Backlighting keyboard?

[Aggieeng]

Hey guys...I want to try backlighting my keyboard. I don't want anything super bright...just a nice little glow coming from between the keys...my keyboard is this one (http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=23-150-004-01.JPG/23-150-004-02.JPG/23-150-004-03.JPG/23-150-004-04.JPG/23-150-004-05.JPG) . My mouse is the Microsuck Intellimouse Explorer Optical (http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=26-105-121-04.JPG/26-105-121-05.JPG/26-105-121-06.JPG) mouse with the silver/dark grey body and red plastic under it with red LEDs. I have a blue cold cathode in my case, so I was wondering what color do you guys think would look best coming out of the keyboard? Red or blue? Something else? Hehe... I figure I will probably just use a few "precisely" located LEDs hehe... I'd also like to know if I could wire them up so that they're powered by the power already coming to the keyboard, and if I can put a little toggle switch in my keyboard to turn the LEDs off at night or something like that. Lemme know what you guys think.

[myrmidon84]

i like the idea and may try it myself if it works...
as for the color, i would go with blue...and then change the led in teh mouse as well...but i really like blue so i have a biased opinion
but i will check this thread again to see if you are successful
-good luck

-M84:cool:

[Aggieeng]

Yeah I really like blue too...the only thing is the plastic in the mouse is red so if I put a blue led in there it'd be like purple or something :rolleyes: ...anyone else have any ideas on how I can do this?

[Captain Slug]

Red would be best (for me) since it doesn't effect your vision as much when it's shining in your face all the time.
Bright blue lights tend to make me sleepy.

[Bon3thugz43v3r]

Originally posted by Captain Slug
Red would be best (for me) since it doesn't effect your vision as much when it's shining in your face all the time.
Bright blue lights tend to make me sleepy.

Well now we know who falls asleep when being in pursuit by cops :p ;)

[WyrmMaster]

Dont try replacing the mouse LED. Not only will the red plastic screw things up, the mouse wont work as well. I tried changing the LEDs in my logitech dual optical, and the precission was WAY off. It worked, but i couldnt move the mouse less than about 10 pixels.

[blackhabit]

i agree with WyrmMaster when you change the color of led in you optical mouse you also change the wave length of light and the mouse might not work very well after that.
just do the backlight in your keyboard let us know how is worked out and show us how you did it because i would like to do similiar

[Aggieeng]

Yeah I wasn't gonna put a different LED in the mouse. If I can find a decent price on LEDs I may try the keyboard mod when I get some time...which...well...COLLEGE SUCKS!! Especially when you're majoring in engineering at an engineering school like A&M...oh well...such is the price...:D. Anyway, as soon as I get the chance to try it I'll let you guys know what happens.

[xAeRoE]

why dont u just get a whole new keyboard altogether

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduct.asp?description=23-190-001&depa=1

[dreamie]

i used to backlit my keyboard, but abandoned it after a while becos it doesnt match my color scheme... i'm now on an expedition to make a ADVANCED keyboard mod...:D :cool:

[h0mersimps0n]

THIS (http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=164537) was done with Walmart EL cable. Its cheap and easy to mod. I have pics of how to rewire the cig lighter adapter to fit the 12v molex in your computer

[blackhabit]

i didnt know walmart sold el wire, i might pick some up and mod it in my keyboard and in case. waht does it run for?

[h0mersimps0n]

like $12-$16US

cheap, fun to get the old soldering gun out and feel like you are one of the only people who've done this mod :)

[tatanka]

Originally posted by xAeRoE
why dont u just get a whole new keyboard altogether

well where's the fun in buying something that you could mod?:D

[Aggieeng]

Originally posted by xAeRoE
why dont u just get a whole new keyboard altogether

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduct.asp?description=23-190-001&depa=1

1. That thing is UGLY

2. That ugly thing cost $100

3. Saying you did it yourself when people go "Wow...that's awesome...I want something like that..." is priceless :D

[blackhabit]

i agree how much do you get for 12-16 dollars, i dont want to go there and then see you dont get much at all and decide not to buy

[h0mersimps0n]

enough to do that entire natural keyboard... I think its 4' or 6'. Trust me, its enough.

[obliv]

what did you wire it to? an external inverter?

[WyrmMaster]

www.exabytesystems.com has LEDs for cheap, check em out.

