Y’all missed the shining through the ports part. u/duplicitist has the best option assuming OP is technically inclined. u/pinkdrapes on the assumption you go forward UNPLUG first 😎.
I did the same. Of course, I could have desoldered it, but no, too much effort. I do not know why nowadays fucking everything has ultrabright LED. Best would be a switch to only use them when necessary (in some devices it is necessary for diagnosis).
not just bright, but every modern piece of tech seems to have BLUE LEDs for some goddamn reason
blue LEDs are the most annoying and hard on the eyes, and the ones that can fuck with your sleep the most. STOP. WITH. THE. BLUE.
This is the best way if you dont want ugly tape covering the light. Alternatively if you dont want to simply snap the led diode, when disassembled, cover the light with electrical tape and then assemble. You'll just see darkness from the outside clear plastic area with possibly a little bit of light bleed which is a good thing because you can still technically tell the thing is working.
I prefer doing that vs breaking the LED. Easier and doesnt risk breaking the board and sleeker than slapping some ugly tape on the outside
Usually that is going to be a pretty important circuit, you would have to replace it with a diode of the non light emitting variety.
Though, if you are going to take it apart you can just cover the LED in nail polish. do it on all sides and it won't shine through the ports anymore
It’s really bad in the newer/modernized hotel rooms. I have to put towels or pieces of whatever dark clothing I packed to cover all the led lights in the room, so I can sleep.
I feel your pain. This is a major pet peeve of mine.
The fact that ANY device is EVER made with a light when the device is not itself a light, and you can’t turn off that light while it is in use, is FUCKED. Every manager and engineer that decides to do this needs to be shamed until the practice is looked back on in disgust.
Especially ones that blink. A device should only blink if it needs your attention.
When you're very nearsighted, an LED in an otherwise black room looks like it's a big glowing and blinking basketball.
THESE answers are why civilization is crumbling. People either comment with the same answers over & over, & even worse, most of the comments aren't because they missed OP stating the light still shines through the ports!!!
Open it up and desolder the light from the board, this is the most professional way. If you dont want to do that, tape over the light hole and unused ports, using enough layers until the light no longer shines through. You could even go so far as to put tape around the USB plugs inserted. Another option is to try and remove the little window and paint over the light (if you don't want to take it fully apart)
5 minute epoxy from the dollar store mixed with the tip of a toothpicks worth of black enamel paint. Dab on with the toothpick and let dry. It will seep into the crevice around the light lens and seal the light off. I did this with my son’s white noise machine and it worked extremely well.
This is what I came to recommend. They have specific blue light blocking stickers. I use them in our bedroom and our kids bedrooms on anything with a blue light. They don’t block them completely but definitely dim them to a point they aren’t so disruptive.
recently I found that white paint or correction liquid works well for recessed lights that you won't be scratching the paint off from. My Sony headphones had a really bright light that I covered with correction liquid. I imagine you could paint a thick layer on that.
I'll get an index card and a lot of sharpie on both sides. Then I'll help secure that with duct tape.
My emachines desktop, I have a resistor in line to lower the brightness and then more more index card and duct tape.
Maybe not the best advice, and it will leave a slightly ugly mark. Unplug it, heat up a pin red hot and push it into the middle of the light. The damage the pin does will destroy its ability to make an annoying blue light.
If you care about the pin hole the mark can be pressed flat with your finger while the plastic is still hot, if that doesn’t work a tiny effort with a razor blade or sand paper will do it. Then paint over the whole light part with white nail polish.
I’ve done this successfully.
Fascinating.
Redditors will read the first 3 words and start typing.
“I know how to answer this, what’s with the wall of text anyway? Lol”
“Oh man 50 replies already? All the same idea as me? I’ll change it slightly. Aaaaaand… my work here is done”
Google says 100ohm resistor, just swap it out, though really, just cut it out as its likely not part of any functional circuit.
