[Hardware MOD] Adding an External Notification Light to the Optimus V

mmarz

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I originally opened up my phone because I wanted to see if I could replace the LED used to backlight the hard key buttons with a brighter one and maybe change the color. I am using the backlight as a substitute for a notification light, but the keys are very dim. Well, it turned out that the LED for the backlight wasn't dim at all. It was super bright, and there were actually three of them. Because the buttons have their button circuitry directly under them, their backlight LED's are offset and the light that shines through is routed through a maze of rubber and plastic first. I decided that since the LED's were offset, I could just drill a hole directly over one of them and create my own notification light. The mod is very simple, but I'm going to purposely leave out pictures for some of the steps to scare away incompetent people that shouldn't be doing this to their electronic devices. If you can't figure out how to do this without the pictures, you shouldn't try this at all.

This will void your warranty in the most OBVIOUS way. Do not try this unless you are comfortable taking a drill to your phone.


Supplies:
  • Eye glass repair kit or equally tiny phillips head screw driver
  • A drill (drill press is preferred)
  • 1-2 mm drill bit (I used 1.5mm)
  • A strong tape (I used kapton tape for its strength and color)
  • Superglue
  • A small section of foam as a diffuser
  • A razor or scissors

Steps:

1. Turn off the phone (obviously). Remove the micro sd card, the back cover and the battery.

2. You will see seven screws. Six are around the perimeter and one is where the battery would be.

3. Remove them all while taking note that the one in the battery compartment is much shorter than the others. You may need to place the phone on a flat surface and press very hard to get the screws started. They all have thread locking fluid on them. Take care to not strip the screw heads. I love the fact that for once the screws are not the stared security screws. Yay open systems!

4. Once the screws are removed, separate the silver back plate from the front plate and phone circuitry. There are small plastic tabs keeping the two connected. Using a finger nail, work your way around the phone until they all pop out. The back plate should come off with zero effort if all the tabs have been unlatched. All of the plastic side buttons will come off too. Don't lose them.

5. Remove the two screws and cover plate located over the micro usb plug. This might also take some muscle. These screws are different from the rest. Don't mix them up.

6. Carefully pop the PCB up. It should only be held down by two small plastics tabs on either side of the phone. The PCB will still be attached to the screen by a ribbon cable. We don't want to remove the PCB or the screen. We just want to get at the front row of buttons to slide out. With the PCB moved up a bit, you should be able to remove the four buttons that are actually attached to one another.

Here is what it should look like:
5jvhib.jpg


Notice the three LED's marked by arrows?

Here is a top-down view:
ju9sts.jpg


The white ovals represent where the LED's are relative to the buttons. As you can see, the LED's are covered by both the webbing between the keys and the outer case of the phone.

I chose to use the LED on the left as the notification LED. This is because it is located a little bit higher on the phone than the other two. That made the drilling easier as I wasn't afraid of cracking that small plastic bridge. It was also a lot easier to tape up once I was done. It is up to you to decide which you want to use. The backlight for all your keys will still work no matter which one you pick.

7. The blue lines are where I cut the webbing between the keys. I had to even remove part of the menu button. That did not change the way the button worked.

8. Now for the drilling. Here I am about to drill my phone:
30kaw6f.jpg


The boys in the machine shop were fascinated with what I was doing.

"Don't mind me. I'm just using an industrial drill press on my $200 phone."

As you can see, I taped the battery cover back on the phone to protect the PCB while drilling. Place a piece of cardboard on the inside to protect the PCB in case you drill too far down!

Here is the after picture:
11jyhxv.jpg


I had to drill again with a larger bit (1.5mm), because my initial hole was a little too high. You can see the LED through the hole now. You could probably drill even further down on the phone, but the hole I made works fine with the diffuser.

Here I am manually holding the battery in place to see how the LED shines through the button webbing and the hole:
2ednwgl.jpg


As you can see, that single LED is super bright.

9. Finally, cut out a piece of tape that will patch up the hole from the inside of the phone. In the center of the tape place a very small sliver of foam. You are making a super tiny band-aid. I used the kind of foam that is used to wrap around merchandise for shipping to prevent scratches. The foam will act as a diffuser for the light and make a secure seal around the hole. If we just used tape, the sticky side would be pointed toward the outside world and would most likely collect dust.

You want to make the tape as small as possible so that it doesn't interfere with the keys on either side but large enough so that it will secure the foam over the hole you just drilled. It will take a lot of trial and error to get it right. Once you have your band-aid in place, use the tip of a toothpick or needle to apply a very minute amount of superglue around the perimeter of the tape. This will ensure that it stays in place. Give the glue ample time to set before continuing.

