This tutorial will guide you on how to swap out that old dull red LED out of the SNES system for a bright more vibrant LED of your choice to better enjoy your gaming system.

Step 1: You Will Need a 5mm L.E.D of Your Color Choice

First you will need the following

5mm LED color of your choice
4.5mm security bit (to open nintendo, can be purchased from ebay)
soldering iron
60/40 thin solder
cut out tool (really really recommend using a dremel!)

Step 2: Remove Cover and Controller Board

you will now need to remove the top cover using the 4.5 mm security tool.

I advise you to wash the cover and its plastic parts also dust out and clean if any dirt on the electrical equipment itself

To remove the controller board there is a small flat ribbon cable on top of the small board. slowly but carefully remove it. after that it will slide off under the small board through a rubber piece.

next with the controller board in hand there is a cover that is held on by four snaps on the back. push the snaps in and it will come off. note: it might be tricky i recommend once pushing one in slide a card in the crease so it does not snap in place again trying to loosen another side.

Step 3: Carve Out the Plastic to Remove the LED

After the cover is taken off a small transparent cover for the led will come off as well. SAVE this piece you will need to put it back.

Odds are you no longer will need the old red stock LED so using this method it is likely to get damaged.

I find this method faster, easier, and safer than the normal method of de-soldering all the 20 + controller pins.

you will need to cut out/carve out the plastic around the led in the front.

i HIGHLY recommend using a dremel tool for this. the tool itself cuts plastic like butter and leaves it looking good.

be careful not to cut too deep and damage the board itself.

Step 4: De-solder, Attach, and Re-solder

now that you have made a hole for the LED to come out you will need to de-solder the old LED

their are obviously two pins in the back de-solder them and remove the old LED.

place the new LED in. (*remember the long end of the LED contacts will be the positive end and short end negative)

when you slide in the new LED note the positive leg of the LED goes towards the outer edge side of the board and the negative will go towards the inside of the board (*note if put in the wrong way the LED will pop.

then simply solder the pins in place and its done now all you need to do is put all the pieces back together and test it.

Step 5: Re-assemble, Test, and Enjoy

after the controller board is put back on put all the other pieces back together plug it in and turni t on if done correctly you should have a bright new color power indicator.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial