c0ldb33r
03-30-2006, 09:44 AM
I've got a crystal xbox controller. (Not my main controller, I actually prefer the black one). I decided it would better if it were lit. I ordered a bunch of LEDs online and they came in yesterday afternoon :D
Here it is with the camera's flash on. I know the controller jewel looks fucked, but it's not. It's silver and says XBOX (you can't see it because its silver and the camera flash is hiding it). Usually when people add an LED to their xbox controller, they carve out the plastic behind the controller jewel to let the light shine through. I did just the opposite. Since the controller is clear, I thought it would be neat to have the light come through everywhere BUT the jewel. Plus, this made it a lot easier.
http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/6453/dark1fx.th.jpg (http://img71.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dark1fx.jpg)
Here it is with the flash off. Pretty sharp eh? It actually looks a little brighter in this picture than it actually is. Must be because of the digital camera.
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/5743/light5ua.th.jpg (http://img82.imageshack.us/my.php?image=light5ua.jpg)
It was super easy to do, just open the controller, take out the board and solder the + end of the LED to the 5V lead near the memory card (just use a multimeter... or it's the one on the far right ;)). Solder the - end to the ground (the point on the far left) and you're done. It actually took most of the time getting the soldered LED situated so you couldn't see it underneath the jewel. Not a big deal really, but it bugged me. I've got it situated directly under the jewel (literally - its almost touching it).
I sanded my LED before using it, this diffused the light quite a bit. Otherwise the light would be a lot more focussed in a forward direction, which would look like hell. I just used my rotary tool with a sanding bit and scuffed it up. :)
One thing I would change (and maybe will have to do yet) is to add a resistor to the LED. I'm using a 6000mcd pure white LED with a max forward voltage of 4.1. The lead I soldered to is a 5V lead, so there's a chance that the LED's going to die. If it does, I'm cool with it because it was pretty easy to do, and the LED was dirt cheap. I've got a 45 ohm resistor that I'll just stick in and that should take care of it.
But, so far it's fine. I had it running for 4+ hours last night to test it, and it looks, well, the same. Maybe my crappy soldering job provides resistance enough ;)
Here it is with the camera's flash on. I know the controller jewel looks fucked, but it's not. It's silver and says XBOX (you can't see it because its silver and the camera flash is hiding it). Usually when people add an LED to their xbox controller, they carve out the plastic behind the controller jewel to let the light shine through. I did just the opposite. Since the controller is clear, I thought it would be neat to have the light come through everywhere BUT the jewel. Plus, this made it a lot easier.
http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/6453/dark1fx.th.jpg (http://img71.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dark1fx.jpg)
Here it is with the flash off. Pretty sharp eh? It actually looks a little brighter in this picture than it actually is. Must be because of the digital camera.
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/5743/light5ua.th.jpg (http://img82.imageshack.us/my.php?image=light5ua.jpg)
It was super easy to do, just open the controller, take out the board and solder the + end of the LED to the 5V lead near the memory card (just use a multimeter... or it's the one on the far right ;)). Solder the - end to the ground (the point on the far left) and you're done. It actually took most of the time getting the soldered LED situated so you couldn't see it underneath the jewel. Not a big deal really, but it bugged me. I've got it situated directly under the jewel (literally - its almost touching it).
I sanded my LED before using it, this diffused the light quite a bit. Otherwise the light would be a lot more focussed in a forward direction, which would look like hell. I just used my rotary tool with a sanding bit and scuffed it up. :)
One thing I would change (and maybe will have to do yet) is to add a resistor to the LED. I'm using a 6000mcd pure white LED with a max forward voltage of 4.1. The lead I soldered to is a 5V lead, so there's a chance that the LED's going to die. If it does, I'm cool with it because it was pretty easy to do, and the LED was dirt cheap. I've got a 45 ohm resistor that I'll just stick in and that should take care of it.
But, so far it's fine. I had it running for 4+ hours last night to test it, and it looks, well, the same. Maybe my crappy soldering job provides resistance enough ;)