Project Apex (Black Edition) by Elder1945

Elder1945 · Jun 15, 2017

Print by Elder1945, on Flickr

I have started a new project! As some of you know I was not so impressed with the Apex launch and the overall look of the unit.. Neptune has fixed almost every issue they had at launch and now i am only hearing good things..... This now just leaves the look of the unit.. . . . Now the look of the Apex does not effect performance or functionality at all just in my opinion it looks unpleasant. #uncool :p This leads me to my new project or should I say set of projects as there might be a cough R2R one soon.. .. . . ..

This has just arrived!

20170615_133549 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170615_133448 by Elder1945, on Flickr

So the idea is to take everything apart and re make the housing from scratch. I plan on going black on black with a hint of orange as I plan on utilizing the Lights in the EB832 and the head unit. I also have quite a few ideas that I am excited about :) Follow along and lets make a "Cool" apex together :p @Terence ??? you think this voids the warranty LOL j/k (but seriously i know it voids all warranties :p)

Ty Hamatake · Jun 15, 2017

I'm down for this ride! Take me away to a place where the APEX 2016 doesn't look... the way it does :D:p

Anirban · Jun 15, 2017

You are going to redesign the whole casing????? Now that will be great to follow...

HeulittSalmi · Jun 15, 2017

Elder1945 said:
I have started a new project!

As some of you know I was not so impressed with the Apex launch and or look of the unit.. Neptune has fixed almost every issue they had at launch and now i am only hearing good things..... This now just leaves the look of the unit.. . . .

Now the look of the Apex does not effect performance or functionality at all just in my opinion it looks unpleasant. #uncool :p

This leads me to my new project or should I say set of projects as there might be a cough R2R one soon.. .. . . ..

This has just arrived!

So the idea is to take everything apart and re make the housing from scratch. I plan on going black on black with a hint of orange as I plan on utilizing the Lights in the EB832 and the head unit. I also have quite a few ideas that I am excited about :)

Follow along and lets make a "Cool" apex together :p

@Terence ??? you think this voids the warranty LOL j/k (but seriously i know if voids all warranties :p)

I've thought about doing stuff like this with hundreds of household items but could never gather up the guts to do it.. But as someone who is saving up for an Apex who also doesnt really care for the housing, I will gladly follow along!

Elder1945 · Jun 15, 2017

Ty Hamatake said:
I'm down for this ride! Take me away to a place where the APEX 2016 doesn't look... the way it does :D:p

Yes lol it will be amazing!

Anirban said:
You are going to redesign the whole casing????? Now that will be great to follow...

Yes top to bottom... Full Redesign :).

jsker · Jun 15, 2017

You always do some real nice work, this should be interesting

dcraigj · Jun 15, 2017

I agree with you on the appearance, therefore I will follow to see your transformation.

Elder1945 · Jun 15, 2017

jsker said:
You always do some real nice work, this should be interesting

I hope to make somthing "cool" we will see when I crack the apex open.. I think I might be cutting a pcb lol..

dcraigj said:
I agree with you on the appearance, therefore I will follow to see your transformation.

Yes just not my cup of tea.... Is it horrendous no but ugly yes..

scriptmonkey · Jun 15, 2017

I will follow along... looks like it could be a cool idea.

Mark Gray · Jun 15, 2017

Following

wmo168 · Jun 16, 2017

Please take detail photo, I am sure the thing would look awesome without the silver!! Following this thread!!!

Daniel@R2R · Jun 16, 2017

Following! :D

Elder1945 · Jun 16, 2017

So the idea is to lay out the apex head unit to make it look less like a big block. I will be re utilizing the LED that is in the head unit to do something with.....
I also broke down the EB832 to start working with that soon.

Here is the progress so far!

20170615_133424 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170615_135136 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170615_133906 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170615_134009 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170615_134743 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170615_134748 by Elder1945, on Flickr

ndrwater · Jun 16, 2017

After seeing what you did with your latest Vertex inspired build, and the videos of what you did to make the behemoth power bar on the Cerebra look awesome, I can't wait to see what you have in mind...
Following for sure!!

Elder1945 · Jun 16, 2017

20170615_134852 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170615_135132 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170615_135136 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170615_135142 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170615_135146 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170615_135211 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_091510 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_092745 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_093143 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_093442 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_093447 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_093635 by Elder1945, on Flickr

Elder1945 · Jun 16, 2017

20170616_093635 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_093807 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_094151 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_094159 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_094347 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_094353 (1) by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_102955 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_111115 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_114316 by Elder1945, on Flickr

Elder1945 · Jun 16, 2017

20170616_114320 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_114436 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_114652 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_114700 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_114752 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_115524 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_115532 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_120137 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_121421 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_121603 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_121829 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_122137 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_122657 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_124913 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_125048 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_125123 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_125230 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_125558 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170616_130629 by Elder1945, on Flickr

Ty Hamatake · Jun 16, 2017

Dude, this is SO brave! Lol I most definitely would've quit as soon as I pulled the faceplate off of the energy bar... I guess it helps to know what you're doing though. Completely stoked to see what you come up with!

Elder1945 · Jun 16, 2017

Ty Hamatake said:
Dude, this is SO brave! Lol I most definitely would've quit as soon as I pulled the faceplate off of the energy bar... I guess it helps to know what you're doing though. Completely stoked to see what you come up with!

:P Yea, having the pcb's flat helps to stream line the apex head unit. It was 3 pcb's layered onto of each other. They used 16p connectors so i can get them off the shelf. I did however change the male connectors as I did not need the crazy pins that they use.

I am happy how they construct the head units but wonder how much interference they get between the readings in the probes with this stack approached.