Taming the bright lights of fan controllers

Slayer of Noise · Post by **Slayer of Noise** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:03 pm

I'm sure that I'm not the only person who doesn't enjoy the gimmick of bright lights on computer accessories. For some reason they've become a fad for builders in the last few years, and the manufacturers seem to assume that not only should we have these lights, but very often, we shouldn't be able to even disable them if we wanted to.

That's the problem I'm facing with my current fan controller. Anyone who has a computer in their room and runs it even occasionally at night knows that bright lights and sleep don't mix. I have the Vantec NXP-305, and as my fellow owners know, this thing is celestially bright. It gives the brightest night light a run for its money. And of course you can't turn the lights off or even cover them with tape (some genius thought they'd go well behind the freaking knobs).

I originally thought that I could just detach some wires, but a glance at the controller made this appear unlikely. My next idea, which I'll report back on later, is to push the controller back into the bay and put something in front of it to block the light. I hope placing an object in front of it doesn't inadvertently adjust the knobs, though. It certainly will make it more difficult to reach and adjust the knobs. If only they considered that not everyone wants to be blinded when they're trying to sleep...

On a separate note, does anyone know of some controllers that give off no light, or can have their lights disabled with minimal effort? I was hoping the Aerogate 3 would do the trick, but apparently it won't.

justblair · Post by **justblair** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:02 am

I had a DAC once on my hi fi that had the brightest green LED you have ever seen. The way I tamed it was to take some accrylic model paint and simply paint the thing out. When the paint was tacky ie not completely cured, I took a pin and made a pin prick through the paint layer till I had a status light I could read without getting a tan.

Its aout 1m work and the best thing is if you use accrylic paint it can be easily removed if you change your mind.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:27 am

till I had a status light I could read without getting a tan.

davidstone28 · Post by **davidstone28** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:54 am

I have same Vantec Nexus as you. All you have to do is cut one of the metal 'wires' leading from the led - it looks like an L shaped hard metal wire leading from the led to the PCB. Very easy to do, very reversible (just push the contacts back together, or use a small blob of solder).

See picture here:
http://www.overclockersclub.com/images/ ... nexus2.jpg

Each LED is between each of the dials. 2 pins leading off the LED. Just snip one of them using tin snips.

brickout1 · Post by **brickout1** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:24 am

Same thing can be done to the Sunbeam Rheobus. Either snip a lead, or pull the led's back into the controller. You can bend them to the point that they'll only make a light glow.

cpemma · Post by **cpemma** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 9:10 am

If you're prepared to cut a lead, solder an extra resistor across the gap (ie, between one cut end and the other) to reduce the LED current. 1k should do the trick.

Or lightly sanding the LED dome (400 grit Wet&Dry) will diffuse the light over a wider angle and give an apparent dim.

edit: clarified (?)

Slayer of Noise · Post by **Slayer of Noise** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:36 pm

Cpemma, is that necessary? You're saying to place a resistor on the cut lead?

I'm not very handy with soldering. I know that, when I snipped some fan wires, placing a piece of electric tape on the cut lead seemed to work fine.

StarfishChris · Post by **StarfishChris** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 3:51 am

Slayer of Noise wrote:Cpemma, is that necessary? You're saying to place a resistor on the cut lead?

I'm not very handy with soldering. I know that, when I snipped some fan wires, placing a piece of electric tape on the cut lead seemed to work fine.

Electric tape has too much resistance, the LED will be barely on.

(He means solder the resistor between the wire and LED, if you still want a status light, that is.)

Slayer of Noise · Post by **Slayer of Noise** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 9:57 am

Ah, alright. I thought that's what he may have been saying, since he mentioned a resistor.

spolitta · Post by **spolitta** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 12:26 pm

I have the Sunbeam Rheobus and the LEDs are brighter than a 60w lamp. What I did was to paint the LEDs in black and I can still see some light somehow, not the best but works.

Slayer of Noise · Post by **Slayer of Noise** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 8:29 pm

Alright, I snipped the leads and the lights are off... except for one. Davidstone28 posted a picture of the controller. Although you can't see it in the picture, on the far left there's a bulb sticking out of the circuit board, and I don't see any leads connected to it. It's just as bright as the others.

Any ideas on how to blot it out? Has anyone else disabled this light? It's a hard area to get into. I'm wondering if I could just put some tape on it - a bit worried about heat, though. I don't think painting is going to be possible, because of the angle.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 3:48 am

I'm wondering if I could just put some tape on it - a bit worried about heat, though.

I really wouldn't worry about it. Most PC LED's use less than 60 milliwatts of electrical power; one of the great things about LED's compared with normal incandescent bulbs is that they don't waste something like 90% of their input energy as heat. And even if it does overheat and die, that's what you want right?

BlueCan · Post by **BlueCan** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:01 am

I usually take a black "sharpie" marker and write on the surface of the LED. It "tames" but doesn't eliminate the light. ...and it's entirely reversible.

-Patrick

Slayer of Noise · Post by **Slayer of Noise** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:23 am

Ok, maybe I'll try using a marker. I couldn't get the tape to stick. Like I said before, it's a very narrow space to work in, and the tape just wasn't staying in place.

I'm still wondering if anyone has had luck disabling the light completely, though. Either way, the light is a lot less obnoxious now.

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:20 pm

Slayer of Noise wrote:I'm still wondering if anyone has had luck disabling the light completely, though.

If you're prepared to disable the LED irreversibly, first remove the power (turn off the PC?). Then take a pair of pliers and simply crush the plastic case of the LED. That will permanently disable it.