Case modding: LED Controller

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Tiny3001

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Just a question...

I'm planning my first case mod (in the not so near future) and as is my custom, I like to plan these things WAY ahead of time.

I am going to be using some colour-changing LED strips and maybe some UV CCFL lighting.

In the end, I would like some sort of LED controller inside a 5.25" or 3.5" bay. Basically I would like to be able to switch off and on the different lights inside the case.

Now, for those of you who have done programming, you should know that whenever you get a brilliant, you first look online to see if it wasn't done before.

I did the same with the LED controller... and I could only find the following:
Vantec Nexus Fan and Light Controller

It's almost what I'm looking for, but definitely two lights... not one. I've seen all sorts of other combinations like fan controllers with built in temperature monitors and memory card readers, etc.

While all these would be nice, the MAIN functionality I require would be an LED/light controller.

Any ideas? Anything you guys have seen online?
 
You think so?

I can imagine getting my own cool switches (choosing between rockers and push buttons, etc) but I'm not that great at machining things and making the panel itself would probably be the biggest challenge for me.

Circuitry... I could do that with enough instruction :)
 
Check out Esquire. They have a fan controller that sits in a 5.25" bay. Maybe they have something that could control your LEDs. But if they don't, you could modify the fan controller for your own personal needs?
 
sn3rd said:
Check out Esquire. They have a fan controller that sits in a 5.25" bay. Maybe they have something that could control your LEDs. But if they don't, you could modify the fan controller for your own personal needs?
Click to expand...

You think so? Modifying a fan controller could maybe be exactly what needs to be done, especially if you can control the brightness...

Anyone have any experience with this? Done it before?
 
Tiny3001 said:
You think so? Modifying a fan controller could maybe be exactly what needs to be done, especially if you can control the brightness...

Anyone have any experience with this? Done it before?
Click to expand...

A basic fan controller will most likely just output 3V - 12V (or thereabouts). To control the LEDs you would just need to put a suitable resistor on the output of the fan circuit, and then connect that to the LEDs. Wont look pretty I dont think, but it would be hidden in your case, and you will be able to very the brightness of the LEDs to some extent as well.

Edit: go check out a fan controller and see how easily you can get to the circuitry. If it looks like it wont be too much of a mission getting to that, send me pics and I'll help you out. I just replaced the lights in my bar at my home with LEDs and its not that hard at all. Most difficult part is choosing the right resistor.
 
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Archer said:
A basic fan controller will most likely just output 3V - 12V (or thereabouts). To control the LEDs you would just need to put a suitable resistor on the output of the fan circuit, and then connect that to the LEDs. Wont look pretty I dont think, but it would be hidden in your case, and you will be able to very the brightness of the LEDs to some extent as well.

Edit: go check out a fan controller and see how easily you can get to the circuitry. If it looks like it wont be too much of a mission getting to that, send me pics and I'll help you out. I just replaced the lights in my bar at my home with LEDs and its not that hard at all. Most difficult part is choosing the right resistor.
Click to expand...

Are you guessing or have you done something like this before? :P
 
Tiny3001 said:
Are you guessing or have you done something like this before? :P
Click to expand...

I am guessing on the output from the controller. But all fans need to accept that voltage range, so it makes sense. The rest I have all done before myself in one form or another. I will try look for specifications on the outputs of a fan controller to make 100%

Edit: The Zalman ZM-MGC1 outputs 5-11V, which will work fine for the LEDs. Do you also need to switch the CCFL with the fan controller? That could get tricky... What LEDs do you plan on using? Will need to know how much power they will draw
 
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Depending on the kind of control you require, you might need to pulse-width modulate the voltage in order to have control over the amount of current supplied to the LEDs.

And the resistor comment above is valid. You should also make sure that you don't overload the rail with the LEDs + resistors. And remember that the CCFL is still drawing current too.

Details on the number and specs of the LEDs would be most useful :)
 
Let me see if I can get those details:

LED Colour changing strips:
Spec Sheet
Might use one or two of these strips... probably two. Also not sure if these are the ones that do the gradual change (blending between the colours, not a harsh change from one colour to the next) but at the end of the day, those are the ones I want...

CCFL UV Light:
Thermaltake CCFL UV Light

I am starting to feel just the slightest bit intimidated that I might have bitten off more than I can chew :/
 
Ok, for starters, how were you planning on powering it? It requires (not sure if it comes with) 24V DC, which isn't a rail on common power supplies; you'd have to combine 2 rails to get it. If it comes with that 240VAC - 24VDC convertor, then you would need external power too. In addition, that RF controller? Not sure if it comes with the strip, but you would surely be able to control the LEDs with that?

As far as resistors etc go, the strip comes with current-limiting resistors on it already, so you don't need to worry about that. In addition, the power consumption should be within range, but I'm not sure, as I don't know how many LEDs are on the board? But if you're running off external power, that should be covered anyway.

WRT the CCFL, doubt it's dimmable. The inverter should run happily on your PC power supply. And creating a switch to turn it on/off will be dead easy.

You could also consider modifying a front panel (if you can find one that fits, or don't mind massacring one of your chassis's panels).
 
Massacring would be the correct term... in my case in anyway.

So what you're saying is that I should be looking for more PC friendly LEd strips, maybe something that can run directly off the 12V rail?
 
Tiny3001 said:
Massacring would be the correct term... in my case in anyway.

So what you're saying is that I should be looking for more PC friendly LEd strips, maybe something that can run directly off the 12V rail?
Click to expand...

Preferably. Unless you feel like making (or buying) a connector that will combine 2 12V molex connectors to give you a 24V DC line for your strips.

How handy are you with a soldering iron? Using LEDs (not surface mount LEDs) and resistors, you could easily (and cheaply) build something that would do the trick.

You would require:
1) LEDs (obviously)
2) Resistors (for current-limiting)
3) Some Vero board (makes life easier; PCB is expensive)
4) Some solder

Would take about 2 minutes to figure out what resistors to use.

Once you have all the components, it'd take like 30 minutes to solder everything together.

You'd then have something that you made yourself.

WRT massacring a front panel; you could do a very neat job if you took your time with it, and planned it correctly.
 
*sigh*

I am getting more and more despondent by the minute.

Okay, I'll have to plan this much better and not jump into it as I thought I should...
 
Hi Tiny,

If you haven't come up with a solution yet then you might be interested in the Computer Color Cannon which is a driverless USB LED light made up of 30 mini high intensity LEDs (10 each of red, green, and blue LEDs) and it is small, only 2 inches by 2 inches diameter. The light can be controlled manually by clicking a color from a color chooser or there are slider controls to adjust power levels of the LEDs (among other manual controls) and the light can be put in modes such as lava lamp, pulse, flicker, and blink. The light can even be setup to turn on and off at a specified time. There is a video of it at the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmUVlY4u-yA

More information about the light itself can be found here:

www.computercolorcannon.com
 
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