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zero_defekz
n00b
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2008
- Messages
- 1
Skill Level: 1.5 (scale of 1-5)
Approximate time: 20-45 min per LED, depending on skill
Materials needed:
Technical stuff & Tools:
LED(s) - I used white for this mod, however, aside from the "standard" colors, there are also a few "non standard" colors - Yellow, White, UV (for blacklit cases) You'll need 3x of each color you choose.
The ones I used for this project are: 5mm High Brightness White LEDs (Radio Shack Stock # 276-0017 )
Needle nose pliers or Diamond cut pliers
Soldering iron (Pencil type, 25-40 watts - Radio Shack Model: 64-2802 | Catalog #: 64-2802 )
Spare soldering Iron tip (you'll see why later on - Radio Shack Model: 64-2073 | Catalog #: 64-2073 )
Solder (Rosin Core, Silver Bearing, .022 Dia. - Radio Shack Model: 64-013 | Catalog #: 64-013 )
Soldering Flux/Tinner ( Radio Shack Model: 64-020 | Catalog #: 64-020 )
Heatsink (Radio Shack Model: 276-1567 | Catalog #: 276-1567 )
Round file or drill with bit slightly smaller than the LED (I don't know what size I used. It should be about the same diameter as the soldering tip)
120 or 80 MM Fans - Circuit City, Best Buy, Newegg, Tiger Direct, etc. (I used Antec LED TriCool 120 MM Fans)
===============================================
Miscellaneous Stuff:
Hot glue gun - For securing the LED's once you've mounted them in the holes, and to secure loose wiring along the fan.
Pen - Preferably one that you won't be needing, that has a metal cone tip. We may end up sacrificing this to the modding gods.
===============================================
Miscellaneous notes:
What is an LED?
An LED is an acronym for a Light Emitting Diode. What makes these so special? A diode is essentially a one way "gate" used in electronic circuits, that prevent current flow in the opposite direction.
The difference between an LED & a "regular" diode, is, you guessed it: One emits light, the other doesn't. If you've ever seen a power indicator light on any electronic device, you've seen an LED in action.
Depending on the semiconductor thats placed in the capsule, you can get a variety of visible (not to mention, invisible - UV) colors. You can read more about them here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED
First step - Dislodging the "stock" LED's:
Plug in your soldering iron, and wait 5-10 minutes to heat up. In the meantime, take the pen you have, and with the ink cartridge depressed (not exposed) press the open end against the LED thats peeking through the inner frame, just above the fan blades.
(See below photo for approximate locations of the LED's)
Press hard enough to dislodge the LED, and then rinse & repeat for the next two.
Step 2 - Widening the mounting holes:
There are two ways of completing this next step.
You can either use a drill, and widen the holes for the 5mm LEDs,
or you can use the spare soldering tip (Told ya you'd see why you'd need this spare one), & melt the opening a bit wider, then file down the rough plastic untill you get a tight fit.
Personally, I used option 2 - I used a spare soldering tip to melt it, then used the round file to smooth it out.
Option 1 would be faster though, because you wont have to unplug the soldering gun, let it cool down, switch tips, then do it all over again when you're ready to solder.
Anyway, depending on the option you choose, make sure you do a test fit before we go on to step 3, the soldering.
Here's a pic of my hole after I widened & filed it down:
Step 4 - Soldering 101:
Disclaimer: I take NO... none....nada....zip....zilch...zero (get the picture yet??) responsibility for any burns you incur on yourself from either: burning yourself with the soldering iron, or from solder splatters (if you put too much solder on to the point where it drips, you're doing it wrong already) OR, for putting yourself on the nightly news because you started a fire, and can now roast marshmallows & make S'mores.
Ok. Now that I protected myself from any possible litigation (hardy har har), its time to do the fun stuff.
Soldering isn't rocket science if you've done it before. If you haven't, there are a few good tips ( I know.. bad pun) to follow:
1: ALWAYS tin & flux the leads of the components your soldering, whether its wire, an LED lead, or a capacitor lead. Always tin it.
Your probably asking "Whats tinning?" and "Whats flux?"
Well.. Tinning basically means that you put a small amount of solder on the tip of the soldering iron, and a small amount on the leads of the component your soldering to...
Solder usually has chemicals in it to help it bond (adhere) better to the two metals your soldering together (In most cases, its aluminium & copper - aluminium on the posts of the component your soldering, and copper on the circuit board your soldering it to.)
Whats flux? Flux is basically a chemical treatment (some solder has flux in it already) that prevents oxidization (read: corrosion) of the joints your soldering. Also, flux has a more important feature: You can use flux to clean the tip of your soldering gun, to help with tinning it (read above)
2: Use a little bit of solder at a time. Why? Too much solder, and it'll drip. Drip it in the wrong place, and you could very well screw yourself.
How and where you ask? Well.. lets say (purely theoretical situation here) your soldering a mod chip in a console. You put too much solder on the tip, and it splashes in between the pins of another chip on the consoles motherboard.
