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Happs Translucent Trackball Bulb vs LED (w/ pics)

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rwhip41:
Why not just buy one of these...
http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/lazer.html

I bought one for my blue Happs 3" trackball to replace the weak bulb. I unscrewed the bulb holder, fabricated 3 small pieces of wood by gluing them together to resemble a shallow "u", glued the LED to the bottom of the "u", and glued the "u" to the trackball base. The picture shows the bottm of the trackball where the bulb usually goes. The LED unit has 3 LEDs, and is completely visible during the day. The LED unit is very low profile...the glued together wood frame doesn't protrude more than 1" beyond the trackball base surface.

Arcades R Fun:
All great examples of DIY's working to solve a problem. I too hate the dim arcade lamps so I made my own wooden block mount to house the 4 bulb super bright LED. It has proven to be very popular with builders.
(Here's where the shameless plug starts)

You can view my E-Bay auction for my version of the trackball lighting kit using a Super Bright 4 bulb cluster LED.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6258513650&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

The kit uses super strong velcro to attach the bulb and take about 30 seconds to install to the underside of any trackball. The bulb in encased in a wooden block so it can never be accidentaly broken. The other end is prewired to a male Molex connector that plugs into your computers spare female Molex leads. The computer end installs in about 3 minutes. It's $16.95 plus Priority shipping making it $21 to your door and makes for a simple answer to this problem. BYOAC members can buy it direct from me via PayPal for $14.95 or $19 to your door in the US or Canada.



Jack

psychopanda:
I swapped out the bulb on my Happs trackball, stuffed a resistor on one side, plugged in a 'super bright' blue led, and attached wires from a spare power connector on my PC.

It wasn't too hard and is plenty bright. I actually had to point the led down and place some foil underneath to reflect the light back up (although I've since read that a little sandpaper scrubbed on top of the led will diffuse the light).

There was big bonus that I hadn't expected. With the Happs bulb, my blue translucent trackball glowed almost turqoise. With the blue led, it changed to a really nice blue glow. :)

Here are a few pics:

happs bulb/greenish:
http://www.psychopanda.net/images/arcade_206.jpg

blue led/blue!:
http://www.psychopanda.net/images/arcade_210.jpg
http://www.psychopanda.net/images/arcade_211.jpg

couple pics of the led/resistor install (sorry, they're blurry):
http://www.psychopanda.net/images/arcade_208.jpg
http://www.psychopanda.net/images/arcade_209.jpg

MovingTarget:
I did the same sort of thing but instead of wood used a scrap piece of Lexan.  I've got 3 super bright blue LEDs shooting up through the TB.  It may be a little too bright actually!

I light up my HAPP translucent buttons so I just wired the LEDs in with that power.  Used 100 ohm resistors all connected to the computer 5v power lead via a molex connector I stole from an old computer case headed to the trash.

theCoder:
Instead of putting LED's into a plate, I put them directly into the body of the trackball.  Rather than the light coming straight up the center, it comes up from the side.  I think it makes the light bounce around a bit more and does not blind you if you look straight down on it.  There is about 1/2 to 3/4 inch between the case and ball.  I put a piece of scrap plastic between the case and ball to keep the drill bit from scratching the ball.  The LED's fit in flush and are hot glued in place.  Just yet another way to skin this cat.

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