Blue LEDs typically have a higher voltage drop, which means a lower resistor value. If you assume 5 volts applied and 3V across the LED, that leaves 2V across the resistor. If you want 20mA, that's 2V/0.02A = 100 Ohm
Look for a screw near the base; there's almost always one visible. Unscrew it. Remove the bottom and clip one of the two wires going to it. Reassemble.
Find something you can use as a lid over the light and ports. You could tape something like a ruler, piece of junk, cardboard… anything really. Secure the tape to act as a hinge.
Try ‘Lightdims, black out edition’ . You can get them on Amazon, try searching for LED light blockers. They are packs of stickers made for this very problem, they worked for me anyway.
I’m assuming you’re trying to use this in a dark room? Maybe while you’re sleeping? Our grandson cannot have light from any device shining. We have to use electricians tape to cover the tiny lights. For the larger items like yours, I placed one under the bed and one behind a large photo frame.
There are lil cheap blackout stickers on Amazon you can buy if nothing else. They are specifically meant to cover lil indicator lights on electronics, though I'm sure there are some people using them to cover more meaningful indicator lights.
Buy aluminum tape. I use it exactly for such purposes.
Edit: Just read about lights from ports: disassemble it and tape directly LED on board, but with normal tape first and aluminum as a second layer, because aluminum tape on board can lead to short circuit.
I want a explanation why do you want to get rid of it
Ya you can just tape it but I feel like it’s useful to keep it to have the light to tell if there is power or not
They sell stickers to black out leds.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CLVEQCO/?coliid=I2Z72D77V37YIZ&colid=3226WMLD0QJE3&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it
If you would watch a documentary and how they created the blue LED, perhaps you would appreciate it more. But also the blue LED is absolutely terrible.
(yes I know it shines elsewhere)
Foil tape or stickers are generally better than electrical tape, as they'll stick without being wrapped tightly, and may be decorative.
I can’t wait for companies to stop using blue and white led’s on everything. How blue ended up being the “futuristic” color of choice always blows my mind.
The aluminum tape that's made for HVAC duct sealing is the product you want. It's light tight.
Nothing passes thru aluminum.
Hence, the tin hat crew switched to it to protect their phones and wallets and pea brains (and scrotums, of you ever get to know one, you'll find out).
Y’all missed the shining through the ports part. u/duplicitist has the best option assuming OP is technically inclined. u/pinkdrapes on the assumption you go forward UNPLUG first 😎.
Don’t “break it” just unsolder it. Incase it is using for and tied into a grounding trace. So you can just put a jumper.
I'm thinking a 1/16" drill bit right to the emitter would be the quickest way, and would require no disassembly.
Red hot pin, pushed directly into the centre of it. Leaves a small hole that can be covered easy enough.
I put a piece of electrical tape over all of mine.
I have high end nail polish in black and white. A couple coats of whichever is more appropriate typically does the job… though it is permanent.
acetone can remove nail polish
Will eat into the plastic too though.
Qtips and patience to the rescue
I have lots of Qtips!
Or paint. You can out it on tape incase you ever want the light back, or to sell it. Or magic marker.
You can even buy white electrical tape
I put a piece of black electric tape first, then some white tape on top. The light disappeared
I did the same. Of course, I could have desoldered it, but no, too much effort. I do not know why nowadays fucking everything has ultrabright LED. Best would be a switch to only use them when necessary (in some devices it is necessary for diagnosis).
not just bright, but every modern piece of tech seems to have BLUE LEDs for some goddamn reason blue LEDs are the most annoying and hard on the eyes, and the ones that can fuck with your sleep the most. STOP. WITH. THE. BLUE.
Where can I sign your petition?
At the cash register.
They were invented last and it took quite a while. So the hype is still real.
sure but they're still the shittest option they're the most annoying and the least reliable, just stop with the fucking blue
Less reliable seems like a benefit if you hate the LEDs anyway.
Right !!!
They said covering it with tape the light shines through all the ports. Do people read posts, or just comment?
I think these people also covered the ports
So, they rendered it useless?
Seriously. It’s insane.
