I know that there is an infared light on the optical mouse. I know also that the red light just shines when you move the mouse. I was wondering if I could change the light to blue. Any suggestions?
Can you change the red light on the optical mouse?
- Thread starter Zclyh3
- Start date
Sure why not? I did mine to.... only watch out with the type of led.... the voltage of the led, at first I had an blue led but it needed to much electricity, so it wasn't shining enough!
If your handy with a soldering iron its quite easy. If you have never used one before I do not recommend even trying to do it.
You need a LED will the following specs:
Physical Size: 5mm, also known as "T1 3/4"
Voltage: 2.5v to 3v (3.3v will also work, just do not go any higher)
Brightness: 3000 mcd MINIMUM, Personally I used a 6000 mcd LED.
As long as you stay within these ratings the mouse will track the same as it did with the RED one, and in some cases better. (a brighter LED seems to improve tacking on certain surfaces)
I've used a few different color LEDs in my mouse (installed a small socket so I can change LEDs without soldering
)
LEDs I've used:
Blue, 2.6v, 6000 mcd
Orange, 2.8v, 9000 mcd
Green, 2.4v, 10,000 mcd (bright!)
Yellow, 2.8v, 9000 mcd
White, 3v, 7500 mcd
Red, 2.4v, 2500mcd (original factory LED)
You need a LED will the following specs:
Physical Size: 5mm, also known as "T1 3/4"
Voltage: 2.5v to 3v (3.3v will also work, just do not go any higher)
Brightness: 3000 mcd MINIMUM, Personally I used a 6000 mcd LED.
As long as you stay within these ratings the mouse will track the same as it did with the RED one, and in some cases better. (a brighter LED seems to improve tacking on certain surfaces)
I've used a few different color LEDs in my mouse (installed a small socket so I can change LEDs without soldering
)LEDs I've used:
Blue, 2.6v, 6000 mcd
Orange, 2.8v, 9000 mcd
Green, 2.4v, 10,000 mcd (bright!)
Yellow, 2.8v, 9000 mcd
White, 3v, 7500 mcd
Red, 2.4v, 2500mcd (original factory LED)
Do either of you guys have any pics with your new LED installed in the mouse? I think a blue one would be sweet.
perhaps the photodiode that reads the reflected red light from the surface and translates this into the motion of the mouse would not be able to work as well with another wavelength of light.
my bet is that this wont work. if someone tries it and it works, please post.
my bet is that this wont work. if someone tries it and it works, please post.
- Nov 27, 1999
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PliotronX
Diamond Member
- Oct 17, 1999
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stevewm, thanks for the good info. I've just one question, what happens to the LED (or mouse) if you use an LED that is rated at a lower voltage than the power given to it is good for? I've read sites that have used multimeters on the leads to find that the voltage applied is around 4v (though I have not read it with a multimeter myself). Will it reduce the LEDs' life to use ~4v on 2.5-3.3v or will the mouse just lower the voltage accordingly for the LEDs?
Then perhaps you would share some pics with us of your mouse that IS working with a different LED?
I don't have any pic's right now, but long live google.com!
Blue led mouse mod @elitehw.com
Another Blue led mouse mod
Blue led mouse mod @elitehw.com
Another Blue led mouse mod
As requested here is a pic of the socket/plug I used. Its simply the header cut off a old cd-rom audio cable. Makes changing the LED ALOT easier. Pop the LED out of the holder, unplug, plug new LED in, put back in holder
(following link is to a image on Geocities, direct clicking on the link will not work, you must copy/paste it into a new browser window otherwise you will get a 404 error. I have nowhere else to host the image file so plase bear with me!)
As you can tell from the image, I'm using a blue LED currently.......
http://www.geocities.com/stevenwm_17/plugmod.jpg
The optical sensor used in mice is actually most senseitive to light with a wavelength of 700nm (right on the border between red light and infrared light) The red LED included in the mouse is around 639nm.
Here is chart I ripped from the optical sensor datasheet; it shows the sensor's responsivity according to LED color: (Note: the following chart is based off LEDs that have a MCD rating of around 2500, therefore using a brighter LED will offset what this chart says. Thats why I recommend a 3000mcd minimum brightness)
(same copy/paste thing applies to this link as well!)
http://www.geocities.com/stevenwm_17/mousesense.jpg
To PliotronX: By simply swapping LEDs you are still using the current limiting resistor that is already on board. A different LED is going to have different forward voltage/current ratings and therefore the resistor is going to act differently. Voltage showing up at the LED terminals is going to be different because of this. With the factory LED installed my DMM shows 2.45 volts being applied to the LED, with the blue LED in, it shows 3.45 volts being applied. I never did measure the other colors as they where not in the mouse for long. The other colors don't fit in with all the blue LEDs already in my case, keyboard, and monitor
(following link is to a image on Geocities, direct clicking on the link will not work, you must copy/paste it into a new browser window otherwise you will get a 404 error. I have nowhere else to host the image file so plase bear with me!)
