Red LED scrollwheel mod

[Affenjunge]

This mod is in no way a mod that should be attempted by someone who does not have any skills soldering small electronics. If you don't know what you are doing you should ask a qualified friend to do the work. If you can't find anyone, you have to learn to solder really well, or you can just deal with the stock colors, if you try to do this mod and have no soldering ablility you do risk ruining your sansa.

Also if you attempt this tutorial and fail, it is not my fault, it is your's and your's only... Anyways you can't find me, I'm hiding.

OK first off you need the following:

-a Sandisk Sansa e200 series media player
-a soldering iron(15 watt iron is recomended but if you do have skill, which you should, you can use a higher watt)
-tweezers
-4 surface mount LEDs of a color your choosing. (You might have to take a multimeter to the contacts and see if you will need special ones. I did not on pure luck, you might want to just order one more and then just test it)
-fine(thin) solder
-desoldering device(if you wish(or know hot to) to use)
-a squirrel(any color will do)
-a set of small screwdrivers, phillips are the main ones, a flat head would be nice for the prying



Ok now we get to the fun part taking a hundred-something dollar device apart! wait! Now you plugged your soldering iron in, didn't you? OK go do it now... I'll wait... OK? You got it plugged in? Good girl! OK now to the taking a hundred-something dollar device apart.

First you will need to flip the Sansa over and remove the four screws on the back. (I highlighted them for all of you with the inability to pick out the screws.. me included... I'm slow...)



Ok now that that is off, you need to remove the battery. All you have to do is llift up on the side of the battery toward the bottom and lifting up, the battery should just pop off. If it does not you are sticking your finger in the data port... Do you stick your fingers in the wrong places often?

Ok now that the battery is off, you can remove the four tiny screws that hold the actual Sansa together. (I highlighted them again! Yay! Go Photoshop!)


(I have no idea if the serial number is important, I just like to paint things.)

OK those little screws can really be mean and not want to come out. So you might have to convince them that a change of location is a good idea with a flat head screwdriver.. or the squirrel if you are qualified to use said implement.

Good now that those little buggers are out you must remove the front of the Sansa. All you have to do is use either a fingernail or a credit card or simmilar object to pry the front off. Don't worry, you should not break it, and if you do, you tried to hard or forgot a screw. You removed four didn't you?

Ok now that the front on the Sansa is off, remove the black select button. Now locate the four surface mount LEDs(I will call them SMDs from now on). (I highlighted the SMDs)



Now you have to remove the SMDs. You can do so with a desoldering device if you wish, I used the following technique. You take your tweezers and grab onto one end of the SMD, then you heat up the soldering pad on the same side as your tweezers with your already prepared soldering iron. This will allow you to lift up one side of the SMD and then you repeat on the other side so that you remove it.(You can do whatever you please with the SMD, swallowing them is not a good idea but neither is doing most things in life.) Now repeat with the other three SMDs.

Ok now that the SMDs are off, you have to replace them with your color SMDs. Take some solder and put a little drop, and I mean little, on the pad where the ends of the SMDs were. Repeat so that all eight pads have a drop of solder on them. Next take a SMD with your tweezers and place one end on a pad and touch the soldering iron to the pad and attach the SMD. Repeat for the other side. (You might want to put the battery in and turn the Sansa on with the hold on to see if the SMD is connected right. If it does not light up, you have to either make sure that the connections are right, or you will have to flip the SMD around.) Now repeat for the rest of the SMDs.

OK now you have to put the Sansa back together. Make sure to put all the screws back and then....

TEST!!!

(Note: My custom Grey and Red theme )

If your Sansa does not work, you did something wrong, go back and check everything twice.

For my next trick I will make my 2gig into a 6 or 8gig in less than $50! Expect to hear from me as soon as I can get the chips .

[jeeb]

how did you make it say "musik" instead of music?

is it just a different language or what?

[effyman]

from his location to the right of his name, I'd say he is German.

[jeeb]

o gawd your right


lol


sorry bout that

[Affenjunge]

Actually, I'm an American, I just speak a fair amount of German. But I hope within the next year, I will be in Germany.

[JSV]

I wonder...

Would I get a significant increase in battery time if I removed all blue LEDs?
(By significant, I mean more than 20-30 minutes).

Those LEDs serves no purposes other than bling-bling. I know it is the "distinctive" visual feature of the e200, but I couldn't care less.

I would try it, but it would mean some investment. I only have a "uncontrolled" 25 Watts Weller soldering iron with regular tip. Surface-mount work should only be done with temperature-controlled, fine tip soldering irons, unless you are very skilled.

