Hello everybody! I'm planning to mod a little bit my Phantom case (black with blue leds), and first of all, I would like to change those blue leds to red ones, but I don't know what voltage do they use or what kind of leds do I have to buy... can anybody help me please? Thankyou! Edit: Forgot to post some pics! ^^' Power LEDs: Fan controller LEDs:
You can use a multi-meter to check the voltage- use the probes on the led leads where they leave the pcb. If the board is powered from a sata or molex connector chances are they are 12v leds, but check anyway. Then you need to measure the diameter of the led- they look like 5mm but again, check with some callipers or compare them to some drill bits to work it out. The just go to ebay or whichever electronics store you prefer and pick out some red leds of the correct voltage and size.
Sorry that's not quite right. The voltage a LED require varies depending on the colour. Red are 1.8v-2.0v and White/Blue are 3.0-3.5v Other colours such as Orange, Green, Yellow occupy the voltage values between them. Using a Red LED where the circuit is designed for Blue might cause the Red LED to pull too much current and may reduce it's lifespan.
First of all thanks to everybody, I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but there's still some confusion about the LED to use... ^^' I have to say that all 7 leds are 3mm, and for the moment I'll try 3v red leds... What's the worst thing that can happen? Thankyou!
I was able to replace a super bright blue LED front panel indicator with an orange one without any ill effects. From this I assumed, as there was no in line resistor, that the HDD LED power is current limited somehow, otherwise it would have lasted but seconds before blowing. The only thing you'd lose is a few LEDs if there's too much current going through them. No big loss. If you want to make absolutely sure measure the voltage being supplied to the respective LEDs and the current flowing and work out if you need an additional series resistor. LEDs are current devices and must always be current controlled, otherwise they'll go pop. The voltage rating is an indicator of the amount of voltage needed to get them to light up.
Did you check the voltage they are being fed from the PCB? For the record though, you can leds that feed off of 24v, let alone 12v, though most smaller ones like you'll need do require ~3v or there abouts. Check though, you don't want to blow anythign important up...