CD mod / molex wiring

[Redfallon]

Anyone ever modded a CDROM drive so that you can see the CD spinning through a top window? I have seen a couple of articles on this and ordered me a new black lite-on today to try it out. I have a question on adding LED's to it. Got the molex connectors, pins, wire, etc....just wondering which hot wire on the molex to connect to, red or yellow? Also are the two in the middle (black) both grounds?

[FLG]

Someone correct me if in wrong...Red is 5v Yellow is 12v both black's are grounds.

[Redfallon]

that's what I thought....hopefully we're right...i guess if not, LED's are cheap enough :)

[Designer]

If you are going to use standard LED's (around 2V) a current limiting resistor will be required in series with the LED otherwise they will burn out. Can't remember the resistor values required or the wattage but i'll try and find out

[Designer]

I believe the series resistor value required to use a standard LED will be 1.5Kohms 0.25W for Green, yellow and blue. 1Kohm 0.25W for Red as the intensity of red LED's is lower than other colours so a smaller resistor is required to get the same light output. If you don't want to take that route component suppliers can offer 12V and 5V led's with integral current limiting resistors.

And yes the red wire in the molex connector is +5V, the yellow is +12V and all blacks are grounds but im not sure if they are common grounds or individual grounds for the supply voltages but a quick check with a mulimeter set to read DC volts should show this.

Hope this is of some help

[Redfallon]

thanx for the info! don't know what V LED's I will get, haven't shopped for em yet. Hopefully I can find a 5v or 12v one and avoid wiring in the resistor, if not, or if it's WAY cheaper I should be able to tackle it...thanx alot though you guys always come through for me :)

[Redfallon]

Hmmm, LED I was looking at has forward voltage of 3.2~3.8 (max 5~6) and it says reverse current (UA) <=30 I know nothing about the resistor values, however, if the above holds true I would appreciate the info....thanx alot for all your help

[mattg2k4]

http://metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/sahkooppi/index_eng tells you how to calculate a proper resistor value for LED's.

[Designer]

Sorry, I was a bit off with the values,

According to an online resistor calculator the values should be

500ohms for a standard led @12V

150 ohms for standard led @5V

56 ohms for standard blue led @5V

290 ohms for standard blue led @12V

for 12V operation should be 1/4 watt resistors, for 5 volt should be 1/8 watt.

The values I gave earlier were for the wrong voltage, got a bit mixed up reading my table.

[Redfallon]

thanky! I came up with like 480 ohms for 12v, so that seems right ehh? I appreciate the info, as that's like greek to me :)

[Redfallon]

can't believe I cut a hole in a brand new Lite-on CDROM....but hey, it worked....thanx for the info on wiring guys....i will see if I can get some pics up eventually, still have to paint and finish but the cut out and wiring is done.....little dissappointed in how it turns out, I need to enlarge the window on top of my case to get the full effect! That lite-on drive is LONG to, bout an inch longer than my liteon 52x/16 CDRW/DVD combo! anyway thanx for the wiring info!