Tri- color LED Mouse Makeover

Replace the boring red LED in a mouse with a tri color flashing color cycling LED.
Note: this replacement is for the LED used for illuminating the end of the mouse, on an opitcal mouse the other LED in the center us used for tracking, don't replace that one.
A small project for soldering and to add variety to your mouse.
Can be applied to other applications.
You assume the risk of modifing your mouse, voiding warrantees etc.
but thats the fun of learning about LEDs.

Step 1 Parts, tools, needed

tri- color flashing LED (allelectronics.com ) #led-95
clear cliplight LED holder (allelectronics.com ) HLDCL-C
Small gauge wire
100 ohm resistor
heatshrink tubing
solder, soldering iron
drill and bit and a screwdriver
oh yea, and a mouse that uses a LED (or add one)
this hack uses a MS intellimouse optical usb mouse

Comments

[The nerdling]

i have the same mouse, the cable died so i put a new one in it and now it is 2 times as long

[Lhtrf]

the 5VDC might not cause you any harm (unless its shorted out on 2 cuts, in which case its a bit of pain) but if it shorts out, it will damage your PC (sure, with all of todays protections in computers its less damage, but theres still damage.)

[Masicklazik]

That ddnt explain right. im mixed up now.

[red-king]

My mouse already has a tricolour LED but good mouse mod for anyome who doesn't.

[shveet]

mine has 7 colors... crappy targus mosue...but it gets things done

[MilotisX]

shveet is it reaaly tiny?

[shveet]

no actually...its rather larger then most standard mice...feals a tiny bit more confortable tho.

[MilotisX]

oh my b cause I have a mouse thats a targus and its mad small, but it has those lights

[Hycro]

I did something similar with one of those tri-colour LEDs from one of those solar LED garden lights with the plastic ornaments that look like butterflies, hummingbirds, or whatever else they have, and I am using it as a power indicator light on an old ATX power supply I'm planning on using to power a 70W total power amp I'm still working on (mostly the research and design stage right now) and I have it connected to the +5V PG (I think the colour of that wire is supposed to be grey, but the wires are old, and it's been in the light for quite some time, so it might supposed to be something other than grey, but that's what it looks to be now, anyways, it's the one where the motherboard tells the power supply that the voltage level is good) with a 330 +/- 5% ohm resistor on it, and it showed all colours no problem...then again, it was also designed to run from a solar-charged 600 mAh AA size NiCd battery...

[Derin]

also,wire the sw to green and any black

[Wesley666]

Ha, this is the same mouse I have!

[pmetro]

It continues to work, and they are still available new for about $30.00. -Pete

[Hycro]

It'd probably still show other colours, but they'd probably be biased toward red in the case of a red cover, or biased to whatever colour one has for one's translucent (is that the right term?) cover on the back of the mouse.

[btimon]

can you do the same thing with a single color LED as with the tricolor? just wondering because every light on my computer is blue except the mouse and i wanted to swap that one to blue as well

[pmetro]

yep, just about any LED will do, most operate at the same voltage.

[the_mad_man]

I am using the exact same mouse as you right now! YAY! damn this is my dad's computer...

[=SMART=]

This is a very good mod!, its not hard or confusing and anybody can do it! i have this mouse somewhere, im going to find it and ill do this mod but also attach a tiny switch, ill upload a picture later when ive done it

[Yerboogieman]

i guess im a modder at heart because i had the mouse going the whole time...i just wanted it brighter so i used a 2000 something white LED and didnt drill the hole

[srilyk]

who's worried about a warranty on a $10 mouse? Even more important, what self respecting hacker is worried about warranties anyways? ;) I could possibly understand that on a wireless mouse... but they don't have the extra led..

[pmetro]

at the time of purchase it was more than $10.00 ( and a gift i received!) and i just put that " You assume the risk of modifing your mouse, voiding warrantees etc" for possibly someone reading this who has never taken anything apart or is a yet to be hacker of electronics etc.. it is still in use and operating today ................ and i understand that microsoft still offers this type of mouse for sale "intellimouse optical" if you use a wireless mouse, the LED will effect the batttery life of your mouse

[Nirjuana]

If you're using battery powered mouse, you don't need that resistor cos' two AA batterys give just 3V which is good voltage for most of the LEDs.

[Spokehedz]

Always use a resistor with LED's. It's not the voltage that kills them, it's the amps that they will eventually draw when they heat up that will blow them out.

[girrrrrrr2]

ok i know that this a little bit off topic... but i have a mouse that a dog got ahold of... and she chewed on it and left marks on the bottom and broke off one of those things that let it slide around better... is there a way to fix that???

[Yerboogieman]

i have the same mouse.....i was wondering where the screws were.lol.

[James (pseudo-geek)]

sometimes you'll see little round tabs that look like just pads for movement. pry these up and theres the screws. sometiems they hide under labels too, but be careful with the label, because if it looks tampered with it will void the warrenty (sp?)

[TheCheese9921]

i wana see a video of it please

[pmetro]

right now i don't have the capabilities of uploading video

[pmetro]

true, it can be distracting when watching movies, how bout a small hidden switch on the underside of the mouse???

[pmetro]

andy , i suppose you could do that by somehow connecting it to the scroll wheel but you wouldn't see it while your hand is on the mouse the LED wouldn't show.

[Crackpot]

I've got the same mouse and was just trying to open it up the other week but couldn't find the screws! Thanks for the hint. I just wanted to get rid of that damn light in the heel of the mouse. It was annoying when watching movies. I followed your instructions and just cut out the LED in the heel. I put it all back together and viola, problem solved. Cheers!

[andy]

maybe you could connect it to the scroll wheel via a transistor(s) for a light show when you scroll. Might fry your mouse though so you might have to lose the scroll functionality for saftey. Alternitivly you could do something similar to the click buttons? The buttons *probably* (though im dont know) wouldnt mind a little less juice, (divert some to your transistor with a high resistance resistor) just a thought.
drew