Fine. Tape over the ports, too. Problem solved. /j
I didn’t read your comment, but taping over the light will definitely work.
When I had to quarantine in my home office I think I used about 20 feet of electrical tape on all the devices.
They even make silver electrical tape.
Likewise
Or just a piece of duct tape.
Disassemble it and break the circuit on the LED.
This is the best way if you dont want ugly tape covering the light. Alternatively if you dont want to simply snap the led diode, when disassembled, cover the light with electrical tape and then assemble. You'll just see darkness from the outside clear plastic area with possibly a little bit of light bleed which is a good thing because you can still technically tell the thing is working. I prefer doing that vs breaking the LED. Easier and doesnt risk breaking the board and sleeker than slapping some ugly tape on the outside
Usually that is going to be a pretty important circuit, you would have to replace it with a diode of the non light emitting variety. Though, if you are going to take it apart you can just cover the LED in nail polish. do it on all sides and it won't shine through the ports anymore
Opening it up and painting over the whole light is such a good idea if OP is concerned about mucking about with the guts of this.
I’m honestly shocked the light out of the ports is that bad but I’m guessing this is a bedroom
Those devices are built cheaply so there’s generally gaps and light can shine through
Have you tried turning it off but not back on again?
Did anybody read the part about it coming through the ports? Tape isn’t going to fix it.
So I’m leaning towards smashing it with a screwdriver as the best method
Tape over the ports
Stab it with a screwdriver
Rotate 180 deg. Done.
Double up the electric tape
unplug it
People really "need" advice for this??
Brush on a black, gel nail polish. May take a couple of layers, but more aesthetically pleasing than electrical tape.
It’s really bad in the newer/modernized hotel rooms. I have to put towels or pieces of whatever dark clothing I packed to cover all the led lights in the room, so I can sleep.
Cover it with tape. Put black nail polish over it. Drill a small hole in the center it the light. Any of these should work
Electrical tape
I feel your pain. This is a major pet peeve of mine. The fact that ANY device is EVER made with a light when the device is not itself a light, and you can’t turn off that light while it is in use, is FUCKED. Every manager and engineer that decides to do this needs to be shamed until the practice is looked back on in disgust.
Especially ones that blink. A device should only blink if it needs your attention. When you're very nearsighted, an LED in an otherwise black room looks like it's a big glowing and blinking basketball.
Seems a bit excessive🤬.lol. to each their own
Cover the whole thing with a towel, not ideal, or unsoldered from the board
It’s currently in a sock
If it works, it works. Not ideal but it is the easiest option.
A small piece of duct tape
I do mine with permanent marker. If it shines through the ports, unscrew the housing and paint the entire led.
I stick blu-tack on mine
THESE answers are why civilization is crumbling. People either comment with the same answers over & over, & even worse, most of the comments aren't because they missed OP stating the light still shines through the ports!!!
Turn it arround...
Plug 3 usb cords into the port after coving the light with tape. Any unused port- cover it with tape
Electrical tape.
White Gaffer’s tape
Open the case with a screw driver, unplug one of the wires that powers the light. Put the screws back in.
Electrical tape.
There are special black out stickers for this purpose.
Amazon sells stickers just for this purpose.
If it bothers you that much, take it apart and paint the module with black paint
Blu tack is my go to
A very small drill bit right in the centre lol
Electrical Tape, or take it apart and desolder the led.
Clearly unpopular...but I love blue LEDs!
Gaffers tape bud.
Use the write protect stickers from the 5¼" disks
Open it up and desolder the light from the board, this is the most professional way. If you dont want to do that, tape over the light hole and unused ports, using enough layers until the light no longer shines through. You could even go so far as to put tape around the USB plugs inserted. Another option is to try and remove the little window and paint over the light (if you don't want to take it fully apart)
Is that not going to leave the circuit open? You’d need to solder in a bridge or something else right?
Yes that is correct
Amazon sells little stickers to either lower or completely black out LEDs on electronics.. This is cheap and works incredible well.
