Re: OT: How to disable the lights on modern case fans

On Fri, May 19, 2023 at 11:00 AM Ralf Mardorf <ralf-mardorf@riseup.net> wrote:
>
> On Fri, 2023-05-19 at 06:41 -0700, vagabond wrote:
> > Never tried this, but ...
> > Might drilling out the lights work?  You'd have to actually destroy the
> > led, or at least break one of the wires / contacts.
> > Kind of drastic compared to nailpolish, but more permanent...
>
> I like this idea! If the OP has got a drill with a flexible shaft I
> second your idea, _but_ there is a risk of a short circuit/leakage
> current which cannot be detected with a multimeter, as the motor should
> still be connected. Even worse would be an unlikely series connection of
> RGB LEDs and motor or a chip expecting both LED and motor intact.

I normally have butter fingers to the max (my wife/co-developer did
the actual physical work of putting the machine together for these
reasons and neither of us remember seeing any short of control).   Her
immediate comment on the idea of drilling into it was something along
the lines of not the smartest idea and one of the dumber ideas we have
heard in a long time.

>
> On Fri, 2023-05-19 at 15:32 +0200, Tomek CEDRO wrote:
> > These "RGB" fancy pancy devices usually have some sort of "RGB
> > CONTROLLER" that is a separate device somewhere where cables come in
>
> Related to the word "usually" Google proves you wrong. Aryeh Friedman
> seemingly suffers from the worst case + 1 "since the led's are built
> into the center cylinder of the fan and thus" the OP "would need to find
> some way to snake the tape through the blades", this wouldn't result in
> good vibrations, but much likely just vibrations. There is probably a
> controller inside of the fans housing, but there's nothing outside of
> the fan's housing. The fans are just connected by the 3 or 4 pin power
> cables.

Every time I do a DIY there is also some part or an other that never
quite fits/works/etc. since for the first time in the last 15 years
(before then it was easier in general) I/we managed to do it with out
this or one of us getting cut by something sharp on the case or other
such incident I think the RGB fans are this DIY's "we should asked
about X".

>
> I guess the situation is like this, Aryeh Friedman decided, before he
> starts crying, since he already is aware about his worst case + 1
> situation, as a last resort to send a request to this list.
>
> The workarounds are drastic and risky. The less risky bet is probably
> nail polish or replacing the fans.
>
> I'm crying too because of my new hardware :D. We cannot rule out odd
> issues when buying new hardware. It's a PITA.

The most practical solution we have come with is block the view somehow


-- 
Aryeh M. Friedman, Lead Developer, http://www.PetiteCloud.org