Option to turn Hub's LED off (was LED brightness in latest firmware)

a good balance for everyone the option of off and on will be best the future solution. personally i use them as a tool during this field testing period , a quick reference to whether its connected via bluetooth or wifi or the dreaded the red for no connection…

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My choice is ON because when I visually scan a rack full (or a server room full) of hardware any device with no lights (or the wrong lights) jumps right out as needing attention. If the light is off then time will be spent determining what is wrong . . . time that could be better spent working on something that is actually having a problem rather than something that just turns off its lights after a while.

But . . . I understand the other viewpoint . . . so the user-configurable OPTION is clearly the winner here.

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I wish it could be dimmed too: green LED for “everythings fine 24/7” isn`t necessary.

Suggestion: Only show red/blue (issue/connected via BLE) --> Led is on = I have to check or I`m connected. Led off = everything is fine

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Did you try this?

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@GaryFunk - forgot to mention - THANKS ! - those LED dimmer overlays are fantastic. Took care of the clock on the microwave, the bright-lights indicator on my car, and of course the green beam coming out of the Hub. Great stuff !

I went with (these) just to pass along the link I used. They even have 100% dimming variants if you look at the vendor link there for their other products. Work great!

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Great idea. I just found/bought this (similar product), based on the recommendation.

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Good idea @GaryFunk! You find all the cool gadgets!

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The hub LED indicator is still pretty bright when compared against the original hub, especially at night. I had a memory that we have a method to dim that LED down. In my case, I have the hub in a bedroom, which is the ideal location for the hub and wifi.

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Hello Mark

I moved this part of you posting here as above you will find al long discussion with some simple hardware solutions to the bright led issue … maybe time ndeed to see if this can be ‘solved’ for the new upcoming Tempest

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Thanks. My solution for the moment is to place the hub in it’s shipping box to kill the light in the room.

The green LED has the wrong resistor value on it.

Ok, with a bunch of electronics folks around, that was probably not a good thing to say :slight_smile: . On beginning to look closely at the hub, the first thing I noticed was that I never took the protective clear plastic off the bottom two feet!

Having removed the plastic feet, there were four small philips screws. As mentioned before, I think the factory needs to ease up on the assembly tool torque, several of the plastic parts were broken, one was stripped. After some difficulty in popping off the bottom I struggled with my inner common sense that told me to stop. With a pocket knife, I was able to pop off the many clips around the bottom. Not sure if it was intended as a one-time closure. A couple of the plastic openings (inside) cracked a little, but no significant damage.

There is a metal rod weight(?) at the bottom which is kind of funny.

Getting the board out was not obvious, and I had to fight back more (and stronger) common sense thoughts telling me to stop there. Turns out there is a solid plastic cylindrical locating plug which fits very snugly into a corresponding round cylindrical hole in the top. With some care and effort, it came apart (no glue), and the board with its daughter boards comes out on the same plastic shelf that extends into the plastic plug.

Well, at that point it was easy to see the multi-color LED with its four terminals and three nearby resistors R4 (270 ohms), R5 (150), and R6 (150). Well, how hard could this be? After some unclear voltage measurements (did not bother to set the scope up), it appears that R4 has some relation to red, and R5 to green. Raising R4 from 271 to 561 dimmed the red light, but caused no change in the Very bright green. Experimenting with R5 made it look more like a green on/off pin, or at least some sort of digital input, rather than a series current limiting R. Because nothing made any easy sense, I put it back the way it was (original R values) and all seems fine now, and am back online. I do not recommend taking apart the HUB!

I would be curious to see the data sheet (part no. and manufacturer) for the multi-color LED only if not considered secret. If it is just three LED in the one package, it appears that there might be something odd about the way the green LED is driven.

Also, in addition to the part where I probably should not have opened the hub (the common sense part), on one repeat pulling of the plastic carrier and board out of the plastic top, I sliced a part of my little finger on the sharp hook edge of the USB connector. Nothing a week or two won’t cure, and I have paid the price for my transgression :slight_smile:

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Some scotch 33 elec tape works real well always had to use it on the ford work trucks for the check engine light on dash, they were always on for the fuel vapor recovery system

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