Finished red LED eye (pics)

[Uberkommando]

Presenting the first completed red LED 'eye' for the Guardian case.

http://rumandcoke.net/images/uber_pics/optimus/P4250003.gif

Now for those of you who are interested in doing this yourself, here's what happened to us.

First off, we ordered our LEDs from SuperBrightLEDs.com (http://superbrightleds.com). Specifically, we bought 12 RL3-R5030 (http://superbrightleds.com/leds/r3mm3_specs.htm) 3mm LEDs. They cost about $.50 each, but add in shipping charges, and it boosts the price up to about a dollar apiece. Pretty pricey, but there isn't a single 3mm red LED in Tulsa, so it's better than nothing.

Neither I nor my roommate are particularly good at soldering. Being at college presents its advantages, though. We handed off the LED board to an electrical engineering student, who recently purchased a $500 soldering station.

Unfortunately, he hit a few snags. He successfully de-soldered the LED leads, but they didn't slide out as anticipated. Usually when you desolder electrical leads, the components will easily come loose and fall out. We suspected either a poor soldering job, or they being held in by glue. Rather than risk breaking the board, we held out to see if we could acquire a second board to experiment on. Many thanks to NZXT_DooD for helping us contact the right people.

Last night, however, our electrical engineer friend brought it to his electrical engineer friend, who owns a $3000 soldering station. They played around with it and discovered that there was in fact solder in the lead holes. They were able to remove the solder and install the new LEDs. So those wishing to change your LED color beware; it won't be quite as easy as it should be -- expect the manufacturer's soldering job on the leads to be shabby.

So now the case is completely finished, with 4 LED fans, 3 CCFLs, and red LED bay.

http://rumandcoke.net/images/uber_pics/optimus/P4250005.gif

[AnthraX]

that's sweet, but it kinda looks pink in the pic. i prefer the blue.

[Vampirehunter_j]

i have to say, while i like the blue better, that is extremely kool looking man. Very evil looking. KInda makes me wanna replace mine with green ones(if ya cant tell, im a spawn fan). That could be kool.

[theman]

You got to it first! Darn.. I just havent wanted to pay 1$ an LED....been trying to find a place localy to get them.

[stevepmcg]

Nice man Very nice, but Im with Anthrax I like mah blue *LOL*

[Snailman]

I wanted to replace two of the led's in the "eye" for orange ones, so that there will be an eye in the "eye" :slap: . But now it seems too hard, with all that soldering and undoing leads and junk (no idea what soldering or leads are). So guess not :(

[mR_cHaLk]

nice :cheers:
i think it would look better with a darker red but thats just my opinion
good job

[Sir Mandrake]

I wanted to replace two of the led's in the "eye" for orange ones, so that there will be an eye in the "eye" :slap: . But now it seems too hard, with all that soldering and undoing leads and junk (no idea what soldering or leads are). So guess not :(
Soldering and De-Soldering is actually quite easy, but it takes a little practice. Kind of like learning to ride a bike the first time, once you do it a few times and get better, it becomes a no brainier. My suggestion would be to go to Radio Shack and grab yourself a small project board, some wires, and a soldering iron & solder. You don?t need an expensive soldering station, the pen will do. If they have it, grab a book on basic soldering or get a book at the Library. Practice a few times on the project board and the next thing you know you'll be ready to tackle the Guardian. The tricky part about soldering anything is heat control....too much heat will damage components or burn/lift the trace off the board...not enough heat will leave a cold solder joint and you?ll have a poor or weak connection. I would have done the same thing as Uberkommando and replaced the LEDs but I like mine Blue....that?s one of the things that made me buy the Guardian in the first place... :D

[Snailman]

but wtf is soldering in the first place??/ :confused:

[Sir Mandrake]

Soldering is the process of mounting components to a circuit board. You know what welding is right? Its the process of blending metal together using a mig welder (which produces tremendous amounts of heat) and some sort of medium such as a welding rod or wire. Soldering is the same basic process. You use low heat to melt solder which is a mixture of Tin, lead & rosin or Tin, silver & rosin. This conductive solder melts and hardens quickly to bond components to the circuit board. Leads are simply the wire that connects to the components and are inserted into the circuit board...you then apply solder to the leads and the component is permanently attached to the board. Unless of course you go back and remove the solder from the lead....this is called de-soldering.

[Snailman]

Soldering is the process of mounting components to a circuit board. You know what welding is right? Its the process of blending metal together using a mig welder (which produces tremendous amounts of heat) and some sort of medium such as a welding rod or wire. Soldering is the same basic process. You use low heat to melt solder which is a mixture of Tin, lead & rosin or Tin, silver & rosin. This conductive solder melts and hardens quickly to bond components to the circuit board. Leads are simply the wire that connects to the components and are inserted into the circuit board...you then apply solder to the leads and the component is permanently attached to the board. Unless of course you go back and remove the solder from the lead....this is called de-soldering.

Nice, I had figured it was similar to welding, but this really clarifies things. Thanks man :thumbsup:

[Sir Mandrake]

No problem man! If you are going to get into any type of modding of your case or think you might want to tinker with electronics...knowing how to solder will be a big plus. Have fun!

[Staren]

I would tell anyone who wants to get into computers to buy one of those learn to solder kits. Do a google search. Should come up with a ton of places that schools get them from. Everyone wondered why I bothered to take a basic electronics class in high school when I was already so good with working on computers. They don't crossover often but when they do, it's nice to know your way around a soldering iron.

