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Neblin7
545
Oct 16, 2015
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So I just finished soldering LED's to the bottom of my KC60 that I finally received from MD after many delays. I purchased the TEX frosted acrylic case with the lip which arrived long before the keyboard did. I personally don't like the "hot spots" you see in the Description picture of this acrylic case but my pictures have them too. I'm currently trying to position my bottom mounted LED's in a way that let's them project their light in a way so that the acrylic case appears to just glow without seeing the position of the LED's, projecting their light in a way that you can see in the description of this case where red LED's stand out in certain places where they are too close to the acrylic case. I prefer to have a glow throughout the acrylic case rather than have those strong, bright spots shining through the acrylic case. Just the OCD in me plus I definitely think it looks better when the case lights up/appears to glow, in a way that you can't pinpoint the location of the light source so easily.
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Oct 16, 2015
sauchuang
237
Feb 18, 2016
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Neblin7Hey @Neblin7, I'm trying to do the same to my KBP V60 but there doesn't seem to be any extra/unused LED holes on the underside of the PCB. Am I missing something?
Feb 18, 2016
Neblin7
545
Feb 18, 2016
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sauchuangThe resistors they used on the KC60 for the LED's are rated high enough to handle just soldering into the same spot for the keyswitch LED's. I've had it running this way since I received it without a single issue. If you'd like to see a pic of the bottom of my KC60 PCB, then just message me again here and I'll take my KC60 apart for you. I just put the Royal Kludge purple shine thru keycaps on this kb and it looks sooooo cool! =)
Feb 18, 2016
eksuen
748
Feb 18, 2016
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sauchuangI did what Neblin7 did with his KC60 on my V60: solder LEDs to the ones already in place. Here's my post on the TEX Acrylic page: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/tex-acrylic-cnc-keyboard-case/talk/277225
Feb 18, 2016
sauchuang
237
Feb 19, 2016
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eksuenThanks @Neblin7 and @eksuen :) It would be awesome if you could post pics of the underside of the PCB.
I just took some spare LEDs I had lying around and touched them to the ones that were already in place. I made sure the + and - were correct. They didn't light up.
Feb 19, 2016
eksuen
748
Feb 19, 2016
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sauchuangDid you make sure the LEDs work to begin with? And when you say you made sure the +/- leads were correct, do you mean you followed normal polarity or the reverse like I mentioned? In any case, try them both ways.
I will see if I can get a picture of the underside of my PCB, but I am wary of taking it out of the case too many times as the screw holes are not lined with metal and could be stripped.
Feb 19, 2016
sauchuang
237
Feb 19, 2016
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eksuen....so I went out, bought some suitable LEDs, and spent the whole evening trying the mod.
Managed to fit seven LEDs under the PCB (sharing spots with LShift, Rshift, Spacebar, Esc, Backspace & 2 others). They all lit up fine, although the light diffusion/glowing effect through the acrylic was kinda underwhelming.
However. half a minute into use, the switch LED for my LShift key literally exploded. Not sure wtf I did wrong.
Feb 19, 2016
eksuen
748
Feb 19, 2016
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sauchuangYes, the LED underglow is a bit underwhelming, but I don't think this DIY mod was ever meant to be as dazzling as SMD underglow effects a la Winkeyless or GON. You could certainly try putting the LEDs in different places to try to reduce the lighting "hot spots" and get a more even glow. The 3mm LEDs I used have a pretty small viewing angle. If I were to do it again, I'd probably try some 2x3x4mm or 1.8mm LEDs.
As for your exploding LED, I don't know what to tell you. I'm sure you could find some dual-color through hole LED to replace it, but I've never had to deal with that before.
Feb 19, 2016
sauchuang
237
Feb 19, 2016
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eksuenNo luck so far. The dual-color 3mm LEDs that I've found online either: - Have three legs - Have a diffused shell instead of a clear one - Are flanged / won't go into the MX switch hole
I wonder where KBP get theirs from.
Feb 19, 2016
sauchuang
237
Feb 19, 2016
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eksuenThe LEDs I was talking about at first - those that wouldn't light up when I touched them to the pre-existing ones - they were 2x3x4mm. However, they worked fine when used as direct replacements for the KBP's switch LEDs. Still have no idea why.
Feb 19, 2016
Neblin7
545
Feb 21, 2016
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sauchuangI think I know what you've done wrong. Will you take and post a picture of the LEDs you are using? You can't just use any LED all willy nilly. Every LED has different ratings. LED's of the same type and size will have certain values but the COLOR of the LED actually matters. Even if you were to get the same size LED's in different colors, the different colors have different electrical values. I'd really like to see what type and size LED's you're using. Thanks.
Feb 21, 2016
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