The case of the missing filler (Dell PowerEdge Rack to Tower conversion)
So you've bought some PowerEdge Tower servers but these were originally rack servers.
No problem, you thought, as you remove the rack 'ears' and sourced a top cover + feet to turn your T430 or T630 back into a Tower.
But one problem remained: On Rack Servers, the front panel is actually shorter by 15mm, leaving some of the internals/electronics exposed to dust and spills. Here's the top of a T630 converted back to 'Tower':
Then I realized we were in 2019 and that 3D printing is now common. There are companies on the Internet that deliver your 3D printed CAD files to your door.
So, I started FreeCAD's Appimage on my RHEL machine and designed a part that fit the size of the gap and borders I had just measured:
The CAD files I created are located here:
FreeCAD
After a couple weeks, the parts (one for my T430, another for my T630) were received. I had gotten the color wrong but at least they did fit nicely:
And the final result was fine (no more gaps):
No problem, you thought, as you remove the rack 'ears' and sourced a top cover + feet to turn your T430 or T630 back into a Tower.
But one problem remained: On Rack Servers, the front panel is actually shorter by 15mm, leaving some of the internals/electronics exposed to dust and spills. Here's the top of a T630 converted back to 'Tower':
Then I realized we were in 2019 and that 3D printing is now common. There are companies on the Internet that deliver your 3D printed CAD files to your door.
So, I started FreeCAD's Appimage on my RHEL machine and designed a part that fit the size of the gap and borders I had just measured:
The CAD files I created are located here:
FreeCAD
After a couple weeks, the parts (one for my T430, another for my T630) were received. I had gotten the color wrong but at least they did fit nicely:
I didn't have any black paint so I used a 'sharpie' pencil to make the surfaces darker:
And the final result was fine (no more gaps):
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