pots above the leds.....these allow you to adjust the voltage in the lower position of the toggle switch.
Specs:
The basic fan bus kit allows you to control
up to four fans. Each switch has three settings: "ON", "OFF" and "Variable speed".
The variable speed setting can be adjusted to whatever speed you prefer, making
it perfect for fans up to 120mm. (we found that each fan had a minimum start
voltage requirement). The lights are Red and Green and come with Black bezels.
These baybuses have been tested with fans up to 120mm in size and with light
kits. In order to ensure that you could attach ANY device to this we outfitted
it to use bare wire leads.
Benefits:
Printed circuit board eliminates wiring mess. Simple installation
requires only drilling, then plug in and go. Drill template ensures holes are
placed correctly. Long lead for power supply included, as well as extra molex
connector so that you don't lose a power outlet. Control any device with the
switches (up to 6W per switch).
What am i gonna hook up to this baybus you might be wondering?.....why my 15" Firestick of course! =) Which, by the way, JUST fit inside my Antec SX-830 case...hehe......so if you got this case and want a 15" neon......it will fit! Hummmm......I've got a fanbus already for my fans so should i have just one neon attached to this baybus? I dont think so! keep reading..........
Here i have already run my wires from inside the case all the way out the front bay. Since the baybus is PCB (printed circuit board) design....the fanbus is also on the pcb versus inside the case. so this may be a pain at first for some to get their wires routed all the way out the front......but once it's done you'll see that the hardest part is already over!.....heh
Now, this here is the very good template that comes with the baybus kit. No paper template this time....it was made out of plexi. Here i pulled back the sticker over the adhesive to show you the goop underneath.
What you do here is attach this template to the front of your 5.25" bay faceplate as squarely and evenly as possible and press firmly to seal it on there for the drilling of the holes. It holds very well . One thing that i thought was weird is that i had to drill right thru the goop to make the holes. Im not sure why pcmods didnt just put the adhesive on the outer edges (maybe it would'nt hold as well that way)..i dunno.......but drilling thru the adhesive proved to be no problem whatsoever. It did not get all over everything or make a mess. Two good things to having a quality template ...1) you know the holes will line up perfectly...and 2) should you change cases and need to remount the baybus into different faceplates...this template is sturdy enough to last thru many,many hole drilling sessions.
Ok, now on to the wiring and setup. Since we've got our faceplate drilled and the wires run from within the case to the location of the baybus..it's time to starting putting it together (which should only take a minute now......)
Humm........well not exactly. I ran into a minor snag that only took a couple minutes to fix but nevertheless deserves mentioning because i know of alot of faceplates that look like mine.
The inner support fins of the faceplate kept the baybus from fully inserting into position, so i had to trim them back a little in the center (they crack right off with a pair of pliers). Once trimmed up..the baybus fit without a prob.
Here im test fitting the baybus into the faceplate and checking the look from the front........looking good eh?
Notice on the left pic, you can see little yellow "buttons" on the baybus? Well those are the trimmer pots that allow you to adjust the voltage of the lower toggle position. Remember the up position is the full 12 volts right?....well the lower position allows you to adjust voltage anywhere from 5.5v up to 11v. Pretty impressive feature to add to this already well packaged unit. very handy for you Delta luvin fanantics out there and you're tired of your neighbors screaming to turn down your fans......heh now you can with just a flick of a switch! At this point in time I wont be using the dual voltage feature because im going to hook up a couple of neons to this bad boy!
Ok, now here im starting to connect the neons wires to the baybus. This proved to be fairly difficult for me but only because i didnt leave much extra wire to work with, therefore just making it harder for myself ( i do that sometimes...heh)
The PCB (printed circuit board ) is extremely well labeled and pretty much impossible to screw up connecting a wire to the wrong spot ,short of being blind-folded. The molex connector comes already connected ready to plug into your computers 4-pin and is also a pass-thru should you be a little tight on 4-pins.....you can just run it "in-line" with a current connection and not lose any plugs.
The pic on the right is just me installing the included little black led bezels to teh faceplate and getting ready for final assembly....woohoo!!!!!
Ok, time for final assembly and testing! So far im into this project about 20 minutes and that includes running my wires.......really a simple installation so far!
Looking good to me! Switches are lined up perfectly and after securing the control nuts to the outer portion of the faceplate and connecting the internal 4-pin molex.....its ready to be fired up and tested!
lets take a look at the results ...................
Red lights are working.....green lights are working.......anf of course " off " is working.....but makes a boring pic ......hehe
The led's were surprisingly bright and very clear to the eye (not a fuzzy kinda led)
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!
As i expected, this puppy fired up without a hitch and did its job flawlessly powering the 15" firestick and 10" red neon. I could turn the lights on (12v)..off...and 7 volts (which barely lite the neons at all..) I could've played with the trimmer pots to adjust the voltage.....but come on.....for a neon.....hehe....I want more power! Not less!....lol!
Conclusion
Well, I really like this baybus! This thing was a breeze to install and extremely well-laid out!
If your looking for a no-nonsense all-in-one solution to your fan controls, or neons, or heck...whatever you have in your case..Make sure you check out the PCMods PCB Baybus!
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