Now, you just created a bridge ( the technical term for a "short") between those two pins for that IC. Now, you have to get desoldering wick, and pray to god you don't take too much solder off (and thus, unsolder said IC from the PCB pad - or worse yet, pull the pad itself off the PCB), while removing the melted solder from between the pins.
See how too much solder can make a good situation turn very bad??
Ok, class dismissed.
Now, On the stock LED's, you're probably gonna find a tiny snippet of clear heatshrink tubing, followed by some dried hot glue. If you're carefull enough, you can cut this away using the tips of the diamond cut pliers.
Before you do this though, make note of which side of the LED is the flat side. Why? The flat side of the LED is the cathode ( - ) One lead will be shorter than the other. The shorter lead is on the flattened side, in case if you can't see it.
See the following diagram:
First, dip the tip of your soldering iron into the flux. It'll probably bubble, and let off a really bad smell. Don't worry about that, that's normal - its the chemicals bonding to the tip.
Then, unravel about 8-12 inches of solder from the solder reel you have, (or tube) and let about this much:
|__|
melt on the tip. Once thats done, clip the heatsink to the lead that your soldering - the heatsink will prevent the soldering iron from damaging the LED.
Heat up the lead, then put the solder wire to it, and the solder should melt over it.
Congratulations. You just tinned the lead of the LED. Pull off and let it cool.
Note:
If the solder drips and splatters, you're putting too much on.
Repeat this step for the wire.
Once that's done, use the needle nose pliers to hold the wire to the lead, while holding the tip of the soldering gun to the lead as well. In theory, the solder that you tinned on the wire & lead for the LED will melt, and fuse both parts together.
Repeat this part for the other lead now.
When your done, you should have results similar to this:
Step 5: Mounting the LEDs and bending the leads so they're not in the way.
Personally, I'd use the needle nose pliers to make a nice tight bend in the lead, then, put a small dab of hot glue (this will serve two purposes: one - fastening it to the body of the fan, and two: insulating them and keeping them apart) to affix the LED's in the holes you created earlier, and to prevent the leads from moving and shorting each other out.
You'd have to expirement with how much of the tip of the LED sticks out.. too much and the blades will hit it. Too little, and you won't get a good lighting effect.
Here are some before & after pics of my mod:
Before:
After:
(I'm not sure why the left one looks a little more "bluer" than the one on the right.)
Final Mounting, in action:
Hope everyone found this usefull. I did this in preparation for my new case that I should be getting within 2-3 weeks. I grew tired of the "regular" colored fans that I see everywhere.
Approximate time: 20-45 min per LED, depending on skill
Materials needed:
Technical stuff & Tools:
LED(s) - I used white for this mod, however, aside from the "standard" colors, there are also a few "non standard" colors - Yellow, White, UV (for blacklit cases) You'll need 3x of each color you choose.
The ones I used for this project are: 5mm High Brightness White LEDs (Radio Shack Stock # 276-0017 )
Needle nose pliers or Diamond cut pliers
Soldering iron (Pencil type, 25-40 watts - Radio Shack Model: 64-2802 | Catalog #: 64-2802 )
Spare soldering Iron tip (you'll see why later on - Radio Shack Model: 64-2073 | Catalog #: 64-2073 )
Solder (Rosin Core, Silver Bearing, .022 Dia. - Radio Shack Model: 64-013 | Catalog #: 64-013 )
Soldering Flux/Tinner ( Radio Shack Model: 64-020 | Catalog #: 64-020 )
Heatsink (Radio Shack Model: 276-1567 | Catalog #: 276-1567 )
Round file or drill with bit slightly smaller than the LED (I don't know what size I used. It should be about the same diameter as the soldering tip)
120 or 80 MM Fans - Circuit City, Best Buy, Newegg, Tiger Direct, etc. (I used Antec LED TriCool 120 MM Fans)
===============================================
Miscellaneous Stuff:
Hot glue gun - For securing the LED's once you've mounted them in the holes, and to secure loose wiring along the fan.
Pen - Preferably one that you won't be needing, that has a metal cone tip. We may end up sacrificing this to the modding gods.
===============================================
Miscellaneous notes:
What is an LED?
An LED is an acronym for a Light Emitting Diode. What makes these so special? A diode is essentially a one way "gate" used in electronic circuits, that prevent current flow in the opposite direction.
The difference between an LED & a "regular" diode, is, you guessed it: One emits light, the other doesn't. If you've ever seen a power indicator light on any electronic device, you've seen an LED in action.
Depending on the semiconductor thats placed in the capsule, you can get a variety of visible (not to mention, invisible - UV) colors. You can read more about them here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED
First step - Dislodging the "stock" LED's:
Plug in your soldering iron, and wait 5-10 minutes to heat up. In the meantime, take the pen you have, and with the ink cartridge depressed (not exposed) press the open end against the LED thats peeking through the inner frame, just above the fan blades.
