Lighted Xbox Jewel (XBOX 360 Alternative)

''''''''''''**********WARNING**********''''''''''''''''''
BY MESSING UP THE WIRING ON THIS MOD YOU COULD SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR XBOX!!! POSSIBLY EVEN DESTROY IT!!!
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In this instructable i will show you how to place led's under the jewel of your xbox. It adds a litle flare to the otherwise bland system, making it go from an xbox to an XBOX.

With the arival of the XBOX 360 a lot of kids are begging their parrents to cough up the 400 bucks to buy them the new game only to play a few songs or homebrew games or a long list of things that can be done by a hacked Original XBOX.

I have already seen an instructable on here on how to hack the xbox so you can add Xbox Media center onto it. BY doing that softmod you will be able to do almost all the cool stuff the 360 does, cept for maybe play the newest games. but that is just a trade off you will have to take.

So you decide you want to hack your xbox but realise that the XBOX still doenst have the flare that the xbox 360 does. That is where my mod comes in.

After you do this mod you can paint the case white, download the MC360 skin for xbox media center that makes it look just like an xbox 360, and you have a present that not only is a dang sight cheaper than an XBOX 360 but it also is a one off that no one else has.

The kid will be happy he/she has something so cool, you are happy because you only have to buy an xbox, and some lights and paint, so you save about 250 bucks or more depending on where you get your xbox, and the wifey is happy cause you were able to buy her that diamond earing set she wanted that you couldnt originally afford because you had to shell out 400 bucks for a 360. Only one not happy is Bill Gates but he can live off the other gazillion dollars he has and waite for your 400 bucks till Halo 3 comes out.

I decided on this mod as the one to do because it was the hardest that handnt already been done here. The rest of the mods like painting and eveything else are relatively simple and straight forward. Mine is not painted yet but I was going to save that for another instructable later.

this mod has a lot of steps but I tried to document all the important stuff. It may look scary but its not that bad. You will need to void your Xbox warenty to do this but isnt that really what this is all about. well it is to me at least. Oh well on with the fun....

Step 1: Items needed

XBOX = If you don't know what this is for then stop here! this will be way to hard for you!
Soldering Iron = For Soldering mine is just a dual heat one from radio shack
flux and solder = I find the thinner stuff is better and easier to work with but its all about preference i guess
q-tip = for applying flux
Butter knife = For removing the jewel
Hair Dryer = For removing the jewel
hole saw = For Cutting the plastic under the jewel. size should be slightly smaller than outside edge of jewel. when you are finished there will have to be a lip to glue the jewel to . again it is all about preference and how much you want to be showing under jewel.
Exacto Knife = for marking the areas you need to cut
straight edge = for marking the areas you need to cut
car window tinting = To cover the jewel, any color you want but do not get a color that is too dark because it will ruin the effect of the light. this is actually optional but I like the effect it gives.
LED's = 5mm or 3mm The higher the mcd rating the better. I used eight 3mm but youcould just as easilly use six 5mm
Hot glue gun = For attaching the lights and wire
Paint Reducer = for removing the green paint on the jewel
tape = for making a handle and other things
credit card = For applying the tint
napkin = for applying the tint
soapy water = for applying the tint
Wire cutters or nail clippers = For cutting the wires when needed.
Molex Connector = Either a "Pass Through" with fan connection or A "Y" splitter or a regular "Pass Through" will work
Wire = I find solid works better than stranded and i find the smaller wire works better
continuity = tester to make sure you didn't screw up
resistor = So we don't blow our bulbs up. Value depends on the Value and amount of the bulbs
aluminum foil = for making a reflector
cd jewel case = for making a reflector
heat shrink = Used to cover the connections after finished to prevent shorts.

i know its a long list but most of the stuff you can salvage from other projects like I did and it wont cost you much at all. i think i actually spent about 5 bucks out of pocket on the whole project.

Comments

[cody777]

i took it one step further and cut a hole in my dvd drive so you can see the spinning disk

[cammel8]

Cool, you should up a pic of it.

[cody777]

here are the pics, also included ones of my ps2. sorry they aren't the bes quality, i took 1 with an iphone and the other 2 with a galaxy tab

[fwjs28]

lol talk about a rrod

[cammel8]

Lol

[tanmanknex]

The glow looks kind of sharp...  maybe you could add some diffuser glass inside the jewel?

