Installing LED in normal Blackwidow.

[MartZink]

Do anyone have a pic or know if there's holes for LEDs in the PCB on the normal Blackwidow?

Maybe they don't make two different PCBs, and therefore have the holes on the normal version too.

I was looking around for reviews and such, but the only thing I found was nothingness.

[sixty]

I mentioned it in my review or first impressions I think. Actually there are indeed holes for every switch> I never fully tried to see if it would work if you fill them all. You will need to close the circuit to find out, so just doing a few prolly won't do the trick.

PS: The PCB is indeed entirely identical, the solder pads for the audio ports and stuff are even there too. It also reads "Ultimate" on the PCB.

[MartZink]

I mentioned it in my review or first impressions I think. Actually there are indeed holes for every switch> I never fully tried to see if it would work if you fill them all. You will need to close the circuit to find out, so just doing a few prolly won't do the trick.

PS: The PCB is indeed entirely identical, the solder pads for the audio ports and stuff are even there too. It also reads "Ultimate" on the PCB.

Ah, it was in some posts further down, thanks

When (if) I get one, I'll try modding it with LEDs.
That way I'll aquire an elite gaming super mega backlit haxxor board! Problem ultimatefags?

[The Solutor]

Yes it can be done, the soldering island for the LED are present and also drilled (although covered from the soldering alloy).

The led driving circuitry should be already there because the single led on the bezel works also on the non ultimate BW

some transparent keycaps can be get from taobao

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=10039066149

The only problems are the first row of keys which are not the same size as the filcos, and the ISO enter if the BW is not an US version.

The lesd should also help to block more firmly the switch, because on the BW it is took in place just by its own PINs and not by the led, diode or jumper as happen in other keyboards.

So the keys wobbling should be also reduced..

[kps]

You'll also need to add the surface-mount current limiting resistors. I don't recall whether you'll have to pull the switches to get at the pads.

[The Solutor]

Haven't checked on the BW but on the U9BL just a single resistor is present (2.2 ohm or so).

In the real world if you start from 5V, subtract what is lost on the driving transistor, you will get something like 4.5/4.6 volts that can be used to power blue, white, and green superbright LEDs w/o much problems even powering them directly.

The the Deck legend has a much complex scheme with two LEDs connected in series and a couple of resistors every two keys.

It was projected by what, in Italy, is called "Office for complication of simple affairs"

[MartZink]

Imagine having some 3w leds to it, and hook it up to the computer games effects "flashbang through the door" wham!
Sell it to razer and they come up with a slogan : experience a keyboard with blinding visual game effects $$$

Wow, that was random.

[ripster]

Somewhere around "need to add the smt resistors" to >100 switches I lost interest in this mod.

[The Solutor]

Imagine having some 3w leds to it, and hook it up to the computer games effects "flashbang through the door" wham!
Sell it to razer and they come up with a slogan : experience a keyboard with blinding visual game effects $$$

Wow, that was random.

You imagine wrong.

3W x 110 = 330 W

330 W means 330/5 = 6.6 A just the 1300% of what an USB port can provide.

BTW turning on a backlit keyboard, w/o the keycaps (whit its 100+ leds even if powered @5mA) is still an experience.

The Finnish president Obama tried it some time ago...

[MartZink]

Thinking of having only some LEDs, maybe only for the escape button or some others too.

But the question is: what colour?

[ripster]

Whatever you like. Then adjust the resistance following these instructions.
http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:9218

and click on LED 101.

[The Solutor]

Whatever you like. Then adjust the resistance following these instructions.
http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:9218

and click on LED 101.

The wiki assumes that the LEDs are powered @ 5V is not the case here.

There's a transistor in the middle here, so the infos are correct, but not "newbie ready"

Thinking of having only some LEDs, maybe only for the escape button or some others too.

But the question is: what colour?

For few leds the correct answer is "whatever", for the entire keyboard yellow, amber, and red should be preferred.

RED because is less fatiguing. Yellow because is the color much visible to that sensor we currently call "eye".

So yellow needs less light to be visible, which in turn means less fatigue.

