Joined: Nov 08, 2004 Posts: 571 Location: Georgia, USA
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2005 2:37 pm Post subject:
WHAT?!?!?! you mean you dont have a THIRD HAND???
Whats wrong with you man?!?!!
Seriously tho, practice practice practice.
Do this, grab some wire, just frest wire right off of the spool and practice stripping the wire and soldering two pieces together.
Remember, Tin, then solder. It makes it a little easier
You have made a good solder connection when the solder sinks into the joint insteasd of beading up on it.
If you Tin what you are soldering together most of the time the third hand can be eleminated from the process.
To tin: Heat the wire for a second with the soldering iron. Place the Solder so that it touches the iron and the wire... You want the solder to ment into that wire. Now go to the thing you are going to solder (wire or not) and tin that.
Then to solder them together place the two joints together with the iron on each and they will melt a little together. It lets you do a preleminary "hold" and you can add a little bit more solder if needed.
Remember if it beads up that meads that you didnt get the item you are soldering hot enouh, but you also dont want it to get to hot so be careful.
Also remember to clean your soldering iron, I use a compound from radioshack that cleans and tins the tip for me, you may want to use a wet sponge, also when a tip gets oxidized (black-greyish) sand or file down the tip (while cool) untill you see copper and then tin the tip with some solder, that should improve performance.
If you got any questions feel free man! _________________ -Scourge "Rx = +/_\"
a.k.a. President Skroob
The electronic ninja.
Xbox v1.6
Xenium Ice XOS v2.3
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BIOS: Evox M8_16+
Dash: UX
justfreds Xbox-HQ Newbie Xbox Version: Xbox v1.6 Modded: Xenium Ice
Joined: Mar 29, 2005 Posts: 9
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2005 10:30 pm Post subject:
ok i just soldered 2 LEDs to my ports and i might have damaged it a little but i am not sure, also i melted some of the plastic a little bit, not a lot just a lil around where i soldered the wire and LED connection
justfreds Xbox-HQ Newbie Xbox Version: Xbox v1.6 Modded: Xenium Ice
Joined: Mar 29, 2005 Posts: 9
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 12:20 am Post subject:
what kind of resistors should i use if i am going to mod my contoller ports with LEDs?? i got LEDs that are 720mcd will they be bright?
Scourge Xbox-HQ Freak
Joined: Nov 08, 2004 Posts: 571 Location: Georgia, USA
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 5:24 am Post subject:
Give me the maximum voltage rating and Ill be happy to calculate near what size resistor you need. Along with instructions on how to do the calculation in the future
If you bought the LEDs from Radioshack it should be written on the back. If you bought them from a website they should be there somewhere.
700mcd is pretty bright, but also keep in mind that "ultra brights" start at 1000mcd I believe.
(fun fact: mcd stands for micro candellia <spelling> candellia being the standard for brightness. 1000 mcd=1 candellia)
and if you care to hear I can tell you how to judge what color blue a LED is before you buy it. Just something to help you out alittle if buying LEDs on the net. Pictures can be deceving, and a blue LED could turn out baby-blue or purpleish. So you compare by wavelenth. If you are interested Ill look up the scale for you. _________________ -Scourge "Rx = +/_\"
a.k.a. President Skroob
The electronic ninja.
Xbox v1.6
Xenium Ice XOS v2.3
Xtender: Stock HDD+300G+300G
BIOS: Evox M8_16+
Dash: UX
RIP1982 Xbox-HQ Elite Member
Joined: May 14, 2004 Posts: 323 Location: Nasti Nati
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:13 am Post subject:
I have alwasy used 4000mcd - 12000mcd LEDs with 100 ohm resistors.
Quote:
Give me the maximum voltage rating and Ill be happy to calculate near what size resistor you need. Along with instructions on how to do the calculation in the future.
and if you care to hear I can tell you how to judge what color blue a LED is before you buy it. Just something to help you out alittle if buying LEDs on the net. Pictures can be deceving, and a blue LED could turn out baby-blue or purpleish. So you compare by wavelenth. If you are interested Ill look up the scale for you.
im interested if you have any time and info avalible... thanks
Scourge Xbox-HQ Freak
Joined: Nov 08, 2004 Posts: 571 Location: Georgia, USA
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 5:38 pm Post subject:
This seems like a great opprotunity for a general LED info tutorial. Instead of writing it here Ill make a real tut with MS Word and post a link to it on this thread when Im done. Ill probly be done around Sunday (USA time , I know Sunday comes a little earlier in some places!
Itll have Resistor calculations , wireing suggestions, electrical info and the wavelength VS color.
for wavelenth VS color Ill try to find a pictoral scale but I may be stuck just describing the colors.
