geekhack
geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: slyc3 on Wed, 11 November 2015, 16:54:32
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Hey Guys!
Have recently gotten into 60% keyboards with the Ducky Mini being my first as I really find the compact design with aluminum plates very appealing.
I have been accustomed to white LEDs with my mech keyboards however and I thought that the Blue LEDs out of the Mini's Blue/Red combo will be enough for my but after a few weeks of using the keyboard, I find that the lack of color options is the only fault that I have with it and really want to go back to white LEDs.
I was wondering if it is possible to change the dual LEDs into a single color LED (white) through the usual soldering process or is it impossible due to the dual LED color control that this keyboard has? Tried scouring this forum and the internet for information but I cannot seem to find an answer.
Thanks guys!
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Welcome to GH :)
LEDs are just wires with a glowing bit in the middle so you can certainly swap them, but there are two things to consider.
First - can you physically fit the white LED where the R/B one is? A picture would definitely help here, but I'm guessing they aren't actually in the switches as they have too many legs so this shouldn't be a problem.
Second - LEDs are connected to a resistor to limit the current. Different LEDs have different specifications so they need an appropriate value resistor. Generally speaking white LEDs and blue LEDs use a similar value but red ones use a bigger value, so you should connect the white LED where the blue one were.
If you have a multimeter you can measure what voltage and current is currently flowing before removing the old LEDs, if not buy a couple of spares and test with just one (or a couple, if required) - the worst you can do is burn the LED but I doubt this will happen.
The firmware may try to light up the "red" but if they aren't there it won't know, you'll just have to control the "blue" ones to actually change the settings.