Making your own HDD LED leads

This maybe such a newbie question it's untrue but how does one go about
making your own HDD LED leads?
I have a Fractal Design Refine XL which has a Blue power light but no
HDD LED at all, so i have right now just rigged up and old lead (that
was in a box somewhere) that comes of the motherboard and sits under the
case and is red, but i'd like to make a longer lead with a Blue LED,
given were dealing with tiny parts (compared to what I'm used to) any
ideas what tools I'd need to get pins/wire in and out of the motherboard
plug side of things?

Hope you get my idea if not then forgive me but it's late.

Jim

Jim luckyjim2000_2000 yahoo.co.uk wrote:

This maybe such a newbie question it's untrue but how does one
go about making your own HDD LED leads? I have a Fractal Design
Refine XL which has a Blue power light but no HDD LED at all, so
i have right now just rigged up and old lead (that was in a box
somewhere) that comes of the motherboard and sits under the case
and is red, but i'd like to make a longer lead with a Blue LED,
given were dealing with tiny parts (compared to what I'm used
to) any ideas what tools I'd need to get pins/wire in and out of
the motherboard plug side of things?

I think that wire wrapping wire is the tiniest insulated
single-strand wire. Or maybe you can use resistor leads. I think
that 1/8 W resistor leads are very thin. But I'm not exactly sure
what you're referring to (talking about).

Good luck and have fun.

--











Hope you get my idea if not then forgive me but it's late.

Jim

Addendum...

Depending on the LED power source, you must include a
resistance/resistor in-line (in series) with your LED. Or your LED
will instantly burn up. If the source comes from a circuit board,
maybe you could use a 1/8 W resistor. Conveniently, then maybe you
can plug its thin lead through the circuit board, and solder the
opposite lead to the wire going to the LED.

Good luck and have fun.

Jim wrote:
This maybe such a newbie question it's untrue but how does one go about
making your own HDD LED leads?
I have a Fractal Design Refine XL which has a Blue power light but no
HDD LED at all, so i have right now just rigged up and old lead (that
was in a box somewhere) that comes of the motherboard and sits under the
case and is red, but i'd like to make a longer lead with a Blue LED,
given were dealing with tiny parts (compared to what I'm used to) any
ideas what tools I'd need to get pins/wire in and out of the motherboard
plug side of things?

Hope you get my idea if not then forgive me but it's late.

Jim

Normally, in a LED circuit, you place a current limiting resistor.
For example, if I wanted to build a "LED flashlight" with a blue
LED, I'd do it like this.

(+) (-)
+5V ----- resistor ------ LED ------- Ground

LEDs have a "forward voltage drop" when they're lighted. A
blue LED might be 3.2 to 3.4 volts or so. 5V minus 3.4 = 1.6 volts
across the resistor.

LEDs are also rated by maximum current they can handle. Like 20 milliamps
or 50 milliamps for a small one. Let's start small, and pump 10 milliamps
through the LED.

The resistor has 1.6V across it, and we need 10 milliamps. V=R*I
1.6V/0.010A = 160 ohms. The power dissipated in the resistor is
V**2/R or is V*I, and 1.6V*0.010A = 16 milliwatts. An 1/8th watt or
1/4 watt resistor should have the power dissipation rating needed.
So I need to buy a 160 ohm 1/8th watt resistor at the store.

So that's how you go about building a *general* kind of LED circuit.
Red LEDs have a forward drop of perhaps 1.6V, but you can look up
the value in the LED datasheet. The forward bias characteristic is
a curve, but in the example, I'm treating it as a fixed value,
for the purposes of computing a first cut at a resistor value.
The 10 milliamp value I selected, should be bright enough to verify
the circuit works. And the circuit can be later modified, if you
need more light (up to the safe limit for the LED).

*******

Now, how does the situation change in a computer case ? There is a
switch in the circuit, to turn the LED on and off. And the motherboard
already has a "resistor" in the path. The computer case, all it needs
is a LED and two wires. The LED is a polarized device, and will only
light up if the legs are turned the right way, with respect to the
motherboard header.

Cheap commodity LEDs are rated for "5 volts PIV" or peak inverse volts.
That means, an average (Radio Shack) LED can be inserted backwards, without
damage to the LED. If you plug in your LED and wires, and it doesn't light,
simple reverse the two leads and try again, and it should light.

Now, what other things would we need to be aware of:

1) What level of current, does the motherboard attempt to drive
the LED with ? I don't know the answer to that, and I'd have
to measure it to know for sure. I'd guess it is in the 10-20 milliamp
range.

2) What voltage does the motherboard use to drive the LED ?

Well, this is important. The resistor may be selected to work with
a red LED. That would be an assumption by the motherboard designer.
If you substitute a blue LED, the voltage drop across the resistor
is less. And less current flows through the circuit when turned on.
That means the blue LED could receive half the current that a red
LED would get.

