Razer Blueprints

hi

my lycosa arrived today.
in my opinion the backgroundlight is to dark so i opend the keyboard and search a solution.

first the complete backgroundlight are some smd-leds at the bottom of the board
they are in a transparent plastic panel to diffuse the blue light.
behind every key are "diffusing points" to let the light out on its right place :D
thats the reason why the backgroundlight is darker than the WASD cluster. in this cluster behind every key is a smd led (why not every key equiped with a led and the user can choose which keys will glow :D that would be cool).
so here are a picture of the resistors for the complete backgroundlight.

(http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/317/1011021pw5.th.jpg) (http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1011021pw5.jpg)
i bypassed this two resistors (R10 R7) to get more voltage (orginal: 3.7V...tuned: 4.7V)
3.7V is optimal for leds without a limiting resistor but i saw that every led has a resistor too :)
so i bypassed this two 100ohm resistors (R10) and it works great :D
much better to read the glowing keys with that tuning.

for this mod you will need:

a soldering station whith a small peak
a sharp tweezer to focus the wire
an isolated wire
some soldering tin

then you only have to bridge each resistor itself with the wire..nothing more

if you have any questions pls ask before killing your lightning or board :D

Nice mod!  :)

Just wondering, is that possible in the future to 'power up' the lights with a firmware update? I truly hope so...

Nice job. How much brighter is it?


I was just wondering about that today too.

no i don´t think there will be a firmware option to power up the lights..there you have to change the voltage or the resistors with software.
its possible but not with that keyboard.


brighter..hm... so 30%-40%
it is possible to read all keys from sitting position without beeing direct over the keyboard :D
my viewing-angle is 45% on my keys

I think my keyboard needs to be about 200% brighter. I can hardly read the tab, caps lock, shift and cntrl keys on the left side at night!

30%-40% would be good though. Might have to try your light-tuning.

perhaps one led is broken or something on the left bottom side.
could be the only reason that this part is darker

on my keyboard only j k l m and the keys around there are a bit darker but good readable

Thanks for the info, poci. :)
Is it possible to change the position of the single WASD-LED's to the key-combination ESDF (which means all LED's have to move one key-cap to the right)? Or is there no free space under the ESDF-keys to fulfill this change?

i don´t know the position of the WASD leds.
there is a white "reflection" foil over the whole plastic-panel. the complete panel is mounted with some screws and i didn´t want to disassemble the complete keyboard :D

perhaps i would do this in the future :D but at the moment i have no need to do that :D

but i think it is possible to change the position of the leds with some very thin coated wire and soldering knowhow ! perhaps you will need some new smd leds if the old one are going to crack

in deutsch wärs einfacher gewesen zu erklären :D
so gut bin ich nich in englisch :P

Many thanks for your response! Hm, that is another argument to buy a Lycosa and try it out myself...

Hehe, das stimmt :) Allerdings hast Du mit Deiner Antwort evt. auch etwas Gutes für den ein oder anderen globalisierten RPB-Leser auf den Schirm gezaubert :D

Hmm, could you take a picture of the modded keyboard? Considering moding mine as well...

don't know if you see a difference.
one picture from above and one 20cm lower than sitting position (there you could read the keys too)
you also see the darker place in middle of the keyboard but i don't know why there is that

(http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/3856/1002587mq7.th.jpg) (http://img107.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1002587mq7.jpg)
(http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/8776/1002586nd2.th.jpg) (http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1002586nd2.jpg)

after set correct position aof the leds again:
(http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/7805/1002614cp3.th.jpg) (http://img90.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1002614cp3.jpg)

Middle of keyboard on mine is ok, but that's how the cluster of keys on the left side of my board look.

i found a solution :D

the leds are soldered on a small panel which is pasted on the plasticpanel to defuse the light!
in my chase the panel with the leds loosed its position and so the leds weren´t in the right position!
i put it back to its posi and all looks fine again :D

that was the reason why the middle of the keyboard was darker (leds not in position):
(http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8095/1002607gl8.th.jpg) (http://img242.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1002607gl8.jpg)

so it has to be:
(http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/5540/1002606jz2.th.jpg) (http://img341.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1002606jz2.jpg)

thats the led panel:
(http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/5964/1002610em5.th.jpg) (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1002610em5.jpg)

and so it looks now (resistor-tuning and origianl sitting position)
(http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/7805/1002614cp3.th.jpg) (http://img90.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1002614cp3.jpg)

@dc_aus
i think that´s the same problem with your keyboard! it is easy to fix :)

You are correct, poci! I've now fixed mine! One side of the led panel was ok, the other side was way out of position.

