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Dashboard Lights

Started by _Herne_ , May 03 2007 11:33 AM

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20 replies to this topic

#1 _Herne_

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Posted 03 May 2007 - 11:33 AM

Hi Guys correct me if I am wrong but I believe these lights are now available in coloured LED?

Posted Image

I want to replace my dash lights with something brighter. I am assuming a company like Jaycar would have the LED's should they be available.

Questions:
How many lamps in an SL/R5000 dash? (I want to buy them now and dont want to end up short)

Anyone done this and if so how do you find them?

Any other suggestions regarding dash lights?

Cheers
Herne

Just thought of another question.
Has anyone added lights around or above the heater controls etc?? If so what did you use and how did you do it

Edited by Herne, 03 May 2007 - 11:37 AM.

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#2 _devilsadvocate_

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Posted 03 May 2007 - 01:10 PM

I dont know if there is a replacement led type globe for that shown. If you do find one, I would recommend only buying one and trial it out. My experience with LED globes so far is that they are poor substitute for incandescant globes in a car environment in terms of brightness, direction and cost. They do have reportedly longer life and extremely low current use in comparison , but this possibly isnt an issue unless wanting to run the lamps for extended periods of time with the engine off. There could also be some issues not functioning properly(gradual change in brightness) when the voltage is reduced when adjusting the dimmer control.

Edited by devilsadvocate, 03 May 2007 - 01:14 PM.

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#3 _Herne_

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Posted 03 May 2007 - 02:22 PM

Thanks DA I understand where you are coming from.

My aim is to gain improved dash lighting as at night and turned up fully mine are not that good. I haven't taken the dash out as yet and quite possibly I might have the odd blown globe??

Anyway here is an eBay link I just found showing what I believe could be the replacement globes in LED style.

http://cgi.ebay.com....89528&rd=1&rd=1

I am asking if anyone has tried them as I was thinking they might be too bright for the dash? Never thought about them working with a dimmer switch either. I do know my dimmer switch is turned up as bright as the lights will go.

They are not cheap but won't break the bank either. Possibly a couple or so might be enough for my needs and I may not need to replace every one.

Herne

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#4 _devilsadvocate_

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Posted 03 May 2007 - 03:06 PM

If no one has tried them, not too much $ to try I suppose. Possibly your own lamps have blackened (filament deposit) on inside of globe(quite common with dash lamps and reduced voltages) and new ones would be much brighter

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#5 LHEFI

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Posted 03 May 2007 - 03:18 PM

Try this place http://www.ledshoponline.com/

Cheers

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#6 _Flamenco_

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Posted 03 May 2007 - 03:24 PM

I have done what you are suggesting before Herne. It's true what DA says about brightness and direction... I took a different approach and drilled some extra holes at the back of the dash (I had about 10 in total).

I put some rubber tubing in the holes I drilled (same size as w/wiper squirter hose) for use as a LED holder. I just wired up superbright LEDs with the appropriate resistors and plugged them into the holes I drilled. (I took out the factory globes and used the wire for them as the power supply).

Initially I thought they weren't bright enough so I took off the 3 windows on top of the cluster and glued foil around all the underside of it apart from the windows.
This worked very well (I used blue LEDs and LH (White) SL/R instruments).
No dimmer used.

Edited by Flamenco, 03 May 2007 - 03:25 PM.

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#7 _Herne_

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Posted 03 May 2007 - 03:56 PM

Try this place http://www.ledshoponline.com/

Cheers

Hi and thanks for the site, I have bookmarked it for future reference as I think I might have a few more little jobs coming up for my car re lighting

Cheers
Herne

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#8 _Herne_

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Posted 03 May 2007 - 04:01 PM

I have done what you are suggesting before Herne. It's true what DA says about brightness and direction... I took a different approach and drilled some extra holes at the back of the dash (I had about 10 in total).

I put some rubber tubing in the holes I drilled (same size as w/wiper squirter hose) for use as a LED holder. I just wired up superbright LEDs with the appropriate resistors and plugged them into the holes I drilled. (I took out the factory globes and used the wire for them as the power supply).

Initially I thought they weren't bright enough so I took off the 3 windows on top of the cluster and glued foil around all the underside of it apart from the windows.
This worked very well (I used blue LEDs and LH (White) SL/R instruments).
No dimmer used.

Ahh thanks Flamenco, thats the exact type of information I was looking for

I know nothing about electrical things so do I use a resistor on every led if I follow your plan? And if so what resistor do I need? I am thinking they would be different?

DA you may well be right about filament deposit so thats another thing I can look at and it's by far the cheaper and easiest route for me.

My usual wiring job is to connect wires to what I think works - turn on and then watch the smoke and extinguish the small fire lol

Cheers
Herne

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#9 _Flamenco_

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Posted 03 May 2007 - 04:25 PM

I just went to jaycar and bought a handful of the LEDs I wanted and then asked them for the resistor needed to use the LED with 12-14 volts safely. Some people say to put an LED on just the positive wire feeding all the LEDs but if it dies then all the LEDs burn out so I just put one on each of the LEDs and there's less of a risk!