Particularly important, would be a situation where the LED is powered
from the 3.3V rail, instead of from 5V. This might happen, if the chip
driving the LED, was not "5V tolerant", and then the motherboard designer
uses 3.3V (another rail on the power supply) instead. If that was the case,
practically no current would flow through a blue LED, while a red LED would
still light up. 3.3V - 1.6V would still leave some voltage drop across a
resistor, when the red LED was used. So there can be situations where a
blue LED simply won't light at all, due to the supply voltage being too
low for it.

Note that, not all LEDs are reversible when making the electrical connection.
The small and cheap LEDs you'll be using for your computer case, are 5V safe
and reversible. But if you buy expensive "illumination" type LEDs, some of
those do not tolerate reversal. In which case, a careful hobbyist checks
and double checks the wiring, before applying power. A cheap LED costs $1.00,
while illumination LEDS with 1 watt to 5 watt ratings, cost $10.00 to $20.00,
and aren't as resistant to reversal. Their performance may be compromised if
they're reversed. Again, the details are in the datasheet.

I was shopping for a LED a couple days ago, to see what my local electronics
store could manage in terms of an "eye burner". This LED is rated at 20,000 mcd
and is white in color. White means it's "up the blue end of the spectrum",
and the Vfb is 3.2V. Max current is 20 milliamps continuous (so I'd run this
one at 10 milliamps). The "reverse voltage" rating is 5V, which means the
LED can be inserted the wrong way, without permanent damage. This is to
demonstrate, that a good vendor provides a pointer to the datasheet
(i.e. by using a part number you can Google, rather than being clever
enough to give a direct URL).

http://mode-elec.com/pdf/LED/55-559UB.pdf

Now, another issue, is mounting the LED. If you take the power LED out of
your computer case, it may have a mounting ring of some sort. You could
drill another hole in the case, and insert another mounting ring. For
cosmetic reasons, you may want the size of the LEDs to match. And there
are standard mounting rings, for standard sized LEDs. You'd try and buy a
LED plus a mounting ring, and be prepared to drill out the computer
case.

These are examples of different LED sizes:

size T1 (3 mm) or T13/4 (5 mm)

This picture shows a LED mounted in a mounting ring.

http://www.builders-in-scale.com/bis...-schm-1105.bmp

This is another example of a LED mounting kit.

http://octopart.com/4304mc-chicago%2Bminiature-703471

You don't have to use a mounting kit. You could drill a
LED sized hole, then use a dab of epoxy or hot glue, to hold
the LED in place.

When you make your LED and wires, you can cover exposed areas of the
wire with heat-shrink (polyolefin) tubing. I use that, rather than
electrical tape. Polyolefin tubing comes in different diameters,
and I keep maybe four or five diameters on hand for this kind of work.

For a professional job, you can also use a plastic shell and pins from
here. This is for the motherboard end of your cable assembly.

This is a shell, with room for two pins, on 0.1" centers.

http://www.frontx.com/cpx075_8.html

If you purchase the correct female crimp pins, they fit into
the shell and "snap" into place. Bending out the "tab" on the plastic
shell, allows the pin to be pulled out again. You have to crimp a
wire into the pin, before it can be pulled out (reversed) from the
shell. Otherwise, it might be hard to get the pin out.

I sometimes crimp and solder the pin, depending on the mood I'm in.
On the minus side, soldering makes the wire "stiff" and it can
snap more readily if flexed. But on the plus side, it's less
likely to slide out of the crimp. I don't use a proper crimp tool,
which is why I do this extra step. (My crimps done with pliers aren't
always the best.)

How to crimp, is shown here. Two pairs of legs. One pair touches bare wire.
Other pair holds the insulation of the wire for support.

http://www.frontx.com/crimp.html

And this page, shows how to back a pin out of a shell, if it
needs work. Lifting the tab on the shell, allows the pin to be
backed out of its hole.

http://www.frontx.com/head_con.html

I'm sure someone, somewhere, makes an assembly with all this work
done for you. But I don't see one at the moment. Stealing the
LED out of another case, is a way to solve this problem. For
example, my oldest computer had a separate "sleep" or "alert"
LED, which could be scavenged without anyone noticing :-) That
case had too many LEDs on the front.

Paul

On Mon, 14 May 2012 00:11:56 +0100, Jim
wrote:

This maybe such a newbie question it's untrue but how does one go about
making your own HDD LED leads?
I have a Fractal Design Refine XL which has a Blue power light but no
HDD LED at all, so i have right now just rigged up and old lead (that
was in a box somewhere) that comes of the motherboard and sits under the
case and is red, but i'd like to make a longer lead with a Blue LED,
given were dealing with tiny parts (compared to what I'm used to) any
ideas what tools I'd need to get pins/wire in and out of the motherboard
plug side of things?

