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Hi there,
I was trying to look for a tutorial in order to change the power LED in a DMG gameboy but I could not find anything.
I really want to learn how to do that mode, I think 3MM led will work fine and I know a resistor is needed but I do not know how to perform that mod.
May someone help me out?
Thanks
the resistor in question is the one marked "R1", its right above the LED on the PCB,
google "LED resistor calculator," and you'll find tools where you can enter in the specs of your LED, with a 5V forward voltage, and figure out the resistor you'll need without having to think about math at all!
swap out the LED, pay attention to the polarity when you remove the one in there (if memory serves, ground is the lower hole), replace the resistor with the value you need for the LED you used, thats it!
when you pick out your LED, look at its datasheet, you'll find all the info on its operating parameters...
but, a quick start is on colors red, orange, and yellow use a 220ohm resistor, on blue, green, white use 150ohm (am i forgetting an obvious color?)
The voltage is actually ~6v, since it's connected to the batteries. The stock resistor is 1k ohm, and is probably sufficient for any type of LED if you're not up for determining the 'optimal' value.
I've done this before, swapping the stock red LED for a white one to match my preferred backlight color. I completely overlooked matching the resistor to the LED and didn't notice any ill effect.
As a way to cheat, if you can't remember which lead is anode and which is cathode, you can just look at the elements inside of the LED and make sure the replacement is oriented the same way.
In theory, the cathode side of the LED is marked with a notch or a flat spot cut out of the casing, but I've seen inconsistencies with this practice in the field.
The power circuit for the led has a Zener diode, which from what nex (Ralph) told me is what prevents it from burning out any LEDs.
Edit: I hate you auto correct
Last edited by 12ianma (Sep 23, 2012 9:40 am)
Edit: I hate you auto correct
auto correct is the worst invention..... i hate it too!
Thanks for your help, to summarize, in a MGB could I just go ahead and swap the red LED with a green color 3mm one and that is it, Or do I need to do something else?
Thanks
Mgb is not the same, the led circuit is different. I do not hav the correct specs on the power led circuit but I remember it not being close to the same.
you can go red to green, the green may not be as bright as you'd like. i don't mess with mgbs too often, but the only variable which you're changing is the LED (and green LEDs are typically rated requiring lesser resistance than red LEDs) so you can do a straight swap fine, if they chose a resistor with a value specific to that LED (its ratings), then the worst result you should get is a slightly dimmed green LED.
edit -- its more important to worry when you go from a blue/green/white LED to a red/yellow/orange one, the latter (generally speaking) are rated for a lower voltage so going the direction you are going will most likely give you just a slightly dimmed LED, or quite dim depending
One question, I have not gone outside to shop for the 3MM LEDs yet; however, I found some old toys that have some LEDs of different colors inside, pretty similar to the ones that the MGB has( I mean in size), but here comes a question, How would you determine what type of LED is it?, If you found it within a toy and there are not specs nor anything, Is there a way to determine that?
Thanks again!