10. Put your phone back together using the correct screws in the correct holes. Remove any dust from the silver back plate before screwing it on to ensure that dust doesn't settle on your camera. You don't have to worry about dust getting under your screen cover because we never broke the seal for that. After you are satisfied with how the mod came out, you can add a small amount of superglue from the outside into the hole, and allow it time to set before moving it again. This will completely seal the hole and further strengthen the band-aid.

Here is my final product:
2duk22v.jpg


The green comes from the kapton tape I used. It is actually too bright in my opinion. So I might open it up and apply more layers of kapton tape to make it dimmer.

But there you have it. A notification light in less than 30 mins of work.

Now use the keylights app or the tasker script I'm using here to make the backlight blink when you have missed calls/texts/...etc.

Enjoy!
 
Last edited:

takehull

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You are awesome, mmarz. Customization to the max. If I didn't jump phones so often, I'd be inclined to try this.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk
 

theboundless

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How's this? Seeing if I can post my pic:

snapshot.jpg


Basically I thought you had a great idea mmarz, but I didn't want to drill I hole in my phone, so I removed one of the buttons, sanded it down until the black paint was gone, and put it back in. I wish I had a paint remover, but soft sanding worked well. Thanks for the backlight script too.
 
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LeslieAnn

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A couple suggestions (and how I will most likely be doing mine)...

A Dremel would probably be good for the webbing, just use a small cutoff wheel or grinding stone.
Fitted with a small drill bit you could drill it as well with one (or very fine point grinding stone).

For the hole, fill it with clear silicone from behind, this will leave you with a smooth face and not a dust collection point. It also will not change the inside of the phone or be a pain to put on. Use a permanent marker on the inside to add color and/or darken it.
 
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asadullah

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Thanks you just gave me something to do this weekend. To add on to LeslieAnns idea I'm gonna use some superglue ( I have an abundance of it ) place a small piece of tape on the inside underneath the new hole, put a little bit of super glue not enough to fill the hole. Let it dry and then use a non permanent marker and cover it then put some more superglue in there. The new superglue will mix with the marker and change to that color.
Only problem I see is that I might want to change the color later but who knows
 

mmarz

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Be sparing with the superglue. It tends to un-stick the tape before it dries.

I like LeslieAnn's idea about the silicon. I'm just going to fill mine in from the outside. If I hadn't already completed this mod, after drilling the hole, I would tape the hole from the outside, and then fill it with silicone. The tape will prevent the silicone from getting on the front surface and will also create a surface that is level with the front. Once cured, I'd tape from the inside like the directions suggest to prevent the silicone plug from being pushed in. A warning about using this method though, silicone takes 24 hours to reach it's full strength. Even if it seems to be cured, I would let it sit for the day.

For the webbing, I think you'll have a really hard time using a dremel. The webbing is super soft and thin. I used a pair of sowing scissors, but a razor would work too. You'll realize what I'm talking about when you open it up.
 

JerryScript

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Cool! Time to pull out the dremel again, where did I put it after I modded those china batteries?!?

Like I told you in the other thread, I think I'm going to go with a slit, per your advice above the buttons rather than below.

--------[thin silicon bar-]--------
[menu][home][back][search]

I love the silicon idea LeslieAnn, i was originally going to use clear lego plastic cut out, but silicon will allow me to fashion a shape much easier, I may even create a mold via impression in the tape that would just give a slight relief effect, but should be clearly visible with a bright backlight.

With the incredible brightness of these leds, would it be possible to disable two of them, either software (cool but I doubt it) or manually during the mod, to save on battery life?
 

nin

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Oh man, I am like 90% convinced I am doing this, going to look around the house for some silicone plugs from other items that I can just squeeze into whatever hole I make, I think that will keep it from being too bright and will allow for a smooth surface.

I wonder if it would be possible to even re-route an LED to a different position on the phone, my "dream scenario" would make it to where the earpiece (with the cheese grater) would glow with that bright LED.
 

mmarz

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They are wired together. So you can't disable them individually through software. I actually opened mine up again. I'm going to patch up the hole I made and make a new one on the right side instead. I think I'm going to disable the other LED's too, but I don't recommend anybody to try this. You'll need professional reflow equipment, otherwise you'll completely ruin your phone.

Instead of silicone, I'm going with epoxy resin. You can get 5 min epoxy at any hardware store and it is super strong. I'll post pics when I'm done.
 

LeslieAnn

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I thought about using tape to try and make it flush, but you guys will run into the same thing I realized... You will create an air bubble in there and in the end it won't be flush.

I did come up with a solution to that problem this morning though... Poke a hole in it with a needle. Air can get out and if a small bit of silicone comes out, you can easily remove it by just wiping it. Also, you may want to test and make sure the tape glue doesn't react with the silicone and leave it permanently wet or sticky. You may have to put a small piece upside down so the glue doesn't touch the silicone.


