Redoing LEDs?

[AwSmCreator]

Thanks for helping with this, I just saw a post where someone had a Pok3r with pink and green LEDs. I want to redo the LEDs in my Pok3r (remove the white ones and install other colors). How hard is this to do, and how would I go about doing it?

[Signature]

Thanks for helping with this, I just saw a post where someone had a Pok3r with pink and green LEDs. I want to redo the LEDs in my Pok3r (remove the white ones and install other colors). How hard is this to do, and how would I go about doing it?

You'd have to desolder the previous leds. Then you have to consider the resistance needed for the new leds. If the resistance needed isn't the same, you'd have to change resistors aswell. From personal experience desoldering swotches is easier than desoldering leds. Desoldering and soldering resistors can be quite tricky. I'd be glad to guide you through the process, if you decide to do it!

[ImpendingxDoom]

If you have any experience with soldering it should be fairly easy. The switches can be left alone, and you can just desolder the LEDs you want out, and solder the ones you want back in. The key to success is not burning out any parts of the board, and keeping it as clean as possible. Desoldering can be done with a pump, or a desoldering copper mesh.

[AwSmCreator]

Hmmmm, seeing as I don't have any experience soldering this might not be a good first project... Or maybe it would?

[lootbag]

Hmmmm, seeing as I don't have any experience soldering this might not be a good first project... Or maybe it would?

I was in the same boat as you a few weeks ago, I suggest just watching some videos to get a sense how it works, maybe practice on some other things such as wire, etc. and diving in.
Did my first keyboard related (through hole) desoldering/soldering repair/swap job on an expensive Duck Viper and it was quite nerve wracking but it all worked out.
Some LEDs were not functioning and I had to desolder and resolder replacements.

That being said, I do have some soldering experience creating wire harnesses for cars but that is just soldering wires together, quite simple.
Having quality equipment and going through tutorials will help tons and make the process very easy.

[Signature]

Breaking my 1k post for this 

If you want to desolder leds I would strongly suggest to not remove the solder but instead heat up both pins and apply a little force on the two solder pins so you push the led through the holes. I think we lack a good assembling guide here on GH...

[bmilcs]

Thanks for helping with this, I just saw a post where someone had a Pok3r with pink and green LEDs. I want to redo the LEDs in my Pok3r (remove the white ones and install other colors). How hard is this to do, and how would I go about doing it?

Desoldering and resoldering LED's can be a ***** as a noob lol. I am having an issue with the one LED that matters on the Pok3r... the programming one... that flashes to let you know you're programming a key. I took it very easy and managed to mangle that portion of the board so now I have to learn to solder jumpers =]

Switches are easy. LED's not so much. They're super, super tiny.

[AwSmCreator]

Thanks for the reply's. I might just redo the switches, but I'm gonna watch videos on both first and try some practice before doing anything at all.

[bmilcs]

Good luck man. let me know how it goes!

By the way, I haven't tried soldering wick and heard it's better for the LED purpose. We shall see.

[bmilcs]

Good luck man. let me know how it goes!

By the way, I haven't tried soldering wick and heard it's better for the LED purpose. We shall see.

Also, have you purchased all your gear yet?

I highly recommend spending the extra $$ on a Soldapult. I went with an Amazon Prime cheapie and it's always getting clogged and has poor sunction, despite being 5 stars by the vast majority. I've desoldered all 87 switches on my KUL and it was painful. Took hours.

Are there any specific posts tailored to desoldering keyboards? I should post some things that I found to be true but I don't want to spread incorrect info. Pictorials are so helpful when starting out. Sure there are a lot of  resources on soldering but what we do is pretty specific. I destroyed a few soldering through-holes and I did not hold heat to them very long.

[AwSmCreator]

Good luck man. let me know how it goes!

By the way, I haven't tried soldering wick and heard it's better for the LED purpose. We shall see.

Also, have you purchased all your gear yet?

I highly recommend spending the extra $$ on a Soldapult. I went with an Amazon Prime cheapie and it's always getting clogged and has poor sunction, despite being 5 stars by the vast majority. I've desoldered all 87 switches on my KUL and it was painful. Took hours.