(See below photo for approximate locations of the LED's)
Press hard enough to dislodge the LED, and then rinse & repeat for the next two.
Step 2 - Widening the mounting holes:
There are two ways of completing this next step.
You can either use a drill, and widen the holes for the 5mm LEDs,
or you can use the spare soldering tip (Told ya you'd see why you'd need this spare one), & melt the opening a bit wider, then file down the rough plastic untill you get a tight fit.
Personally, I used option 2 - I used a spare soldering tip to melt it, then used the round file to smooth it out.
Option 1 would be faster though, because you wont have to unplug the soldering gun, let it cool down, switch tips, then do it all over again when you're ready to solder.
Anyway, depending on the option you choose, make sure you do a test fit before we go on to step 3, the soldering.
Here's a pic of my hole after I widened & filed it down:
Step 4 - Soldering 101:
Disclaimer: I take NO... none....nada....zip....zilch...zero (get the picture yet??) responsibility for any burns you incur on yourself from either: burning yourself with the soldering iron, or from solder splatters (if you put too much solder on to the point where it drips, you're doing it wrong already) OR, for putting yourself on the nightly news because you started a fire, and can now roast marshmallows & make S'mores.
Ok. Now that I protected myself from any possible litigation (hardy har har), its time to do the fun stuff.
Soldering isn't rocket science if you've done it before. If you haven't, there are a few good tips ( I know.. bad pun) to follow:
1: ALWAYS tin & flux the leads of the components your soldering, whether its wire, an LED lead, or a capacitor lead. Always tin it.
Your probably asking "Whats tinning?" and "Whats flux?"
Well.. Tinning basically means that you put a small amount of solder on the tip of the soldering iron, and a small amount on the leads of the component your soldering to...
Solder usually has chemicals in it to help it bond (adhere) better to the two metals your soldering together (In most cases, its aluminium & copper - aluminium on the posts of the component your soldering, and copper on the circuit board your soldering it to.)
Whats flux? Flux is basically a chemical treatment (some solder has flux in it already) that prevents oxidization (read: corrosion) of the joints your soldering. Also, flux has a more important feature: You can use flux to clean the tip of your soldering gun, to help with tinning it (read above)
2: Use a little bit of solder at a time. Why? Too much solder, and it'll drip. Drip it in the wrong place, and you could very well screw yourself.
How and where you ask? Well.. lets say (purely theoretical situation here) your soldering a mod chip in a console. You put too much solder on the tip, and it splashes in between the pins of another chip on the consoles motherboard.
Now, you just created a bridge ( the technical term for a "short") between those two pins for that IC. Now, you have to get desoldering wick, and pray to god you don't take too much solder off (and thus, unsolder said IC from the PCB pad - or worse yet, pull the pad itself off the PCB), while removing the melted solder from between the pins.
See how too much solder can make a good situation turn very bad??
Ok, class dismissed.
Now, On the stock LED's, you're probably gonna find a tiny snippet of clear heatshrink tubing, followed by some dried hot glue. If you're carefull enough, you can cut this away using the tips of the diamond cut pliers.
Before you do this though, make note of which side of the LED is the flat side. Why? The flat side of the LED is the cathode ( - ) One lead will be shorter than the other. The shorter lead is on the flattened side, in case if you can't see it.
See the following diagram:
First, dip the tip of your soldering iron into the flux. It'll probably bubble, and let off a really bad smell. Don't worry about that, that's normal - its the chemicals bonding to the tip.
Then, unravel about 8-12 inches of solder from the solder reel you have, (or tube) and let about this much:
|__|
melt on the tip. Once thats done, clip the heatsink to the lead that your soldering - the heatsink will prevent the soldering iron from damaging the LED.
Heat up the lead, then put the solder wire to it, and the solder should melt over it.
Congratulations. You just tinned the lead of the LED. Pull off and let it cool.
Note:
If the solder drips and splatters, you're putting too much on.
Repeat this step for the wire.
Once that's done, use the needle nose pliers to hold the wire to the lead, while holding the tip of the soldering gun to the lead as well. In theory, the solder that you tinned on the wire & lead for the LED will melt, and fuse both parts together.
Repeat this part for the other lead now.
When your done, you should have results similar to this:
Step 5: Mounting the LEDs and bending the leads so they're not in the way.
Personally, I'd use the needle nose pliers to make a nice tight bend in the lead, then, put a small dab of hot glue (this will serve two purposes: one - fastening it to the body of the fan, and two: insulating them and keeping them apart) to affix the LED's in the holes you created earlier, and to prevent the leads from moving and shorting each other out.
You'd have to expirement with how much of the tip of the LED sticks out.. too much and the blades will hit it. Too little, and you won't get a good lighting effect.
Here are some before & after pics of my mod:
Before:
After:
(I'm not sure why the left one looks a little more "bluer" than the one on the right.)
Final Mounting, in action:
Hope everyone found this usefull. I did this in preparation for my new case that I should be getting within 2-3 weeks. I grew tired of the "regular" colored fans that I see everywhere.