Soldering an LED into the Apple "puck mouse"

[Bradamante]

I am getting into soldering and as an entry exercise I want to put an LED into the old Apple "puck mouse". Here he is saying that he used a 5V LED.

Problem is ... How does he know how many volts to use? How would anybody know? In my usual electronics shop they are saying that 5V would be very unusual for such a thing. They told me it's usually 1.35V or 2.5V for such things.

Anybody know more?

 

[weckart]

It is a USB mouse and USB devices run on 5V. Not really a secret.

 

[AphoticD]

You could also get a voltage reading with a multimeter. Keep in mind, the reading will typically be slightly higher (~10%) than the nominal voltage. i.e. a 5v circuit may read something like 5.5v, a 24v circuit may report 26.5v, etc

 

[weckart]

To be honest, I am a bit surprised about what was said in the electronics shop. In the last few years there has been an explosion of LED gadgets. My local Poundshop sells USB powered Xmas lights all year around. I doubt very much that there is anything in the way of voltage stepping going on because of the added cost and the corresponding likely heat build up in those flimsy sealed strips.

I would have thought that 5v LEDs are at least very common if not the dominant choice these days.

 

[elf69]

5V LEDs are standard LEDs with a built in resistor to work at said voltage.

5V LED is ok to 6V just about.
I have used 5V LEDs on a 5.5v main supply for years with not issue and I know it has peaked at 6V on the adaptor at times.

 

[Bradamante]

Yeah that is what they gave me when I said 5V, a 3.5V LED and a 1.5V resistor. Hey if that means that the LED is not blindingly bright, fine.

 

[chabig]

Yeah that is what they gave me when I said 5V, a 3.5V LED and a 1.5V resistor. Hey if that means that the LED is not blindingly bright, fine.

Resistors aren't rated in volts. The resist the flow of current and are rated in Ohms. Here is a nice tutorial.

http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/

 

[bobesch]

Do those LED come in different (I mean 'fruity' like ) colors?

 

[Bradamante]

Well here on german EBay I recently saw an offering for the orange iMac puck mouse. I considered for a moment, but 40 Euros for a basically unusable mouse it a bit nuts ... But yeah, an orange LED in an orange puck mouse, oh yeah.

 

[Slix]

I don't have any technical details but I wanted to say good luck with this! Post pictures if you get it working! My dad did the same thing with our Grape iMac mouse when I was younger. It was a neat touch.

 

[TC_GoldRush]

I'd pay like $30 for one with a LED. Oh wait up you're in Europe.

 

[CooperBox]

Regarding the Apple 'puck' mouse, here in Europe I see them quite frequently raging from 10euros to 40euros (12- 48USD).
Even at an average price of 25euros, one is better off searching for a combination of matching keyboard and puck mouse. Only yesterday I saw a matching pair advertised for 30e (36USD).
What is certain is that these fattened round mice will become more and more sought-after, as many an iMac G3 together with their matching accessories gets sent to the shredder every week.
Only a few months ago I saved several from destruction. Link

 

[1042686]

I have two. One working and one that is broken (works intermittently). I will need to sit down and figure out what is wearing out on it. An LED sounds like a fun project.

 

[weckart]

Even at an average price of 25euros, one is better off searching for a combination of matching keyboard and puck mouse. Only yesterday I saw a matching pair advertised for 30e (36USD).

Sad to say, I have seen them go for less than that with attached computer. Especially if you are looking for just an ADB keyboard.

Case in point, this sale which finished yesterday for a pittance complete with puck mouse among other goodies

 

[Bradamante]

What is certain is that these fattened round mice will become more and more sought-after, as many an iMac G3 together with their matching accessories gets sent to the shredder every week.

Nah, I don't think so. The round "puck" mice was already hated when it originally appeared. Today these mice usually have a ugly brown cable and the fact that it's not optical doesn't help. The keyboard that it came with is unusable with todays macOS and it's not extended either. This all goes back to the fact that after the success of the 1998 iMac Apple was in this really ugly period where they combined pro hardware with consumer input. That leaves only young kids and nostalgia buyers as the potential target audience. I however have a different perspective, since I am buying vintage Apple hardware as a basis for case mods. For the audience that I represent every Mac with a CRT is not of interest, since the screen tech is outdated, can't be combined with current hardware and the case around the CRT is just too voluminous.

 

[CooperBox]

Post deleted. Incorrect thread. Whoops......!

 

[bobesch]

I however have a different perspective, since I am buying vintage Apple hardware as a basis for case mods. For the audience that I represent every Mac with a CRT is not of interest, since the screen tech is outdated, can't be combined with current hardware and the case around the CRT is just too voluminous.

Well, unless you're building cat homes ...
http://www.viralforest.com/cat-bed-old-imac/

BTW: I'm having great fun using a colored-keyboard & hockey-puck mouse at one of my office-workplaces - but I have to agree, it would be awkward e.g. for work in DTP, graphic-design, video-editing etc ...
(and no brown cable - those ons's, you've seen might come from heavy smokers ... )

 

[CooperBox]

Nah, I don't think so. The round "puck" mice was already hated when it originally appeared. Today these mice usually have a ugly brown cable and the fact that it's not optical doesn't help. The keyboard that it came with is unusable with todays macOS and it's not extended either. This all goes back to the fact that after the success of the 1998 iMac Apple was in this really ugly period where they combined pro hardware with consumer input. That leaves only young kids and nostalgia buyers as the potential target audience. I however have a different perspective, since I am buying vintage Apple hardware as a basis for case mods. For the audience that I represent every Mac with a CRT is not of interest, since the screen tech is outdated, can't be combined with current hardware and the case around the CRT is just too voluminous.

