PS Vita Hardware Mod #3: Sound Activated LEDs

Sorry for the long wait but here is my third but not final PS Vita hardware mod. In the comments for my last mod I saw that a few of you didn’t want an LED mod. I was planning to do one anyway so here it is. For those of you that don’t want an LED mod I made my series out of who knows what, just for you. This series will probably continue on for a while, as long as PS Vita hardware mods keep coming about. I believe that the ones to come will be something you all will love. If any of you have mods that you want to suggest to me, you can PM me on /talk, where I am JayDog. I actually have 3 LED mods here on this post and I am pretty sure that none of have seen all three. Well anyway, this mod is from zakaiya, hope you enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: Any screw ups you make are 100% your fault and I nor zakaiya are to blame. Thank you and have a great day.

What you will need:

• Soldering iron + solder
• Multimeter
• 1206 LEDs with a forward voltage of 1.8-2.2V
• Electronic drill + a 3/32″ drill bit
• Super glue
• 30 gauge solid core wire
• Wire strippers
• Phillips PH00 screwdriver
• Vise grip (optional)
• Flathead screwdriver

Installing Rear leds

First, you have to choose which of these configurations you want. If you choose configuration #3, the middle hole is not necessary.

The next step is to take apart you vita, you can follow these instructions here for help. Once hat is done, you should have this.

At this point you have to drill hole(s) with your 3/32″ drill bit, based on the configuration you chose. To access point three, you will have to lift off the speakers. after drilling the holes, make sure that you clean away all excess material.

Get out your 30 gauge wire, vise grip and wire strippers. Cut out a good length of wire. Stick one end it into a hole that you drilled and bring the other end to a speaker prong. T o make sure that the wire is long enough, wrap the wire around that prong. You can cut away any extra wire. Now you know that you will have enough solder when it is time to solder. Repeat with all of the hole(s) once (two wires per hole).

You can use the vise grip like in the picture below or use your own method. Take the positive end of your LED and solder it to a wire end. Do the same with the negative end. Repeat with all of your LEDs. After that, do a stress test to make sure that the wires don’t rip out.

After everything is solder up, use your multimeter and make sure that the connection works.

Get out your super glue and flathead. Insert your LEDs with the flathead in a vertical position so that your flathead can rest on it straight up and down as in the below picture. Make sure that it is vertical! Do not use too much force or the LED will break. You will know that it is in because you will feel a small pop.

Remove the LED and put super glue into the hole. Reinsert the LED with the flat head and wait a few minutes, all the while holding the flathead in place. You can remove the flathead whenever you feel ready.

If you have a lot of wires already soldered to the top of the speaker prongs, you will have to solder these wires to the bottom. If not, it doesn’t matter. The reason that the LEDs will be sound activated is because they are soldered to the speaker prongs. They will only receive electrical current when the speaker receives electrical current. If you have too large of a volume of wires on one side of the prong, the sound nor LEDs will not work.

Correct:

Incorrect:

Reassemble your Vita, and you’re done! Thank you to zakaiya for the info and pictures.

You can check out my other mods here and here, and read my other articles here. That’s all for now from me, The Jay Doctor. Follow on Twitter @The_Jay_Doctor.

Source: zakaiya on /talk