Hope you get my idea if not then forgive me but it's late.

I've never tried to do it but I would think the plugs that connect to
the pins on the motherboard are simple crimp-ons.

If you don't want to do that (or can't find them) there's this:

http://www.mountainmods.com/28-inch-...led-p-401.html

I've dealt with these guys before--they're bad about giving adequate
details of their products but I have no fault with their quality.
Their design could stand a bit of improvement, though--I've got one of
their cases and I have the strong feeling that it wasn't dogfooded but
it's otherwise quite good. (There are multiple things that would make
it more convenient if they moved some bits short distances.)

On May 13, 9:38*pm, Paul wrote:
Now, how does the situation change in a computer case ? There is a
switch in the circuit, to turn the LED on and off. And the motherboard
already has a "resistor" in the path.

I had to work out the details a few years back. Motherboards use 220
ohm to 330 ohm resistors for their indicator leads, which translates
into 3.3 volt LEDs drawing 5 to 7.5 mA or 2 volt LEDs drawing 9 to 14
mA.
--
// T.Hsu

I have a Fractal Design Refine XL which has a Blue power light but no
HDD LED at all, so i have right now just rigged up and old lead (that
was in a box somewhere) that comes of the motherboard and sits under the
case and is red, but i'd like to make a longer lead with a Blue LED,

IT should be very easy to add it. You need a bright LED, 2 wires, and a
2-pin plug. Your motherboard should have 2 pins for HD LED (tell us what
your motherboard is!).

--
@~@ Remain silent. Nothing from soldiers is real!
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and farces be with you!
/( _ )\ (Fedora 15 i686) Linux 3.3.6
^ ^ 21:14:01 up 1 day 3:10 0 users load average: 0.01 0.03 0.05
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I found some pre-wired LEDs in Amazon, but they should be cheaper in
electronics hobbyist shops.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...s=prewired+led

--
@~@ Remain silent. Nothing from soldiers is real!
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and farces be with you!
/( _ )\ (Fedora 15 i686) Linux 3.3.6
^ ^ 21:14:01 up 1 day 3:10 0 users load average: 0.01 0.03 0.05
�借貸! ��騙! ��交! �打交! �打劫! �自殺! 請考慮綜� (CSSA):
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On May 13, 7:11 pm, Jim wrote:
This maybe such a newbie question it's untrue but how does one go about
making your own HDD LED leads?
I have a Fractal Design Refine XL which has a Blue power light but no
HDD LED at all, so i have right now just rigged up and old lead (that
was in a box somewhere) that comes of the motherboard and sits under the
case and is red, but i'd like to make a longer lead with a Blue LED,
given were dealing with tiny parts (compared to what I'm used to) any
ideas what tools I'd need to get pins/wire in and out of the motherboard
plug side of things?

Hope you get my idea if not then forgive me but it's late.

Jim

No LED at all, et al. Fractal DR - XL, no idea what the hell that
is. Maybe it's like my two Rosewill external 3.5" HD enclosures. One
for free w/ a HD purchase, other almost near that. Big blue lites,
yes, they're very popular on new equipment these days. Like flat
black electrician tape, not cloth, you can't find anymore, with a
pinhole to cover them.

Horrible, horrible transfer rates. USB2. I took my money, for a
missing HD LED, and bought a $10, cute mini-fan from Wallymart. Wire
cage, hefty transformer, made to look like a Patton floor model.
They're basically frying pans for HDs without cooling over extended
periods, hours defragging or transferring, roughly at twice or more a
DVD's burn throughput. One way, of course, going in is closer to inter-
HD, mainboard transfers.

But, horrible reviews are apparent for many sub-$30 USB3 PCI transfer
boards into USB3 docking stations, now that the docs are approaching
$29 on a lifeform rebate, so a dim view would tend linger for whiling
away time accessorising free USB2 enclosures.

Actually, 5400 Green Terrabyte+ HD in docking stations,
notwithstanding 10kByte p/sec USB2 rates, might be sort of nifty in a
relativistic frame for those, of whom, never found themselves in a
home indifferently networked, and are able to remember serial transfer
rates. Imagine that -- a LED for serial data rates. Could probably
sit around counting parsed byte packing passing along, one by one, at
those rates.

Man-wai Chang wrote:

I found some pre-wired LEDs in Amazon, but they should be cheaper in
electronics hobbyist shops.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...s=prewired+led



Some of those have a resistor built into the harness, for operation from 12V.
They would be relatively dim if used on a computer case (due to the extra resistance
being in the path). And since the ends are not shown in the picture, they likely lack
the 2 pin shell on the other end, which is just as hard to add as connecting the LED
to the wires.

The 12VDC rating means they're intended for automotive installations. They include
a resistor, so they can be connected directly to a car electrical system. And you'd
also want to be careful to get the polarity right on the first try.

Paul