Xecuter 3 Box Restoration Worklog

[Bowlsnapper]

I got an Xecuter 3 box and it's in perfect, brand new condition. It's just missing a control panel. Luckily, I have one  Also managed to find a NOS XLCD for the panel! Might need some tips on how to re-condition the Control Panel plastic though, if I can... This Control Panel 's seen some shit. And I have to 3D resin print the buttons, as you can see. But I have a resin printer now.

LucEEEE!! You got some 'Storin to do.

...Weeeeeh!

_----------------------

On an unrelated note I now have a SHITLOAD of RAM. Lol.

 

[fox]

What's the matter with the plastic?

[Bowlsnapper]

8 minutes ago, fox said:

What's the matter with the plastic?

It's the old control panel plastic. Not the new Xecuter box. It's very aged, basically.

[fox]

okay, if it were scratches I had tips ready

[Bowlsnapper]

2 minutes ago, fox said:

okay, if it were scratches I had tips ready

I need those tips, because the CP has them and various cases I go through have them as well.

[fox]

1 hour ago, Bowlsnapper said:

I need those tips, because the CP has them and various cases I go through have them as well.

Well it only works on smooth plastic, not textured kinds like xbox cases. It's about polishing with sandpaper and micromesh pads. If you're dealing with light to moderate scratches on smooth plastic, not deep like someone ran a knife across it, you can polish it back to a basically like-new appearance. You just sand the plastic gently with a series of grits from 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 .... in that order. Higher grits than 3000 will make things unbelievably shiny btw. One of the plastic lenses on my infrared safety glasses that I use for forging was scratched bad and when I polished it up to 3000 grit it was already clear as glass again. Pic below is a jewel polished to 1500 grit.

I also gotta point out to only use brand name sandpapers/pads, like 3M. I gambled on some cheap off-brand sandpapers last year that are prominent on the different merchant sites, I think the brand name was ADVcer, that were alleged to be 4000 to 15000 grit but they were a scam.

You probably knew about basic polishing though.

Edited September 29, 2023 by fox

[Dempsey_86]

For the buttons, try to print them all in resin, if you do only one you can see the difference to much.

For the pannel itself tbh, I dont see any scratches on the pictures you posted.

Where did you buy these ram chips?

[Bowlsnapper]

9 hours ago, Dempsey_86 said:

For the buttons, try to print them all in resin, if you do only one you can see the difference to much.

For the pannel itself tbh, I dont see any scratches on the pictures you posted.

Where did you buy these ram chips?

Yeah I got myself a resin printer for this project. The button template stl files are a bit inaccurate, so I'm using tinkercad to tweak some parameters and then will release the updated files. I will print all 5 buttons, not just the one you see, so that will not be an issue There are some imperfections in the plastic that I would like to soften if I can. No real big or noticeable scratches.

They were from Aliexpress. 1.89 a chip

[Bowlsnapper]

11 hours ago, Dempsey_86 said:

Where did you buy these ram chips?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002121771120.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.4.3d711802Fn2hQn

[Bowlsnapper]

16 hours ago, fox said:

Well it only works on smooth plastic, not textured kinds like xbox cases. It's about polishing with sandpaper and micromesh pads. If you're dealing with light to moderate scratches on smooth plastic, not deep like someone ran a knife across it, you can polish it back to a basically like-new appearance. You just sand the plastic gently with a series of grits from 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 .... in that order. Higher grits than 3000 will make things unbelievably shiny btw. One of the plastic lenses on my infrared safety glasses that I use for forging was scratched bad and when I polished it up to 3000 grit it was already clear as glass again. Pic below is a jewel polished to 1500 grit.

I also gotta point out to only use brand name sandpapers/pads, like 3M. I gambled on some cheap off-brand sandpapers last year that are prominent on the different merchant sites, I think the brand name was ADVcer, that were alleged to be 4000 to 15000 grit but they were a scam.

You probably knew about basic polishing though.

I was basically aware of the jewel polishing technique, but the detail you went into and your recap of the topic was good for me. I need to know what to do about the textured Xbox plastic though... there HAS to be a way. Maybe not one that would result in perfection, but would make the plastic at least look better. I'm going to save the text in a document to make sure I never forget it. Is micromesh basically a magic eraser? I guess I could Google it. Thank you for the tip on not skimping on sandpaper. I would never have known that.

[fox]

2 hours ago, Bowlsnapper said:

I was basically aware of the jewel polishing technique, but the detail you went into and your recap of the topic was good for me. I need to know what to do about the textured Xbox plastic though... there HAS to be a way. Maybe not one that would result in perfection, but would make the plastic at least look better. I'm going to save the text in a document to make sure I never forget it. Is micromesh basically a magic eraser? I guess I could Google it. Thank you for the tip on not skimping on sandpaper. I would never have known that.

the only possible fix for case scratches I can think of is painting a case with a specialty spray that has a texture to it, I don't have experience with those though I saw an ebay listing where someone used one called herculiner (six coats of it, pic below) and I'd guess that would override any light/moderate scratches https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/8zwAAOSwmPRk7pCk/s-l1600.jpg, but the stuff is expensive iirc

for deep scratches/gouges, if it were me I would fill them with JB weld, sand that stuff level with the case and then use a textured spray, that's actually how I did -- with regular spray paint though -- the usb controller port on the foxbox because I didn't feel like plastic welding the gaps left over by the power button hole, pic below

