Lit Dome/Guide button
Introduction In this section of the tutorial we'll be covering how to light up you dome/guide button using 5mm leds.
Parts Needed - 2x 5mm leds
- Resistor (depending on led used.
- 30awg wire
- Bread board
Tools Needed - Solder Iron
- Hot glue gun
- 7-10mm drill
- Wire cutters
Difficulty Rating: 3/5
Average Time to Complete: 15-45mins
Notes: Take extra care drilling the button.
Step By Step Tutorial 1- After taking your controller apart using the above guide, solder 2 3inch pieces of wire to a small piece of breadboard.
2- Now glue your breadboard in place on your controller using the hot glue...
(As you can see on this controller I have a rapid fire chip already installed so I just glued the new breadboard over it making sure there is no shorting out of the chip. You don't have to do this if you don't want to)
3- Connect the 2 wires from the breadboard on to the ground and VVD. The pad type im using is CG but I also use these connections on matrix pads as they don’t have a switched 3v.
4- Clamp your dome in a pair of pliers
And carefully drill out the inside. I used a 7mm drill bit for this but had to move it a bit to get the whole insides out.
Once you’re happy with the drilling cut a small notch in the larger of the 2 tabs on the side of the button to move the wires through.
5-Take your two 5mm leds (Other sizes and types of leds can be used I just like 5mm because they are cheap and easy to get) bend the legs on both in the same direction then solder them together. and solder on two 3inch pieces of wire to them
6- Now check if your leds fit inside the button. (if they don't drill out /shave out a bit more of it..) and check that they are working with a battery. Then fill half the button with hot glue and press in the leds making sure they are point straight down into the buttons (Any slant on them will result in a badly lit dome.) Once you’re happy with the led placement fill the button with glue up to the height of the original plastic X. If you go too high the button will be stiff and too low means you have to push the button further.
The finished button should look like this:
7- Now check the polarity of your bread board and lit dome then solder the wires in place on the bread board
FAQ/ TroubleshootingIf the led's aren’t lighting up - Check the polarity of the leds using a battery
- Test the leds with another power source
- Check for any short circuits