[blackhabit]

wow 4 to 6 feet i could do everything. now if i wanted to cut it to make it shorter, you know better yet so you dont have to keep repying to my questions is there a link that shows how to do this?

[h0mersimps0n]

The EL wire from walmart comes with the inverter. Remember Walmart Neons and EL wire are found in the automotive department and are wired for 12v cig lighter. Anyone who knows anything about PSU's knows you have both a 12v and 5v line at your desposal (what a wonderful thing cars and computers use the same DC voltages).

There's really not much to the keyboard mod.

1.) Remove screws
2.) Disassemble right down to the tray that lies beneith the keys. In my natural keyboard there was a channel just big enough for the EL cable
3.) Run the EL cable COMPLETELY through the keyboard without any glue FIRST, make sure you know where you're going and that you're starting in the right place!
4.) CUT EL CABLE AT YOUR OWN RISK, I've never done that and have no idea the repercussions.
5.) Most reviews you'll read say use superglue. Anyone thats anyone as clumsy as I knows superglue only ends up causing the loss of finger usage for a few days
6.) USE HOT GLUE! HOT GLUE IS GREAT! just be sure not to rest the gun on the EL CABLE.
7.) I used one dab of hot glue around turns and a very dabs on striaght aways to keep the cable down
8.) let dry
9.) reassemble
10.) Wire molex connector as seen in pics below
12.) MAKE SURE YOU USE THE 12V (yellow I think it is) and 12V GROUND, don't use 5v or 5v ground or mix and match.

NOTES: ditch the fuse, learn as you go. I didn't need to drill a single thing. I went to radio shack and bought connectors and ran the cable through the holes in my lian-li and just used connectors for the molex wires.

I don't have pics from the keyboard mod I did, it was one of my firsts and I forgot to keep track. I did however take some pics of the wire job for the walmart neons (which were wired exactly the same way:

this is a shot of the molex connection
http://giffi.dynu.com/overclockers/neons/P1010105.JPG

this is a really good shot of how to determine what to solder to what, BE SURE to look for the "+" on the pbc of the inverter, the cable with the + goes to the 12v yellow and the other is the ground.

http://giffi.dynu.com/overclockers/neons/P1010104.JPG

sorry if this is garbled, its too early to be writing these things but I understand the anxiety to get going. Just to warn you, this keyboard mod took me a long time to do, it requires tremendous patience and some natural keyboards are extremely difficult to get back together (due to mass amounts of screws and plates, etc.

EDIT: PLEASE NOTE, the Walmart EL cables invert will be in a black box, not a cig lighter case as seen above. You have to open the box to determine/be sure you are wiring 12v to the "+" and the ground to the non-"+"

GOOD LUCK!

[Mystikal]

I have A small how to guide that I made while modding my keyboard with EL wire. you can find it HERE. (http://home.rochester.rr.com/subsonic/comppics/Keyboard%20Mod.doc) Ihope that this helps you in your modding.

[blackhabit]

well thanks i will go out either tonight or tommorro pick some up and do this, i am excited cant wait to get out of school. thanks alot everybody.

[Albaholic]

It would be cool if someone could find a tranparent keyboard and make individual keys light up when pressed

[trdsw20]

Originally posted by WyrmMaster
Dont try replacing the mouse LED. Not only will the red plastic screw things up, the mouse wont work as well. I tried changing the LEDs in my logitech dual optical, and the precission was WAY off. It worked, but i couldnt move the mouse less than about 10 pixels.

Did you ever try your mouse on a different surface. Ive tried replacing the LED in one of my mice and it worked fine on certain colored mouse pads but didnt work at all on others. You should give it a shot maybe itll work better on a white piece of paper, or black ... I forget

[blackhabit]

ok i am done with the backlighting of my keyboard board i will have pics up very soon, well as soon as i can get them under 50 kb

[blackhabit]

i am finished, well i was done a couple of days ago but had no time to get pics up, but i got them now, so here you go let me know what you think.
this is when i was dont putting the lights in and forgot to take a pic so half of the keys are back in already.
http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/DSC0a1118.JPG
here is my wonderful soldering job of the switch and then wire etc
http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/DSCd01114.JPG
the tools
http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/DSC01f116.JPG
lights on
http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/DSfC01117.JPG

[blackhabit]

half of keyboard
http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/DSC01d120.JPG
other half
http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/DSC01h119.JPG
at the same time while doing this mod i took the switches that i have of lights and stuff and mounted them in the back of my case. got to love hot glue!
http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/DSC01wa123.JPG
back side of switches not pretty but it will do fine, i really dont care that much as long as they work
http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/DSsC01124.JPG
and there you go let me know what you think. of coruse it all looks better in real life bu oh well you can imagine.

