Red led HP OMen 880-162ND

[Erdekker]

Dear , I have bought a PC in march 2018 , the Omen 880-162nd it came with Tampa2 mainboard. I would like to change the colour of the LED in front of the PC. Its red now , I want to change it into white for example. I do not think this can be changed via software, since the option is not available in the toolkit the PC came with, but it would be great if I am wrong. If not possible, I even prefer to change the LED myself, but I a not able to find how the red light is connected today and what volt/Ampere it should be replaced with or where I can buy different fitting LED. The motherboard shows Light1 and light2 connector, but weird enough both sockets are empty, so that's not how the red light is powered , nor do I understand what the light connectors on the motherboard are for, ..that's another question, but it would be interesting to know too (-: thx Brgds, Erwin Dekker

[Prométhée]

Hello
for the location you obviously have other connectors, we can see it here

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/omen-by-hp-880-100-desktop-pc-series/18695893/model/19390447/do...

Light 1/2

and

v light 1/2

a user talks about it here!

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Disconnecting-HP-OMEN-880-LED-l...
Now as far as replacing them is likely to be complicated, we can't find a reference here I think
but if you go to a specialist, may be able to indicate what you need
I suppose that it will be necessary to recover the connectors of origin, I doubt that it is possible to find leds of other colors with the same connectors!

[RrichardD]

Dear Erwin,

 It is good you have such interest and desire - plus you have read/looked at things thoroughly - before trying to do it. Those are the foundations of learning ... which sadly most people either do not have, or forget.

 Having said that, you are not good enough (experience/education in this area) to do what you are trying to do - because the risk of (critical) 'collateral' damage to the led/associated and near parts is far too high - unless you are expert/have much practice doing this.

 Advice Parameter? I have fifty years immediate/direct/physical experience designing and building electronic equipment, controllers, other high-end units/components. Your computer is running architecture I designed (Intel/IBM), clocked and sub-processed by chips (TI) I programmed (as Eproms - three decades ago), as well as sub modules (programming), in various languages - open source in recent decades/mostly python. It would take me fifteen minutes - including five minutes to assemble/disassemble you computer (get to area in question), five to do the job to a standard I accept (usually perfect), ... and most importantly - five minutes attaching specialist tools/equipment to protect the surrounding, and electrically linked, components to save damaging them.

 The actual physical activity is a dead snap/little effort and importance. The difficulty and priority is the potential to cause damage to other components - via heat, static discharge and iso-static discharge ... plus being clumsy/heavy handed if doing things the first time.

Really still want to do it: OK - your decision (not recommended) ...

 Go to an electronics component store and purchase a single _Standard_ colour/temperature 'white' LED (light emitting diode). Also purchase one length of 3mm (1/16th) and one length of 6>8 mm (3/8th) shrink sleeve/sleeving - black or whatever colour suits your fancy. Also an electronics grade: temp control soldering iron, wire stripper, 1>1.25mm electronic solder (min Silver content = 25% ... 33%>50% = best), electronics ethol alcohol (component cleaning). From a chemist/drug store/general shop (cosmetics department), buy one packet of cotton buds - and (optional) a fine emery board (for finger nails - wood/fibre - NOT METAL); plus one pair of disposable latex gloves (rubber can suffice, but dexterity becomes problematic). NOT COTTON/other.

 DO NOT touch the LED wire leads (legs) with bare fingers. You need less than 100mm of shrink sleeve, however it only comes in single lengths (minimum), packet assortments (more than you need), or bulk (commercial/industrial).

 You need a small pair of scissors (cut the new shrink sleeves). A small pair of of bullet nose electronic wire cutters. A small pair of fine nose or long nose electronic pliers ...

 ... as bare minimum requirements for this job, and a non-magnetic insulated '0' size, phillips head screw driver.

 Remove the front panel of your computer and detach it from the housing, including disconnecting all cable connectors (wiring connector blocks). Take the front panel to your work bench.

 Disassemble (detach) the front cover mini circuit board immediately behind the power-on button - which should allow you to get access to the power-on LED. Should be connected by a light duty twin wire cable/strand - nominally 75>100mm (3-4") in length. Immediately behind the LED the wire will split to two leads, then whatever parent colour, have a black double thickness insulation outer/layer. This is the 'shrink sleeve' (should be there - function is to prevent short circuits of the immediate LED terminals (legs).

 Cut the connection/wire 12~15mm (1/4") back from the base/back of the old/red LED ... then put it to one side. using electronic wire-strippers, strip 3~4mm of insulation/residual heat-shrink from the connection wire you cut from the LED - after splitting that wire (two individual wire strands).

 Turn-on the soldering iron and let it heat-up.