Later all! _________________ -Scourge "Rx = +/_\"
a.k.a. President Skroob
The electronic ninja.
Xbox v1.6
Xenium Ice XOS v2.3
Xtender: Stock HDD+300G+300G
BIOS: Evox M8_16+
Dash: UX
RIP1982 Xbox-HQ Elite Member
Joined: May 14, 2004 Posts: 323 Location: Nasti Nati
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:29 pm Post subject:
kool thanks,
ive made probably 50+ LED c ports sets and power/eject boards... im just curious how and why i use the parts i use. i never asked myself why i just used what i thought would work lol.
thanks again for sharing your time and knowledge.
justfreds Xbox-HQ Newbie Xbox Version: Xbox v1.6 Modded: Xenium Ice
Joined: Mar 29, 2005 Posts: 9
Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 5:27 pm Post subject:
ok the other day i took my jewel off my case and it took me almost all night long to clear it with brasso, but i know one thing brasso does a good job. plus i am thinking about putting a granite type finish on the x part of my xbox case, and doing gold paint else where....... oh i found if you put a lil aluminun foil under a clear jewel it gives it a pretty cool look
Scourge Xbox-HQ Freak
Joined: Nov 08, 2004 Posts: 571 Location: Georgia, USA
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:26 am Post subject:
With this much acclaim I think I will use brasso the next time I clear it!
Sorry I havnt made the tut by tonight like I said. I live in Augusta and if anyone here reading this likes Golf they'll know that this week is Masters week. For the non golf fans its the super-bowl of golf. The town fills to the brim with drunk rich ass people, most of them pretty nice and generous, but party animals. I work in an upscale Jazz Cafe downtown, so needless to say Ive been working my royal ass off. BUT to tide you over I will at least post some math on finding proper resistors. The tut will be more detailed and Ill write out the math in MS equation editor, so it will be prettier and I will go into more detail on equivalant resistances and will go into more detail on the multimeter. I will also cover series and parallel LED circuits.
Finding the best resistor for your LED will let you get maximum brightness without it being in a danger zone.
This tidbit covers how to choose a resistor for a single LED circuit. The diagrams will be in the tut so I will be able to explain the other types.
First measure your voltage. It easy to "assume" the red 5V line is 5v. but to find a closer number lets its the controller ports. So turn the Multimeter to the DC Voltage scale (V witmeasure the voltage of the point you want to connect the LED(s). In this case h dotted and solid line) and put it on the "20" scale.
Write that value down and we will call it "Vs" (written with a subscipt "s", again it will look better in the tut)
now look at the package of the LED what is Vmax (maximum voltage) write it down and call it "Vmax" (subscript "max")
Components that resist current wired in series divide the voltage proportionally (ill go into this more later) We need to figure out how much of the voltage we want to loose before it gets to that resistor.
subtract your voltages:
Vs-Vmax=Vr
Now look back on that LED package and write down the maximum current (written as a capital I, Possibly Imax) as simply "I". "I" is usually given in mA (milliamps) so lets turn this into reguar amps. move the decimal 3 places to the left. Ex: 50mA = 0.050 A <left trailing zero to show original "50"> This number is the number we will use in our calculations.
Now I will use the exuse of "look up OHMS LAW in google if you are interested in 'why'" and say:
Divide "Vr" by "I":
(Vr)/(I)=R
"R" is that resistor you want. for 5V it will be small (maybe 25 ohms) for 12V it will be much more. Never use less than the number you get, I dont even reccomend using that exact resistance (it would be damn hard anyway). Use near it but above it.
For USB ports as long as you wire [Both LEDs in parallel] and [resistor in series with LEDs] this will work, but you need to change one thing in the equation.
Let "I" be equal to "Imax" times number of LEDs:
(Imax)*(# LEDs)=I
then do the OHMS LAW equation in the previous step.
Laymans terms for wireing= solder the LEDs cathode side together, and the annode sides together + solder the resistor to either the cathode side or annode side of the LED (it dosent matter) and the other end to your Voltage source (or ground, depending on the previous decision)
SAME COLOR ONLY!!! (more later)
Cathode= "-" goes to ground (Source of current flow )
Anode= "+" goes to Voltage source
Anyways... more later
hope you enjoy... and justfreds, I am not underestimating your abilities by writing this tut in such a detailed manner, its really for the benifit of anyone else curious too. If you are unsure you can measure your Port Voltage and and post that value with your LED info and Ill work out all the math for you so you can see it.
Later all. _________________ -Scourge "Rx = +/_\"
a.k.a. President Skroob
The electronic ninja.
Xbox v1.6
Xenium Ice XOS v2.3
Xtender: Stock HDD+300G+300G
BIOS: Evox M8_16+
Dash: UX
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, I know Sunday comes a little earlier in some places!
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