Badge Lite

Can't see your case badge in the dark? Want to make a case badge that stands out? Then light up your case badge with Badge Lite! Badge Lite is a very easy and inexpensive way to customize your computer case with a personal touch. You can use Badge Lite to light up your own custom case badge but it also works with most existing case badges (See Note).

On the right is an example of one of case badges lit by Badge Lite.

• 24" (609mm) wire harness. Long enough to let you install in a full size tower without stretching your power supply power cables. Long enough to let you hide the wire and keep the inside of you case looking good.
• Y adapter. This is a separate part so you don't have to use it if you don't need it but it's there in case you do.
• 5 ½ inches (138.7mm) by 4 ¼ inches (108mm) Printable Sticker Sheet. As a bonus we've included a sheet of material you can use to make your own stickers. This will give you a chance to see what colors work well with your light and give you something to cover your light with until your case badge arrives.
• Light unit -the heart of this kit. It has a protective paper cover on the front of the light diffuser. The light diffuser is a special plastic designed to spread light across the badge and to the edges as much as possible. The back of the diffuser is coated with adhesive so you can attach the light to ANY flat surface on your case that has enough room for the connector inside. The light source is a high power LED (Light Emitting Diode) that generates virtually no heat and uses less than .5 watts of power with a mean time between failure of 100,000 hours. The light will be available in red, green, blue, and yellow.

• Make it easy to install. If you can drill a hole you can install the Badge Lite™. We wanted to have case power run an external light so there had to be a hole in the case. The trick is to make the hole as small as possible. We worked long and hard trying to get the hole down to the smallest size. The smaller hole required a smaller light and that caused a bright spot on the front of the badge that was unacceptable. By using the larger LED we were able to reduce the bright spot to an acceptable level. The larger the LED the larger the hole but, 1/2 inch (13mm) drill bits are commonly available. Installation is simply a matter of choosing a spot on your case and drilling a hole. Check the area inside the case where you want to put the Badge Lite™ to make sure there is enough clearance - 1/2 inch (13mm) minimum.
• Make it fit into a small space. There is not a lot of space behind the case badge slot on most cases. We researched various "light pipe" solutions that would spread the light more evenly across the badge. A light pipe is usually clear plastic with good light transmission properties. The plastic is shaped in a way that directs light where it needs to go. The problem with a light pipe is that it would take too much space inside the case. We had to find a way to diffuse the light over the surface of the badge in a very small space. The combination of the large LED and the special optical characteristics of the light diffuser achieve this goal.
• Make it visible in room light. Getting a light that was bright enough to be seen through the backing of a case badge in the dark is one thing. Getting a light that is bright enough to go through a the backing on a case badge and be seen in room lighting is something else. LEDs are perfect because they use very little power, have a long life, and generate almost no heat. In the past LEDs were not bright enough to meet this design challenge. The current generation of LEDs meet this challenge with ease.
• Make it work with ALL badges. Most case badges are photo paper with a clear resin or urethane bubble covering. With a bright enough light it is possible to over come the 85% opacity of paper and shine through. Some case badges have an aluminum backing and no light will penetrate no matter how bright. The solution is to provide edge lighting. The light diffuser on the Badge Lite™ extends past the surface of the case providing an edge for light to flow out of. A normal photo paper badge is lit from the back and on the edges. An aluminum backed case badge will be lit around the edges. The special optical characteristics of the diffuser allow the Badge Lite™ to work with all badges.

• Keep "the color shift" in mind when choosing a badge or sticker. If you have a red light and use a badge that has mostly blue in its color scheme the red light will make the blue look purple. The badge colors will be color shifted by the color of the light that shines on it.
• Don't touch adhesives or they won't stick. The adhesive on the back of the light unit and the adhesive on the printable sticker paper both benefit when you follow this rule.
• Adhesives stick better to clean surfaces. Your kit has a cleaning swab. Use it on the surface you stick the light unit to and use it on the front of the light unit (after you peel off the protective paper cover).
• Remove any burrs from the drilled hole. Burrs reduce the ability of the light unit to stick to your case.

• GideonTech
• ComputerSphere - "Overall this would be a great addition to any case it will let everyone see your badge you either made with the provided printing paper or your current badge you have now. I recommend the badge lite kit to users who want a quick install with a great outcome." 9 out of 10!
• ClubOverclocker - "A shot in the dark! This would look pretty darn cool with some cold cathodes and such. The red is shown here, although the light comes in blue, white, or yellow. ... the CrazyPC Badge Lite is Club Overclocker recommended!