I'm not sure what you mean by magic eraser

[Bowlsnapper]

On 9/29/2023 at 6:19 PM, fox said:

the only possible fix for case scratches I can think of is painting a case with a specialty spray that has a texture to it, I don't have experience with those though I saw an ebay listing where someone used one called herculiner (six coats of it, pic below) and I'd guess that would override any light/moderate scratches https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/8zwAAOSwmPRk7pCk/s-l1600.jpg, but the stuff is expensive iirc

for deep scratches/gouges, if it were me I would fill them with JB weld, sand that stuff level with the case and then use a textured spray, that's actually how I did -- with regular spray paint though -- the usb controller port on the foxbox because I didn't feel like plastic welding the gaps left over by the power button hole, pic below

I'm not sure what you mean by magic eraser

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, dude. Awesome.

___________________________________________

Just wanted to show the difference between the HD44780 1602 LCD and the XLCD. Was the XLCD based on anything?

[Bowlsnapper]

Now to work on the buttons!

What is with the IR window on this thing? The status light board is pretty close to the face and I can't imagine having to fit an IR LED in there for the remote feature...

Oh, there was an Xecuter IR product. Probably replaced the status light board. I ain't findin' that thing!

[Bowlsnapper]

I'm sure it'll turn out like crap but here's my first batch. They're based on the bank buttons in the 3d repository. The holes were too small to fit onto the x3 buttons properly so i widened them to a size that actually works. The trick will be sanding the support point breakoffs to where it looks decent. I had to attach the support points to the front, because if I do them on the back where they'll be out of sight, I'm afraid resin will cure inside the holes and make them... Not holes. @NeMesiS

I will now play some blink-182 while I wait for it to finish.

[Bowlsnapper]

Managed to get the buttons all printed. Combined with the NOS XLCD screen, it's good as new... Almost. I'll install it in the x3 case tomorrow.

[Bowlsnapper]

This x3 box was modded and then stored. It's in immaculate condition. The 3d resin printed bank and write protect buttons came out perfectly and look beautiful. The NOS LCD screen looks perfect, just have to adjust the brightness with the wheel, since I accidentally slid it over a bit. I'll find the sweet spot. The chip was flashed and nothing else was ever done. It has the stock HDD, stock dashboard and nothing else. I will install a startech, and a 2Tb with my HDD image, and then some controller port lighting.

Least that's done.  Now I have to work on the third Xecuter 3 box in my possession. 

Yikes. @FrostyMaGee

[FrostyMaGee]

Nice! I need to do one of those at some point. I really like the button assembly and lighting. LCD panel too. Honestly the whole front panel design looks awesome. 
 

The third one you have to work on looks a little worse for wear though. Lol. A fun project at least.  

[Bowlsnapper]

8 minutes ago, FrostyMaGee said:

Nice! I need to do one of those at some point. I really like the button assembly and lighting. LCD panel too. Honestly the whole front panel design looks awesome. 
 

The third one you have to work on looks a little worse for wear though. Lol. A fun project at least.  

It's pretty thrashed. I don't have a control panel though... Only a pristine bank selection corner panel which is what came with the chip. At least I can replace the destroyed on thats on there. lol.

[FrostyMaGee]

14 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

It's pretty thrashed. I don't have a control panel though... Only a pristine bank selection corner panel which is what came with the chip. At least I can replace the destroyed on thats on there. lol.

I couldn’t tell if it was just dust or a glare in the picture but the top of that one definitely looks thrashed. Lol

[Bowlsnapper]

9 minutes ago, FrostyMaGee said:

I couldn’t tell if it was just dust or a glare in the picture but the top of that one definitely looks thrashed. Lol

It needs a new case, really.

[Bowlsnapper]

 

[FrostyMaGee]

I love the dual tape deck and receiver. I still have my JVC receiver/amp, five disc cd changer, and dual tape deck hooked up. I’ve got to replace the belt in the cd changer though as it stopped functioning. I don’t have any of my vcrs hooked up because I ran out of room. Lol. I just hook them up when I want to use them.  

[Bowlsnapper]

5 minutes ago, FrostyMaGee said:

I love the dual tape deck and receiver. I still have my JVC receiver/amp, five disc cd changer, and dual tape deck hooked up. I’ve got to replace the belt in the cd changer though as it stopped functioning. I don’t have any of my vcrs hooked up because I ran out of room. Lol. I just hook them up when I want to use them.  

CD changer's on the Trinitron on my workbench.

[FrostyMaGee]

9 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

CD changer's on the Trinitron on my workbench.

Sweet! Mine is the big platter type JVC rather than a loader. I would have less belt trouble with a loader like that. The ones in the platter kind are massive. Lol. They do tend to last for a while but are getting hard to find. I’ve just been using the dvd player of late until I can get another belt. 

[Bowlsnapper]

@lopenator