Replaced the Diagnostic LEDs in the Sonata

[us3rnotfound]

By doing this, can it damage the motherboard circuitry in any way if the LEDs are too powerful or something?


stupid question i know, but i had to ask

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Not stupid at all. And if you don't use the correctly rated resistor with the LED, you will blow the LED before you hurt the mobo.

 

[us3rnotfound]

Originally posted by: tasburrfoot78362
Not stupid at all. And if you don't use the correctly rated resistor with the LED, you will blow the LED before you hurt the mobo.

Ah, alright. I had them running for a good month, then decided it could be bad then disconnected them. They actually ran just fine the whole time. Hopefully as you said, the motherboard wasn't damaged

 

[2kfire]

By Sonata do you mean the case by Antec? I was unaware they had 'diagnostic' LEDs

 

[us3rnotfound]

Just the hdd/power LEDs, taht's all I meant.

Just to confirm, the high powered LEDs didn't cause any damage to the motherboard circuitry, did it? Any sure-fire way I can tell if they did?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

In all honesty, not really. Other than charlie fires (blackening of mobo, smoke, crackling-sounds), there really isn't a way. If it works still, you should be fine.

 

[2kfire]

In that case, like it has already been mentioned, you should be fine. LEDs don't draw enough current to cause any damage, and:

Originally posted by: tasburrfoot78362
Not stupid at all. And if you don't use the correctly rated resistor with the LED, you will blow the LED before you hurt the mobo.

Actually, that seems like a pretty cool idea! Do you have any pics of what you've done? It would be neat to have all of the LEDs the same colour... I think I have some spare blue LEDs lying around too!!!

 

[CrispyFried]

the current draw is set by the limiting resister so if you havent changed that (its on the mobo or driver chip I believe) then the current draw is the same no matter what led is in it. different case makers use all sorts of leds so the mobo maker must take that into account.

 

[2kfire]

The limiting resistor is often built into the LED. When you buy a 5V LED, it has a resistor built in that will limit the current to an acceptable level when you connect it across 5V. Same thing when you buy a 12V LED. But if you connect it to a voltage higher than what it's rated for, current will NOT be limited enough and the LED will be damaged. Also, different types of LEDs (normal, high eff., super-bright etc) draw different currents, but either way, it's not enough current to cause any damage to the mobo (unless you hook up a few in parallel). Most case LEDs are 5V. So just make sure you buy/use 5V LEDs and you'll be fine. Or to be even safer, measure the voltage at the pin header with a voltmeter and buy LEDs rated for that voltage.

Main Point: You will damage the LED before you damage the motherboard.

Originally posted by: tasburrfoot78362
Not stupid at all. And if you don't use the correctly rated resistor with the LED, you will blow the LED before you hurt the mobo.

<-- Just givin credit to the person that said it first!

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Thanks. I know (besides EE classes through the Navy for "C" schools), I killed several while amusing the wife while connecting them to 9V batteries and watching them burn up...

 

[2kfire]

hehehe, i would do that and then I'd wonder why they just stopped working!
:thumbsup:

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: 2kfire
hehehe, i would do that and then I'd wonder why they just stopped working!
:thumbsup:

:laugh: I was doing this (with a resistor to prevent it blowing up mind you) with a LED, and I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work. Then I realized it was a IR LED, not a UV LED... Ooops. Oh well.

 

[2kfire]

Originally posted by: tasburrfoot78362

:laugh: I was doing this (with a resistor to prevent it blowing up mind you) with a LED, and I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work. Then I realized it was a IR LED, not a UV LED... Ooops. Oh well.

hehehe, troubleshooting is fun, specially when it's something that you would've NEVER guessed!

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Okay, now that I'm at home, I can post this, which is extremely useful for doing custom LED's in your machine. So long as you know what voltage you are feeding it, you can find out what resistors you need to get for your LEDs.

 

[CrispyFried]

Originally posted by: 2kfire
The limiting resistor is often built into the LED. When you buy a 5V LED, it has a resistor built in that will limit the current to an acceptable level when you connect it across 5V. Same thing when you buy a 12V LED.

didnt know that.. learn something new everyday the old school leds from a dozen years ago didnt have that.

did the leds you swapped in have a spec sheet? then you could compare that to a "standard" (if there is such a thing) leds current draw.

anyway since its been working fine you should be good.

 

[2kfire]

Awesome link tasburrfoot! It will save me much calculations and guessing :thumbsup: