Introduction: Change Your Mouse LED Color!
Have an optical mouse? Tired of the humdrum regular red color emanating from the bottom? This is a super easy hack to change the color of your mouse!
Step 1: Parts Needed
To complete this project, you need
A mouse (optical, not analog with a rubber ball in the bottom)
An LED, must be very bright, and of the water clear casing type. 5mm is the most likely size. So far I have tested green and blue LED's. Blue seems to work best, but green works varying on its brightness and the surface of the mouse pad. It tends to work better if it is brighter, and if the mouse pad is a lighter color (I had good results with a white sheet of paper)
Others have had luck with a variety of other types, such as IR leds, as the light emitted from these cannot be seen with the naked eyed, creating an "invisible" look. Others have used UV, but with varying results as UV usually reflects only off of white (or very light) surfaces. Strangely enough, some have had luck with UV on black mousepads :)
Desoldering braid, wick, or solder sucker
Soldering iron, with solder
Optional: Helping hands. Not needed, but very, very helpful.
A mouse (optical, not analog with a rubber ball in the bottom)
An LED, must be very bright, and of the water clear casing type. 5mm is the most likely size. So far I have tested green and blue LED's. Blue seems to work best, but green works varying on its brightness and the surface of the mouse pad. It tends to work better if it is brighter, and if the mouse pad is a lighter color (I had good results with a white sheet of paper)
Others have had luck with a variety of other types, such as IR leds, as the light emitted from these cannot be seen with the naked eyed, creating an "invisible" look. Others have used UV, but with varying results as UV usually reflects only off of white (or very light) surfaces. Strangely enough, some have had luck with UV on black mousepads :)
Desoldering braid, wick, or solder sucker
Soldering iron, with solder
Optional: Helping hands. Not needed, but very, very helpful.
Step 2: Take Apart Your Mouse
Start by taking apart your mouse. Look at the bottom first, and remove any screws you see there. After this, your mouse should pop open with some force. If your mouse has a scroll wheel, check to see if there is a way to remove it. On my mouse, the scroll wheel prevented the PCB from being removed. Remove any screws you see on the inside, as they may hold down the PCB.
Step 3: Locate the LED
After you take the PCB out of your mouse, you need to find the LED. Most likely it is in some sort of plastic casing. When you find it, make note of the pads it is connected to.
Step 4: Desolder!
Yep, its time to fire up that soldering iron! Once it is heated up, take your desoldering wick/solder sucker and suck away the solder on the LED pads. Try to get all or most of it off, but be careful with the heat. Too much heat for too long will lift the traces of your PCB, potentially destroying it. Make note of the orientation of the LED!
Step 5: Add LED's
Next, take your LED replacement, and place it like the original LED. Bend the leads so it doesnt fall out, and solder it up! Plug in your mouse and see if the LED light up. If not, check your solder joints, and make sure the LED is in the correct orientation. I hope you liked this 'ible, please subscribe to me! Good luck!
There are a couple mistakes I made in the video. First of all, I didnt completely re-assemble my mouse. Oops! It works fine anyway. Second, I totally tried to force my cable in the wrong direction. Another oops! Fixed that and i was able to put it all together.
There are a couple mistakes I made in the video. First of all, I didnt completely re-assemble my mouse. Oops! It works fine anyway. Second, I totally tried to force my cable in the wrong direction. Another oops! Fixed that and i was able to put it all together.