LED Mod

[biszarerabbit]

So hey geekhack, I was recently considering doing a LED mod on my CMStorm QFR (blues), and was wondering if there is anything special I would need besides the LEDs themselves (also if I need a certain voltage, and of course if its even possible). I appreciate any help!

[Hyde]

I asked about the same question before in here:  http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=37266.0

There are two types of 3mm (T1 Size) LEDs:

Clear Water LED:  The bulb is clear and glass looking.  It is brighter but also more directional.  Brighter straight on but not so bright from the side.
Diffused LED:  The bulb look frosted.  It is a bit less bright but has a wider viewing angle.  Basically if you look at it from any direction it would have similar amount of brightness.

I went with diffused LED since we're doing indicator light, but I think it's personal preference.

After that you need to check the voltage.  From what I know that Red/Green/Yellow lights have same voltage.  So if you're swapping QFR's red LED to any of those color you should be safe.

However Blue/White/Purple/Pink need higher voltage.  So if you swap your red LED to any of these colors it will be dimmer since it doesn't have enough voltage.

In that case you'll have to either swap the resister or just accept that it has dimmer light, however a lot of users report that the blue light is actually too bright so running at dimmer setting is actually perfect.  However I'm also a noob in this so should double check before actually doing the mod. 

[Thechemist]

You can use some 3mm round wide angle leds which are 120-140° angle vs your standard round top of 20-40° angle. I am not sure about what forward voltage they are but they should have 20mA current. You can go for a brighter clear flat top or a softer diffused flat top led if you want the wide angle, if not you can go for narrower angle with a round top.

Round Top clear Led

Flat Top clear Led

[biszarerabbit]

Hmm thanks for the help guys! Really helpful, that thread had a good link for buying LEDs too, I might have to get LEDs through them. Btw quick noob question, can you even put LEDs on a QFR? I don't think there are any connections that allow for LEDs on most of the normal switches on the PCB board...

[Thechemist]

It is cheaper to purchase the leds on Ebay, you can get 100 of the 3mm for around ~$5 shipped but it takes two weeks from china. Other sites are about $20 or more + shipping just an FYI.

[mashby]

If anyone has any links to what they ordered from a vendor (not eBay), that would be most helpful. 

[Hyde]

It is cheaper to purchase the leds on Ebay, you can get 100 of the 3mm for around ~$5 shipped but it takes two weeks from china. Other sites are about $20 or more + shipping just an FYI.

Yeah I kind of realize that after I bought mine already =_____=

If anyone has any links to what they ordered from a vendor (not eBay), that would be most helpful. 

I got mine from here:  http://lighthouseleds.com/

[biszarerabbit]

So uh yeah, like i mentioned earlier... it doesnt seem theres LED solder points on each individual switch besides caps lock and such on the QFR... is there a workaround on this?

[The_Ed]

Drill holes and manually wire it.

[biszarerabbit]

Drill holes and manually wire it.

o_o how would I power the LEDs? Sorry I'm pretty noob

[The_Ed]

Split off 5v from the USB, put some resisters in there, make sure none of the wires short, and turn it on.

[tp4tissue]

Split off 5v from the USB, put some resisters in there, make sure none of the wires short, and turn it on.

Also +Resistor

[The_Ed]

Split off 5v from the USB, put some resisters in there, make sure none of the wires short, and turn it on.

Also +Resistor

? I said resistors already...

[tp4tissue]

Split off 5v from the USB, put some resisters in there, make sure none of the wires short, and turn it on.

Also +Resistor

? I said resistors already...

right, I  was emphasizing it with a ' + '

cuz it's very important.

[biszarerabbit]

I don't know if I can do this anymore... are there any videos on this stuff out there? I searched youtube and drew a blank on videos that would actually be helpful to me.

[The_Ed]

I remember when I used to follow 'tutorials', but then as I learned more I found out that most people who make 'tutorials' have no ****ing clue what they are doing...

If you live in MN you could just drop it off and I could do it for you. But it'll cost ya quite a bit from all the hours it would take.

[Mugen]

Split off 5v from the USB, put some resisters in there, make sure none of the wires short, and turn it on.

What resistance would you recommend?

[Hyde]

I remember when I used to follow 'tutorials', but then as I learned more I found out that most people who make 'tutorials' have no ****ing clue what they are doing...

If you live in MN you could just drop it off and I could do it for you. But it'll cost ya quite a bit from all the hours it would take.

Yeah if you plan to put LED on ALL the keys I'd say go buy a Ducky Shine II 9087 might be more cost/time effective.

But if you only gonna change LED color on caps lock and scroll lock then I say it shouldn't be too hard to figure out yourself and follow youtube tutorials.

[The_Ed]

Split off 5v from the USB, put some resisters in there, make sure none of the wires short, and turn it on.

What resistance would you recommend?

The number of resistors and their resistence values depend on how you wire it up and what LEDs you use. Basically you just have to get the math right for your unique situation, and having a Fluke 87-V helps.

[tp4tissue]

Wait..... what? the op wants to add leds to the entire board?

is he using a phantom plate ? or the original.

[Hyde]

Sounds like he want to DIY CM QFR's PCB lol.  So my recommendation is no.

Buy a Ducky would probably easier and save a lotttt of headache.  That or wait for CM to release their backlit version, it's been confirmed now just matter of when it will come out.