Thanks mate, much appreciated.  :)

no problem :D

@Poci: Could you check how much power (ampere) your Lycosa now draws from the USB port (Device manager, USB Root Hub Properties) ? Had a word with Razer R&D and they said that the LEDs should be fine but they said it might cross the specs for the USB port. It also might overload the controller itself which also draws power from this circuit. So according to Razer the keyboard/the controller might die sooner or later...

Right now my Lycosa draws 100mA. Will mod my review sample as soon as I've done the review ;)

also needs 100mA

i don´t think that the controller could die.
the power and voltage for the leds is limited by the 2 resistors.
and every led has hat resistor to which lowers the power for the leds again.
if something could die then the leds :D they will get more power
but all looks fine :)

when i opened my board again, i will try to messure the power with a amperemeter

and:
my webcam needs 500mA oO and my usbstick 300mA :D and my deathadder 100mA

maximum for each port are 500mA ;)

here a picture with a very very low viewing angel :D

(http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7559/1002615tk3.th.jpg) (http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1002615tk3.jpg)

I'm a bit afraid of loosing warranty by opening it...

no risk no fun :DDDD

Well, thats for sure...^^

ATTENTION:

you have to bridge evry resistor itself!
there is one resistor for the "+" and one for the "-" channel

pls ask me if you have any questions and before killing your keyboardlightning or so :P

it is easy to do but you have to know how to solder...

hey guys great job!

please tell me exactly which resistors i must mod, ie picture and all so i dont get it wrong. only the R10 are necesary to solder? or are there others?

only the two resistors right next to the white connector are to modify.
each resistor is connected to a pin of the white connector

when i have time i will take a better picture.

my cam suxx in macro-mode at the moment :D

would it be possible to buy and extra led bar from razer and stick it on the keyboard using the white connector to gain extra light?

there is no space to place an extra bar.
and when you connect another led bar parallel you will need the double power (ampere)!

OK
your all going about this the wrong way
the idea is we dont have enough light where infact theres plenty its just not getting to the keys
ive taken a few pictures what ive done
but the idea is to basicly scratch the surface of the perspex
to emit the light to the keys.
the keys on mine  are not done propper as yet you will see what i mean on the pictures
but i will get around to it
i hope this help
just one thing it works and is the way around this problem
you can see for yourself just how bright the keys are  :bounce: :D
on my dull keys i will scratch the other side of the perspex.
i dont want to go to deep it might crack
i will let you know how it goes soon as ive done it

What are you using to scratch?

just a pare of scissors
there have a angle on 1 side so it cuts well
allso i found its best to angle the scratch  facing the light
3  to 4 deep cuts each is enough i found
if you do to many it will just go wrong
so take your time spend a few hours on it
u can visualy see what needs doing the deeper you go the brighter it is
but the deeper you go means further away has less light
its a balancing act realy i will never get mine perfect now but its a lot better than before
so like i said before dont over scratch and take your time

hmm...perhaps will try this soon too :D

btw here is a better picture of the two resistors

(http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/317/1011021pw5.th.jpg) (http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1011021pw5.jpg)

i also updated the picture on the first page

i tried that with scratchiing..hm i prefer the resistor modification :D

Or just do both and you have more brightness than you can handle. o_O

hm but i don´t get a consistent illumination with the scratching thing :D

well i had to strip mine down several times before i got it right
just check the keys remember which isnt bright enough then go a little deeper
it will take to get it right
ive mannaged to fix the dull keys around the enter key now
i will take a new picture of my results
oh yeah i allso removed the little resistors and increased the voltage
just hope they dont burn out :/

bottom left alt needs doing and the number 1 and to the left of it allso
notice no dullness around ghjklyuiopvbnm,.

nice job

hm if i bored i would try it again :D

Instead of scratching it the way I've seen it done here ....   What about approaching it like an etching with a dremel and wire wheel or other etching attachment, etching fluid, or just with some coarse sandpaper.  You only need to achieve opaque right?

My thoughts on this are based upon me testing a theory once with a  Logitech PSP hard case.   I scratched it up on some concrete with the challenge of buffing it out to new again.

I failed, but even with the polishing wheel which actually rotated so fast it melted the perspex a little and the area I worked on became smooth but opaque.  opaque would be a good result and is in some fashion what your scrathing is doing.

