How do I add LEDs to my Corsair K60 keyboard?

huttala · 28 Aug 2012, 17:34

kyriptic wrote:i believe the controller is between Delete key and left arrow key? Someone else on here (Aleksander) did a tkl mod on it but used a Chameleon board to replace the controller.

He sent me this pick when i asked him about it.
http://oyen.in/K30.jpg

Hahaha, that board looked like a toy, but yes, the controller seems to between the arrow key and the delete key.
So then it should be pretty easy to just but the other half off? I mean, I don't care for the eudio controller or the LED's at all, as long as the board works with the remaining keys I'm happy.

I should be able to just cut the PCB like this, right? I cannot see any connectors exept the ones to the tenkey part.

Icarium · 28 Aug 2012, 19:59

What are those flat cables going to the bottom?

I think I must advise against cutting the PCB unless you have the soldering skills to fix the problems you might run into.

huttala · 28 Aug 2012, 20:11

Icarium wrote:What are those flat cables going to the bottom?

I think I must advise against cutting the PCB unless you have the soldering skills to fix the problems you might run into.

The flat cables is for the usb connector and for the media shortcut keys. So it has nothing to do with the keyboard. It's just extras that I do not need.

Icarium · 28 Aug 2012, 20:31

You still don't know if the controller is going to throw a fit when you just cut it off.

huttala · 28 Aug 2012, 20:55

Icarium wrote:You still don't know if the controller is going to throw a fit when you just cut it off.

Since I've never done anything like this I do not know, so you got a point there.

But that's why I'm asking you people what to do.

kyriptic · 28 Aug 2012, 22:26

why do you want to go tkl? I don't think i could part with the volume controller now lol.

Icarium · 29 Aug 2012, 07:16

I think it is definitely doable and probably easy. But if you do cut it off and there are problems what are you going to do? If you're prepared to toss the board or pay somebody to fix it or invest a ton of time to do it yourself. By all means, cut that bastard.

huttala · 29 Aug 2012, 09:11

Icarium wrote:I think it is definitely doable and probably easy. But if you do cut it off and there are problems what are you going to do? If you're prepared to toss the board or pay somebody to fix it or invest a ton of time to do it yourself. By all means, cut that bastard.

Well, I do know how to rewire switches, so that's no problem. The thing I am scared about is the controller dying on me after I've cut the board.

damorgue · 29 Aug 2012, 09:48

How do you expect the controller to die?

As long as you take some good pictures, and prepare the cut by tracing out the board, very little can go wrong.
Here is what I did, pic is from mid process: http://i.imgur.com/obtxN.jpg
Adding NKRO and a separate controller turned out to be too big of a hassle so I just used the original. As long as you get the trace both as it goes into the area which you are going to cut of and where it goes back, you should be fine. Some extra wires will probably need to be added to close the ends that go into the area which you will remove.

huttala · 29 Aug 2012, 11:00

damorgue wrote:How do you expect the controller to die?

As long as you take some good pictures, and prepare the cut by tracing out the board, very little can go wrong.
Here is what I did, pic is from mid process: http://i.imgur.com/obtxN.jpg
Adding NKRO and a separate controller turned out to be too big of a hassle so I just used the original. As long as you get the trace both as it goes into the area which you are going to cut of and where it goes back, you should be fine. Some extra wires will probably need to be added to close the ends that go into the area which you will remove.

Ok I'll take some pics and do what you did, then recheck with you guys just to make sure everything is good.

Thanks a lot for the help so far!

TDub · 29 Aug 2012, 22:10

Are you still planning on doing the LED mod for the corsair? I am currently modding a g80-1800 into a weird TKL Poker kinda deal and would like to eventually add some LEDs as well. The g80 is halfway rewired (I am adding diodes and a teensy to make it NKRO/6KRO over usb) and if it is successful I would like to try and add LEDs so I would be really interested in how your project goes.

damorgue wrote: Adding NKRO and a separate controller turned out to be too big of a hassle so I just used the original.

No kidding, I thought I could reuse a lot of the traces on the board and replace the in-switch jumpers with diodes but then I realized it wouldn't work that way so now I am doing a lot more wiring then I intended. I am still kinda hopeful it will eventually work though

.

huttala · 30 Aug 2012, 08:10

TDub wrote:Are you still planning on doing the LED mod for the corsair? I am currently modding a g80-1800 into a weird TKL Poker kinda deal and would like to eventually add some LEDs as well. The g80 is halfway rewired (I am adding diodes and a teensy to make it NKRO/6KRO over usb) and if it is successful I would like to try and add LEDs so I would be really interested in how your project goes.

damorgue wrote: Adding NKRO and a separate controller turned out to be too big of a hassle so I just used the original.
No kidding, I thought I could reuse a lot of the traces on the board and replace the in-switch jumpers with diodes but then I realized it wouldn't work that way so now I am doing a lot more wiring then I intended. I am still kinda hopeful it will eventually work though .

