Replacing LED in NEC optical drive

Dreyco · 17-June-05, 02:14 PM

Ok so I read the guide posted in the first topic stickied. I have a problem though in my NEC DVD/RW and CD/RW drives the LED is just a square attached to the board. Is there anyway to replace this?

FunkyFresh · 17-June-05, 02:42 PM

That'd be a Surface Mount LED. LSDiodes says of them:

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSDiodes.com


	Because of their outrageously small size we don't recommend them to the average modder. They're hard to solder, require tweezers, small contacts, a magnifying glass and are easy to lose if you're not careful. On the flip side, because of their size they are amazingly versatile.

You can certainly try, but I'd say it's beyond my soldering abilities (I've tried repairing a surface-mount inductor, though not anything with surface-mount LED's). But there's a good chance your abilities are better than mine. They're just so freakin' tiny! Course, I'm sitting here looking at the smaller 0603's in my cell phone, the 0805's are slightly larger and might be more do-able.

Dreyco · 17-June-05, 05:09 PM

lol so replacing one of those with a 3mm LED wont work? shoot.......

FunkyFresh · 17-June-05, 06:33 PM

Electrically, they're nearly identical to the 3mm types; the required voltage and current numbers are pretty similar. If you could find a way to hold it in place and securely solder the contacts, it'd probably work. But how to physically hold it there, I'm not sure (someone else may have an idea).

Dreyco · 17-June-05, 07:14 PM

Well if worst comes to worst nothing is goin to happen if i DONT have an LED there right?

Coelacanth · 17-June-05, 08:13 PM

That depends if you accidentally splotch a glob of solder over adjacent contacts or traces.

Personally, I've done several LED mods in CD/DVD drives and floppies, and if they have surface mount LEDs, I forget about it. It's much easier to mod 3mm or 5mm LEDs than surface mount LEDs. But then again, my soldering gun isn't made for highly detailed uses.

17-June-05, 02:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dreyco PCApex's Mac Man Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 2,222	Replacing LED in NEC optical drive Ok so I read the guide posted in the first topic stickied. I have a problem though in my NEC DVD/RW and CD/RW drives the LED is just a square attached to the board. Is there anyway to replace this? __________________

17-June-05, 05:09 PM	#3 (permalink)
Dreyco PCApex's Mac Man Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 2,222	lol so replacing one of those with a 3mm LED wont work? shoot....... __________________

17-June-05, 07:14 PM	#5 (permalink)
Dreyco PCApex's Mac Man Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 2,222	Well if worst comes to worst nothing is goin to happen if i DONT have an LED there right? __________________

17-June-05, 08:13 PM	#6 (permalink)
Coelacanth Apex Tech God Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 5,993	That depends if you accidentally splotch a glob of solder over adjacent contacts or traces. Personally, I've done several LED mods in CD/DVD drives and floppies, and if they have surface mount LEDs, I forget about it. It's much easier to mod 3mm or 5mm LEDs than surface mount LEDs. But then again, my soldering gun isn't made for highly detailed uses. __________________ Flipping the bird at 400 million years of evolution "If assholes could fly, the skies would be black!" "The human brain can be amazingly resistant to accepting an inconvenient truth" ~Moi Completed Projects & Worklogs: Charger Gothic Gargoyle Pisces Micro-Blaze Modding On The Cheap View My Gallery

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17-June-05, 06:33 PM	#4 (permalink)
FunkyFresh 'Da Doctor of Funk Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Maine Posts: 3,021	Electrically, they're nearly identical to the 3mm types; the required voltage and current numbers are pretty similar. If you could find a way to hold it in place and securely solder the contacts, it'd probably work. But how to physically hold it there, I'm not sure (someone else may have an idea).

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