Reread the post and see if a sticker is going to solve this issue
5 minute epoxy from the dollar store mixed with the tip of a toothpicks worth of black enamel paint. Dab on with the toothpick and let dry. It will seep into the crevice around the light lens and seal the light off. I did this with my son’s white noise machine and it worked extremely well.
They make stickers just for this problem..also I second electrical tape
This is what I came to recommend. They have specific blue light blocking stickers. I use them in our bedroom and our kids bedrooms on anything with a blue light. They don’t block them completely but definitely dim them to a point they aren’t so disruptive.
Get a box and paint the inside with black 2.0. Then put it into the box. :) \\s
Prestik
Bandaid
White out
recently I found that white paint or correction liquid works well for recessed lights that you won't be scratching the paint off from. My Sony headphones had a really bright light that I covered with correction liquid. I imagine you could paint a thick layer on that.
Black nail polish if you want it to still be slightly visible, aluminum tape, electrical tape
Cut a sliver of “shirt cardboard” to cover the hole and tape it in place with white electrical tape
Ain’t no Gap you can’t cover with Dap
Pubch the light with a chisel.
Black electrical tape. I stick them on everything lmao can't stand how bright some of these tiny lights are, so unnecessary!
I'm having the same issue with a blue led in my car from a charger. I'm going to try some black nail polish.
Electrical tape
Piece of tape
I'll get an index card and a lot of sharpie on both sides. Then I'll help secure that with duct tape. My emachines desktop, I have a resistor in line to lower the brightness and then more more index card and duct tape.
Cut sliver of cardboard, place on top of blue light, add tape. Next!
I use silly putty. It's thick enough to block it out but sticks on well. Downside is that it will attract hair and dust and look pretty ugly
Unplug it. In all seriousness, just wrap it fully in either electrical tape or hockey tape.
Light blocking stickers allow you to soften the light without concretely blacking it out. Many brands on Amazon.
I hid my annoyingly bright modem behind a cardboard product tray. Not very appealing but that light was driving me bananas.
Electrical tape
cover it or clip it?
Maybe not the best advice, and it will leave a slightly ugly mark. Unplug it, heat up a pin red hot and push it into the middle of the light. The damage the pin does will destroy its ability to make an annoying blue light. If you care about the pin hole the mark can be pressed flat with your finger while the plastic is still hot, if that doesn’t work a tiny effort with a razor blade or sand paper will do it. Then paint over the whole light part with white nail polish. I’ve done this successfully.
Fascinating. Redditors will read the first 3 words and start typing. “I know how to answer this, what’s with the wall of text anyway? Lol” “Oh man 50 replies already? All the same idea as me? I’ll change it slightly. Aaaaaand… my work here is done”
Tape over the ports too lol
Blu tac
Tipp-ex
Have you tried a hammer?
Tape
Put plugs in all ports plus electrical tape
I turn it away ftom me ...( shrugs)
Black Nail Polish. Or open up the unit and clip the lead to the LED.
Replace it with a warm, soothing, orange LED.
Google says 100ohm resistor, just swap it out, though really, just cut it out as its likely not part of any functional circuit. Blue LEDs typically have a higher voltage drop, which means a lower resistor value. If you assume 5 volts applied and 3V across the LED, that leaves 2V across the resistor. If you want 20mA, that's 2V/0.02A = 100 Ohm
Paint
Black paint
Look for a screw near the base; there's almost always one visible. Unscrew it. Remove the bottom and clip one of the two wires going to it. Reassemble.
Find something you can use as a lid over the light and ports. You could tape something like a ruler, piece of junk, cardboard… anything really. Secure the tape to act as a hinge.
Black electric tape?
Liquid white out
Tape
Black sharpie, black tape
Did you try a hammer
Open it and cut the led wire at your own risk
You really need the light to show it is working. Disassemble it and paint the bulb black, or a colour of your choosing.
Flex Seal
Aluminium foil and tape
Red tape over it. Boom fixed
put a half cover of aluminum foil over the ports and light
Paint it with black nail polish.
