blue dash lights?

[92eclipse_gs]

Does anyone know where, or if i can even get, blue bulbs for my instrument panel? I am planning to order blue reverse glow gauges and i want my instrument panel to match. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on how i can do this? Thanks a bunch.

-Nick

 

[justin0469]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5282&highlight=blue+light+dash+led

or do you mean your HVAC controls?

 

[92eclipse_gs]

yes! exactly. do they differ between the 1g and the 2g though?

-Nick

 

[justin0469]

as long as you understand basic electronics, the idea is the same. he said that he just soldered the LEDs to the contacts of where the original bulb goes

 

[92eclipse_gs]

haha i never would have thought of that. thanks alot im gonna do that soon. ill let you know how it goes.

-Nick

 

[Galaxy]

I just did this to my 2G Thursday,its one LED and a 330 ohm resistor and now they are blue.I also have a 92 GS that I'm gonna do this to once its running so if you get stuck I'll look at mine and try to help.

 

[92eclipse_gs]

Alright cool. I'm gonna give mine a try this week sometime. Did you get the LEDs and resistors at Radio Shack? Im assuming so cause I cant think of any other place to get them.

 

[eagle97talon]

I just did this to my 2G Thursday,its one LED and a 330 ohm resistor and now they are blue.I also have a 92 GS that I'm gonna do this to once its running so if you get stuck I'll look at mine and try to help.

did you say ONE led? is that bright enough to illuminate the entire panel?

 

[Galaxy]

I only used one for the HVAC controls,that is correct.The brightness is slightly dimmer than the stock orangish-white but could be a little bit brighter to match the intensity of the radio face.The lowest part where the recirculation selector is, is pretty dim as are the sides but I'm sure that could be remedied by 3 more LEDs...I just put one in the stock bulb location.

The light from LEDs is directional where as the bulb you will be taking out shines on all sides. All the controls are lit up through white plastic that sits behind the overlays but what sucks about white plastic is it likes to absorb UV light,since blue's wavelength is so close to Ultra Violet it likes to absorb some of that too.

If you can,do not buy the LEDs from Radio Shack for a couple reasons...

Thier blue LEDs are really close to purple so that light will not get carried through the plastic as well as a lighter blue one.

They're pretty dim on around the 3 volts you'll be getting after the 330 ohm resistor

If you can,look in the phonebook for local electronics shops or maybe computer repair shops and ask about LEDs,they may be slightly more expensive there though.I think I paid $8 apiece for 2 that came from Digi-Key's catalog.

Or....my new favorite way to snag LEDs is to take them out of cheap toys or other things that just happen to have LEDs in them.The one I used in the car was from a blinking shot glass that Camel sent me in the mail...for free.I've seen wierd little rubbery things with LEDs in them at Wal-Mart for 99 cents...buy 3 of those.

 

[92eclipse_gs]

Alright thanks ill try that instead. I think I'm gonna go with using two of the LED's just cause i think it will be a bit brighter. I'll try one, and see how bright it is, then two. And let you all know how it goes.

 

[VelocitàPaola]

eBay's a good resource for LEDs. I got a bag of 100 LEDs with resistors (330 ohm) for like $5 shipped. Plus, they were "super bright," so I ended up with a decent looking result using only one LED. Where should I put the other 99?

 

[92eclipse_gs]

Do you know the sellers name that you got them from by any chance? Its not a big deal but if you remember let me know.

 

[VelocitàPaola]

"besthongkong"

I'm not endorsing anybody or anything...

I managed to get 4000mcd, supposedly some of the brightest ones out there. They make them up to 8000 or 10,000mcd I think, but past 4,000 the difference is negligible, so save your money.

 

[92eclipse_gs]

Awesome. Thanks alot man.

 

[xveganxcowboyx]

"besthongkong"

I'm not endorsing anybody or anything...

I managed to get 4000mcd, supposedly some of the brightest ones out there. They make them up to 8000 or 10,000mcd I think, but past 4,000 the difference is negligible, so save your money.

Depends on the size, but this isn't accurate. You can find 3mm's up to 27,000, 5mm around 75,000, and 10mm even beyond that.

I used 6-7,000mcd blue LED's in my gauge cluster. it took 40 just to get it decently visible. Pay the extra and get 20,000+


Also, they cease to be very directional if you take the ends to a grinding wheel

 

[VelocitàPaola]

by the way...

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164383&highlight=LED

 

[Galaxy]

That guy that did that write up did a hack job,you can fit the LED and resistor in the stock bulb housing and simply twist it back in.Theres no need for tape and glue and hoping it stays.

 

[VelocitàPaola]

That guy that did that write up did a hack job,you can fit the LED and resistor in the stock bulb housing and simply twist it back in.Theres no need for tape and glue and hoping it stays.

Very true... but it gives a general idea of how the set up should be.

Although, I didn't want my LED to sit where the bulb socket would've put it, so I just used a little hot glue. There have been no shifting issues for almost a year now. If you use the stock socket, you risk less than optimal light dispersion, which is key when only using one LED.

 

[92eclipse_gs]

Is that what you did with yours? Just putting the LED and the resistor in the orignal housing?

 

[VelocitàPaola]

Is that what you did with yours? Just putting the LED and the resistor in the orignal housing?

First, I took out the stock bulb and bulb holder, and clipped off the harness that connects to it. I soldered the resistor to the LED, and connected the leads to the wires from where the harness was. Everything was insulated with heat shrink tubing. It was finished by carefully adjusting the position of the bare LED in the hole that the bulb socket was in (so no... I didn't use the housing). Once I found the optimal placement for maximum light dispersion, I secured the LED with a little hot glue.

 

[Galaxy]

I guess I'd have to see what you did but if you move the LED back much from where the original housing was...theres nothing to glue to.Did you glue it to the edge of the hole?

I used the stock bulb holder and from every pic I've seen of other peoples,its just as bright.I'll try to get a pic of mine but I have a very poor cam and it does not do well in low light.

 

[VelocitàPaola]

Did you sand down the top of the LED to increase spread? I intentionally didn't, which is why I needed to set it back further. This way, the light had more of a chance to spread and hit the dispersion material inside the unit. If I moved it any farther in, I would get a very patchy light pattern concentrated on one control.

 

[Galaxy]

I didn't sand,grind,or distort the LED in any way as it does not matter.The light hits the white plastic behind all those controls,then the plastic carries it so it doesn't really matter as long as you hit the plastic with the light.I still have mine torn apart in the 2G messing with the AC switch so I'll just shine an LED back there and see if/where it gets brighter.

I've also thought about brushing on a coating on the back of all the white plastic,for fiber optics that sort of keeps the light in and prevents it from leaking out.That may bring more of the intensity to the front.

 

[VelocitàPaola]

I've also thought about brushing on a coating on the back of all the white plastic,for fiber optics that sort of keeps the light in and prevents it from leaking out.That may bring more of the intensity to the front.

That'd be really cool, let us know how it turns out.

I didn't sand,grind,or distort the LED in any way as it does not matter.The light hits the white plastic behind all those controls,then the plastic carries it so it doesn't really matter as long as you hit the plastic with the light.

That's not entirely true. The light hitting the panel needs to be spread far enough to carry throughout the whole plastic piece. If its too collimated, you'll get that patchy appearance.

 

[92eclipse_gs]

I've also thought about brushing on a coating on the back of all the white plastic,for fiber optics that sort of keeps the light in and prevents it from leaking out.That may bring more of the intensity to the front.

That sounds like a sweet idea. If you end up doing it let us know for sure.