• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

DVD drive modding

S

slowpogo

Member
OK, I concede this is unimportant and really the pettiest kind of modding. BUT...I have an NEC 3550a DVD burner, and its LED activity light is green. The six other visible LEDs on my rig are blue.

How difficult would it be to change the DVD LED to a blue color? One idea I've had is to just cover the green LED with a little square of colored cellophane to make it look blue. Any other ideas? Maybe it would be possible to physically swap the green LED hardware with a blue one? I know it's ridiculous, I'm just curious more than anything. thanks!....
 
Originally posted by: slowpogo
OK, I concede this is unimportant and really the pettiest kind of modding. BUT...I have an NEC 3550a DVD burner, and its LED activity light is green. The six other visible LEDs on my rig are blue.

How difficult would it be to change the DVD LED to a blue color? One idea I've had is to just cover the green LED with a little square of colored cellophane to make it look blue. Any other ideas? Maybe it would be possible to physically swap the green LED hardware with a blue one? I know it's ridiculous, I'm just curious more than anything. thanks!....
Click to expand...

As long as you could get to it...LED's are all pretty standard and replacing it with a different color would be easy.
 
should be able to un-solder the green and put a blue in its place. just make sure to put the flat side of the led on the same side the green one had it (or whatever marking happins to be on your brand/shape of led.) they are sensitive to polarity. and as added measure, measere the voltage across the led pins so you can get the correct voltage replacement.
 
Just bridge the new led across the old one to see which way
the polarity needs to be ... most LED have either a Flat Side on
the case or one lead is longer than the other one

The correct polarity of an LED can usually be determined as follows:
sign: + -
polarity: positive negative
terminal: anode cathode
wiring: red black
leads: long short
marking: none stripe
pin: 1 2
PCB: square round
interior: small large
exterior: round flat

Also Voltage to an LED is not the critical factor
Current, usually lmited to 30 or 40 MA at most
is what determines Intensity & Longevity
 
yes, but the current is usually not a decideding factor for what kind of led you buy, most have the same current rateing. on the other had you can get leds that are rated for 12v, 24v, 5v, 3v, etc....
 
That is only for LED'S with a Built In Current Limiting
Resistor ..... that's for the non technical person to
just solder it to the power wires ... on a DVD or CD
drive, it is usually just a standard LED with an
External (circuit board mounted) resistor .... if you buy
it at places like Radio Shack, you usually get the ones
with no built in resistor ... internal resistor units are in a
longer 3/4" package and have regular hookup wire type leads
 
Blue leds usually requires an higher amount of amphere than green, red and yellow. As such, it is not always the surrounding circuitry can handle the additional load. But for a CD/DVD, it usually are no problem.
 
Should work fine .... unless your drive uses a LED with a flat rectangular lens
Most big electronics parts places will have the rectangular shaped one if you
need it

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top