Top Deck Tech Station Assembly
Unlike most of the products we review here on ThinkComputers the Top Deck Tech Station did not come assembled, so before you can use it you need to put it together. Set aside anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour to put the Top Deck Tech Station together. The first thing you are going to want to do is set everything you have out and make sure it is all there. Also be sure you have a screw driver on hand as you will need it to assemble the Top Deck Tech Station. If you happen to have a drill that will make installation easier as well. The first thing you are going to want to do is install the feet on the bottom deck (the one with only 4 holes in it). Take the 4 large feet, 4 washers and 4 1-inch screws and install the feet.
Next you need to install the motherboard standoffs. Take the top deck and face it up on the plain side (not the side with the stickers on it). Now take the 12 rubbers standoffs and screw them in with the provided screws. There are 2 large nylon screws that you can install to hold your motherboard in place. They are to be installed in holes #9 and #10 for mATX, #9 and #11 ATX and #9 and #12 for XL-ATX.
Now flip the top deck over and you will see that the holes on this side are labeled. Install the 6 L-brackets in each of the fan holes with the included 3/8“ screws. Also while doing this install the HDD stop using the larger 1.25” screw. After you are done your top deck should look like this.
Installing the HDD rails is very easy. Each rail has 2 holes. Simply thread the 1-inch screws through them and through the included spacers. Now you can set the HDD rails for 3.5-inch drives or 2.5-inch drives. I opted for 3.5-inch drives so I installed them in those holes.
The next part is probably the hardest part of the installation. You need to install the lower and upper supports on the top deck. Get 2 of the 7-inch and 2 of the 5-inch vertical supports as well as the 2 threaded steel posts. I found the easiest way to install them was to set the deck between your legs to keep it stable. Then go ahead and put the threaded steel post through the two holes on the top deck (the ones on the same side as where you installed the nylon screws). The larger 7-inch vertical support goes on the bottom and the 5-inch support goes on the top. Starting screwing them together from each side until they are secure in place. Once completed they should look like the photo below. Now go ahead and take the last two 7-inch vertical supports and connect them to the bottom deck by screwing them in using the screws that you used to attach the feet. Finally set the decks together and lock them in place by using the included screws. Once done you should have what you see below.
Now the Tech Station is really starting to look like something! Now you will need to install the Add-in card support brace. To do this take the brace and with the included screws attach it to the 5-inch support braces you installed earlier. Once you have it installed you can put the included caps on the top of the supports.
Finally it is time to install the fans. First you will need to install the fan grills, which does take some time with a normal screw driver, so if you have a drill it will make things much easier here. Once you have the grills installed go ahead and install the fans on the “L” brackets as shown below. The go on very easily. Also make sure you have the power cables of the fans facing down as that looks better.
