Optical Mouse Mod's

[ImRaptor]

Wondering if I can change the LED's in the mouse without effecting the way it works. Guess my question is, do the LED's have to be red?
I want to use blue for the mouse. Its a Dexxa optical mouse.
Picture of the mouse here http://raptor.netfirms.com/CaseMoD.htm

[silentsnow]

Originally posted by ImRaptor
Wondering if I can change the LED's in the mouse without effecting the way it works. Guess my question is, do the LED's have to be red?
I want to use blue for the mouse. Its a Dexxa optical mouse.
Picture of the mouse here http://raptor.netfirms.com/CaseMoD.htm

Yeah, you can change the LED in your mouse. But it requires soldering (did i spell that right?). You can use a 3.5v and 15mA LED. That would require an 100Ohm's or R.

[ImRaptor]

Now soldering is something I can do reasonably well, but I can't weld at all.

[silentsnow]

Originally posted by ImRaptor
Now soldering is something I can do reasonably well, but I can't weld at all.


You think you're up to the challenge? It's not going it be easy, and certainly not without risk.

You'll have to split you 5v. Use a 100Ohm resistor to get 3.5v.

[ImRaptor]

Thats easy. I've taken a year of Computer Engineering, an the first thing we learned is soldering and voltage drops across resistors as well as all the handy little formulas.

[silentsnow]

Originally posted by ImRaptor
Thats easy. I've taken a year of Computer Engineering, an the first thing we learned is soldering and voltage drops across resistors as well as all the handy little formulas.

Oh ok :D Just pretend you didn't hear me :rolleyes:

[Norder69]

I have a dexxa optical mouse.
I've never seen the inside of it. But if I remember correctly. The lense that produce the red color is not just a mere LED. It looks more like a scanner. Are you sure you want to replace that? You can add an extra LED in there. But then, you'll get a mix of RED and something. I wonder if it will interfer will the optical mouse's scanning ability.

[ImRaptor]

I've opened mine right up, had to to paint it, and its just 2 red LED's inside. I figure I'll change one to blue and leave one red, for a dual colour effect. If it doesn't work, I'll change them back.

[NewSc2]

think i read somewhere somebody did that to a logitech mouse. he needed 2 blue LED's to replace 1 red LED because ... i don't know, he explained it though :)

here's a link to a few how-to's for different mice

here (http://www.taconuts.org/articles/2000/dec/3/page4.php)

[ImRaptor]

Thanks for the link, was very helpful. Alas, my mod may have to wait for a little bit, I forgot that the clear platisc on the bottom, isn't so clear, its actually red. Now, maybe a blue LED behind the red plastic might look okay, but I'm not a fan of purple.

[Rathius]

remember you cant see LEDs on bottom unless you lift mose up. maybe you could get a clear set of mmouse buttons and ut LEDs under theam and do the same thing for your keyboard. that would be really cool espically in the dark

[ImRaptor]

Actually, thats not true. You can get mouse pads that are clear and emit a nice glow with an optical mouse on top.
And also, my particular mouse has a small viewing windows at the back of it, where the 2nd LED is located.

[Rathius]

cool!
where do you get these clear mouse pads
i have an IBM optical mouse
i dont really do that kind of stuff alot
i talk about it alot tho LOL

[ImRaptor]

They are made by Icemat. The mats come in different styles, the black one, which was reviewed here by Mikhail, a clear one and a smoked glass one.
The smoked glass one review is here http://www.jsihardware.com/reviews.php?ID=50

[Rathius]

the review says its for ball mice but everyone heres saying its for opticals :confused: :confused:

[ImRaptor]

If you go throught the review, the very first test mouse they use on the Icemat smoked glass pad is an MS optical. They also say at the end that it works well for optical mice(mouse?? Which is it?) but didn't work as well for the normal ball mouse.

[NewSc2]

hm, nice mat, just think i'll stick with the ratpadz i'm gonna order :)

[Rathius]

yeah i will prolly get one s soon as i can scrape up some cash

[ImRaptor]

From everything I've ever read about the ratpadz, they are better than the Icemats and cost less. Yeah, Rat Padz are cheaper than the Icemats, scary isn't it?

[Cloud Strife]

I changed out the LED on my logitech mouse and put in a 3.3v Blue LED. I didn't do any solderin or add any resistors.

[ImRaptor]

It all depends on the kind of mouse you have and how the manufacturer decieded to attach teh LED inside. In mine I will have to do some soldering inside. not a big deal, but if you have never soldered before, I wouldn't suggest it cause all you need is a single drop of solder to ruin a perfectly good mouse.