[Sir Mandrake]

I 2nd that... well said Staren. When I installed the switch to my Guardian Eye, I soldered the wires and used shrink tubing to finish it off. So you never know when soldering will come in handy... it sure beats twisting wires and electrical tape.

[Staren]

No kidding. Yes you could get around it, but you can do such a cleaner and better looking job that way. Even if what you are looking to do is change out a busted or old LED off a case, why replace the whole thing or try to find someone who would even take a job that basic when you could do it yourself so fast.

[Snailman]

just wish my school offered an electronics class :mad:

[Sir Mandrake]

If your school doesnt have an electronics class, the shop class might have a small lesson on it. My shop class did a thing in basic electricity, electronics and we even built an electroinc kit for a grade. Actually thats what got me started in tinkering with electronics.

[wbio]

very nice, I would wrap some saran wrap around the cold cathodes on the inside to make them more reddish though, but the front looks sweet, very nice job man :)

[Snailman]

my school is a tiny private school. no shop class (or woodworking whatever), no computer class, no electronics class, no nothing :(

but i have a basement and some old junk :)

[Staren]

I was kind of lucky. My high school was big on vocational trainning. They had a ton of automotive repair, and shop, and electronic classes. If you don't have access to those, there are places that sell soldering iron kits with the iron, a few tubles of solder, and a solder remover (I know those blue vacume things have real name, just can't remember it right now) for like $20 or $30. Those practice kits are kind of fun to play with. They have voice changers, small FM radios, LED boards kind of like the Guardian Eye, and tons of other stuff you can practice putting together.

[Sir Mandrake]

I was kind of lucky. My high school was big on vocational trainning. They had a ton of automotive repair, and shop, and electronic classes. If you don't have access to those, there are places that sell soldering iron kits with the iron, a few tubles of solder, and a solder remover (I know those blue vacume things have real name, just can't remember it right now) for like $20 or $30. Those practice kits are kind of fun to play with. They have voice changers, small FM radios, LED boards kind of like the Guardian Eye, and tons of other stuff you can practice putting together.
They be called "Solder Extractors" but I call it the "Solder Sucker"
Radio Shack has soldering starter kits for about $30 - I dont know about the electronic kits though.

[NZXT_Dood]

Hello Commando,
Here at NZXT we like to thank and give back to all our fans for all their effort and creative work. I believe what you have done with the Guiardian LED is a example of such work. In return, NZXT would like to award you with an NZXT T-shirt and Poster. Please contact me through PM so i can obtain your info and ship this out to you. hope this will generate more creative and Mods from our fans. Great work!

Congrats!

[Uberkommando]

Awesome, thanks a ton! :)

[Quarkz]

Nice work Uber!

Now if only I had your modding skills!

[Maniac0059]

Hello Commando,
Here at NZXT we like to thank and give back to all our fans for all their effort and creative work. I believe what you have done with the Guiardian LED is a example of such work. In return, NZXT would like to award you with an NZXT T-shirt and Poster. Please contact me through PM so i can obtain your info and ship this out to you. hope this will generate more creative and Mods from our fans. Great work!

Congrats!How can i get a T-Shirt

[Quarkz]

Mod your case and post it here for all of us to see :D

[Maniac0059]

too lazy..ill just think of something :cheers:

[MastA]

hehehehehehehehe

[ProjektJ]

hehehehehehehehe
i hope you enjoy your last few moments on these forums, because youre outta here?

[Celsius]

This is VERY impressive, and what I wanted my Guardian Eye to have, but I forgot to talk to Ibuypower about it (or even check the forums here)... so I can do this myself? I love a challenge, but honestly, how hard and/or expensive is it?

EDIT:

Sorry, didn't read all of the first post. It sounds really hard. I guess I'll be keeping my blue eye? We'll see...

[LoRd Of NZxT]

nice job on the red led eye it looks great!!

[think309]

Um, to quote NZXT_Dood

Originally posted by NZXT_Dood:
US Customers and Owners of Guardian cases can now purchase Guardian LED boards.

Available Now.

Colors available: WHITE, GREEN, RED, AMBER/YELLOW

Purchase Info:

IBUYPOWER ( NZXT Exclusive Service Center )

Steve
1-888-462-3899
Ext. 147

[LoRd Of NZxT]

IM GOING TO BE POSTING MY PIX OF MY TRICKED OUT GUARDIAN CASE SOON u WON'T KNOW WHAT HIT YOU!!

[NZXT_Dood]

Yea, this was before we started selling the leds seperately. Commando actually had to do much soldering and work to get this :)

[Yellow Jacket]

Incase anyone wants to do it them selves, here is a site that has them for 35 cents each. Free USPS shipping.

Fiber Optic Products (http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/Leds.htm)

[RAINFIRE]

IM GOING TO BE POSTING MY PIX OF MY TRICKED OUT GUARDIAN CASE SOON u WON'T KNOW WHAT HIT YOU!!

Hahahah - Bring it on - RAINFIRE's TRICKED OUT GUARDIAN CASE (http://www.fx-55.com/watercool/index.html)

[Cuppa_Joe]

sorry for opening this back up but you pronounce it saudering but its spelled soldering
most of the people i know would never figure out what your talking about because they don't read much and don't make connections like that. actually one of my friends actually just asked me if soldering is like saudering lol

[Exitialis]

LMAO! u steal our language and then screw it up :D

no its pronounced soldering only you think its something else because of your American acsent. your just lazy move your tongue and pronounce that l.

speak correct english before you comment on others.

[Tenshi]

Yup~
it's a good job~
but yeah prefer other colors though hahaha~