Keep in mind that the junction voltage of the leds varies depending on the colors from the 1.8V of a red LED to the 3.5/4.5 V of blue leds.

So the resistor is absolutely mandatory for red, amber, orange, yellow and (normal) green LEDs, is still required (at least in theory) for blue, white and superbrite green leds.

Whatever color you chose the resistor depends by the color

[ripster]

You just repeated what I said in the wiki.

BTW - how do you know it's not at 5V off those leads? You don't own the keyboard.

[Julle]

...says the man who is known for judging certain keyboards without owning them.

[keyboardlover]

I thought that was Moogle?

[The Solutor]

You just repeated what I said in the wiki.

I'm not criticizing the wiki, I've just added an info that can be easily spotted by an "expert" but that can easily missed by a newbie

BTW - how do you know it's not at 5V off those leads?

Given that there isn't a relè that turn off and on the leds it must be an electronic active component. And is 99% a transistor.

And is 99.99% a silicon transistor and its junction always eat 0.6/0.8 volts depending on the current involved.

This value can be approximated to zero when you are powering something with say 100 V (100 V or 99.4V changes nothing), but that value can't be omitted when we are speaking about 5V (actually even less because something is lost on the cable).

If you consider 5V and you want to supply 5mA to a white led, you will have have

(5-3.6)/0.05 = 28 ohm

If you start from the real value you will have

(4.4-3.6)/0.05 = 16 ohm

The resistance must be almost halved to have the same current/light with or w/o the driving transistor

BTW - how do you know it's not at 5V off those leads?

Its the second time you ask.

Electronics was my work for 15 years, a basic circuitry like the one to power a led is, likely, the first thing you project @ school.

So I don't have to look at the multimeter to know what is lost on the power transistor's junctions.

That said I own that keyboard, I decided to keep it instead of spend 32 euro from my pocket to return it (thanks to the great tech support of razer)

I just repaired it, and now I have to decide if sell it or keep it to experiment with backlight or to treat it as a switch donor board.

[The Solutor]

...says the man who is known for judging certain keyboards without owning them.

[ripster]

God those Duckys suck.

http://www.overclock.net/keyboards/1002 ... ducky.html

Quack!

[MartZink]

Should I connect the LEDs directly to the USB power, or should I connect them to the PCB LED rail?

If I connect it to PCB, then I will still be able to use the 5 light modes right?

[ripster]

Put a voltmeter on the leads and give us numbers! Italians like Solutor like theory but the always practical Americans like REALITY!

[webwit]

...says the man who probably does not even have a voltmeter, nor understand the metric beauty of the unit.

[ripster]

It's not a Fluke that I mention measurements > speculation.

Here I am testing Why The EU DEMANDS their citizens be protected with spacebar grounding clips. In America we LAUGH at such silly regulations and eat genetically modified food because we can.


We also still have tungsten lightbulbs.

[webwit]

Pah, you don't even know what those metric symbols mean on that fluke. Don't you measure in Imperial eel electromotive force or something?

[MartZink]

It's not a Fluke that I mention measurements > speculation.

Here I am testing Why The EU DEMANDS their citizens be protected with spacebar grounding clips. In America we LAUGH at such silly regulations and eat genetically modified food because we can.


We also still have tungsten lightbulbs.

spacebar grounding? What is that? Never heard anything about it, I have that on my spacebar but it's not a grounding thing, just sits in some plastic clips, like a stabilizer.

Isn't tungsten and wolfram the same thing?

[webwit]

[MartZink]

Well, I don't have any grounding on any of my keyblorbs :/

[webwit]

And you're still alive??

[MartZink]

And you're still alive??

I'm invincible!..BZZZT! BLARGHH!

[The Solutor]

Should I connect the LEDs directly to the USB power, or should I connect them to the PCB LED rail?

If I connect it to PCB, then I will still be able to use the 5 light modes right?

Use the already made led rail, then follow the rail that already powers the single led present and try to understand where they need to be interconnected.

Likely there will be a place to put a resistor or a jumper.

[The Solutor]

Pah, you don't even know what those metric symbols mean on that fluke. Don't you measure in Imperial eel electromotive force or something?

In galleons/square pinkies