Affenjunge forgot to mention that using an improper heating tool for such delicate work can damage permanently your Sansa: the copper traces on the PCB can lift up if over-heated, making it hard if not impossible to put back a component on that location. Over-heating or using a tip too large can also melt other connections nearby, which may result in a loose contact...

This mod should only be done if you have some experience in un-soldering/soldering surface-mount components. Definitely not for the beginner.

[piren]

probably not ... i doubt there's a significant amount of power wasted on those leds.

[Affenjunge]

Originally Posted by JSV

I wonder...

Would I get a significant increase in battery time if I removed all blue LEDs?
(By significant, I mean more than 20-30 minutes).

Surface-mount work should only be done with temperature-controlled, fine tip soldering irons, unless you are very skilled.

Affenjunge forgot to mention that using an improper heating tool for such delicate work can damage permanently your Sansa: the copper traces on the PCB can lift up if over-heated, making it hard if not impossible to put back a component on that location. Over-heating or using a tip too large can also melt other connections nearby, which may result in a loose contact...

This mod should only be done if you have some experience in un-soldering/soldering surface-mount components. Definitely not for the beginner.

about the batt, I really don't think it will effect it too much, you can just set the led times to like 5 seconds if you want int he setting menu.

about the soldering iron.. yes, if you don't know what you are doing, don't do it. I have been working with electronics and soldering since I was only 12 and I am now almost 18, so I am comfortable using a 40watt iron on a SMD with a regualr tip. I realize now that I did not incude the warning I thought I had when I posted the tut.

[pNoyr3D]

Nice.. I want to do it but I might break my player haha, don't wanna risk it..

You should release that grey and red theme, I have been looking for a red theme forever!

[Affenjunge]

I will release that theme once I finish it, I am only like 1/2 done. I still have to finish buttons (play, pause, FF, etc). Also I will ahve to re-edit some of it. Some of the pics have "Affenjunge" and/or my logo all over, also the shutdown animation contains profanity, read the bottom of this message if you wish to know what it says...










When you shut the player off , it will say "Affenjunge(with my logo)" then it fades to "Fuck Off!" and then to my logo

[effyman]

Hehehehehe

I haven't even seen it yet, and I like it. I think I want my player to tell me that too

[Affenjunge]

ok, well if I ever get around to actually making a release version I will make 2 versions. One that is all nice and does not have my logos all over and another one that is the failed abortion of a sick, twisted little youth...

[omega52]

Great mod.
Can you tell us how the LEDs are marked? Do they indicate which side is the cathode & is the PCB marked for polarity? If so, your instructions should include that step rather than what seems to be a trial & error orientation of the LEDs. I hope those with less experience will be careful with the wattage of their iron. If it is too low it could cause nearly as much damage as if it is too high. Please include the soldering equipment that you used.
Thanks

[Affenjunge]

Originally Posted by omega52

Great mod.
Can you tell us how the LEDs are marked? Do they indicate which side is the cathode & is the PCB marked for polarity? If so, your instructions should include that step rather than what seems to be a trial & error orientation of the LEDs. I hope those with less experience will be careful with the wattage of their iron. If it is too low it could cause nearly as much damage as if it is too high. Please include the soldering equipment that you used.
Thanks

Yeah I have no idea how to tell the orintation of the LEDs. This was the first time I have actually replace surface mount LEDs, before I just removed them. I think that you can see a small dot that may indicate the correct orientation. That or there is a line of color.

I used a 40watt iron from Radio shack, a 15watt is fine. The main thing is not to just let the iroin rest on the contacts for more than what is needed.

[lordofbbq]

that is awesome!!!!i wonder if i could do it...

[Crashediv]

Originally Posted by JSV

I wonder...

Would I get a significant increase in battery time if I removed all blue LEDs?
(By significant, I mean more than 20-30 minutes).beginner.

i wouldnt expect more than say 5 min max out of removing those LED's, the amount of current drawn by all four leds would run maybe 80 mA but im sure theyve done somthing to even lower that standard

and as for LED markings, there should be a flat side to them this would be the negative side and the rounded one the positive even if for some reason they dont a small battery and i think a 47Kohm resistor should be able to help you set up what side you need

[ad8080]

I probably wont do it myself but it looks DAMN good. Great job.

[Affenjunge]

!: This mod made it to the front page of this site!

Thanks Admins... and if you want a better pic just PM me with an email address and I will email a better one without the "yay!" on it..

[kugel]

Very nice mod. I imagine dark-purple color, or emerald-green...DOH, I dont wanna risk my lovely e200.

Btw, why do you want to go to Germany? Im living in Germany, and its cool here. But in some terms going from USA to Germany is a "downgrade".

[Roschili]

nice job. any chance you might be able to mod the buttons around the wheel so that they are backlit as well? that would be amazing.