Moriokun
Offline
Milwaukee Area, WI

Hey All! I just got my second V3 backlighting kit from Nonfinite. One flaw/annoyance I found with installing my first backlight a few months back was that the wires hung down to the bottom board and made accessing the internals a nightmare due to the fear of yanking out the solders.

However, when watching the backlight installation tutorial, he mentioned that you can solder the wires to the board that holds the LCD (See link) instead.

Does anyone have any specific tutorials on alternate soldering points for the V3 Backlight? and are there any down sides to doing so?

Thanks in advance!

kineticturtle
Offline
Matthew Joseph Payne

If you check the tutorial for the ASM/Kitsch backlights here:
http://www.asmelectronics.org/2011/11/l … orial.html

They suggest soldering to the capacitor right next to the screen. I've done this with the V3 also and it works great - of course you have to include the resistor. smile

pulseflux
Offline
The Central Coast, Australia

Wouldn't that cause the backlight to dim similarly to the way the battery light dims when low on battery? If not this would be perfect as the whole soldering both boards together is so annoying.

kitsch
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matt's mind

no, this taps the regulated power supply.  you're good wink

(our backlights have a resistor built-in, so like kineticturtle says, take this into account if you look at that tutorial, the nonfinte one's require you add the external resistor or you'll burn out your LED)

an alternative one is here: http://images.kitsch-bent.com/documenta … B_ver1.pdf

Moriokun
Offline
Milwaukee Area, WI
kitsch wrote:

(our backlights have a resistor built-in, so like kineticturtle says, take this into account if you look at that tutorial, the nonfinte one's require you add the external resistor or you'll burn out your LED)

Just to be 100% sure: I solder the resistor that came with the kit, between the V3 backlight's positive red wire and the positive terminal of the capacitor I can do this instead of the way Nonfinite shows of soldering it the bottom board?

kineticturtle
Offline
Matthew Joseph Payne
Moriokun wrote:

Just to be 100% sure: I solder the resistor that came with the kit, between the V3 backlight's positive red wire and the positive terminal of the capacitor I can do this instead of the way Nonfinite shows of soldering it the bottom board?

Yep!

pulseflux
Offline
The Central Coast, Australia
kitsch wrote:

no, this taps the regulated power supply.  you're good wink

Sweet, I'll keep that in mind when soldering those backlights I just bought from you.

Zen Albatross
Offline
Brooklyn, NY
kitsch wrote:

no, this taps the regulated power supply.  you're good wink

Thanks for clarifying, kitsch! Really wish I had seen this thread a bit earlier, as I've been attempting to economize the wiring inside my DMGs over the holiday.

Strange that this is first I've heard about using that capacitor for both solder points -- seems way easier, like it should've been the standard method up to now. Any recommendations on where to stuff that resistor for the kits that don't have them built in?

kineticturtle
Offline
Matthew Joseph Payne

I had no trouble sticking it right next to the cap - there's some serious clearance on the front side of the PCB.

Moriokun
Offline
Milwaukee Area, WI

I still haven't done this yet. My soldering guy (aka My Dad) hasn't gotten around to help me with it. I will let you guys know how it turns out when I/he gets around to it.

Zen Albatross
Offline
Brooklyn, NY
Moriokun wrote:

I still haven't done this yet. My soldering guy (aka My Dad) hasn't gotten around to help me with it. I will let you guys know how it turns out when I/he gets around to it.

Why not DIY? wink Tried this myself and it works just fine. The only thing you might wanna watch out for is keeping your soldering hand steady near that ribbon cable.

Moriokun
Offline
Milwaukee Area, WI
Zen Albatross wrote:

Why not DIY? wink Tried this myself and it works just fine. The only thing you might wanna watch out for is keeping your soldering hand steady near that ribbon cable.

I bought one of those little DIY kits from Radio Shack to practice soldering. I'd rather burn a hole in a $15 kit than a hard to find DMG.