Can I connect a Power LED to both locations on a motherboard?

[mikeconic]

I have a Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H motherboard (manual at http:// ), and it has two separate places on it's front panel connections for the Power LED (page 15). One of them is labeled "Power LED" and the pins are "PLED+" and "PLED-", then there is another area also labeled "Power LED" and it has three pins that are "PWR_LED +", "PWR_LED -" and "PWR_LED -". It makes no mention anywhere of what the difference between these two are.

My case came with a Power LED that has two separate pins, so I plugged in into the PLED area that only has two places. But my question is, what is the other one for? And is it okay if I put my two-pins LED into the area that has three pins available? If so, which of the "PWR_LED -" do I use? And the question that I am really curious about, can I plug in two Power LEDs, as in one Power LED into each of the spots on the motherboard? I have an old Power LED from a different computer that has a "+" and "-" wire, and I thought that if it's possible to plug in both, then I could add a bit of light to the front of my case, since nothing in my case has any LEDs other than the front Power LED.

If anyone knows any of these answers, I would greatly appreciate it, since the manual makes no mention of it.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Well I have to say, that's a perty cheap manual.... mine is 212 pages. If you have a 2 pin connector use the 2 pin header.... if you have a 3 pin connector ....

 

[terry4536]

The PWR connections are for the front panel power switch. The PLED connections are for the front panel power indicator LED. I assume that the PWR LED connectors are an auxiliary LED like an LED strip for inside the case. I looked through the BIOS instructions and I didn't find any mention of it.

The 2 pin LED power indicator is the norm.

 

[mikeconic]

I'm pretty sure they are not for an LED strip, the case does not have any place for them, and this motherboard definitely wouldn't supply a space for that directly on the Front Panel section. Like I said, they are both labeled as "Power LED" but have different names for the pins, and they are both in the same section about Front Panel Power indicator LED.

Again my main question is, can I plug the two pins into two of the pins in the area labeled with three pins, since each pin is it's own plug, its not like they are together. And also, can I plug in TWO separate LEDs into it to have two Power LEDs.

Thanks

 

[terry4536]

I suggested the LED strip as a possibility. I said that because I have never seen a three pin connector for the front panel power LED of a case. The two pin format for the power LED is the standard as far as I know it. There is no reason to have a third connector for an LED. Perhaps there is a standard for case power LED's in some other country. But if that is true, why isn't a common feature in other manufacturers' motherboards.

The LED strips are designed to plug into a three pin fan header on the motherboard for power, but some motherboards do not have extra fan headers. I'm speculating here, but the manual that you provided doesn't provide any rational for the additional LED connector.

 

[terry4536]

There is no reason (at this point) why you couldn't plug it into those connectors. Just take the polarity of the connector into account.

If you want to be extra cautious, check the PWR_LED pins with a multimeter and compare them to the other PLED pins.

 

[mikeconic]

I've seen quite a few posts on here in my research with people that actually have 3-pin connections FROM the front panel Power LED, and how they actually only have 2 wires in them, but take up 3 spaces in a 3 pin box, and most of them only had the 2 pin area on their motherboards so they need to take the wires out of the 3pin box and move them.

Unfortunately I don't have a multimeter, and even if I did, I'm not sure that would tell me weather I could have 2 LEDs powered at the same time. Hopefully someone will know.

 

[terry4536]

You can remove the leads from the connector. You can search the topic. The individual leads have a barb that needs to be depressed to pull the lead out of the connector. They do sell that tool exactly for that purpose, but a slim micro flat screw driver works too.

The multimeter would tell you if it is simply a situation of a closed circuit or whether an additional voltage was applied. More than likely it is just a matter of a closed circuit.