| Light up the Apple Logo on your Powerbook G3 (Wallstreet)
This modification will void your Apple warranty. If the wispy smell of rosin-core solder is a mystery to you, enjoy reading this article, but please don't attempt to perform this modification.
A tip of the hat goes to Bobby Kinstle for inspiration after I saw what he did to his Powerbook.
What you need: Head over to your local Radio Shack and purchase a blue LED (part 276-311) and a package of 120 ohm quarter watt resisters. You will also need some electrical tape, a few square inches of aluminum foil, and two feet of wire (I used solid telephone wire).
Make sure the unit is unplugged and the battery is out.
The first step is to separate the screen on the Powerbook. The two bottom screws are covers by stick-on covers. I used the point of a single-edged razor blade to pop them off.
The four screws along the top are under rubber feet. These feet pull off easily with a needle-nose pliers.
After the screws are out, along the top of the screen are four little slots. Gently insert a small screwdriver into the slots to lift rear section of the screen housing. There are two other clips on the sides about half way down.
In general, the rear cover lifts up a quarter inch, then back to remove it.
Once the two halves are apart , set the rear section off to the side for now.
As you look at the rear of the exposed screen, notice the black, red, and yellow twisted wires that run up the left side. This the power and the signal line for the built in microphone and its amplifier.
The yellow wire is +5 volts and the black wire is the ground. These two will power our LED.
 This is the trickiest part, and unfortunately, my picture is a little blurry.
Untwist the microphone wires, slightly strip the black and yellow wires without cutting them, and lightly solder on two wires about 18 inches in length.
I spaced my splices half an inch apart so I could wrap the connections with a single piece of electrical tape.
 Prepare the LED and resister for mounting. Keep the leads short. Solder the resister in series with the LED.
In case you have forgotten (as I did), the LED lead that is on the flattened/notched side of the lens is the negative lead.
 This picture shows me doing a quick test of the wiring before moving on to the re-assembly.
IMPORTANT:
The interior of the plastic back is sprayed with a conducting material. (Probably for RF shielding.)
Do not let any of the metal leads from the LED or resister touch this surface. The area under the LED must also be protected by electrical tape.
To allow the LED to set closer to the white Apple logo, notch out a quarter inch piece of the raised ring surrounding the logo. The LED will fit right in it.
 Run the new wires around the top of the case and tuck them in like the microphone wires were.
Place a small piece of tape at the top to hold them.
Keeping the two halves of the lid close together, tape down the LED into the notch you cut in the ring. Make sure no metal leads are exposed.
By itself, the LED didn't look that impressive. The beam of light was too focused. To solve this problem, I folded a piece of foil to fit over the Apple logo and LED. The foil acts as a defuser and makes a hugh difference.
Lightly tape the foil as shown in the graphic below.
Here's a close up of the assembled LED and foil cover.
Cover the foil with a sheet of paper, covering it completely. The paper will insulate the foil; keeping it from touching the liquid crystal display.
 Carefully reassemble the display making sure not to pinch either the microphone wires or the LED leads.
It should all snap together easily. Do not apply any pressure to the center of the casings! All the plastic clips are on the perimeter.
Once I had gathered the tools and parts, the entire project took about an hour.
The LED is clearly visible when lit - even in daylight. While I imagine it trims a minute or two off my battery time, it looks so cool the trade off is worth it.
Again, please don't try this unless you feel absolutely confident in your abilities. This voids your Apple warranty.
|
