Rumble Activated LED Thumbsticks

[Aggressive Mods]

Hey guys so I wanna wire up some LED rumbler thumbsticks.

I have 3mm LEDs and 5mm. The Rumblers have low volts so they arent as bright, i wired them straight to the  rumblers...


I heard you can use transistors so i do have those, I was just wondering if yall can help me wire them to get them brighter!

much appreciated   

[1TONpete]

Need to find out if your board triggers the rumble on the ground or on the +1.2v.
Then you need to find a constant V that meets your requirements.
The transistor has 3 legs.
The BASE - which is the lead responsible for activating the transistor.
The COLLECTOR - which is the positive lead.
The EMITTER - which is the negative lead.
here is a good page on basics of transistors and how to wire them.
http://www.technologystudent.com/elec1/transis1.htm

[Aggressive Mods]

pretty sure its the 1.2 v

[1TONpete]

With the flat part of transistor facing you connect the 1.2 from the rumble to the middle leg. 3 v source toleft pin. And the right pin goes to the led. Might need a diode inbetween the transistor and led.

[Anonamous]

With the flat part of transistor facing you connect the 1.2 from the rumble to the middle leg. 3 v source toleft pin. And the right pin goes to the led. Might need a diode inbetween the transistor and led.

the led itself is a diode. It will only allow the current to pass through it one way. Putting a diode before it would do nothing but drop some of the voltage going to the led. (I could just be completely wrong though. Just going off of my basic electronics knowledge lol... still just basics...)

[1TONpete]

Your probably right, I just thought I remembered something about having to use a diode w a transistor. I cant remember where the diode should go.

[Johan1973]

If you wire the diode directly to the rumbler you will deprive it of voltage and current, making it rumbling considerably less. It would be much better to use the voltage from the rumbler (V+) to feed the base of a NPN transistor through a diode. And use that transistor as a switch to turn the LED on and off as the motor of the rumbler starts running (is fed voltage). This allows you to use the +5V/+3.3V (depending on  your controller and your connection point used) to feed the LED, while keeping the rumbler running at full voltage. It is however VITAL to separate the switching transistors base from the base voltage source through a diode or you will have AC current flowing backwards.

I have not done this yet, but will do it once my attention is turned from making my AXBY buttons light up when pressed on a Common Line wired controller.

Edit:
I finally solved this one. On a Common Line controller. I simply put a resistor and the LED connected to +5V from the USB connector, and then put the negative side of the LED on the - pin on the rumble motor connector. Since Common Line sinks the voltage to ground, this means the led lights up when the rumble motor runs.
On a Common Ground, I would do it reverse. Connect resistor and diode negative side to Common Ground, and then the positive side of the diode to the + pin on the rumble motor connector. This way you do not "steal" any current from the rumble motor and still have a good feedback from it.

Update, after giving this some thought, on a common ground controller, like the wireless, I would use a BC 547 or BC 546 transistor. Connect the collector to +5V, the base to the rumble motor positive pin, and then the emitter to the + side of the LED, then the - of the LED to the common ground. That way you guarantee you dont steal much if any current from the rumble motor.

[mod]Please Click Modify to edit , Do not double post[/mod]

[MaxieGodde]

So ive been putting leds on controllers for a while. but some controllers barely light up unless there is full batteries or a play-n-charge plugged in. I know the blue leds are the lowest in mcd or whatever flexible led strip lighting led outdoor lighting fixtures mini led light bars its called. should I use a led with a brighter mcd or is there another way to make them brighter?

[Anonamous]

So ive been putting leds on controllers for a while. but some controllers barely light up unless there is full batteries or a play-n-charge plugged in. I know the blue leds are the lowest in mcd or whatever flexible led strip lighting led outdoor lighting fixtures mini led light bars its called. should I use a led with a brighter mcd or is there another way to make them brighter?

get Ni-Zn re-chargable batteries. When they are dead they sit at about 1.6 v which is about as much voltage as a fresh AA battery.