[cammel8]

Another way to defuse an led is sand the tip of the led down a little with sandpaper. Works real nice, I have done it a few times. But in this application I kinda liked the sharpness.

[DustySeven7]

Why solder the leds this way when it would have been much easier to solder them in series. That way you could use the leads of the leds to connect to each other and then connect the power at the ends. Would have been less work if you ask me

[cammel8]

Multiple reasons. One was because by doing it this way it was easier for me to hide the wires. Second is because in series, If one light goes out they all do and trying to troubleshoot is harder if you don't know which one is blown. So for a beginner parallel is the way to go. Third is because if I want to add more lights with relative ease I can, and locate them where I want; however, in series I have to add them into the end. I was not sure I would want 8 lights until I had seen it. And fourth was a matter of convenience. I had the resistor for doing it in parallel however, I would have had to go buy a resistor if I did it in parallel. So for me this was the easier way at the time.

You are correct that it could have been done in series; however, just because its easier does not make it better.

[Yerboogieman]

Why did I read the first part?

[Kasm279]

Thanks for the instructions on removing the jewel, i took mine off but instead of lighting it up I repainted it blue :D

[DELETED_craz meanman]

(removed by author or community request)

[cammel8]

I didnt put it back on. And nothing up till now has happened. Dont see a reason for it short of keeping the lid cool so I left it off. Doesnt seem to effect it at all.

[cornholio]

I always thought the "heat shield" was actually some kind of radio frequency blocker, to prevent interference...

[cammel8]

That might be too... Honestly I don't know but it doesn't seem to matter either way. Don't rightly see what interference would affect it but its possible. I'm no designer so who knows.

[Kasm279]

Its actually to keep radio waves IN the xbox to keep it from interfering with other stuff. removing that violates the FCC rules, but i doubt anything will happen :)

[felixh]

If this is to hard for someone to do or they don't trust there sodering skills they can go to www.divineo.com and get the case mods that do the same

[Ben999_]

It would have been nice to get some credit for my work, but at least you took your own pics and rewrote it. Jewel LED Tutorial

[cammel8]

Nice Tutorial. And I can see why you would think I copied yours by the pictures you use but I assure it it is merely coincidental. When I did mine all the tutorials I found where showing how to use the tubes and I couldnt find one that used leds so I made this one. The reason I went with 8 lights was cause that is how many I had and the reason I went with that formation around the hole was because it was evenly spaced out. It isnt supprising that the two look a lot alike, how many different ways would there be to hook them up? I guess I could have hooked them up by using wires another way but this was the easiest way i could figure. So like I said, I am sorry if you think I ripped off your idea but it was just a coincidence and nothing more.

[Shinji]

Man, don't get stuck on it. Unless there is something I don't know, this tutorial is way more instructional and vivid than that one, and he used different methods in a lot of aspects. I have done this mod as well as putting a chip in and several others, and on this one I did the wiring very very similarly (but my leads were side by side, not top and bottom) and I came up with the hard drive power stealing. Again, I may be missing something, but probably not... Be nice and don't get stuck up on things like this. Maybe cammel8 deserves credit here, instead of you? Well done, cammel8. I would advise brighter LEDs though, mine are 6000 mcd blue and one white one in the middle.

[Ben999_]

No big deal, but come on it's just common courtesy.

[DELETED_craz meanman]

(removed by author or community request)

[cammel8]

You are not doing anything that would catch on fire. Everything is covered and therefore wold have no way of starting a fire if you do it right. Thee is nothing touching where you put everything to cause a short circuit and the hot glue keeps everything seperated so you will never get a short circuit.

[redstarsrbija]

lol why in the hell didn't you use better led's.... it looks so much better with brighter led's i dont have a picture on this laptop cuz i sold the xbox for $330 to buy it lol $330!!! for an original xbox!!!!

[cammel8]

they actually look real good just dont show it in the picture

[ColumbusGEEK]

[quote]I decided on this mod as the one to do because it was the hardest that handnt already been done here.[/quote] You are huffing too much adhesive.

[cammel8]

quoteYou are huffing too much adhesive/quote Only on the weekends and only with the propper adult supervisons