The resitors only cost about 10 or 20cents each I think. Jaycar sell a few brands of LEDs so they may not all be the same milliamps even though they might be the same size or colour, that's the only reason I didn't name the resistors!

You solder the resistor on the positive end of the LED (longer terminal). I use heatshrink on them too, great stuff!

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#10 _Herne_

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Posted 03 May 2007 - 04:43 PM

Gotcha, now I understand. ^^^^^^

Thanks again

Alan

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#11 _Leakey_

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Posted 04 May 2007 - 11:56 AM

Herne, I use heaps of Jaycar LED (various types) for displays.

The brightest are the surface mount types. But remember, with out
a focussing or diffusing lens, and LED is a point source of light. It looks bright
but gives off verry little actual risidual light.

The old style (tiny R2D2 look with wire legs) is NBG for your purpose, where
as the high intensity surface mount type are great. They run on 12V DC
and can come individually, on hard strips and on flexible mylar strips.
Heaps of other types to...

If I had a dash to play with I could help you out.... but the garage is empty.

Any Sydney siders willing to part with an old SL dash, preferable busted,
I would happily play around for you all, inclusing other colours.

I have this really cool programmable led strip cluster unit that can make any
colour, flash, mexican wave, fade in and out. Waay cool. Bit JapBR though..LOL

Cheers, Leakey

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#12 jpxu1

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Posted 04 May 2007 - 02:50 PM

Herne,
My LJ suffers the same problem :rolleyes:

. The original globes are only 3watt and I assume yours would be the same. There is a 5 watt globe available :clap:

which is 60% more light. I have bought a handful of them to fit but haven't got around to it yet so can't advise if the increase will be enough.
Cheers,
jpxu1

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#13 _CHOPPER_

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Posted 04 May 2007 - 02:56 PM

Many moons ago I was told that 5 watt VN indicator lamps would fit straight in and be a lot brighter. The dude was right on both accounts. Made everything a lot easier to see at night. And dirt cheap too.

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#14 _Herne_

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Posted 04 May 2007 - 03:10 PM

Herne,
My LJ suffers the same problem . The original globes are only 3watt and I assume yours would be the same. There is a 5 watt globe available which is 60% more light. I have bought a handful of them to fit but haven't got around to it yet so can't advise if the increase will be enough.
Cheers,
jpxu1

Hi jpxu1 and Chopper, thanks for that, I will look into those 5w too

glad I asked all sorts of remedies being suggested.

Leakey old son if you were around here I would let you play with my dash lights all you wanted

Damn sure you would come up with something special for me.

Cheers
Herne

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#15 _The Baron_

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Posted 04 May 2007 - 04:21 PM

With brighter higher wattage globes--beware the affects of extra heat and plastic fittings.

I have seen a number of eye level brake light mouldings fail/melt.

With LEDs, beware the selection of current limiting resistor as they too can get hot.
But get it right and with enough LEDs it would look cool.

Cheers

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#16 _Flamenco_

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Posted 04 May 2007 - 06:29 PM

With LEDs, beware the selection of current limiting resistor as they too can get hot.
But get it right and with enough LEDs it would look cool.

Agree on the globes possibly melting things but an easy fix for the resistor heat would be a few extra layers of heatshrink. (The one's they use for 12v LEDs only get warm to the touch).

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#17 _devilsadvocate_

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Posted 04 May 2007 - 09:35 PM

A typical high intensity led will will draw a current that produces ~0.2W of heat in the ballast resistor. ~4-5 similar leds could be hooked up to one 1W resistor........this would only be a space and convenience factor as the resistors cost is small.

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#18 rodomo

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Posted 05 May 2007 - 12:38 AM

I can see Parasdise from my dashboard lights

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#19 _Herne_

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Posted 27 May 2007 - 09:14 PM

Herne,
My LJ suffers the same problem . The original globes are only 3watt and I assume yours would be the same. There is a 5 watt globe available which is 60% more light. I have bought a handful of them to fit but haven't got around to it yet so can't advise if the increase will be enough.
Cheers,
jpxu1

Yup thanks jpxu1 and Chopper, I purchased some 5 watt globes and replaced the old tired 3 watt bulbs and bingo I have instruments I can now see at night.

Problem solved.

Many thanks to Yella for giving me a hand to check the wiring and show me a couple of pointers re the dash. Hands on stuff is invaluable.

Whilst we were in there I started to replace the old woodgrain dash with holes drilled in it for a neat black one I purchased from Makka some months back. I resprayed the dash with vinyl spray as I had already purchased some for the console I am still mucking about with. I didnt worry about the silver edging and to my eye it looks good - then again I am no originality buff. Next job is to finish the console and the dash and then find a new location for the fan warning light and manual switch I have.

Thanks again

Herne

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#20 _Flamenco_

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Posted 28 May 2007 - 02:12 PM

Well done Herne

If you wanted to, you could run a silver texta slowly along the length of the area where the silver edging usually is (that's what most people do).

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#21 _Herne_

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Posted 28 May 2007 - 03:04 PM

Well done Herne If you wanted to, you could run a silver texta slowly along the length of the area where the silver edging usually is (that's what most people do).

yeah mate I thought about that and may still take that course of action but for the while I will admire it as a straight black dash

When and if I tire of that out will come the silver marker