I recently modded a few controllers and when all was said and done the 3 controllers would light up bright with the newly installed 0603 colored LEDs for about 15 minutes, then get substantially dimmer. They seem to only shine bright when the battery packs are completely charged. I've tried a half dozen different battery packs so thats not the issue. I was thinking it must be my solder job- dirty connections or something along those lines BUT I just modded a controller of mine today with success. I noticed the dimming controllers where all the newest revisions of controllers (shiny guide button, all black case, new internal pcb)


So here's the Q- is there something that was changed with the newest revision of controller PCB's?

Please help XS!

to tell u the truth this has been an issue ever since the cg 1 controller. not enough voltage to light up the leds. i know there have been revisions to the matrix and the cg, but not sure if the voltages to the leds have remained the same... for a much more technical explanation u would need RDC.

It differs on the forward voltage of the LEDs, this is usually quite colour dependent but also it varies batch to batch on the LEDs. Some of us get stock in specially to be at the lower end of the voltage range, other sellers just buy the cheapest which tend to be higher voltage. That said I've yet to find decent UV or Pink LEDs (low voltage ones). The voltage to the LEDs has decreased slightly since the matrix but the main difference is the proliferation of cheap 0603 LEDs onto the xbox market.

So if I'm understanding you correctly, it could be the LED's that are being installed that are to blame...? If the new PCB's are outputting slightly less voltage then that would make sense. The one's I'm using specifically are here:
Unique LED's - BLUE SMD 0603

According to the specs its forward voltage is 2.9v (typical) and 3.5v (max). I don't have a controller apart to test with a voltmeter but I'm assuming the newer boards are under 2.9v.

phenoptix, can you recommend an online store to buy low forward voltage LED's?

----Also just noticed I installed orange LED's into my controller the other day which have a lower forward voltage than the blue LED's I was working with.

Blue/White on controller board that arent the matrix, will usually dim. And phenoptix has a website, i never bought from it, but im sure hes a great seller. Just check his sig.
http://www.phenoptix.com/

The newest version boards are the Matrix 2, so you wouldn't have any issues with Blue/White LEDs. You're most likely working with CG2 versions, and the CG and CG2 use a different setup to drive the LEDs versus the Matrix which uses PWM, so the CG/2 dim like that with the battery voltage where the Matrix do not.

You can try other LEDs or just let people know that's how they work, anyone that's more interested in looking at their controller isn't using the thing the right way anyhow.

Like I said, RDC is the man..

You lost me RDC though on the "anyone that's more interested in looking at their controller isn't using the thing the right way anyhow."

Green, Blue, flashing every color in the rainbow, whatever the LED color is, it's not going to help anyone use the thing at all, so LEDs that dim slightly with battery voltage isn't what I consider any kind of real issue at all.

well, u know Mr. RDC. some of us on here cant Ggnome our trollers out. so we feel a sense of accomplishment when we get a led swap done. Lmfao. plus, i love the way those blue leds look at full power...

Neither could I, least not alone anyway, that technically came to be from discussion on these very forums about how something wasn't quite as good as it could be, so we decided to just make the thing.

To each his own, and that's part of the reason the forums here are what they are. It's just that cosmetic changes alone aren't really my bag, but I do get how it makes all the difference for others, and you did ask. My personal CGnome is Black with Pink Triggers/Bumpers/Start/Back/Sync buttons, so every now and then a color change does strike me.

I know dood. all the knowledge and help i give out are from reading ur informative posts.

Pretty in Pink huh.. is that like the old Hart Foundation of wrestling color way?

I work for a company that offers this kind of thing as a service, so no / dim LED = no sale. Plus if this were my own controller, I'd want it to look as it should because I take pride in my work, as I know you do.

By the way RDC, I love your controller mods. Your level of detail and craftsmanship working with PCB boards is very impressive! Its inspiring to check out your work logs to see what kind of stuff can be done with stock hardware like the 360 controllers. Thanks for your help in the matter and good luck on your future projects. May the paint always come out right for you my friend!


I have been searching for 0603 LED's with a low enough forward voltage to work with new controller PCBs but as of yet I've had no luck in finding such lights. Every light I look at has a minimum required voltage of ~3.0 for the colors I'm after. I have to imagine there's people out there modding controllers and wanting different colors than just red and orange, yet this issue is surprisingly hard to research. If anyone has any leads on proper low-voltage LEDs I'd bare your children.

Help a modder out X-S!

For me to properly answer the question what soldering iron wattage did you use?
Did you flood the LED's off or remove them using heat from the soldering iron?

This happened to me the first time i did it. I flooded the LED's with a 40Watt soldering iron and i touched the PCB a little and it messed up the board causing a dim in the lights. I went to see a friend who did this and said to use a 15Watt soldering iron. Ever since then i have had no trouble. i don't understand why it is only doing it on the modern boards though. Maybe you should try a different technique on the newer version. I mean if you flood then heat the LED's or if you heat them try flooding instead. It might be the various connectors are in a different place but i really don't know. might want to contact someone who does this type of modding. Try searching on youtube for xbox led mod and see if any one can help there.

Good luck and hope you resolve this issue

Happy Modding

XBOXMODDRINNEED

Ryan

PS: Post some pics of your mods i am interested in seeing them.
Thanks

they dim on these controllers because they get less power!
however if you use high power lithium bats (instead of packs)
like i do the dimming effect is usefull since the higher power duracells i use seem to last ages and flatten very quickly after a while it became good indicator
and i also have to say phenoptix sells the right ones even if you live in the states the packet is only like letter size (cheap posting costs) i bought some bright blue 603s for my rol and they were exacltly as advertised bright blue low power! thanks man

Yh i just found this out as well. I found out that using Duracell batteries gives the better glowing brightness. If you would like to save some cash on batteries get JCB batteries from Halfords or something. Trust me they do look bright when first used but after about 4 hour use thy dim. I wonder if the batteries would last longer with the energy efficient LED's. Found them on EBAY. Sadly they ship from japan. Oh well got them on order any way. I will try and post some pics when i finish the mod.

Great answer by the way

I use Phenoptix 0603 leds too.
Iv'e Never had a single problem with them.
Try them out : http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/phenoptix/m.html...p;_trksid=p3686

Hope these work for you!

Cheers for the feedback on the LEDs guys. We've kept the same supplier for these LEDs for some years as they work best on the CG2. I should solder up an example of how they compare to the cheaper alternatives - which are quite fine to use on RF boards by the way. We will soon also be stocking the cheaper LEDs too as there is a thriving market for them, but we will note that only our original LEDs work well on CG2.

Thank you very much everyone for all the helpful info. Its highly appreciated. :-) For the longest time I thought it was my technique, and became discouraged after doing 4 controllers with the same results. I started doing these mods by following a guide that referenced the supplier Unique-LEDs specifically so I thought it would be a safe bet to think that these LEDs would work with my controllers. I was WRONG! Or perhaps this guide was written when controllers put out more voltage. I don't know.

Phenoptix, you will be hearing from me about bulk orders of LEDs. If your prices are fair I'm sure I can get a few orders out to you.
But we'll save it for PMs ;-)

Thanks again scene members!