How to wire switch operated LED's

[JordanMac]

Tools-

Wire snips

Soldering iron with solder

Electrical tape

Wire stripper (optional, I just use the wire snips)

What you need-

Switch- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280679561872?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

LED strip- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190635872596?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Molex Extenders x2 (needs to be at least 100mm long but doesn’t need to be much longer)- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260969916584?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Bear in mind that these are UK sellers so you may want to find the same items from a seller in your own country, links just so you know what to buy.

Basic Circuit Diagram:

Instructions:

1) Take 1 of the 2 Molex extenders and cut it in half. Then trim the red and 1 of the black wires down to as short as possible on both halves.

2) Strip about 10mm of the plastic coating off the ends of the wires on the Molex plugs and the led strip.

3) Test the led strip on a 9v battery, on the 9v battery there is a negative terminal and a positive terminal this is usually labelled on the battery itself. The led strip will only work 1 way on the battery, with the led strip lit up make note of which wire is touching the positive terminal. (you may want to mark the wire to make sure you don’t forget)

4) Take the male Molex plug from the previous steps and twist the yellow wire with the marked wire in step 3 and the black with the other wire from the led strip. Solder the wires together and rap in electrical tape.

5) Plug molex into any spare molex on pc and power up system to test the leds are working. If the leds don’t light up you may have soldered the wires the wrong way round.

6) Mount the led strip around the window making sure to keep the Molex plug on the near the back and the bottom of the case.

Put the side panel with led’s to one side. We’re now going to sort out the switch then connect the 2 together at the end.

7) Take the 2nd Molex extender, cut the yellow and black wires to around 50mm then the red and other wire down to as short as possible. (just like before) and strip about 10mm of the plastic coating off both the yellow and black wires.

8) Rap the stripped part of the black wire around 1 terminal of the switch. Solder and electrical tape this joint.

9) Take the female molex plug left over from step 1 and rap, solder and electrical tape the black wire to the switch and yellow wire to yellow wire.

10) Remove a pci slot cover

11) Mount switch into the centre of the pci slot using the washer and bolts provided with the switch

12) Plug molex power into the female molex attached to the switch

13) Plug the molex attached to leds into male molex attached to switch

14) Power on system, turn on switch and enjoy

Feel free to ask questions below I will try to answer all of them.

See a mistake or got any improvements for me? Post below, thanks.

[ElegantMess]

Here is how I did my LED lighting, although mine are Sound Activated LED's triggered by an actual audio input instead of your normal mic, this way the unit can be internal without the worry of ambient noise setting off the lights. I love how this came out, looks sweet !

[Nugget]

Great guide! I recently did the same for my rig!

[JordanMac]

Just updated the post with pictures. Please post any improvements.

[Ghost]

Just updated the post with pictures. Please post any improvements.

As an improvement on the process I would use a 3 pin fan header as they are smaller. Also you could have removed the molex pins you weren't using.

(Constructive criticism)

[JordanMac]

Just updated the post with pictures. Please post any improvements.

yeah i had the molex extenders lying around so i decided to use them :)