Are there any specific posts tailored to desoldering keyboards? I should post some things that I found to be true but I don't want to spread incorrect info. Pictorials are so helpful when starting out. Sure there are a lot of  resources on soldering but what we do is pretty specific. I destroyed a few soldering through-holes and I did not hold heat to them very long.

Thanks for the info, I'll probably wait a bit first but I'll be buying a kit eventually and starting a little project.

[trillobite]

One mistake far too many noobs make... using lead-free solder. Always use a lead + tin solder, or else you will have to pump your iron up to a super high temperature, and you burn everything on the board just trying to melt the solder. Also, buy some paste flux, it really helps when removing old solder. 

Edit:
I don't know if this is against forum rules, but if this helps to answer any potential questions about soldering equipment, etc, I made an eBay collection that you can look at:
http://www.ebay.com/cln/elektron1k/soldering/285234195017

Notice that some of the items come from China though. I order quite a lot from China, and it usually takes about three weeks before the item appears at my door.

[AwSmCreator]

One mistake far too many noobs make... using lead-free solder. Always use a lead + tin solder, or else you will have to pump your iron up to a super high temperature, and you burn everything on the board just trying to melt the solder. Also, buy some paste flux, it really helps when removing old solder. 

Edit:
I don't know if this is against forum rules, but if this helps to answer any potential questions about soldering equipment, etc, I made an eBay collection that you can look at:
http://www.ebay.com/cln/elektron1k/soldering/285234195017

Notice that some of the items come from China though. I order quite a lot from China, and it usually takes about three weeks before the item appears at my door.

Thanks! ^_^

[AwSmCreator]

Secondary question I don't  want to make a new thread for:

How do you go about installing LED's for underglow? I have two Acrylic cases with a Poker IIs in them and I'd like to add some under glow like WKL boards. 

[bmilcs]

I'd like to know this as well. I believe they're just like a strip of LED's that you solder to the board at some point. This is just a guess tho.

[AwSmCreator]

I'd like to know this as well. I believe they're just like a strip of LED's that you solder to the board at some point. This is just a guess tho.

I remember someone saying something about a strip of LEDs  too.  But interested to learn more.

[trillobite]

[sorry, double post... ignore this]

[trillobite]

I'd like to know this as well. I believe they're just like a strip of LED's that you solder to the board at some point. This is just a guess tho.

I remember someone saying something about a strip of LEDs  too.  But interested to learn more.

LED's are pretty simple, they all require 3V to operate (unless they contain a resistor to run on 5 to 12v). Basically, what I know so far, all you need to do is tap the 5V from the USB connection within the keyboard, and use a resistor to drop that voltage to 3V, and light up your LED strips. Now, if your keyboard uses the old PS2 connector... good luck, most computers don't put out enough power to run LED's off that port.

Here's some info on the topic: http://www.instructables.com/answers/How-to-change-5v-into-3v-using-only-resistors/

[Melchior]

Re-LED'ing:

Depends on the board electronics -- for instance the Ducky ONE has a constant current (per-channel) LED driver IC.

Thus no resistor PER led. Alternatively other boards have linear regulators, or switch mode DC/DC converters.

Resistors aren't always going to be there, nor always needed to be replaced.

White / Blue = same VF
Red / Amber = same VF (mostly)
Yellow / Orange = same VF

Other colours usually need a different source voltage.

Also Most "T1" or "3mm" won't fit the average Cherry MX key.
Special low height (~4.5mm) diodes are needed.

[trillobite]

Re-LED'ing:

Depends on the board electronics -- for instance the Ducky ONE has a constant current (per-channel) LED driver IC.

Thus no resistor PER led. Alternatively other boards have linear regulators, or switch mode DC/DC converters.

Resistors aren't always going to be there, nor always needed to be replaced.

White / Blue = same VF
Red / Amber = same VF (mostly)
Yellow / Orange = same VF

Other colours usually need a different source voltage.

Also Most "T1" or "3mm" won't fit the average Cherry MX key.
Special low height (~4.5mm) diodes are needed.

