OmegaNemesis28

How To Mod LEDs Into a SATA DVD Drive

Majority of people here on OCN probably have heard of DAE_JA_VOO's awesome case and hardware mods. There was one mod where he modded an optical drive with LEDs in it. This optical drive was a molex powered drive and NOT SATA. There is a big difference in power source points. Awhile back I decided to redo his mod on a SATA drive, and up until recently - I got another optical drive. So now Im going to share it with you.

EDIT: PLEASE EXCUSE BLURINESS OF PICS. I have very... nervy hands. lol.

You will need....
A SATA optical drive



Solder
Soldering Iron
Guage Wire
3-4x LEDs (Can vary from 3 ~ 3.8 volts)
1.5k resistor
Drill
Recommend that you also have some de-soldering braid just incase.
And some hotglue if you choose.



For this mod - Im going to use 10mm Blue LEDs. I HIGHLY suggest you buy LEDs from this Hong Kong place. It may take 2 weeks of shipping, but I got over 200-300 LEDs for like $10. Thats pennies compared to the $5 LEDs you buy from Radioshack. And these are waaay better, I guarantee. Not to mention, you can buy pre-wired LEDs that are extremely handy for small case mods like your power LED.



Unscrew your SATA drive from the bottom, open it up, and keep it topside down.



There is a piece of green PCB that has the SATA power and data connectors on it. Simple pull that board out from its tiny hinge and flip it up. It shouldn't require any effort at all. Do not worry about the wires, they are flexible.




Look at the SATA POWER input. This is what separates DA_JA_VOO's mod and this mod. Different soldering points.



You want to solder ONE (1) wire to any of the RED 12V lines. It doesnt matter which, but I highlighted the 2 best points that will make the Ground solder easy.



Solder to that point. I chose the farthest one to the right.



Once you've done that, you want to take your drill and attempt to cut out a portion where the SATA connectors lay when you put them down. You can use a hacksaw or dremel. But I used the drill, and it came out a little messy but it works. Why cut it? Because if you lay the SATA PCB down, the wires won't allow the PCB to sit correctly.



Again, take your drill and cut into the side notch.



DA_JA_VOO has a better picture. (Im sure he wont mind).



Route your wire down into the little "pathway". It seems as if the drive was designed for someone to go into this thing because there is almost no point in that little path being there. The cover fits right over it.



Here comes the slightly annoying part. Depending on what LEDs you chose and their voltages, you need a resistor. I chose a 1.5k resistor because its the easiest way to do this. You could do it DA_JA_VOO's way and more complicatedly solder 3 1k resistors together. Its up to you, but my way is extremely simple.



Fit some heat shrink and/or electrical tape around it. This will stop any kind of shorting out. When I first did this mod, I skipped this because I didnt think it was important. I learned the hard way, as when I finished - it almost started a fire as the PCB board lit the wires on fire that connect the SATA to the motor. It was bad.... but that was like a year ago. This is my third attempt (2/3 )



Drill another hole into the plastic housing and route your wire along the backside of the drive. Begin connecting your LEDs. Now, because I do a very messy soldering job - I used electrical tape over even solder point. You can solder up to 4 3V LEDs. The power point that you soldered to only gives off aprox. 12V - not 12V solid. If you test with a multi meter - it'll tell you 11.something V. If you have LEDs above 3.4V or so - use 3 or less LEDs.



Now, you want to route the ground wire in the same fashion as you did from the 12V line but on the other side of the drive. Or you could go back the way you came like DA_JA_VOO does. Once you reach the SATA power input, solder to ONE (1) of the ground spots I showed you.



And now you're done. Just figure out how to put the metal housing back on and you're good.















There is no "bleeding" if you put the housing back together correctly.


This is a blank picture. Why? Because its the inside of my case with all of the lighting turned off. Its a picture of the back of my 2 modded DVD drives. As you can see - there is no bleeding. (And no, the blue blur on the bottom of the picture is not the drives, its my LED array just below the pictures which I couldn't turn off)



Again - thanks to DA_JA_VOO for the original mod.
http://www.daejavoo.com/

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soundx98

Nice work. Rep+

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CorporalAris

Nice, I'm gonna use dis!

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JTD92

What Samsung DVD burner is that?

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OmegaNemesis28

Here

And thanks for the rep/comments.

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dskina

Good thing that you didn't pull a bentlya


Nice mod.

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Monzt3r

Very nice. Well put together!

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OmegaNemesis28

XD

Thanks all

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Puscifer

Nice work. I saw DAE_JA_OO's original guide awhile ago and been wanting to do it forever but I just never put in the effort. I have a job interview tomorrow though so maybe when I have the cash I can get everything and give it a try.

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OmegaNemesis28

I know what you mean. I did this mod like a year back and broke one of my DVD drives (as told in the guide),and I managed to mod the other. And only until now have I finally mustered enough energy (Im lazy) to do the 2nd DVD drive. XD

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