Speedometer Modification

[trinity]

[trinity]

Saturday Evening....

Edited March 13, 2015 by trinity

[Jor-el]

LOL.... Age old excuse to go offline

Anyway you saved lotsa time, now you dont have to type the guide from scratch

Edited March 13, 2015 by Jor-el

[Rumesh88]

Trinity, Good job machan. I've put them LEDs on my dashboard as well. Mighty convenient having those. Any idea how to get rid of those dark spots?

Those dark spots are due to the directional nature of LED lights compared to filament lamps. If the space is accessible you can address the issue to some extent by pasting white luminous stickers on the panels (which are usually black color) in front and behind the bulb so that the light is diffused within the space. I bought the sticker material from J**wa Plastics on Darley Rd.

BTW congrats on the good DIY job trinity!

[s.madura]

nicely done Trinity!

[Davy]

Had a good laugh reading the chat. Yeah, good job trinity.

You will be able to get rid of the dark spots if a bulb with 5 SMDs is used I guess (one SMD pointing at each direction).

[Sierra Charlie]

Those dark spots are due to the directional nature of LED lights compared to filament lamps. If the space is accessible you can address the issue to some extent by pasting white luminous stickers on the panels (which are usually black color) in front and behind the bulb so that the light is diffused within the space. I bought the sticker material from J**wa Plastics on Darley Rd.

BTW congrats on the good DIY job trinity!

Rumesh, I've replaced my cabin lights with a square strip of LEDs. Now it's far more brighter. But I hate seeing that strip of LEDs against the back of the light enclosure. Can I slap these white luminous stickers against the back of the light enclosure and get the light to evenly dissipate instead of looking like one of those light towers of Premadasa in fog?

[Rumesh88]

Rumesh, I've replaced my cabin lights with a square strip of LEDs. Now it's far more brighter. But I hate seeing that strip of LEDs against the back of the light enclosure. Can I slap these white luminous stickers against the back of the light enclosure and get the light to evenly dissipate instead of looking like one of those light towers of Premadasa in fog?

Is the strip positioned very close to the lens? Some of the strips are fixed on to the festoon type lamp fitting while others comes with a flying lead. If it is with the flying lead then you need to keep a gap between the lens and the LED array. Try a clear piece of an clear acrylic sheet in between. If it is the festoon type I'm afraid you would have to live with it. Luminous stickers will not be of much use here for the back of the dome light is usually of white color anyway.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Rumesh88

[Sierra Charlie]

Is the strip positioned very close to the lens? Some of the strips are fixed on to the festoon type lamp fitting while others comes with a flying lead. If it is with the flying lead then you need to keep a gap between the lens and the LED array. Try a clear piece of an clear acrylic sheet in between. If it is the festoon type I'm afraid you would have to live with it. Luminous stickers will not be of much use here for the back of the dome light is usually of white color anyway.

It's a flying lead. There were some festoon types, but these look alright with the back of the dome light being reflective. I'll try putting a clear acrylic piece. Will it burn? Even now, the LEDs are quite warm to the touch after a couple of minutes.

[NRX]

Rumesh, I've replaced my cabin lights with a square strip of LEDs. Now it's far more brighter. But I hate seeing that strip of LEDs against the back of the light enclosure. Can I slap these white luminous stickers against the back of the light enclosure and get the light to evenly dissipate instead of looking like one of those light towers of Premadasa in fog?

You can create something like a diffuser used in flash photography ? of course it will reduce the light output but the output will be much softer.

[Sierra Charlie]

You can create something like a diffuser used in flash photography ? of course it will reduce the light output but the output will be much softer.

I was thinking the same. But I guess it has to be heat resistant since the LEDs are going to be right against the material. That's why I've been putting it aside for quite a while. Clear acrylic does sound like a good option. Have to find some and try. @Rumesh88 Any idea where I can find a piece of that? Sorry, I've no idea where to find these stuff.

[Rumesh88]

It's a flying lead. There were some festoon types, but these look alright with the back of the dome light being reflective. I'll try putting a clear acrylic piece. Will it burn? Even now, the LEDs are quite warm to the touch after a couple of minutes.

The LEDs should not get heated enough to burn an acrylic sheet. Melting point (I mean glass transition temp) of those sheets vary from 80 to over 100 C and should not matter in this case. If your LED temperature get close to 80C then they will fail after sometime anyway.

I was thinking the same. But I guess it has to be heat resistant since the LEDs are going to be right against the material. That's why I've been putting it aside for quite a while. Clear acrylic does sound like a good option. Have to find some and try. @Rumesh88 Any idea where I can find a piece of that? Sorry, I've no idea where to find these stuff.

Those who deal with sign boards have them. But since all you need a small piece try with someone doing tail/signal light repairs. There was a place in Battaramulla town (Oralight or something) but it has been ages since I last sought their services.

[trinity]

Looks like a neat job Trinity. Nice work...

It'll look better if the thermometer was illuminated as same as the fuel meter and without those few dark spots here and there. Anyways now it looks wayyy better than before..

