HDD LED MODS!

[jebusv20]

i want to set up a series of lights in my case to flicker with the HDD light
in responce to a number of forum threads complaining about the HDD Light saying it is useless

i want to set my entire case lighting (bar fans) to go with the HDD
obviously it cant be run all of the HDD light. But it can be run off
a single 12V line (just)

what would be the best way to get the HDD to activate/diactive this line
quickly.

a relay is not a good option, cus the sound would be bloody annoying
and probably not fast enough.

anybody know if i could use a transistor for it?

 

[ir_efrem]

You are asking for a simple on/off switching circuit? Does it need to be variable timed (adjustable)?

Or do you want to run a bunch of LEDs inside your case that work off the HDD LED from the motherboard?

 

[Onus]

You can use an opto-isolator. Essentially it is a solid-state relay of sorts; an IR LED coupled to a photo-transistor in a chip. I believe you should be able to find one that can handle the current requirements of a few LEDs.

 

[Onus]

Hmmm, on a quick search I found one that claimed to handle "large loads," but that turned out to be only 50mA. You would have to use it between the base and collector of a power transistor, but then you should be able to switch an amp or two.

 

[jakenbake]

This may be a bit late but this may be of interest to those of you trying to do this mod while running more than a couple hundred mA. This opto isolator is rated for 60V ac/dc and a contact rating of 2.5A. Been trying to find an actual 'large load' isolator and finally came across this little guy. Hope that helps!

::EDIT:: Heh, kinda forgot to post the link. My bad

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=255-1791-5-ND

 

[Onus]

Link?