I have to disagree with some of your comments.
The fact that it was hated when it originally appeared doesn't mean it will not eventually become highly collectable/sought-after.
For the record, there were quite a number of Apple products that were hated by many, a short time after being launced for one reason or another. Classic examples being the G4 Cube, iPod HiFi, Newton, QuickTake, Mac TAM Spartacus, just to name a few. But........they are all now highly sought-after, and for that reason I have one of each (with exception of iPod HiFi) in my collection. And in another 10-20 years or so when most of those coloured G3 iMacs have either been trashed or retained by keen collectors, the Apple Hockey Puck mouse will become very sought-after in it's own right. Guaranteed!
Whenever I boot up one of my G3 iMacs, I always use a matching keyboard and mouse, without problems - for the task I ask of them.

As for your "Apple really ugly period", beauty is very subjective. I love the Apple Cube and iBook Clamshell, but many hate their looks. Indeed one site claims the Clamshell to be one of Apple's ugliest products of all time - possibly due to the hallucinating products the site author was smoking at the time.

Oh.....and for the record, none of my several puck Apple mice have "ugly brown cable(s)". They are all well house-trained. Honest!

 

[1042686]

Ok, now that we've established the growing, incoming tidal wave of hipster puck mouse popularity, I wanted to let you all know that I killed for good the broken one I had in a last ditch attempt to resurrect it. I assumed the problem was a bad cable, so I cut the end off one of my zillion USB cables, fished out the wiring inside and soldered those directly onto the leads on the mouse lobo. Thought for sure it would spring to life.

It did not.

anyhow, so now I have some rev1 bondi pucker parts which I retrofitted the to a later graphite puck mouse I had so it matches my bondi.

That was tongue in cheek but I do agree that puck mice will become more sought after as these things become harder to find & source parts.

 

[Bradamante]

Classic examples being the G4 Cube, iPod HiFi, Newton, QuickTake, Mac TAM Spartacus, just to name a few.

As for your "Apple really ugly period", beauty is very subjective.

Hm I don't think those comparisons work. I have never met anybody saying the G4 Cube looks ugly. The Cube was criticized for lack of expandability and high price, but I don't hink anybody said it looked ugly. Same for the G3 iBook, that one looked bulky and sturdy because it was, made for kid's hands. The TAM was a once in a lifetime product that might not have sold well but everybody I know looked at this thing and said "wow, this thing is years ahead". The iPod Hifi? Don't remember any criticism for that one either. Didn't IKEA later sell this thing as the Bööm Box or something? And the Newton? Criticized yes, inadequate yes, but hated?

And when I said "ugly period" I didn't mean their computer design, I meant the fact they were combining consumer input with pro machines. And no, I still don't think the "puck" will redeem itself anytime soon. It's not optical, has only one button, was made for kid's hands. There is a reason why there was so much third party hardware making the body of the mouse longer or why you had mice imitating it's design, but with two buttons.

 

[amagichnich]

Nah, I don't think so. The round "puck" mice was already hated when it originally appeared. Today these mice usually have a ugly brown cable and the fact that it's not optical doesn't help. The keyboard that it came with is unusable with todays macOS and it's not extended either. This all goes back to the fact that after the success of the 1998 iMac Apple was in this really ugly period where they combined pro hardware with consumer input. That leaves only young kids and nostalgia buyers as the potential target audience. I however have a different perspective, since I am buying vintage Apple hardware as a basis for case mods. For the audience that I represent every Mac with a CRT is not of interest, since the screen tech is outdated, can't be combined with current hardware and the case around the CRT is just too voluminous.

Mine has no brown(ish) cable and honestly I like the feeling of this thing!
As for the keyboards: a graphite is my everyday keyboard on my windows machine because I absolutely love this keyboard!
When I don't need a right click I combine mouse and keyboard and set the mouse speed to max, works pretty good and isn't uncomfortable at all
That has nothing to do with nostalgia or whatever, people are different and prefer different input methods
I know people who love the magic mouse whereas I hate it because it is way too heavy
It's a matter of personal preference

 

[bobesch]

Ha, the hockey-puck mouse seemed to be an object of hatred and desire all the time of it's existence.
Follow your nose and find out who tried, disliked (2014) and fell in love again (2014) here at MR ...
My favorite comment comes from @MysticCow: "I know a lot of hatred of the puck stems from nobody knowing how to hold it."
Thank you guys & cheers!

 

[AphoticD]

My only experience with the Puck was in high school with the tangerine iMac. I didn't have any trouble with it, it wasn't horrible or anything. I was actually using a single button ADB mouse at home at the time, so having one button wasn't an issue.

However... as cool as the colour coordinated mouse and keyboard combo looks on an iMac G3, I don't have any iMac G3s, so no burning desire to acquire the little pucker at an inflated price.