Re: GS front panel and additional LEDs

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Herbert Fung writes ...
> 
> I'm thinking of running a couple of LEDs to the front panel of my GS next to the
> power light, however there is a metal shielding on it that appears to be permanently
> mounted. If I break off the melted posts I doubt that I'll be able to attach the
> shielding reliably. Anyways I was wondering if it had any real usage and if I could
> get away without replacing it.
>
     We removed the top, bottom, etc. shielding on ours a few years ago-- have not noticed
any difference in radio interference. Anyway, most of the RF seems to come off the various
cables and through the AC line into the power lines.

 
> Also a question about LEDs. The LEDs I'm planning on running are from my TransWarp
> and my internal hard drive. Does anyone know the voltage rating for the LED on the
> TWGS?

     Probably 2-3V. Usually, in replacing a garden variety LED, you pick an LED you like
and experiment with adding resistances (100-400 Ohms) if it's too bright. Since the LED's
you are replacing are likely to be drawing about 10 milliamps, you want to get LEDs which
draw about 10-15ma for normal brightness.


> As for how I'm planning on doing this is I'm going to be clipping off the existing
> green LED and get a Molex type connector and wire it to an LED, drill a hole in the
> front panel and secure it with hot glue or epoxy. The hard drive will be wired similarly
> as well. So what does everyone think, and has anyone else done something similar?
> 
> Color scheme:
> Hard drive=clear LED with red light
> TransWarp=clear LED with blue light
> 
 ....

     I've thought about moving the hard drive LED to the front a few times. Rather than
drilling the front (vertical) panel or the little sloping panel (with the ON indicator),
one idea is to insert clear plastic chips (cut from a sheet of plastic) in the gap between
the lid and the sloping panel and light them from behind with LEDs.

     Or, you could get flat LEDs and stick them in the gap between the lid and sloping
panel. Most likely, you would need to use a Dremel tool to carve out some extra space in
the sloping panel to fit in the flat LEDs. With a good fit, they could be held in place by
the pressure of the lid edge. This would make it easy to remove the lid and pull boards
when you needed to.



Rubywand


use flat LEDs and set them to peek out below the seems like a bad idea