Gauge Cluster Backlight Color Change - Not LED

[OJmobileII]

Hello, I have been looking at all the threads with LED backlit gauge clusters. I have been wondering if anyone has taken the steps to sand off the orange and then just use the existing lights? To be honest, kind of intimidated by the LED install. I think the stock lights should be able to shine through as bright, if not brighter, than with the orange there. Which still might not be bright enough for some, but would be bright enough for me.



Here is a picture taken from this write-up to help illustrate:

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As you can see, the tach appears white (and maybe brighter) than the speedo which has an orange tint.



Hoping the final result will look something like this (of course, not that bright, but bright enough):

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Pic taken from this thread.



So basically, has anyone tried sanding off the orange and than reinstalling the gauge faces with no modification to the back lighting? Pics, comments, etc. please.

 

[turbosax2]

I think that sanding off the backs would definitely help more light shine through. Be warned this light may not appear "white" like my led's. It will probably be more of a yellowish tint because of the nature of the bulbs. I'll try to get you some pictures of what this may look like.

 

[OJmobileII]

I think that sanding off the backs would definitely help more light shine through. Be warned this light may not appear "white" like my led's. It will probably be more of a yellowish tint because of the nature of the bulbs. I'll try to get you some pictures of what this may look like.

Eric, thanks for the quick response. And I would really appreciate the pictures. I understand it will not be a bright hyper white like your gauges, but hoping it will appear as white as the tach in the first pic. If the gauges do appear with an orange/yellow tint, maybe just more sanding would be the remedy

 

[turbosax2]

I'm working on it now And as for more sanding, that's not really possible. If you look at my thread in post 9 I show a gauge with no sanding and a gauge that's completely sanded down. Once you reach that point, that's it, you can't go any further. I think the gauges may appear yellowish because of the bulbs, not because of the gauges. Hopefully we'll find out in a few minutes

 

[DGajre777]

I've replaced stock bulbs with LED bulbs from www.superbrightleds.com and if you don't mind the hot spots in some areas, they don't really look that bad.

 

[turbosax2]

Well, my predictions were correct. As you can see in the pictures, the light is definitely brighter with the gauge sanded, but is still a yellow/orange color. The sanded down gauge that was used for the pictures was the exact one used in my gauge cluster (the picture in your first post) so the yellow color is attributed to the bulbs. Sanding down the gauges in addition to adding some led's like DGajre777 suggested might get a good look going on, with a lot less work than I've gone through!

Edit: Or you can stick it out and check out my writeup on the led install - may be up to a month or so before I get to it though. If you have questions though, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[crimsondragon]

dang that sucks. when i started reading this thread, i was thinking maybe i could sand it down and put blue vinlyn on the back so it's blue at nite. guess that idea is thrown out if it still is yellowish.

 

[Eclipse98Spyder]

Looks like stock brightness to me

 

[turbosax2]

Looks like stock brightness to me

These pictures aren't taken with the cluster on the car. I'm just using a 12v lantern battery to test them so they will be brighter on the car. You can clearly see the difference between the sanded down gauge and the non-sanded down gauge.

 

[turbosax2]

dang that sucks. when i started reading this thread, i was thinking maybe i could sand it down and put blue vinlyn on the back so it's blue at nite. guess that idea is thrown out if it still is yellowish.

Using blue lights would be a better idea.

 

[DGajre777]

I went with red led bulbs.

 

[davidgoss]

do you have pics of your guages DGajre777?

 

[OJmobileII]

Eric, thank you for going through the trouble to test my idea. Its a shame that the gauges are still tinted.

I wonder if just replacing the stock bulbs with white LED bulbs like Dee suggested would yield the white backlight look i desire. Since he said he had used red.

Dee I would like to see some pics if possible and if you have time.

 

[gsttuner22]

I did something else....I got red reflective tape and i put it behind the gauges and i also wrapped the little bulbs with the tape...theres a guy on here that i was talking to and he did it in a diff way ....he bought some caps and he just put them on top of the bulbs.... ill show you some pics

justoscar1

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And here are mine ....

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[OJmobileII]

I did something else....I got red reflective tape and i put it behind the gauges and i also wrapped the little bulbs with the tape...theres a guy on here that i was talking to and he did it in a diff way ....he bought some caps and he just put them on top of the bulbs.... ill show you some pics

I was thinking about doing it one of those ways if I decided to do a more overpowering color than the faint yellow that would show through after the sanding. But I was really interested in having white. Definitely an option and great info for others reading the thread, thanks.

 

[gsttuner22]

So how would you go about making it white ?....And with what grit did u sand down the gauge faces, and how did you take off the needles and stuff ?....

 

[turbosax2]

So how would you go about making it white ?....And with what grit did u sand down the gauge faces, and how did you take off the needles and stuff ?....

You can check out my thread here: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271195&highlight=led+cluster

I used sandpaper to remove all of the factory yellow tint and black and white gradient screening that was on the back of the gauge faces. I started with 150 grit and worked my way up to 600 grit just to smooth the face out. After I installed the lights and checked to see how they looked with the gauge faces on, I noticed several tiny "pinhole" leaks of light on the black parts of the gauge face. I don't know if the leaks were there before I sanded the screening off or not. I fixed these leaks by placing small pieces of electrical tape on the backs of the faces. This didn't affect how the light shone through at all.

You take off the needles using a fork. Slide the needle between two of the teeth on the fork and gently pry upwards. Everything else can be disassembled with a screwdriver.

 

[OJmobileII]

So how would you go about making it white ?....And with what grit did u sand down the gauge faces, and how did you take off the needles and stuff ?....

I posted a link to his thread below the pic in the original post for those with questions. There is also a link to another write-up above the first pic. Both of those should help. Goodluck.

Been looking over the site that Dee posted (http://www.superbrightleds.com/) and seems like these could be a good solution for someone like myself who is hesitant to do all the work that Eric and others have done with the tiny LED's and soldering. I would love to see a pic from Dee and a description of which LED bulbs he purchased. Hopefully he will have time to enlighten us some time soon.

 

[cotsi95]

I did something else....I got red reflective tape and i put it behind the gauges and i also wrapped the little bulbs with the tape...theres a guy on here that i was talking to and he did it in a diff way ....he bought some caps and he just put them on top of the bulbs.... ill show you some pics

justoscar1

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And here are mine ....

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any more pics of your friends? Did he just use the red condom covers like the ones you get with autometer gauges? It looks really good!

 

[gsttuner22]

no just that one .... but i put his username on top of his pictures...and yes thats all he did.

 

[gsttuner22]

And honestly..you should have posted like a warning sign for anyone attempting this .. !!....i think i messed up the oil temp, gas,water,temp gauge.......but w.e ....better excuse to get real gauges

 

[cmptrphreak]

On my 90 Eclipse Al I did was take Each bulb out of the dash and spray painted em red and it looked really nice. No pic though sry

 

[stevieraywolf]

If you really wanted bright, colored lights, you could just use colored LED's....

Or, replace the bulb with a better filament and put colored filter paper on the back of the gauge.

 

[Thungar]

What size of twist in l.e.d.s are in the back of the 2g cluster?

 

[2gSX018]

Has anyone tried just replacing the dash bulbs themselves with a l.e.d. replacement? i found some at LED Lights & Accessories - SUPER BRIGHT LEDS. I did this in my old SRT4 and saw a dramatic difference. I'm curious how well this would work without sanding or anything else.