 Cut a length of 6>8mm shrink sleeve - depending on how much lead wire you have behind the split section and including the spit twin wires ... as a rule I would say 40~50mm (split wire length + 10mm minus 2mm), however I work in tight space a lot/do this sort of thing a lot. You probably need 25mm (1 inch) more room - meaning the shrink sleeve outer cover need be 60~80mm (outer means the 6>8mm size).

 Now cut two  by 25>30mm lengths of the 3mm shrink sleeve. Once done place those next to the 6>8mm piece.

 Put on the gloves.

 Get the soldering iron and electronic solder. Of the latter (roll), extend out 150mm to 250mm of the line - so you can move-point the end something like a garden hose.

 Use the long nose pliers to hold the first wire of the split wire, immediately behind (insulated wire-side) of where the line has been stripped/bared (3>4mm). Use the soldering iron to melt/collect 3mm~5mm of the coil solder (NO MORE), allow it to build heat for twenty/thirty seconds, then gently apply it to the bared wire in front of were it is being held by the long nose pliers, in a single steady motion - not stopping/holding as this will cause the factory wire insulation to melt. This should put just enough silver-solder on the wire strands to bind them. Lumps/drops mean too much. If instruction followed exactly - will not happen.  This process is called 'tinning' or the bare wire is "tinned" - ready for direct solder joining.

NOTE: Two seconds is too long (soldering iron on wire). You need do it in one to one point five seconds (single fast fluid action - moving from where you are holding the wire with the pliers - towards the cut end/bare end.

Repeat process on the other strand (side of the split twin wire). Once done turn-off the soldering iron and wait two/three minutes for the soldered wire ends to cool.

 Once cool (wire ends), hold together with one hand then push on and back down the un-split twin wire length - your cut piece of 6~8mm shrink sleeve; then do the same on each single length (split wire line) with the 3mm shrink sleeve; pushing the rear ends into (inside) the 6~8mm ... enough to give yourself 3mm of space (factory insulated wire), to hold the wire when joining it to the lead/leg of the LED - while keeping the shrink sleeve safe/away from the heat of the soldering iron (must be avoided).

 Turn on the soldering iron.

 With the gloves on, remove the LED from its plastic packet - where you left it so your bare fingers* could not touch the bare metal (silver) leads/legs ...

[*: The ethol alcohol and cotton buds/emery board are there partially for people who do not listen. If these have been touched/contaminated - gloves on: gently rub 5mm>100 of the leg with the emery board, then the other leg. Put a small drop of ethol alcohol on a cotton bud, then use it to clean-off the same area and leave it to dry (5 minutes).]

 Using the long nose pliers, while hloding the head (bulb) of the LED with your free _gloved_ hand, come done from the base of the LED leg = 2mm, then a further length/distance equal to the size/length of the bared twin-wire led, you have prepared for soldering (additional 3~4 mm = 6~7 mm total), then at that point do a ninety degree bend in the LED leg; repeating on the opposite LED leg, and ensuring - both legs (bent leg) are pointing away from each other.

 Get some toilet paper, or several tissue papers, or two (fold into one square) paper towel - putting it on your work-surface and then place the led and split twin lead wires in situ/set-up for the final soldering join.

 If you need move the LED position, use the bent-up (excess) leg. The main non-soldering positioning control is the long nose pliers, that are holding the factory insulated wire - with the shrink sleeve pushed back/clear - on/at the insulation, behind the prepared soldering (tinned) wire. Those pliers are not simply helping by holding/positioning the wire. They are acting as a physical heat shield, for both the shrink sleeve and (more important) components down line/down side from where you are working.

<<Think about all the fans and cooling measures in computers and electronics, designed to keep them within strict operating temperatures ... Soldering irons heat the lines/areas to 2X~4X the heat stress maximum ... so you must make sure that heat/degree of heat, does not transmit backwards (down the line to other components), nor forward (enough to damage the LED).  ... This is why we are doing things this way, and why the regime/times are so strict. There is no error margin. Reason why this sort of thing is now done by robots/machines - in mass production/last three decades.>>

 Have a walk around/coffee or break, loosen-up then go back to the work area/set-up job.

 Soldering rule = 1mm more of coil solder length, than the line/length you are soldering ... to start.

 With your set-up job ready, pick-up (melt) the length of solder-line you need, wait 30 seconds for it to heat-up, then apply it in one precise stroke - starting at the pliers and stopping 2mm short of the base of the LED bulb/body, then get the soldering iron away/back into its holder ... to let everything cool. It does not matter (and do not expect - first try/time) if the entire length is not solder welded/bonded. 0.5 to 1 mm is sufficient. Leave it to cool (LED mainly) for five minutes.

