Last visit was: It is currently Sat Nov 02, 2024 5:49 am


All times are UTC - 4 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: The Infamous Saitek Keyboard Colour Mod!
PostPosted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:47 am 
User avatar

Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:36 am
Posts: 1926
Location: The New Glasgow "Burbs"
Changing the Backlight Colour of a Saitek Eclipse or Gamers Keyboard

Unlike most backlit keyboards that use EL panels to light the keyboard, the Saitek solutions use LED’s and a light panel. This opens the product up to a huge number of different colour options, but yet Saitek still only offers the KB with Blue backlighting(Edit 2006 - Eclipse Special Ed is in RED). But you can change that, if you don’t mind voiding the warranty

What you’ll need

Image

Saitek Gamers or Eclipse Keyboard
10 or 11surface mount LED’s (10 in KB, 1 in command pad), 0805 or SMA sized
10 or 11 surface mount 0805 resistors (may not be required depending on the colour of LED’s used)
Multimeter capable of measuring resistance, DC volts and performing a diode test (Optional)
Soldering Iron, preferably 45W and under
Precision Tweezers
Solder and flux (do not use flux designed for plumbing use)
Isopropyl Alcohol and small brush (Optional)
Phillips #1 screwdriver
Set of Allen Keys or Hex Keys

For this guide I’ve selected RED Lumex SML-LX23SIC SMA package LED’s which are available from Digikey. These have a Vf of 2.6V and I plan on running them at 20mA so I need resistors that are at least 120ohms.


Procedure

1. Remove the screws and carefully separate the halves, don’t forget the 4 on the top.

Image

Image

Image

2. Leave the membranes in place and remove the PCB’s boards that run along the front edge of the keyboard. Unplug the wire from the main PCB, making sure to note the polarity!

Image

Image

Image
CLICK FOR DETAIL

3. Measure the resistors and make sure they are of the correct value required for the new LED’s. The ones in my Eclipse were 82 ohms, I need 120 ohms. (If the LED’s you are using are from 3.6V to 5V you should be fine and can skip to part 5)

4. Remove the old resistor and place the new resistors. To remove surface mount resistors and diodes I alternately heat each side of the part quickly switching back and forth until the part slides off under minimal pressure.

5. With the diode check feature determine the polarity of the replacement LED’s and the stock LED’s (some keyboards to not have the polarity marked)

6. Remove the stock LED’s and populate the new LED’s. The package or datasheet should indicate the polarity, if not use the diode check. This is a one shot deal, on both KB’s I’ve done the LED’s were held down with glue or something and were destroyed in removing them

Image
CLICK FOR DETAIL

7. Clean the affected areas with alcohol

8. Carefully return the PCB’s and wires to their locations. If you have used a larger LED like I have you will need to do some minor trimming to get the LED”s to fit in the correct locations, make sure they line up with the protrusions.

Image

9. Make sure that the membrane is aligned and then snap the top back into place

10. Screw in the 4 bolts on the top side, then flip over the keyboard and inspect the screw holes, make sure the membrane has stayed in place and not blocked any of the holes.

11. Screw in the screws, flip over and enjoy. To be on the safe side you may want to connect it to a USB hub the first time you power it up, otherwise if you did something wrong, you could be dealing with a toasted USB port on your motherboard.

Saitek Gamers KB in Green
Image
Image

Eclipse KB in RED
Image
Image

Eclipse in Green
Image

Originally Posted at ModdersHQ, Aug 17, 2005 RIP
Reposted in the old MB fourms Jan 24, 2006

_________________
| 4670K | GTX 650Ti Boost | 8GB Corsair | Z87-K | 240GB i520 + 1TB Black + 500GB Blue| XFi-XM| Phantom | 245B |


Last edited by Dr_BenD_over on Mon Jan 04, 2010 11:21 am, edited 7 times in total.

Top
Offline Profile Send private message E-mail  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:32 pm 
User avatar

Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:36 am
Posts: 1926
Location: The New Glasgow "Burbs"
Crud, my FTP no longer allows HTTP requests, pics will be fixed when I find a new host.

_________________
| 4670K | GTX 650Ti Boost | 8GB Corsair | Z87-K | 240GB i520 + 1TB Black + 500GB Blue| XFi-XM| Phantom | 245B |


Top
Offline Profile Send private message E-mail  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 11:27 pm 
User avatar

Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:36 am
Posts: 1926
Location: The New Glasgow "Burbs"
PIC's should be back! :D

_________________
| 4670K | GTX 650Ti Boost | 8GB Corsair | Z87-K | 240GB i520 + 1TB Black + 500GB Blue| XFi-XM| Phantom | 245B |


Top
Offline Profile Send private message E-mail  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 11:32 pm 
User avatar

Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:22 pm
Posts: 267
Location: Middle Sackville
wow is that yours that fucking sweet where do i get one?

_________________
I'm stressing, please with my rap, hopefully it's working
Because when your folks leave this earth, man, that shit be hurtingn Emotional traumas, enough to make you lose your ground No matter what happen just represent and put it down


Top
Offline Profile Send private message  
 
 Post subject: Re: The Infamous Saitek Keyboard Colour Mod!
PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:11 am 
User avatar

Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:36 am
Posts: 1926
Location: The New Glasgow "Burbs"
Old pic's fixed. There should be some new ones tonight, I was feeling the urge for a colour change

_________________
| 4670K | GTX 650Ti Boost | 8GB Corsair | Z87-K | 240GB i520 + 1TB Black + 500GB Blue| XFi-XM| Phantom | 245B |


Top
Offline Profile Send private message E-mail  
 
 Post subject: Re: The Infamous Saitek Keyboard Colour Mod!
PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:00 pm 
User avatar

Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:11 pm
Posts: 481
Location: Truro, NS
my caps lock button on my Eclipse is always on even when my computer is turned off. I suppose i should use this guide and fix that.

_________________
Intel i7 4790 | Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3P | 2x8GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3-1600 | Zotac GTX 760 | Samsung 840 EVO 250GB | 2x3TB WD Red RAID1 | Seasonic 620W Modular | Fractal Design Arc XL


Top
Offline Profile Send private message  
 
 Post subject: Re: The Infamous Saitek Keyboard Colour Mod!
PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:14 pm 
User avatar

Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:36 am
Posts: 1926
Location: The New Glasgow "Burbs"
Crappy pic (no tripod) and I probably went a little too dim. And there seems to be some issue with the board, when I try editing near the end of the original post, the window keeps wanting to scroll upwards, making it damn hard to edit things.

_________________
| 4670K | GTX 650Ti Boost | 8GB Corsair | Z87-K | 240GB i520 + 1TB Black + 500GB Blue| XFi-XM| Phantom | 245B |


Top
Offline Profile Send private message E-mail  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 4 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group