Mod Your Keyboard

[Ads1]

So you've mad a pretty cool looking pc. (See front page for mine w00t!). the inside is filled with nice blue LEDs but then you look down at your keyboard and think its pretty boring? Not any more! i will go through how to mod your keyboard and change the LEDs. sorry about the blurriness of some of the pics coming up but you should be able to get the idea. the camera didnt like extreme close ups.

if you screw up your keyboard in the process, you hold yourself responsible!


Start by pulling its power and unscrewing the back off the keyboard which can be done with a standard screwdriver. once you've done that place the top half aside. at the top of the keyboard you'll see the circuitry and LEDs that are going to be removed. Unscrew this panel and you can set the rest of the keyboard aside.

[Ads1]

upon turning over the panel you can see which parts the LEDs are soldered on to (highlighted in the pic below). take your soldering iron and remove the LEDs by melting the metal. i found that this was a bit difficult to do so i broke off the LEDs. once the LEDs have been removed you are ready to begin fixing on the new ones.

i have taken my LEDs from 2 old PSU fans (be careful when opening up PSUs, do so at risk). the LEDs were attatched to some wire but they were easily unsoldered.

[Ads1]

Notice that these LEDs are about twice the size of the keyboard ones so i shall not use the black washer that was in between the previous LED and circuit board. use solder to attach the new LEDs taking care to note which way round they go. there were diagrams on my keyboard showing which way round it goes. (+ve to the left.) After all three have been soldered on the keyboard is ready to put back together. remember to screw the circuit board back on and then all that needs to be done is to get the keys back in the right alignment. plug the kayboard back in and you'll be left with a nice keyboard!

[Ads1]

i forgot a pic that goes inbetween the finished pic and the one with the LEDs soldered on:

[Gizmo]

Front page, Ads1! www.aoaforums.com

[Razorfish]

Wow, thats scary, i just got the LEDs to do the same mod on my coolermaster keyboard (im going for white LEDs) Ill post pics tommorrow!

But anyway... Well done Ads1¬!

[cadaveca]

LoL...i just bought one with a color-changing LED scroll wheel...and was thinking of changing out the LED's....real good timing!

[Pitch]

I want to watercool my mouse.

[danrok]

Originally Posted by Pitch

I want to watercool my mouse.

That's easy, all you need is a bucket of cold water!

[Razorfish]

As promised i did exactly the same mod on my coolermaster keyboard with white LEDs...hope you like! The LEDs are so bright they put light on the ceiling!

[danrok]

Originally Posted by Razorfish

As promised i did exactly the same mod on my coolermaster keyboard with white LEDs...hope you like! The LEDs are so bright they put light on the ceiling!

Good job! Do you find the brightness distracting or not?

[Razorfish]

No, the angle of light the LED produces is only about 20 degrees so it doesnt even come near to shining at you, at the angle you sit at they just look white without any glare

[skool h8r]

That is one sweet-ass mod. Wouldn't it be great if you put leds all the way along the top of the keyboard and had them flashing at diferent intervals, maybe you could use the 'intelligent LED' mod i posted yesterday to achieve this. Or put in UV led's and paint it with UV paint. Even better would be paint the number keys 1 colour UV paint, the letter keys another, etc. What about a clear keyboard mod, you could put etching on to it (etchfx.co.uk charge £7.50 (about $14) for a 60 x 100 cm sheet of etching material). I'm planning to mod an old mouse to looklike it's camouflaged but have a coat of UV paint on top.

[danrok]

Originally Posted by skool h8r

I'm planning to mod an old mouse to looklike it's camouflaged but have a coat of UV paint on top.

Be sure to show us when you do it!

[skool h8r]

will do and will provide a how to (not really that hard though, nail varnish is the best apparently for the colours). *goes off to ask sister about the colours she has.....* W00t 0_o

[fpsfreak]

Raz,

How do you like that CM KB? I was contemplating it for my new rig but can't make up my mind.

Thanks

[Razorfish]

Its awesome, its not to hot for typing as its practically a laptop keayboard but gaming is great as the keys dont have much travel in them (faster fragging ) it looks awesome to... and!!! they ship with blue LEDS now as i recieved one the other day for a customer.