[gravitywell]

I might have to do this with some green wiring. I honeslty have no confidence in myself, I wonder if I can solder it myself. How easy is it, for someone with no soldering experience? :)

[Th0r]

Blue is best at night as it does not strain your eyes as much.

[Th0r]

lol...whoops did not see that u have already done it...LOL...sorry

[pik4chu]

Originally posted by Excelsior
Blue is best at night as it does not strain your eyes as much.

Uh actualy Red is the colour that strains your eyes the least..not blue ;) :D

[Soren]

My experience is that you can make it look cool, and possibly cooler than the pictures above; but if there is a person that cannot touch-type using your computer, their eyes will fry.

[knif_00]

With all that jazz hanging out and 'hot glued' to the back of your case, what do you do when it's time to pack up for a Lan Party dude??
Seems like a lot of wires running all over and a big ole pain in the hind-quarters

[pik4chu]

For what Im doing the only stuff "hot glued" to the back of my case are molex connectors and quick disconnects, which allows me to unhook every single thing from my computer in case I need to move it. I would never attach any external object permantnly to my case (especialy the keyboard or mouse :D )

[Paradoxmaker]

Originally posted by WyrmMaster
Dont try replacing the mouse LED. Not only will the red plastic screw things up, the mouse wont work as well. I tried changing the LEDs in my logitech dual optical, and the precission was WAY off. It worked, but i couldnt move the mouse less than about 10 pixels.

The key there is not having the red plastic in the first place. Both me(plain optical) and my wifes mouse(optical w/compactflash reader) have clear or very lightly smoked plastic and I have replaced both red LED's with Blues. Both still work and track great and because my wife does not play games, mine at least games very well. I do have to admit though that my mouse looks much better than hers due to the entire case of my mouse being clear. Her mouse has an opaque top and the big pc board for the compact flash reader in the way so her blue LED does not show up very well.

[knif_00]

Oh, I see now. You can unplug all that stuff just like you would your Mouse or Printer Cable. *DOH* on me for not looking closer

[pik4chu]

Originally posted by knif_00
Oh, I see now. You can unplug all that stuff just like you would your Mouse or Printer Cable. *DOH* on me for not looking closer

Bingo :D:D:D:D:D

[Black_Ops]

the illuminated keyboard is not ugly. the thing rocks my friend just gone the black model. it has clear keys even illumination(nice blue glow) and its got laptop keys. i love laptop keys. its a realy nice keyboard. if i had 100 bucks to toss into a keyboar i would get it. but i'm working on making a tutorial on how to correctly solder EL wire that you get on a spool from various vendors. i'm just wating for my new soldering iron to get here.

[Xevuhtess7]

can this mod be done by wiring led's off the power already coming thorugh the ps/2 or usb cable?

[pik4chu]

its possible for some led mods but I dont knwo the current rating for EL wire.. CS, got an idea?

[gahdzila]

CS, got an idea?
I'm sure he does, he knows everything :D

I'm not sure about PS/2...I know USB has 5 volts, but I'm not sure of the amperage, or how much draw it could handle, or which wire it is. Guess that's not much help, is it?

[pik4chu]

PS/2 does I know for sure..as to which pins.. I *think* its pins 3 and 4...or I could be way off I dont remember.. here's a link that uses the PS/2 for powering some LEDs http://www.metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/keylights/index_eng

But again, I dont know of total amperage of the PS/2 nor the EL so..guess its still not much help :D

[DusteD]

i think red i healthier for your eyes rather than blue, myself, would choose green :P

[eab]

Can you actualy see what key is what in the dark? I can touch type but I don't know where all the keys I need are some times.

Oh and red is the color of light that will not ruin your night vision in the dark the most. But sence you are staring at a monitor I think its already runied! I would go with blue as it would match my mouse.

[Xevuhtess7]

well the ps/2 powers the led's that are in the keyboard.. and so does usb... so i guess there should be a way to run extra led's, it just might stress the port a little bit. as for how to do it, i am clueless. anyone know?