RoL mod

[Blacknight94]

Well, here i am with my 15w soldering gun, 50 0603 blue leds, and some 62/36/2 silver bearing solder trying to solder these things on. I cant do it. I have them all desoldered (that was the easy part) but they are so small that even with a friend helping i just cant hold them on their side right. I also keep loosing them.. ive lost 7 leds so far and i havent gotten ONE soldered yet. Right now im playing my 360 without any leds soldered onto it. I need some advice on how to get these stupid things on. Thanks (yes im using tweezers)

[Nemesis]

try using a magnifying glass, also what kinda tweezers are you using? get some soldering paste aswell, is helps soooo much when soldering to smd leds trust me.

[Winterz117]

i didnt even desolder  the leds, i just flooded the stock ones, slid them off, and used the solder already on the contacts to put the new ones on. you ordered 50 0603's?

[Blacknight94]

i didnt even desolder  the leds, i just flooded the stock ones, slid them off, and used the solder already on the contacts to put the new ones on. you ordered 50 0603's?

Yup cause i knew my dumb ass would lose most of them. So far ive lost 7 i think... but anyways thats not the point. Whats this soldering paste?

[bill16504]

I use tweezers to hold them. Don't squeeze too much though. They'll go flying. I hold it in position and tack one side down. Then I'll use my fingernail and press down and reheat that side so the led will sit all the way down on the board. Then I solder the other side.

I just finished doing ultraviolet (purple) on my Elite. My wife loves purple. I did it for her. I wish my pics were as good as seeing it first hand. It's "black light" purple. It's wicked with all the room lights off. I definately want to get a fader and I'll swap out the leds in the Whisper to uv and run those to fade along with the ring.

[Winterz117]

dude thats awesome bill i love the uv look

[Blacknight94]

Wow nice bill. Im jealous I was told you must solder them standing on their side so the light goes to the middle of the pcb... is this true? Bill did you do this cause yours looks great... Also guys do i need to use flux when im doing this to prevent oxide ( i think thats what its for..) or will i be cool without it as long as i keep my tip clean... Thanks bill and everyone else for the replies.

Also if you dont understand what i mean about them being on their side heres a pic from llama.

[Winterz117]

i dont really use flux, but after i solder anything i wipe the tip on a damp sponge and then stab it into some steel wool to clean it. i melted the hell out of my first tip, but new tips are like 2 bucks at radioshack so its no big deal.

[Blacknight94]

i dont really use flux, but after i solder anything i wipe the tip on a damp sponge and then stab it into some steel wool to clean it. i melted the hell out of my first tip, but new tips are like 2 bucks at radioshack so its no big deal.

So do i need to stand the leds up on their sides or can i just leave them lieing down flat.

[Winterz117]

are you doing this mod on your controller or on the xbox? on the controller you dont but on the xbox you do

[Blacknight94]

are you doing this mod on your controller or on the xbox? on the controller you dont but on the xbox you do

Im doing this on my xbox. Why do you "have to" on the 360? Do they not work correctly? Light not spread? According to bills instructions (above) he makes it sound like he just put them down on there and tacked them down.

[bill16504]

On the 360; place the led on its side for the ring of lights and lay it flat for the power. For the controller; they lay flat.

When I remove the original leds, there's always a little solder left on the pad. So, I hold the new led in position with tweezers and reheat the left over solder; tacking down the new led.






I then put the tweezers down and use my fingernail to gently press down on the middle of the led while reheating the solder for a second time. This allows the led to sit all the way down on the board.





Then I just solder the other side.




I use 62/36/2 solder.

[Blacknight94]

Thanks alot guys. I got it Heres a pic of what it looks like, sorry for the crappy quality its a phone camera :P

[bill16504]

Nice job.

Now you got to do your controllers. Those are easy. Then show it off to your friends and charge them a few bucks to do theirs.

[Winterz117]

nice work man!

[Blacknight94]

Nice job.

Now you got to do your controllers. Those are easy. Then show it off to your friends and charge them a few bucks to do theirs.

Haha funny you say that.. I did my controller next.. well i did it, but the 3rd player led doesnt work, and ive used 3 different leds (all new) and i switched the direction twice thinking that it might have been backwards.. i even tried moving the led, putting more solder, putting less, checking the connection, etc. The first led i tried to take off i forgot to bath it in solder, i just tried to hold the iron on it and take it off, and now that i think about it it was player 3. I might have mestup the PCB for player 3, but now i know how to do it flawlessy, and thats all that matters. It may take me some time, but i could care less as long as it works. And also i could care less about the player 3 led, i dont play on player 3


Also, what do you guys reccommend for lighting an xbox? I cant do dual cathodes because i still want to play live without getting banned for console modification / code of conduct violation. Heres a pic of my case so you guys can see

[bill16504]

Are you sure you didn't accidently lift a pad? Is it a matrix board? You could try attaching a wire from the trace to the led.

[Blacknight94]

Are you sure you didn't accidently lift a pad? Is it a matrix board? You could try attaching a wire from the trace to the led.

