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Another point in the endless war against useless always-on LEDs. (My least favorite was a night light with a switch. It had an always-on LED when plugged in eve

Another point in the endless war against useless always-on LEDs. (My least favorite was a night light with a switch. It had an always-on LED when plugged in even if you switched the night light off. Instant e-waste.)

red-iron-pine 3y ago
> It had an always-on LED when plugged in even if you switched the night light off. Instant e-waste.) the point is so that you can find the light in the dark. it may be poorly made or unecessary but I can at least in theory understand the logic.
danudey 3y ago
Working from home with my desk in my bedroom, I grew to hate the always-on, bright blue LED on my USB-C laptop dock. I get it, you're plugged in, go away and take your light pollution with you.
- 13of40 3y ago
  The case I bought from Frys for my last desktop build a few years ago has a power LED that lights up half the room. I taped a penny over it.
  - toast0 3y ago
    For desktops, a nice solution is to hook up the power led to the speaker connection. At some point, pc speakers stopped coming with cases as they did in the past. And power leds have been mostly useless for a long time.
- amoshi 3y ago
  Multiple electronics' LEDs in my room have insulating tape on them, mutes the light brightness a lot!
- social_quotient 3y ago
  If you are looking to block these out, I can’t recommend these stickers enough - LED Light Blocking Stickers, Light Dimming LED Filters https://a.co/d/aeSFTMI https://a.co/d/aeSFTMI They also have white versions
JohnFen 3y ago
And it's a thousand times worse if those LEDs are blue. I've taken to just cutting the leads or traces to those power LEDs. Problem solved.
- narrator 3y ago
  Black electrical tape works too.
  - jtriangle 3y ago
    I use gaff tape, matte finish and it doesn't leave residue (usually).
    - JohnFen 3y ago
      The last time I cutout a blue power LED, it was so bright that it not only would light up the room the device (speakers) was in, but it would also light the hallway outside the room if the door was left open. It was so bright that even two layers of gaff tape didn't resolve the situation. It's crazy. I often wonder about the reasoning behind choosing to use these LEDs is. Does nobody actually use these device in the real world during development?
      - jtriangle 3y ago
        My guess is that the manufacturers have a ton of incentive to use the same leds on everything to cut down on component costs via scale. So that basically leads to them purchasing leds that are powerful enough for all uses and using them for everything, ie, they're way too bright. Usage is entirely secondary
- doubled112 3y ago
  I did that to LED fans that came with a case one time. I like LightDims a lot. I realize I could just use tape, but I can always find the right size and shape that way on smaller devices, plus a little light comes through. It just doesn't shine.
climb_stealth 3y ago
The cheap bunch of LED stickers that I bought 3 years ago has been so good with this. They were sold as "6mm Round 10 Colour Dot Sticker Circle Sticky Self Adhesive Label" on ebay. LEDs on the electric toothbrush shining brigher than a thousand suns? Put stickers on them. LEDs on the dog water fountain illuminating the whole living room at night? Put stickers on them. The funny thing is that the LEDs are so bright that they still shine through the stickers. Except that now it's at the brightness level they should have had in the first place.

red-iron-pine 3y ago

> It had an always-on LED when plugged in even if you switched the night light off. Instant e-waste.) the point is so that you can find the light in the dark. it may be poorly made or unecessary but I can at least in theory understand the logic.

danudey 3y ago

Working from home with my desk in my bedroom, I grew to hate the always-on, bright blue LED on my USB-C laptop dock. I get it, you're plugged in, go away and take your light pollution with you.

13of40 3y ago
The case I bought from Frys for my last desktop build a few years ago has a power LED that lights up half the room. I taped a penny over it.
- toast0 3y ago
  For desktops, a nice solution is to hook up the power led to the speaker connection. At some point, pc speakers stopped coming with cases as they did in the past. And power leds have been mostly useless for a long time.
amoshi 3y ago
Multiple electronics' LEDs in my room have insulating tape on them, mutes the light brightness a lot!
social_quotient 3y ago
If you are looking to block these out, I can’t recommend these stickers enough - LED Light Blocking Stickers, Light Dimming LED Filters https://a.co/d/aeSFTMI https://a.co/d/aeSFTMI They also have white versions

JohnFen 3y ago

And it's a thousand times worse if those LEDs are blue. I've taken to just cutting the leads or traces to those power LEDs. Problem solved.

narrator 3y ago
Black electrical tape works too.
- jtriangle 3y ago
  I use gaff tape, matte finish and it doesn't leave residue (usually).
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    The last time I cutout a blue power LED, it was so bright that it not only would light up the room the device (speakers) was in, but it would also light the hallway outside the room if the door was left open. It was so bright that even two layers of gaff tape didn't resolve the situation. It's crazy. I often wonder about the reasoning behind choosing to use these LEDs is. Does nobody actually use these device in the real world during development?
    - jtriangle 3y ago
      My guess is that the manufacturers have a ton of incentive to use the same leds on everything to cut down on component costs via scale. So that basically leads to them purchasing leds that are powerful enough for all uses and using them for everything, ie, they're way too bright. Usage is entirely secondary
doubled112 3y ago
I did that to LED fans that came with a case one time. I like LightDims a lot. I realize I could just use tape, but I can always find the right size and shape that way on smaller devices, plus a little light comes through. It just doesn't shine.

climb_stealth 3y ago

The cheap bunch of LED stickers that I bought 3 years ago has been so good with this. They were sold as "6mm Round 10 Colour Dot Sticker Circle Sticky Self Adhesive Label" on ebay. LEDs on the electric toothbrush shining brigher than a thousand suns? Put stickers on them. LEDs on the dog water fountain illuminating the whole living room at night? Put stickers on them. The funny thing is that the LEDs are so bright that they still shine through the stickers. Except that now it's at the brightness level they should have had in the first place.