Pedal LEDs too bright - suggestions?

[BillB]

I wondered if anyone has found a solution to FX pedal LEDs (on/off) that are too bright when activated. By too bright, I mean you can’t really see the knob settings or marking on the top panel. I have no idea why some manufacturers do this - the kind of LEDs I used to do DIY electronics with in the 80s were perfect, bright enough and with a wide angle of view. Too many seem to behave like spotlights these days.

I tried black felt-tip once, with limited success, and I’m wondering about hot glue, were it not for it being so stringy…

Has anyone found a better solution to make them tolerable?

[Martin Walker]

Not needed to try this myself, but apparently a popular cure is to use a Sharpie (permanent marker), ideally in a colour on the opposite side of the colour wheel (so a green sharpie for a red LED, orange/red for a blue LED). A couple of coats may be required.

If you're OK using a soldering iron, replacing the resistor feeding the LED in question with a larger value will also do the trick.

Another apporach is to replace the offending LED with one that is less bright, or even replace a clear packaged one with a diffused finish.

Wow! Amazingly, there's a dedicated product available from Amazon named 'Light Dims' that can also do the job if your LEDs shine through a flat panel:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LightDims-Orig ... tcorr&th=1

[Lostgallifreyan]

Add a series resistor if you can, maybe 5 times the value of the existing one. You'll save some power and extend the LED's lifetime too. It might be a fiddly task but worth it if you can do it.

I hate those actinic blue retina-blaster LED's that some makers put in gear. What are they thinking?!

As you say, the viewing angle used to be wider, too. It's well worth changing for something wider because while we need to see it from several angles, we don't need a lighthouse.

EDIT:
Crossposting with Martin Walker, so I want to add that I have tried the marker pen trick too, but on some surface mount LED's the proximity and intensity at the emitter is so extreme that it might only take a week or so to burn through the ink! I never found an ideal answer in that case, so trial and error and tedious repeat tests might be needed. Sometimes when I don't care about cosmetics I'll stick a layer of black insulating tape across an LED.

[Wonks]

Mass produced pedals will have surface mounted components, so it won't be particularly easy to find and replace the existing current limiting resistor for the LED, or to add another in series. 'Boutique' pedals with hole-mounted components will be easier to modify.

It may be easier to just replace the LED with a lower output one. The clear plastic type (that you can only tell the colour of when the LED is on) tend to be high luminosity types, whilst the coloured plastic types generally have much lower output for the same current.

[Martin Walker]

Sometimes when I don't care about cosmetics I'll stick a layer of black insulating tape across an LED.

That reminds me of the time I opened up my Perixx Periboard 311 illuminated keyboard and used black insulating tape to minimise the stray light reaching my Num Lock, Caps Lock and Scroll Lock indicators. As supplied, surface mount LEDS illuminating the number key surrounds meant that I couldn't tell if my Caps Lock indicator was on or off without looking directly at it (distracting from my typing).

After applying some black tape between the num key LEDs and the three special indicators, the latter became totally dark when off, and each obviously on when lit (without stray light from their adjacent neighbours), so I could carry on typing without later discovering that I'd typed whole sentences with Caps Lock on

[Lostgallifreyan]

...I'd typed whole sentences with Caps Lock on

I often do that without ANY excuse! I also get a weird dyslexic tranposition of letters various, specially 'ing' becoming 'ign'. It raises hell. That illuminated board might really help.

About stray light, often reflected inside a casing, affecting viewing of other, dimmer lights, I wonder if a polariser film might help. Those can be raided from old LCD displays, and also bought new for phone screens, if a sticky backing film is useful.

[Martin Walker]

...I'd typed whole sentences with Caps Lock on

I often do that without ANY excuse! I also get a weird dyslexic tranposition of letters various, specially 'ing' becoming 'ign'. It raises hell.

About stray light, often reflected inside a casing, affecting viewing of other, dimmer lights, I wonder if a polariser film might help. Those can be raided from old LCD displays, and also bought new for phone screens, if a sticky backing film is useful.

I used polarised film years ago to maximise display contrast (particularly with 7-segment displays, so the current numeral was more obvious), but in the case of my keyboard I needed to physically block confusing stray light from reaching other areas.

[Lostgallifreyan]

I used polarised film years ago to maximise display contrast (particularly with 7-segment displays..)

That's interesting. I never thought of them as polarised emitters like laser diodes are, though I did notice that Hewlett Packard displays used a grey film across the front. I always assumed it was just a neutral density filter. (I also wonder if they aren't until that first film is added to polarise them, then your second one works with that to get the final result).

Assuming a bright LED is polarised (the hyperbright ones may well be more structurally similar to a laser diode emitter), then it may be useful to use a polariser if we ever want to see it easily if we're awkwardly placed with head on one side, but only dimly when comfortable seated and looking right at it. It's an easy thing to try, anyway.

[BillB]

Ha, that dude on the bottom left of the Amazon advert is how I feel when looking at some of my pedals

Martin / All, thanks for the suggestions and research.

Sharpie - yes, hadn’t thought about opposite colours. The only problem is they won’t last on smooth plastic. Could of course be re-applied. I am also wondering if there is a way to evenly roughen up a smooth plastic LED to improve diffusion (or Sharpie adhesion)… but without roughening up adjacent paintwork.

Soldering resistors/LEDs? Once upon a time, but not with SMD…

Light-dims…. Worth checking but as you note, the LED needs to be behind a flat panel. Or maybe, cut a hole in one to sit around a protruding LED, then put another one on top.

As for LEDs illuminating other LEDs, that drives me nuts. I have an iConnect MIDI 4 plus with a row of LEDs on the front designed to show where the MIDI data activity is coming from. But of course each LED illuminates the ones to either side, so it’s near useless. Haven’t delved inside to see if there is room to insert partitions between them, probably won’t ever get around to it. But you have to wonder, did the manufacturers go straight from drawing board to production without a prototype in-between?

[BillB]

Just realised that the Light dims are thin sheet, so they can’t be cut and stacked that way. Perhaps a little plastic collar glued in place with a Light-dim (or two) on top.

[The Elf]

I have a few over-bright LEDs around the house. I stick a tiny blob of blu-tack on them - just sufficiently sized to reduce their straight-on brightness.

[shufflebeat]

Nail varnish.

Black Cherry is FABULOUS for ever ocassion.

[tea for two]

There's LED light dimming stickers. Haven't used them so don't know.

[Wonks]

There's LED light dimming stickers. Haven't used them so don't know.

You haven't read the thread posts either.

[tea for two]

There's LED light dimming stickers. Haven't used them so don't know.

You haven't read the thread posts either.

so tru. I just often thymes read just the OP.

[BillB]

Nail varnish.

Black Cherry is FABULOUS for ever ocassion.

That sounds interesting. Thick enough to make a difference, strong enough to stay in place for a good while. Will investigate.

[forumuser931182]

Nail polish can also be instead of loctite on nuts as well… any colour.
Apparently some people also use it on their fingernails.

[shufflebeat]

Apparently some people also use it on their fingernails.

Mmm… sounds a bit weird.

[SecretSam]

Sunglasses.

[Wonks]

Sunglasses.

And if you're a ZZ Top tribute band, cheap sunglasses.