Thanks machang, dark spots are due to two reasons

1. There are only 4 bulbs to illuminate the entire area..

2. The LED type i used was T10 with 1 SMD (See Fig 001) which only focus the light in to one area... Ideally i should have used LEDs with 5SMDs (See Fig 002) so that light is evenly spread throughout the entire gauge cluster.. (I have ordered them already)

Fig 001

Fig 002

Trinity, Good job machan. I've put them LEDs on my dashboard as well. Mighty convenient having those. Any idea how to get rid of those dark spots?

Thanks machang,,,

1. use LEDs with 5SMDs (If possible)

2. Clean the plastic that helps the light to travel all around the panel.

Had a good laugh reading the chat. Yeah, good job trinity.

You will be able to get rid of the dark spots if a bulb with 5 SMDs is used I guess (one SMD pointing at each direction).

Thanks Davy for everything,,, I ordered LEDs with 5SMDs.. will put them and see how it goes once i receive them..

[trinity]

LOL.... Age old excuse to go offline

Anyway you saved lotsa time, now you dont have to type the guide from scratch

No men.. its an iPhone..

[trinity]

Those dark spots are due to the directional nature of LED lights compared to filament lamps. If the space is accessible you can address the issue to some extent by pasting white luminous stickers on the panels (which are usually black color) in front and behind the bulb so that the light is diffused within the space. I bought the sticker material from J**wa Plastics on Darley Rd.

BTW congrats on the good DIY job trinity!

Thanks Rumesh.. You are spot on about the dark spots.. Space could be accessed but it means dismantling the gauge cluster further more.. For an inexperience guy like me it could be a risky job.. But i believe 5SMD LEDs will solve this issue.. will see..

[Jor-el]

Nevermind figured that out.. U should switch to an android tho

Edited March 13, 2015 by Jor-el

[trinity]

Nevermind figured that out.. U should switch to an android tho

What can i say, i just like apple products...

[Sierra Charlie]

What can i say, i just like apple products...

iSheep!

[HashanJay]

That's really great ! I always wanted to try this but I was not much sure of these chinese SMDs, Looks like they work .

BDW Trinity, machan did your car come with a adjustable dashboard illumination switch ? I'm curious how LED will work with the illumination adjuster... Thoughts ?

Could you share the Ebay link where you ordered the 5 way SMD...

[Sierra Charlie]

That's really great ! I always wanted to try this but I was not much sure of these chinese SMDs, Looks like they work .

BDW Trinity, machan did your car come with a adjustable dashboard illumination switch ? I'm curious how LED will work with the illumination adjuster... Thoughts ?

Could you share the Ebay link where you ordered the 5 way SMD...

I have a dashboard illumination adjuster on the Galant and it works very well with the LEDs.

[HashanJay]

I have a dashboard illumination adjuster on the Galant and it works very well with the LEDs.

Thanks Sierra, that's good news, so better start off with 5 sided SMDs from eBay. So let the big wait begins (from China to Sri Lanka)

[Hiranga]

I also used that type of LED bulb, But it get loosen after few months

However it gives an elegant look for the Dashboard

By the way, Nice JOB

Keep up all the good work

[trinity]

That's really great ! I always wanted to try this but I was not much sure of these chinese SMDs, Looks like they work .

BDW Trinity, machan did your car come with a adjustable dashboard illumination switch ? I'm curious how LED will work with the illumination adjuster... Thoughts ?

Could you share the Ebay link where you ordered the 5 way SMD...

You mean the rheostat? yes mine has it. Unfortunately it went out of order even before i switch the bulbs. Probably a burnt fuse. Never bothered to fix it. So im unable to answer you on this. But i see Sierra has already given you the answer.

Dont bother ordering 5 way SMDs. I've received plenty of them when i ordered. If you come by pettah let me know. I'll give you the bulbs. (Still i couldnt fix them on mine. Busy life these days.)

[HashanJay]

You mean the rheostat? yes mine has it. Unfortunately it went out of order even before i switch the bulbs. Probably a burnt fuse. Never bothered to fix it. So im unable to answer you on this. But i see Sierra has already given you the answer.

Dont bother ordering 5 way SMDs. I've received plenty of them when i ordered. If you come by pettah let me know. I'll give you the bulbs. (Still i couldnt fix them on mine. Busy life these days.)

"Rheostat" the mystery word it is

Well mine still works fine and as Sierra said it works, so worth giving it a try. Will PM you if I come by. Thanks for kind help buddy !

[Sierra Charlie]

"Rheostat" the mystery word it is

Well mine still works fine and as Sierra said it works, so worth giving it a try. Will PM you if I come by. Thanks for kind help buddy !

I've no idea whether I've the 5 way SMDs. All I know is that, with the LEDs the dashboard looks much brighter and way more cooler. I replaced the cabin lights with some LED strip as well. Thinking of replacing the door lights with the LEDs. But can't find the time to go get it done.

As for the 'Rheostat', didn't have a clue that's what it's called. You come here and learn stuff everyday. Can't think of a better reason than that for a dose of AL each day.