Lift a pad? Please explain.. like i said, i checked the connection between the led and the trace, i even added extra solder to make sure.. and whats a matrix board? Also do you have any recommendations for a way to light my case

[bill16504]

The pad is what the led is soldered to. Too much heat or force trying to remove the led can cause the pad to lift off with the led. That's what is meant by "lift a pad". When a pad is lifted, there's nothing there to solder to. So the led won't get any current. Sometimes it may appear that a pad is there when it's actually not.

If a pad is lifted; in order to get current, a wire would have to be soldered from the trace to the led.


There are 2 types of xbox 360 controller boards. One is the matrix and the other is the cg (common ground). See how the black pads have a "nipple" sticking off the top and bottom in those pics? That's a matrix board. A cg board will not have those nipples. Just round pads.

[Blacknight94]

The pad is what the led is soldered to. Too much heat or force trying to remove the led can cause the pad to lift off with the led. That's what is meant by "lift a pad". When a pad is lifted, there's nothing there to solder to. So the led won't get any current. Sometimes it may appear that a pad is there when it's actually not.

If a pad is lifted; in order to get current, a wire would have to be soldered from the trace to the led.


There are 2 types of xbox 360 controller boards. One is the matrix and the other is the cg (common ground). See how the black pads have a "nipple" sticking off the top and bottom in those pics? That's a matrix board. A cg board will not have those nipples. Just round pads.

Okay ive looked around on the internet and yes, mine is a matrix board... and also if i wired a wire (haha) to the trace (where is it?) would the light still look the same from the front of the controller? Do you think this might be my problem?

[crashman2k7]

hehe i got one for u guyz
THE SO CALLED- RROD is now UV
and the regular colors when the system is fully operational is blue and red and yes this is my Xbox 360 =)
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=RkVQfnyX9ms

[The_Doctor]

is there a trick to removing and installing the control led's without trashing the control?

i've tried it on 2 controls, and when i tested the control, it produced erratic behavior (some buttons/triggers dont work, if you press one button, 3 others would activate aswell.)

thanks.

ps. i dont mean to hijack your thread. i thought it would be an ok place to post since there was talk about it :/

[bill16504]

Okay ive looked around on the internet and yes, mine is a matrix board... and also if i wired a wire (haha) to the trace (where is it?) would the light still look the same from the front of the controller? Do you think this might be my problem?

It could be the problem, but without being able to see your controller, we couldn't say for sure. I posted those pictures so you could see the traces (red/black) for the #3 led.

hehe i got one for u guyz
THE SO CALLED- RROD is now UV
and the regular colors when the system is fully operational is blue and red and yes this is my Xbox 360 =)

I posted this in another thread, but I used actual uv leds for the ring in my Elite.

[youtube=425,344]IQVDTyOniCc[/youtube]

[Winterz117]

wow i just started doing this to my controller and i discovered why they made the cg boards, because matrix is horrible. taking off the first led i lifted the +pad and now i have to wire it to the damn trace. how do i do that? can i wire power from another leds + side?

[bill16504]

wow i just started doing this to my controller and i discovered why they made the cg boards, because matrix is horrible. taking off the first led i lifted the +pad and now i have to wire it to the damn trace. how do i do that? can i wire power from another leds + side?

The leds share a common power and have separate negatives. See the picture my other post. Instead of clearing a trace, try running a wire from the led + to the point + on the board shown in that pic.

That's why I flood leds instead of trying to desolder with a braid. You use up a lot more solder, but it's quick and easy.

[Blacknight94]

The leds share a common power and have separate negatives. See the picture my other post. Instead of clearing a trace, try running a wire from the led + to the point + on the board shown in that pic.

That's why I flood leds instead of trying to desolder with a braid. You use up a lot more solder, but it's quick and easy.

Ya  like i said the first time i tried to take one off i didnt flood it so i probs lifted a pad. im gonna order some stuff from llama today so ill order the wire there... how do you solder wires? Do you need to put solder on it while doing it or do you just melt the wires (when their stripped) to the board? thanks. Also, can i put hot glue on the board to hold the led down? and what do you think of the aurora light kit at llama? Thanks bill for answering all my questions lol

[Winterz117]

yeah i usually dont have a prob but i didnt flood it enough thus lifting a pad. im kind of confused on how to wire to a trace... it doesnt have a pin like if i was wiring something to power so i dont know where to put the solder

sry ive never had to wire something from a trace

::nvm i got it, just wired a short piece of wire from the player 2 + to the + side of player one (where the lifted pad was ) ::

[Blacknight94]

yeah i usually dont have a prob but i didnt flood it enough thus lifting a pad. im kind of confused on how to wire to a trace... it doesnt have a pin like if i was wiring something to power so i dont know where to put the solder

sry ive never had to wire something from a trace

::nvm i got it, just wired a short piece of wire from the player 2 + to the + side of player one (where the lifted pad was ) ::

how do you "wire" it ?

[Winterz117]

i soldered a wire to the positive side of the player 2 led to the positive side of the player 1 led. just get a little solder on your tip and then put it on where you want your connection

[bill16504]

::nvm i got it, just wired a short piece of wire from the player 2 + to the + side of player one (where the lifted pad was ) ::

Good; glad you got it.