 Repeat the same process for the second/other LED leg; however minus one mm of solder line (you will have excess/residual on the soldering iron tip). We prefer to avoid blobs/drops (more work - before finishing). Do not try/retry if you have a blob/drop, because we want to avoid heat/more heat. Leave it for the joint clean-up stage (next).

 Turn off the soldering iron, and re-wrap the solder wire on the roll (wearing gloves), then put it in a plastic bag (to avoid/minimize surface oxidization - happens anyway, but this reduces it).

 Once done, go to the kitchen sink and grab the dish washing sponge. Wring it out if wet. If dry - dampen it a little and take it to your (power off/cooling down)soldering Iron. Now (fast/smooth strokes), drag the point backward and rotating so any residual solder/flux is deposited on the damp sponge (if it starts to melt - you are pressing too hard) - leaving the soldering tip clean/bare/silver ... ready for the next job. Do not leave it dirty and your next job will be contaminated as soon as you try soldering it (lead and zinc oxides will have formed on the residual solder compound).

 Once done, put the soldering iron aside, but turned on at lowest heat setting (if variable type = should be/recommended).

If the sponge it not too dirty, leave it on the sink and we will come back to it. Otherwise (dirty/melted) leave it at your work bench and start dreaming up excuses (blame the Cat, Aliens, etc.).

 Right  - assuming we have two soldered joints, minimum 0.5~1.0mm, without blobs/drops ... gloves on, get the bullt nose cutters and snip off both excess/redundant LED legs- as close to the soldered joints as possible - without stressing/damaging the joints. If you have excess leg after the cut, use the emery board (rough side) as a file to file those flat/flush - so the 3mm shrink sleeve can slide up and over the joint, to the base of the LED (or 1 mm short = OK). Do the same on both legs, then - with the 6>8mm well back/clear - move the soldering iron body (heating element behind the tip) carefully and slowly along the shrink lines (NOT THE 6>8 mm) and they will begin to shrink/contract. Repeat until you judge they are tight on the wires and joint - but do not directly touch the Shrink sleeve with the Soldering Iron body ... just let the heat do the job (no touching = no melting).

DO NOT USE NAKED FLAME/LIGHTERS/CANDLES to shrink shrink-sleeve. Naked flame will cause carbonized (conductive lines) on the other side of the sleeve, leading to problems (shorting/fusing potential and worse).

 Once done, let it cool completely (job), then move the 6>8mm segment over the two joint segments - stopping two or three mm short of the LED base. Repeat the process (carefully, slowly) to get it to shrink in-situ and provide a professional, neat finish ... then turn-off the soldering iron (and put away once cooled).

 Let the job cool down. Use sponge to wipe off any area of the job surface necessary. Go to rubbish bin/bag and flick or pry-off and solder on the sponge. Take to sink and apply detergent/washing liquid to clean it up. Wring out and go back to job.

 Reassemble in opposite order to disassemble.

 ** Solder blobs/drops - you should not have any if instructions followed precisely. If you do - they will be small. Holding the job/joint with the long nosed pliers (to avoid stressing/straining/breaking the joint) carefully use the rough emery board (side) to file off enough that allows the inner shrink sleeve (3mm) to slide over/forward ... then follow rest of the procedure outlined above.

*** old red LED - put it on the packet the new/white LED came -in. Having done this once. you may decide to do it again, or fix an appliance with a blown/failed LED (it is a functioning 'spare').

**** Rating/voltage - of LED. The circuitry controlling that is on the downside of the twin wire lead you were working on - and part of what we were protecting (heat/static shielding). Thus a standard power LED of the same (physical) size will work in 99% of applications. Power and resistance controls are already there (down side of circuitry).

***** Other Light Risers (main board). Have nothing to do with this - those are motherboard asserts/expansions, the purpose of which will be indicated on the circuit diagram for your motherboard. Most likely there for other configurations or products, because HP/Intel boards - of the same type - are used in many different units/systems, thus have assets to facilitate different systems (for example - single or dual processors = the dual system resources are not needed for single system units).

 Easier option = five minutes, no disassembly. Red LEDs are infra-red, thus - in theory - if you mug your neighbour and steal his Christmas tree lights (bezel type); you can remove the red housing of one and glue it over your led. Result should be a white/pink-white effect ... and possibly angry neighbour  (blame the Cat or Aliens).

Cheers,

Rick.

[Ten1nison]

The HP OMEN Control app allows you to customize the LED lights on HP OMEN computers

[Prométhée]

no !

not possible with this computer

but if there is a new version, which you have tested, with the same computer, permitting this change, please say more, it interests me!

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/omen-by-hp-880-100-desktop-pc-series/18695893/document/c0538749...