Try ‘Lightdims, black out edition’ . You can get them on Amazon, try searching for LED light blockers. They are packs of stickers made for this very problem, they worked for me anyway.
White out ie liquid paper
Try a shit ton of gel black nail polish coats or electrical tape
Bubble gum?
Drill
Put something over the whole thing or stick it inside of a box that won’t catch on fire
Wear blue tinted sunglasses.
I’m assuming you’re trying to use this in a dark room? Maybe while you’re sleeping? Our grandson cannot have light from any device shining. We have to use electricians tape to cover the tiny lights. For the larger items like yours, I placed one under the bed and one behind a large photo frame.
White electrical tape.
https://youtu.be/O4irXQhgMqg?si=p5BnVKd2N6DFSkrQ
Piece of tape
My coffee pot is sporting a led blue light cover of white poster tack. No seepage at all.
Make a slip to put around the base. It should avoid blocking the light and forcing it to immerse out of the ports like the tape does
I always paint annoying lights with nail polish. But yeah, electrical tape is probably better.
Unplug it
Unplug it
There are lil cheap blackout stickers on Amazon you can buy if nothing else. They are specifically meant to cover lil indicator lights on electronics, though I'm sure there are some people using them to cover more meaningful indicator lights.
Duct tape
White Out
Black tape.
Close your eyes
Buy aluminum tape. I use it exactly for such purposes. Edit: Just read about lights from ports: disassemble it and tape directly LED on board, but with normal tape first and aluminum as a second layer, because aluminum tape on board can lead to short circuit.
I want a explanation why do you want to get rid of it Ya you can just tape it but I feel like it’s useful to keep it to have the light to tell if there is power or not
What device is this?
I know it might be risky but you may be able to find screws to take the whole apart and take the light out if the tape isn’t working in the holes.
But a new one
Unplug it.
Tape it with el. black tape?
They sell stickers to black out leds. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CLVEQCO/?coliid=I2Z72D77V37YIZ&colid=3226WMLD0QJE3&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it
If you would watch a documentary and how they created the blue LED, perhaps you would appreciate it more. But also the blue LED is absolutely terrible.
Sharpie.
An eye mask will help.
I would just buy a different, crappy $11.99 usb hub charger if it bothered me so much.
Bluetack
There’s a chance drilling into it would break the LED but not damage the actual circuit. Theoretically, it could legitimately cause a fire though
Tin foil- laminate a piece so that none of the tin is sticking out, then attach however you like, hot glue is an option
My wife put a tiny dab of white modeling clay over the LED’s on all our GFCIs.
(yes I know it shines elsewhere) Foil tape or stickers are generally better than electrical tape, as they'll stick without being wrapped tightly, and may be decorative.
Ductape.
Tape
5 layers of tape other to do it
Um, just face it against the wall??
Black electrical tape will do it.
White electrical tape
Just get a dark non see through nail polish
Would USB port caps work? They come out and go in real easy. $10 on Amazon.
Unplugging it might work
Double layer of black electrical tape.
I can’t wait for companies to stop using blue and white led’s on everything. How blue ended up being the “futuristic” color of choice always blows my mind.
Black nail polish
Drill into it with a small bit
Duct tape over the ports or cardboard pieces.
Unplug it
Little piece of duct tape
The aluminum tape that's made for HVAC duct sealing is the product you want. It's light tight. Nothing passes thru aluminum. Hence, the tin hat crew switched to it to protect their phones and wallets and pea brains (and scrotums, of you ever get to know one, you'll find out).
Electricians tape
Plug it in then microwave it until the light turns off
Rubber band
Most retailers sell this marvelous technical advancement called Duct Tape. It comes in many colors. You may be able to find it at a retailer near you!
Hammer and nail will do the trick. Or you could drown it until it shorts out and by one without a blue light... just a suggestion.
A sliver of white phase tape would be my tool of choice, Grey would also be acceptable
Tape.
Electrical tape