I've also seen this done at macy's too...  Where people would have custom Christmas ornaments from crystal etched with quite intricate designs and then their design alone lights up when a tree light was placed in the top receptacle.   This is the same thing basically.   These guys could create a snow landscape and where a slope of snowy land was is was just a relief cut area that was opaqued and it was very bright when done.

Judging by how this type of lighting works and can be directed with light pipes and panels and whatnot. etching even with a fluid seems reasonable.

Why etch with scissors?   I hate my lycosa simply because it's just too small and I've been used to a split form ergo keyboard for years now but I would think twice about using it if I could actually see it.  So maybe I'll attempt this approach and keep you posted.

hm vote for /sticky :D

Hello Nice mod. I did it too, but im wondering that with 4.7v now how long the led's will last ?

Are you making a bridge over the Resistor, that it is almost, as there wouldn´t be a resistor at all?
Umgehst Du den Widerstand? It looks like a thick copper wire. But not isolated.

yes..bridging the resistors...there are only 10ohm resistors. enough to limit the power for the leds
it is a coated wire but you can use any wire you have

lackdraht :D wenn er erhitzt wird mitn lötkolbn schmilzt der lack und an der stelle kann man dann löten!

Hmm...tried the resistor bridging but still not as bright as i'd like it to be ><  Actually I though tthat it was a 'safety' feature by Razer - i have been tempering with mice LEDs for a while recently and if you position your LEDs wrongly or too bright, it is extremely glaring to the eye due to the nature of LED lighting.  Albeit the apparent discontentment with dimness, it seems that it was a move to  omit ure keys from competing with your display from waging a light intensity war - well think Sony Ericsson phones with non-adjustably bright (and uneven!?) backlighting. 

I think Razer still managed to pull of a good job on this one as the lighting does not quite 'seep out' in between keys like the Saitek Eclipse nor Reclusa which i feel is negligence/sloppiness on the manufacturer's part.  I have a hunch that Razer anticipated this problem and collaborated with Everglide on the DKTboard to learn from that experience which also exhibits the 'seepage'.

Despite the keyboard being similar in trim level to Powerbook/Macbook Pro notebook keys, they managed to deal with the problem of Razor (non-intended pun here) sharp edges that hook on to your knitted sweater and stuff like that; plus the keys are elevated slightly to allow for improved ergonomics.

heh, so, errr I tried poci's mod (bypassing R7 and R10).

I too was extremely disappointed with the level of brightness of the keys. Unfortunately now they all seem to be out...... on a permenant basis :D

The keyboard itself works fine, the lighting bar works fine if connected to a battery, but doesn't work plugged into the board with the resistors on. The touchpanel works, I can cycle between all off, the wasd cluster on (works) and all off again.

At some point during the mod I skillfully managed to burn the top off Q1. I *think* I did this after it wasn't working when I was having a play, but who knows?  ;)

Obviously all done completely at my own risk.

2 questions:

1) What's the likelyhood of razer selling me a replacement board? (the module, not a whole new keyboard, which I'm sure they'd be happy to sell)
2) Can I wire the led bar into something else to draw power? Can I take it directly from the USB port (with approriate resistor) or am I just asking for trouble?

Thanks

right.....(I knew my elecrtonic engineering degree would come in handy one day)

I guessed that the transistor i massacred could be there to turn the light bar on and off. As I never want to be able to turn the lights off on all the keys I wondered whether i could just bridge this. So, armed with http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheets/105/456654_DS.pdf (a datasheet claiming to be for a transistor called 1AM) I shorted the collector and emitter with a pair of pliiers and to my delight found that whatever mode i was in the light bar was lit. So, I attempted to solder a wire across them, which ended up being a dirty big solder blob between the 2.

And thus it works. Interestingly (as you might expect) I can now have the WASD lights on bright at the same time as the rest of the keys on normal, a mod which I'll lay claim to if you don't mind. That is, before I never ever attempt to solder wires onto surface mount components ever again! A picture is attached if anyone is interested

looks nice :D

I'm gonna buy one now, they look nice.

Thank you very much for the tuning tip Poci, I just did it and it made a very noticable difference!

If anyone get any more inforamtion on a way to change the LED colors, I would like to change mine to match the color scheme of my case lights.

to poci :
hey man i just tuned my lycosa with the resistor thing !
all the keys are bright but the touch panel is kind of dark !!
what should i do to fix it !!
(i don't want to waste 80$  :P)

Poci The image file you posted that shows what you did seems to have disappeared could you repost it?