Dimming Power LED

Greeny1994 · 8 Dec 2012 at 12:47

Whats the best way of dimming the power/HDD LEDs??
I don't leave my computer on at night because the power LED lights up my room.
If I was to leave it on I would remove the connector on my motherboard but this is not really an effective solution.
I have thought about a switch to turn them off so it saves me going into my case or having a variable resistor or a regular resistor to dim it.
Anyway I can't think of what the connectors that clip onto the motherboard are called so it would be nice to have a link to some

Thanks

Hyper · 8 Dec 2012 at 12:51

I work on a lighting department in IKEA and as far as i know LED lights cant be dimmed.

They are either on or off.

Atleast the LED bulbs we sell that is the case.

Greeny1994 · 8 Dec 2012 at 13:24

The case LEDs can be dimmed (I do electronics) by just putting a resistor in there.
Actual LED bulb replacements can't.
I just need to find some connectors for my motherboard but I can't seem to find any, probably cause I'm looking in the wrong place xD.
A link to these connectors would be nice, if OCUK have any, if not then the actual name of them would be nice so I can do a google search

bremen1874 · 8 Dec 2012 at 13:34

You can buy extensions for the front panel cables. They'd be easy to modify to include an additional resistor.

Greeny1994 · 8 Dec 2012 at 13:57

link?

bremen1874 · 8 Dec 2012 at 14:15

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-010-NX Is one option. I've seen simpler cheaper options but not on OcUK's site.

Greeny1994 · 8 Dec 2012 at 14:22

Thanks, that's what I've been looking for.
All the ones I've looked at on the web have been braided too.
I really just need the connectors and I could do the rest :/

bremen1874 · 8 Dec 2012 at 14:27

If you Google '0.1 header' you may find what you want.

Greeny1994 · 8 Dec 2012 at 14:33

Greeny1994 · 8 Dec 2012 at 14:42

My handy warehouse in Preston only stocks 2 way :/ looks like I'm putting a saw to that

xMarkie · 8 Dec 2012 at 14:43

A bit of this over the LED will provide you with the dimming effect you desire....

Greeny1994 · 8 Dec 2012 at 14:47

It would give my computer a nice finish xD

~Dockie · 8 Dec 2012 at 14:49

a diode would drop the voltage ~0.7V, it should dim it.

Also, thanks, you have given me a sweet idea for a case mod

xMarkie · 8 Dec 2012 at 14:51

Greeny1994 said:
It would give my computer a nice finish xD

Not really, but in your OP you say the LED brightness stops you leaving your PC on overnight - so this is the quickest and easiest solution to blank it out.

Even if you fit a resistor to it - it will still give out a quantity of light (its an LED afterall). Even the flashing notification LED on my smartphone lights up the ceiling at night if I leave it face up.

So your ideal solution would be to fit a variable resistor to the power LED lead which you can turn down to stop it lighting up your bedroom.

Greeny1994 · 8 Dec 2012 at 14:57

Well, my actual idea was to get a DPST switch and kill all my front panel lights with one flick

xMarkie · 8 Dec 2012 at 15:02

Greeny1994 said:
Well, my actual idea was to get a DPST switch and kill all my front panel lights with one flick

ok, that'll work depending on how many LED's you have.

Greeny1994 · 8 Dec 2012 at 15:06

Just the two

xMarkie · 8 Dec 2012 at 15:09

Greeny1994 said:
Just the two

Perfect! Trip to Maplins and an afternoon with the soldering iron

Tealc · 8 Dec 2012 at 15:12

Why not set up a photodiode set to monitor ambient light and switch the FP LEDs off and on. Should only need a few components. You could even have the light output dim based on the output of the photodiode.

Or is that going to far?

It's just that I know what I'm like and forgetting to manually switch it off, climbing into bed, getting cosy and then realising I'd left the bloody light on. Might make an interesting project for someone into electronics like me.

Greeny1994 · 8 Dec 2012 at 15:14

Great idea but its usually quite dark where my PC sits anyway.
Maybe make a remote control.....