I'll probably do the led mod as well. But the k60 already has resistors and holes for the leds in the pcb so it will be nothing like doing it from scratch. :/

If I get the time I'll open the k60 up after work today and take some pics. I think that the extra power from the second usb cable is for lighting up the leds, so I guess I have to rewire that. But I'll take some pics so I can ask you guys what to do and how to do it.

damorgue · 30 Aug 2012, 10:05

huttala wrote:I think that the extra power from the second usb cable is for lighting up the leds, so I guess I have to rewire that. But I'll take some pics so I can ask you guys what to do and how to do it.

USB 2.0 should give you 5V and 500mA, and those 2.5W should be enough for any reasonable amount of LEDs.

If you really need 5W with two USB cables, then it will have approximately the same lumen output as a light bulb.

huttala · 30 Aug 2012, 10:48

damorgue wrote:
huttala wrote:I think that the extra power from the second usb cable is for lighting up the leds, so I guess I have to rewire that. But I'll take some pics so I can ask you guys what to do and how to do it.
USB 2.0 should give you 5V and 500mA, and those 2.5W should be enough for any reasonable amount of LEDs. If you really need 5W with two USB cables, then it will have approximately the same lumen output as a light bulb.

The thing is that this board seems to have the same PCB as the K90, and the K90 has backlighting.
And if the K90 is built like my MK-80 board, it's the other USB connector that powers the LED's.

But this is just a possibility, if I do not need the other USB connector I will not use it, I want to do this as plain and simple as possible since I don't have that much time on my hand anymore (just got my first kid).

huttala · 30 Aug 2012, 17:33

Ok, so I got the board apart and took some pics. LED's aint gonna happen in any time soon as I have to solder really small fucking resistors on every switch.

But the TKL mod is still on.

And I can't see anything going over from the tenkey part to the part I'm not cutting off. Exept the windows key lock button, and that button is never used anyway.

off · 01 Sep 2012, 15:20

hutt wrote: (just got my first kid).

Oh baby!! pun intended
Congrats, looks like I checked back in just in time.

On the latest mod, from a quick look it seems as indeed the tenkey area is safe to lop off, yet I'd advise actual tracing in a drawing program just to make sure; and my safest bet would be to keep the membrane intact but folded (rolled actually) up. GL.
PS, how would regular resistors not fit?

gpvecchi · 10 Oct 2012, 22:49

Hi!
I own a K90 and I'd like to do some mods...
1) Remove macro keys (it should be easy, I'd need just the bottom part of a K60)
2) Full Cherry switch (possible?)
3) Illuminate the loer part of keys (eventually...)

May someone help me?
Oh, if someone has a broken K60 to sell...

TheQsanity · 27 Oct 2012, 01:36

How do you take off the top case from the bottom part? It seems to be stuck and I am afraid that if I pull on it, it might break.

I have a broken K60, I'm going to mess around with it first. PM for details.

bjeyland · 10 Jun 2013, 08:08

Hi - thanks for looking at Peter Eylands website and using his nice image of three resistors connect in parallel. I hoped it helped you. You found Peter's image at http://www.insula.com.au/physics/1250im ... age267.gif Take a look at his website - http://www.insula.com.au/physics/1250/L2.html The examples is from Lecture 2 (Electric Circuits) have fun. cheers BJ Eyland (spouse).

You said- " Aight, I'm going to buy normal resistors at first, since that's what I can get from the local store. I'll connect LEDs on the 5V line of one of my MOLEX contacts, I guess this will work, since I'm assuming that the LEDs on the Corsair board (and every other board thats backlit) has paralell connected LEDs. <img src="http://www.insula.com.au/physics/1250im ... age267.gif" alt="Image" class="reimg" onload="reimg(this);" onxerror="reimg(this);" /> And the way I'm going to connect the LEDs to the 5V of the molex is like this: 5V -> LED -> resistor -> ground. Please correct me if I got the logics the wrong way. Oh, and this is just to try out the intencity of the LEDs, when I find the right resistance for the LEDs I'm going to buy SMD resistors and add them to the board.</div> "

monobola · 10 Jan 2014, 01:09

U managed to do it?
The led lights thing, its viable? theres a way to add the led lights to the k60?, maybe some of those http://www.maxkeyboard.com/keyboard-par ... ights.html