As you can tell from the image, I'm using a blue LED currently.......
http://www.geocities.com/stevenwm_17/plugmod.jpg
The optical sensor used in mice is actually most senseitive to light with a wavelength of 700nm (right on the border between red light and infrared light) The red LED included in the mouse is around 639nm.
Here is chart I ripped from the optical sensor datasheet; it shows the sensor's responsivity according to LED color: (Note: the following chart is based off LEDs that have a MCD rating of around 2500, therefore using a brighter LED will offset what this chart says. Thats why I recommend a 3000mcd minimum brightness)
(same copy/paste thing applies to this link as well!)
http://www.geocities.com/stevenwm_17/mousesense.jpg
To PliotronX: By simply swapping LEDs you are still using the current limiting resistor that is already on board. A different LED is going to have different forward voltage/current ratings and therefore the resistor is going to act differently. Voltage showing up at the LED terminals is going to be different because of this. With the factory LED installed my DMM shows 2.45 volts being applied to the LED, with the blue LED in, it shows 3.45 volts being applied. I never did measure the other colors as they where not in the mouse for long. The other colors don't fit in with all the blue LEDs already in my case, keyboard, and monitor
Radio Shack has the sh!ttiest LED selections I have ever seen. I need like a place that strictly sells LED's!
How do I change the LED on my monitor? I have a Dell Trinitron 21". It's going to be hard to get into it. I have change blue LED's on my tower, but my CDRW has a 3 pin LED. It has two lights which are green when reading and red when burning. Where can I find a 3 pin LED that's just blue? Or can I just use one LED? But I know if I just use one LED then it will only flash when it's reading and won't flash when it's burning or vice versa.
PliotronX
Diamond Member
- Oct 17, 1999
- 8,883
- 107
- 106
Excellent info, stevewm, thanks a lot
Zclyh3, after searching tirelessly on Google, I found this page where they are selling >5,000mCD LEDs that run under 3v. All of the sites I saw before this one, I'd only seen maximum brightnesses of 5,000mCD at 3v, with most ranging between 2,000 and 3,000mCD. I ordered the blue 6,000mCD LED and the yellow 8,000mCD LED for my Logitech Dual Optical mouse. I couldn't find any data on their reputation as a dealer though. When (if) I get 'em, I'll post back here.
edit- I found an awesome page on LEDs with a page of where you can get superbright LEDs (Linky). It links to B.G. Micro where they sell 10,400mCD blue/green LEDs(!) (Linky). Unfortunately, I don't see the voltage ratings on these so they could be 5v.
Zclyh3, after searching tirelessly on Google, I found this page where they are selling >5,000mCD LEDs that run under 3v. All of the sites I saw before this one, I'd only seen maximum brightnesses of 5,000mCD at 3v, with most ranging between 2,000 and 3,000mCD. I ordered the blue 6,000mCD LED and the yellow 8,000mCD LED for my Logitech Dual Optical mouse. I couldn't find any data on their reputation as a dealer though. When (if) I get 'em, I'll post back here.
edit- I found an awesome page on LEDs with a page of where you can get superbright LEDs (Linky). It links to B.G. Micro where they sell 10,400mCD blue/green LEDs(!) (Linky). Unfortunately, I don't see the voltage ratings on these so they could be 5v.
Originally posted by: PliotronX
Excellent info, stevewm, thanks a lot
Zclyh3, after searching tirelessly on Google, I found this page where they are selling >5,000mCD LEDs that run under 3v. All of the sites I saw before this one, I'd only seen maximum brightnesses of 5,000mCD at 3v, with most ranging between 2,000 and 3,000mCD. I ordered the blue 6,000mCD LED and the yellow 8,000mCD LED for my Logitech Dual Optical mouse. I couldn't find any data on their reputation as a dealer though. When (if) I get 'em, I'll post back here.
edit- I found an awesome page on LEDs with a page of where you can get superbright LEDs (Linky). It links to B.G. Micro where they sell 10,400mCD blue/green LEDs(!) (Linky). Unfortunately, I don't see the voltage ratings on these so they could be 5v.
Thanks for the headsup PliotronX! I've ordered myself the 6,000 MCD Blue LED. The sites that you put up are tight! I can finally find places that have super bright and super powerful LED's. Also, you should try case-mod.com because they sell blue LED's for $.99. They are at 1500MCD. Hold on...holy crap! Check out this kick ass case fan!
UV Sensitive Case Fan
I don't know why they make these kinds of fans for if they ain't even powerful. You gotta have both tightnest and be powerful at the same time.
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