Fiberglass/Epoxy resin would probably be best, but let's face it, it's overkill and inconvenient, especially for such a small amount.


About mixing the superglue and ink... Honestly, bad idea.
Leave it clear. The problem is that you will be stuck with however you mix it. If you only do the inside, you can use something (nail polish remover?), or even sand off the color later if need be. It can be tricky getting the right tint, I wouldn't do anything you can't change easily.




Edit:
Marzz hit on the resin idea while I was typing.
 

LeslieAnn

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I wonder if it would be possible to even re-route an LED to a different position on the phone, my "dream scenario" would make it to where the earpiece (with the cheese grater) would glow with that bright LED.
IF you are REALLLY REALLY good with a soldering iron, and have a really really good iron, you could mess with the leds either adding or removing them, but seriously, you better be a ninja with it.

Adding more could cause too high of current draw and short something, but also, it will drain the battery faster. I considered this for a bit because I wanted to mount it up top, stealth-like behind the Virgin logo but decided moving it at all will be a major hassle and risk.

I think I'm going to disable the other LED's too, but I don't recommend anybody to try this. You'll need professional reflow equipment, otherwise you'll completely ruin your phone.
No reflow needed, jut break the LED, haha. Actually, a marker could dim them to where you won't see the light.
 

mmarz

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Well, I'm all done. I'm going to leave the tape on and let the epoxy completely cure before I take pictures. When I tested the LED's they ran on 0.3V. I have no idea where to get replacement LED's like that. Otherwise, I was going to replace the light with a UV LED. FYI epoxy is naturally florescent.

I did disable the other LED's but I highly recommend leaving them alone. If you want to, black them out like LeslieAnn suggested. Even with my single LED, the surrounding keys light up. I only disabled the others to save battery....because I'm crazy like that. These LED's are super delicate. Even using professional equipment, I doubt that they are still functional now that I removed them.

I got around the trapped air problem LeslieAnn mentioned by using 1 hour epoxy that was clear. After mixing the epoxy, I placed it in a vacuum chamber to remove bubbles left inside of it. I then injected the epoxy into the hole using a hypodermic needle and a syringe. By filling the hole from bottom up, the chance for trapped air was greatly reduced. I then placed the part inside of a vacuum chamber to get at any remaining bubbles. I let the epoxy sit for another 20 mins to get into all the crevices. The 1 hour epoxy is a lot less viscous than the quick setting ones. So it flows into those spaces easily. I then baked it in an autoclave using high pressure (to shrink any remaining micro bubbles) at 100 F for 20 mins.

Possibly a little overkill.... :D

Oh and I filled in my previous hole using the same technique, but I took the plastic shavings from the new hole that I drilled and ground them into a fine powder. I then added them to the epoxy that I used to fill my old hole. In doing so, I it should match the phones color and appearance.

Also overkill....

If you're going to do something, do it right :)
 

easyguy

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when you consider what the LEDs draw compared to the screen, youll just leave those alone.


find a way to shove a small 320x480 SAMOLED screen in there. thatd be awesome. id buy one if it was campatible and fit, somehow.

I miss the screen of my galaxy S

Sometimes ignorance is bliss, this is a step up from my LG Rumor Touch. Maybe this summer when the HTC 3D comes out I might feel different about this display.
 

JerryScript

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I was just at the local hobby shop checking out various things to use for the opening, a few ideas:

Plastic jewels- you could use a string of them, or a single monolith shaped piece
Various silicon glues- there are many colors available, and some are easily removed as well
Crackle- a substance you put over a picture, and it cures to a cracked glass appearance
The locking tab from a CD jewel case- easily cut out, and shaped to fit

I'm thinking of using modeling clay rather than tape for the molding process, just press the phone into a brick of clay and, then do my cuts, put it back in the clay, and fill in with whatever. It should be easier to add a relief design, gotta test to see if silicon/resin/crackle will mix with the clay.
 

LeslieAnn

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I got around the trapped air problem LeslieAnn mentioned by using 1 hour epoxy that was clear. After mixing the epoxy, I placed it in a vacuum chamber to remove bubbles left inside of it. I then injected the epoxy into the hole using a hypodermic needle and a syringe. By filling the hole from bottom up, the chance for trapped air was greatly reduced. I then placed the part inside of a vacuum chamber to get at any remaining bubbles. I let the epoxy sit for another 20 mins to get into all the crevices. The 1 hour epoxy is a lot less viscous than the quick setting ones. So it flows into those spaces easily. I then baked it in an autoclave using high pressure (to shrink any remaining micro bubbles) at 100 F for 20 mins.

That's it, I'm coming over to work in your shop!
 

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