Good info on the Re-LED.    Do you know any specific info about adding LED's for an "underglow" for the OP? (You seem to know more than I do)

[tp4tissue]

All the work involved,  you might as well just buy another keyboard in the color you want..

this isn't like a kmac.. where the base price would be a barrier.

[trillobite]

All the work involved,  you might as well just buy another keyboard in the color you want..

this isn't like a kmac.. where the base price would be a barrier.

I think it is more of a diy mentality, to produce something that is unique and different. It's fun to produce something which cannot be bought right off the shelf.

[tp4tissue]

All the work involved,  you might as well just buy another keyboard in the color you want..

this isn't like a kmac.. where the base price would be a barrier.

I think it is more of a diy mentality, to produce something that is unique and different. It's fun to produce something which cannot be bought right off the shelf.

He's gonna say that... Up until actually having to desolder all them leds..  the poker's pcb isn't durable either,  so pad lifting chance is high..  then he's not gonna know how to use the solder sucker properly,  and make a mess, and short some pins..

hahahahahahha...  well,  the learning experience is worth it certainly..

[AwSmCreator]

All the work involved,  you might as well just buy another keyboard in the color you want..

this isn't like a kmac.. where the base price would be a barrier.

I think it is more of a diy mentality, to produce something that is unique and different. It's fun to produce something which cannot be bought right off the shelf.

He's gonna say that... Up until actually having to desolder all them leds..  the poker's pcb isn't durable either,  so pad lifting chance is high..  then he's not gonna know how to use the solder sucker properly,  and make a mess, and short some pins..

hahahahahahha...  well,  the learning experience is worth it certainly..

Yeah this is not going to be a near future project. I have a lot to learn before I re-do any LEDs. But I am really curious about adding an LED strip under the PCB. This is what I really want  at the moment. My acrylic case just arrived from MassDrop and I want some glow.

[naasfu]

i'm pretty clueless about board assembly, but take a look at the GON PCB that is available in LeandreN's GB.  i think that PCB should fit in most Poker compatible cases, and it has specific support for side LEDs, and might work for underside lighting as well?

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=79315.msg2093674#msg2093674

[trillobite]

All the work involved,  you might as well just buy another keyboard in the color you want..

this isn't like a kmac.. where the base price would be a barrier.

I think it is more of a diy mentality, to produce something that is unique and different. It's fun to produce something which cannot be bought right off the shelf.

He's gonna say that... Up until actually having to desolder all them leds..  the poker's pcb isn't durable either,  so pad lifting chance is high..  then he's not gonna know how to use the solder sucker properly,  and make a mess, and short some pins..

hahahahahahha...  well,  the learning experience is worth it certainly..

I actually found that the expensive boards can be more difficult to solder. Many of them have a thick copper grounding plate within the PCB which pulls away the heat from your soldering iron. At least with a cheap PCB, you can run your soldering iron at a much lower temperature. The only time I had trouble with pad lifting, was when I ran my iron way too hot on a cheap board. At that time, I was using the same adjustable iron which I have in my eBay collection (which is why I made that collection), and I had the iron set to 350*C. When I set the iron down to 300*C, there were no troubles, and the solder still flowed very easy.

I just looked up the Poker II PCB, and you can see the solder pads for the LED's. With a chisel tip soldering iron, you can heat both pads at the same time, and pull out the LED's very easily. A solder sucker may not even be required either, as both pads (with some paste flux) can just be re-heated, and a new LED can be inserted. I am guessing that setting the iron to 315* would get the job done without any risk of pad lifting. This is all assuming that the PCB does not have a thick grounding plate, in which case, you would have to heat the board before doing soldering work.

And that's true, like you said, it will be a learning process. Every geek needs to learn how to pick up his soldering iron eventually, and it's better on the cheap PCB, than a more expensive one. 

Edit: I actually found this, which has quite a lot of info: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=42824.0

[tp4tissue]

All the work involved,  you might as well just buy another keyboard in the color you want..

this isn't like a kmac.. where the base price would be a barrier.

I think it is more of a diy mentality, to produce something that is unique and different. It's fun to produce something which cannot be bought right off the shelf.

