Illuminated USB Keyboard

Hi and welcome to my first instructable! Enjoy :]

This is a very usefull instructable if you are a lot on your computer at night and don't want to make a lot of light in you're room!

Step 1: Requirements

These things you will need to start this project:

-screwdriver
-USB keyboard
-Solder
-Positive and negative cables
-Glue and tape could be usefull
-2 led's (you can choose what color of course)

Step 2: Start Working!

Picture 1: First of all you'll have to remove the back of your keyboard (look at pictures for details). When you open the keyboard you will see the electronics (don't break it or your keyboard will be dead)

Picture 2: The red cable is a positive cable. I connected another positive to it with my solder. Make sure it doesn't make connection with one of the other three cables of the USB. Then connect a negative cable (blue, black,...) with the black cable of the USB. When you've done that connect the two cables with the LED (the positive cable in the center of the LED and the negative cable on the border of the LED. And just do the same thing with your second LED. Make sure you make two holes in your keyboard to put the cables trough.

Then if you have all done it right your Illuminated keyboard would work if you connect your keyboard with your computer)

I hope this instructable helped you.
Greetings

Step 3: Finishing Touch

You may add some tape around the cables so it looks nicer.

And this is how it looks like when it's activated

Comments

[alex_conde]

Nice! I've got that same keyboard... I might give it a try next week.

[navneetr2008]

Appreciate the attempt !but..instead of all this risk.. you can connect the LEDs to the scroll lock LED(which is rarely used) through means of wires ( the power consumtion of a white LED s abt 3.5 to 4.5 volts @ 20mA, and the keyboard provides abt 4 volts@ 20mA, so ample power 4 the LEDs to light).... in this way you can also control the lighting of the illumination by pressing the scroll lock key... i had done this n its workin like a charm 4 me !

[godofal]

no resistors? 5V will burn your leds pretty quick!

[soldier_fever]

Yes I forgot it, it was my first time a made something like that so I'm not so good at these things ;)

[godofal]

yeah, im still learning to :D but i do know that, just dont know why...

now i come to think about it, i should ask why, and why u cant use 1 resistor for 2 or more leds....

[hemmikarl]

you PUT some tape there ertu kanski íslenskur?

[soldier_fever]

thank you for the correction :)

[st0rm]

Good one m8 :) You could also shrink some tube around the led cables.

[soldier_fever]

tnx I'll need to find bigger tubes because the ones I've tried to use were to small