[ImRaptor]

Well, I changed one of the LED's in my mouse. Changed both actually, but didn't like the results so I changed it back to the original.
Tell me what you think.
http://raptor.netfirms.com/mouseLED%20001.jpg
http://raptor.netfirms.com/mouseLED%20002.jpg
http://raptor.netfirms.com/mouseLED%20003.jpg

[NateDawg]

LOL... ever tried putting a fan in ur mouse??!!
!!!

[ImRaptor]

I didn't until now, maybe if I can find a real small thin fan. just for the novelty of course, not for actual purpose. Unless my mouse can overheat, anyone know? ;)


The pictures don't do the look of the blue LED justice. The LED beams across the room and makes a nice blue circle on the wall.

[Norder69]

Heh, it actually looked better than I thought, but it's still ugly. A blue LED in a red translucent case doesn't look good. As for the glowing effect from an icemat ... it's also a no no too. It's not hitting the icemat at the correct angle to give the mat a red glow on the rim.

[NateDawg]

Yah basically i used a fan from the DigiDoc5! Oh and ImRaptor...the fan serves as a coolant to the sweaty palm of an avid gamer. Long term that is...lol! So grab a digidoc and make one lol!

[ImRaptor]

Originally posted by Norder69
Heh, it actually looked better than I thought, but it's still ugly. A blue LED in a red translucent case doesn't look good. As for the glowing effect from an icemat ... it's also a no no too. It's not hitting the icemat at the correct angle to give the mat a red glow on the rim.

All depends on how many LED's you've got, course nowI'm thinking about putting and LED under each of the main buttons, not a whole lot of room, so I'd need to use 3mm ones, but it could be done.

[Altron]

then see if you can get clear buttons and cover and ight the whole thing up, doing smae with keyboard
save money by not needing to buy a light in the room

[ImRaptor]

Okay, heres the next step in my mouse mod journey. I am going to get 2 3mm white LED's. and place then at the very front, under the mouse buttons. Mouse headlights they have been by my friends. Blue tail light, and 2 white head lights.

[Altron]

LOL any more mods and it will hover

edit wait that might work if you put the rubber skirt arond it and a fan pionting down to make it into a hovercraft
someone try ti and post pics

[ImRaptor]

Only problem I'd definetly encounter, is the lens doesn't work so good when it gets farther from the pad, so it would make the mouse worse. However, I could put little wheel bearings on the bottom, rather than sliding, it would roll with ease.

Naw, I'll stick to the headlights for now, and maybe I'll fabricate a little tailpipe for it.

[Altron]

wat if you move the LEDs out of the body in the skirt
LOL :D

[EnigmaticPhoeni]

There's an article (in German, but a picture is worth a thousand words, right?) that shows an Intellimouse Explorer getting modded with blue LED. However, doing this will decrease the scan resolution of your mouse, which is not a good thing.

I'll try to post a link as soon as I find it...

[ImRaptor]

The key is to not replace the LED that is being used by the lens. Your better off adding a 2nd LED, or in my case, just change the 2nd LED thats there. Works just as good as before, just now beams a nice blue beam across the room.

[Altron]

i think IE has downloadable languge packs. i once read a non english site with them. its not as fun as english as its word for word translation. i speak french so ill give an example. in french instada saying my name is rathius you will would say je m'appelle rathius. with the language ack it would come as i call myself rathius. its not a grammar translatior but it works

[Exan]

heh, i bet that thing would have a spasm if you tried to read forums... people in a hurry to type thier german and it comes out kind of like our forums do. heh. do other languages have all the online things like our do? lol and all those good things?

[Altron]

dont know
the misspelled german words would not get translated. that would be pretty funny
i bet theres like a german website on OCing. i think thers more english sites as we have more computers and they are part of our lives nearly everyone usues computers. in the other countries a lot of ppl dont have computers so theres no OverClocking Clans LOL

[mazakman]

hey imraptor,love the headlight idea,hope you make the mod cuz i'd like to see pics.i don't have to mod my mouse,i've got the mouseman like in the review of the mouse pad.then again it would look cool with headlights,hmmm?:D

[Altron]

ok i thinkwere getting back on to the topic again
sorry everyone no more talking about german translators :(

[mazakman]

don't worry about it,i side track alot in my replies.:D

[Altron]

who doesnt
ok everyone forget about my new gigabyte mobo im convinced im getting the EPoX

[evilgenius]

...resistors? It's really not that hard, if you find the same kind (same size/voltage requirements/brightness) of LED as the one in the mouse. Just desolder the current one and solder in the new one. Remember, brighter is better, so if you have doubts or it doesn't work, just piggyback a second LED on the first one.

[Altron]

Look at the date... 2 and a half years bump.

[TyKoN]

wasnt there another thread about optical mouse mods?

[Cloud Strife]

Brighter is not always better. It depends on the color of the light also. The opti-sensor needs to be able to recognize change in patters in order to work. So don't pick like UV LED's for your mice as you won't be able to move your mouse.