Changed the lighted switch board on my modded Emisar D4v1 with lighted switch:
This is an Emisar D4v1 with Lexel lighted bezel board, a custom-lighted switch board, and firmware update for Aux-board control from the UI.
Previously, I had modded a Kaidomain lighted switch module and used that to illuminate the switch. However, I wasn’t happy with that arrangement since it only had 2 LEDs in it and they were slightly offset to the left side. I wanted the lit area around the switch button to be a solid ring of light. I redid the switch LED board as follows:
- The new lighted switch board involved no solder or application of heat. It is entirely handmade with all components attached with glue.
- I started with a piece of thin sheet plastic. I cut it into a ring with a hole in the center for the switch button.
- I then ran my super glue plastic activator pen over the plastic so super glue would stick to it.
- I made the traces for the LEDs out of conductive ink from a conductive ink pen. You can see the ink in the picture as it is black, while the substrate plastic board is white. The ink in the pen came out far too much and lacked precision, so I used the pen to put puddles of ink onto a piece of wax paper and then dabbed a sliced toothpick into it and used the toothpick to draw the traces… one outer ring and one inner ring, with appropriate cuts at each side for the positive and negative wires.
- I then installed the LEDs. These are 0603 blue leds. Hand-placed with tweezers so that each contact pad of the LED touches a different ring. The LEDs were glued in place with Fiberfix optical super glue (cures instantly when blue light shined on it). For ease of use, I mounted the entire board on a piece of double-sided tape on my work area before installing the LEDs.
- After each LED was glued, I used a cut toothpick to dab on conductive ink on each contact to give a good electrical connection.
- The base of each bondwire where it touches the inside edge of the board is glued, leaving the tip of the wire bare. Then I liberally slathered the exposed tips of the wires with conductive ink going to the traces.
- Initially, I started with 11 LEDs and 2 resistors on the left side of the board. The picture above without the cover on shows this version. However, I later decided that wasn’t bright enough and I wanted a more complete ring. I removed the 2 resistors and replaced them with LEDs. I already had a resistor between the MCU and one of the bondwires so the extra resistors on the switch board were not needed. I also added another LED on the bottom arc right side bringing the total to 14 LEDs.
- The switch cover is the same style as what I’d previously used. Silicone sheet with a small post on the bottom and a metal disk on the top. All glued with Fiberfix with plastic super-glue activator. The retaining ring is a filed down nickel-plated brass finished washer and is glued the same way.
- The light still needs a polish and wax and the silver-colored epoxy around the base of the retaining ring could use a bit of touch-up, but overall I’m pleased with how it came out. The body tube and stainless steel bezel are from a D4V2. The head, body tube and tailcap are aluminum with anodizing removed.
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For reference, here are some pictures of my previous build on this lighted switch:
- The previous version looked great in the fully-assembled picture, but the picture is showing the switch lights from their best angle. the right of the switch was significantly dimmer.
- The new version produces a more uniform ring of light even if output from each individual LED is lower than that of the 2 LEDs in the original build.
- The old build also used a higher profile retaining ring and titanium tube. For the new build, I filed off more of the switch retaining ring and swapped in an aluminum tube and tailcap and stainless steel bezel. The new switch retaining ring is looking a bit ragged from being glued and unglued many times. I might make a fresh one.