He's gonna say that... Up until actually having to desolder all them leds..  the poker's pcb isn't durable either,  so pad lifting chance is high..  then he's not gonna know how to use the solder sucker properly,  and make a mess, and short some pins..

hahahahahahha...  well,  the learning experience is worth it certainly..

I actually found that the expensive boards can be more difficult to solder. Many of them have a thick copper grounding plate within the PCB which pulls away the heat from your soldering iron. At least with a cheap PCB, you can run your soldering iron at a much lower temperature. The only time I had trouble with pad lifting, was when I ran my iron way too hot on a cheap board. At that time, I was using the same adjustable iron which I have in my eBay collection (which is why I made that collection), and I had the iron set to 350*C. When I set the iron down to 300*C, there were no troubles, and the solder still flowed very easy.

I just looked up the Poker II PCB, and you can see the solder pads for the LED's. With a chisel tip soldering iron, you can heat both pads at the same time, and pull out the LED's very easily. A solder sucker may not even be required either, as both pads (with some paste flux) can just be re-heated, and a new LED can be inserted. I am guessing that setting the iron to 315* would get the job done without any risk of pad lifting. This is all assuming that the PCB does not have a thick grounding plate, in which case, you would have to heat the board before doing soldering work.

And that's true, like you said, it will be a learning process. Every geek needs to learn how to pick up his soldering iron eventually, and it's better on the cheap PCB, than a more expensive one. 

Edit: I actually found this, which has quite a lot of info: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=42824.0

GET a soldersucker, don't , just,  ok,  if you're not pressed for TIME,  always use a solder sucker..

Solder sucker minimizes the contact time as a whole..  Heat is bad for the pcb..


if you're there, balancing the pcb with one hand, and heating in the other hand,  all the while keeping in mind to quickly pull out the led,  then the led gets stuck on one side but not the other, and you pulled it side ways..


Please, get the solderpult..

[trillobite]

GET a soldersucker, don't , just,  ok,  if you're not pressed for TIME,  always use a solder sucker..

Solder sucker minimizes the contact time as a whole..  Heat is bad for the pcb..


if you're there, balancing the pcb with one hand, and heating in the other hand,  all the while keeping in mind to quickly pull out the led,  then the led gets stuck on one side but not the other, and you pulled it side ways..


Please, get the solderpult..

I am not entirely sure if I understand what you are saying, why suck out the solder if it melts just fine?

Basically, here's what I do:
-Does the solder joint melt easily?
    Yes: Just slide the through-hole component out, add flux, and slide the new one in. (perfect for a noob)
    No: Heat the board, slide out the component, suck out the old solder, slide in new component, re-solder with lead/tin. (Not a good candidate for a noob, he probably won't attempt this method anyways.)

[bmilcs]

It's really not hard. I have redone my KUL 3 times now. And also modified my pok3r.

Clean your tip. Tin your tip. Place your tip on the top of the solder joint, not on the pcb but well above it. Once it starts to melt, nudge the MX switches' pin a bit to free it from the side of the through hole and hold against the pin for roughly .5-1 seconds. Then simultaneously remove the iron and hit your solder sucker button. Voila.

Works 95% of the time... every time.

If it doesn't get everything, move on. Do 2-3 joints and come back, creating a new solder joint over the half sucked up one. Do 2-3 more joints. Return and start from step #1.

[bmilcs]

ANNDDDDD IT'S GONE.

Wrong soldering thread. This is about LED's. I am dim witted.

Procede.

[AwSmCreator]

Sorry I messed up my last post on this thread, I was trying to ask an additional question about how I could go about adding LEDs under a board like WKL boards. I have two acrylic cases that I'd like to get some glow on.

[trillobite]

By the way, I just found out with a simple search on ebay: "5v LED strip," that there are LED strips already setup for 5V off a usb. You can take one of these, and simply cut the usb adapter end, and wire it directly to the PCB on whatever keyboard you wish to produce an "under-glow." Basically, all you will really need is a Digital Multi-meeter to locate ground and +5v. Correct me if I am wrong, but, depending on the female USB connector soldered to the board, you should be able to simply solder your own wires directly to that header to get the voltages you need.

Voltage pin map:
http://i.stack.imgur.com/G0qQF.jpg