I just put LEDs in place of my factory bulbs in my 2ES. With my rheostat, if it's turned all the way down, my gauge lights turn completely off, with them turned fully on, they don't dim when the headlights are turned on. My car has a "sweet zone" of where the brightness is that doesn't seem to complain about when the headlight switch is turned. IIRC it is right before full power for me, but still not so bright that I'm blinded by the cluster. I have +130k miles, but have seen clusters light up brighter than mine, they seem to loose brightness over time.

Also, do you have upgraded needles? I debated getting a set for mine from Tanin Auto, but realized they have to be installed onto my needles, and didn't feel like messing around with them again. I'll do that later on.

 

3ES has a completely different lighting system. One light source illuminates everything including the needles via optics,* everything is in front of a clear acrylic piece. It's quite clever (and simple) can see it in this image. The light source is some form of tube driven by a ballast type circuit. I haven't tested the voltage yet. But that entire lighting system will be (hopefully) be replaced by LEDs. I'm not sure if a light strip will work it may be too wide we'll see when I get it. If it is then I'll have to make my own LED strip using 3mm LEDs or maybe SMD ones.

Since the 3ES has technology from about 1994, pure white LEDs didn't exist so they went with what was available.

If I had a 2ES I would definitely go with updated LEDs for the needles.

*false, needles have their own illumination

 

LED strip came in, this thing has insanely good performance per watt, incredibly bright and runs cool. Unfortunately it doesn't fit not enough space. I tried cutting the edges of the strip down but it didn't work anymore


I could trim the tube holder, but even if I did the LEDs will be facing forward not down don't know if that will illuminate properly. Only one way to find out I guess have to think about how best to do this. Any suggestions?

Tube runs at 110 volts AC when in dimmed mode, meter when out of range (max is 400 I think) when I set the rheostat to max


Order of screws for reference

 

Hello,

They do also sell much narrower LED strips, like this one, with an accompanying aluminum rail for more even light distribution, which should be plenty small to fit in there at 3mm width. Not sure about the brightness, though it does look good on their video.

The issue would be to implement a PWM dimmer to control the brightness, and make it work with the existing dial, not sure what signal is supplied to the Cluster from the Rheostat.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Nice that looks like a good solution. The dimming is not super hard since the rest of the car is running on 12 volt bulbs that are dimmed. The only custom circuit I will need to make is so there is a full bright mode on the cluster as original.

edit - I bought that strip could take a while to get here.

 

Well, I would still look into what kind of signal is supplied to the Cluster from TC and TR pins mentioned in the Diagram while you are in there, it could end up being a simple 0-5V, which would make things a lot simpler than dragging the wires from the junction point or another light.

Also, sorry for the late notice, but below is another LED strip that is the same width and is a Prime item if you are not into waiting, though seeing that you are from Canada, things may be a bit different there..




Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

There are right here, 0-12 volts the same signal going to other backlights such as HVAC, stereo, shifter etc.



I haven't dug into how the DC to AC converter does its thing to the fluorescent tube only thing I need to find out is how it gets to full brightness when you turn the rheostat all the way clockwise. LED strip on Amazon even with Prime will still take 2 weeks but thanks for trying.

 

It's actually a little different it seems. I have a spare rheostat that I took apart and connected to the power supply, Pin 2 is simply hooked up to a Linear transistor that dims all the Light Bulbs around the interior, Pin 3 (aka TR), on the other hand, is connected to a separate transistor, which outputs 0-12V, though it is the opposite from the position of the handle, 0 volts at Full Brightness, and 12V at Dimmest Brightness.

Pin 6 (aka TC) is connected to Pin 7 through a switch on the dial, the latter is connected straight to the TAIL Relay, meaning that Pin 6 only has 12V when the Lights are On. When the Rheostat is turned ALL the way Clockwise, with a distinct click, the switch Opens, breaking the connection between Pin 6 and 7, which causes the Illumination to remain at the same brightness even when the Headlights are turned On.



In this day and age when it is possible to get a parcel from the other end of the world in less than a week..

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Cool thanks for the info very useful. I'll be able to do the dimming function with 1 MOSFET and a power resistor, full power to LED strip via MOSFET switched on, or power going through only the resistor. I could use the MOSFET as a power limiter but that's tricky, output can change depending on temperature.

Another way to do it use a diode, or 2-3 diodes instead of a resistor. Diodes are great because they give an exact voltage drop at all times but it might not work depending on the LED strip, the voltage drop might not be enough.

Do you ever use the cluster at full brightness at night? I never do. And I've never used that feature at all in any light.

 

Emm, should I try selling you on a PWM controller once more..? It's simpler, more predictable, a lot more flexible, way more efficient and may end up being more durable than a resistor sitting there as a space heater, so long as you implement it correctly..

Not really, I hate any bright lights at night anyway, just as much as I hate a factory option not working, regardless of how strange it is..

 

How do you plan on using a PWM controller when the LED is dimmed via the rheostat? The controller outputs constant voltage, need variable. LED strip needs power directly from the rheostat so it dims the same as the rest of the lights in the car.

Could be done, but that's whole other layer of complexity to drive a strip that draws 0.1 amps or less. Wouldn't be easy to output match the PWM module to exactly the same output as the car rheostat.

 

Well I am planning to use the TR Output as a signal from the Rheostat, connecting it to something like an ATtiny or Arduino microcontroller, or making a circuit described here, then playing with values to get the brightness in sync with the rest of the illumination if need be. Now that I think about it, maybe the claim about being simpler is ... a bit of a stretch, but at least all the rest of the benefits remain intact.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

This is overkill, at least for my needs.

LED strip came it, this one. Can pick the colour you like
https://www.ebay.com/itm/285348416262?var=587229342494

Easy to mount in place of the tube


Exceptionally efficient the lumens/watt must be close to 1000, this is with the brightness turned way down


Full brightness and normal mode will require only a simple circuit, MOSFET and 3 resistors. Was hoping to remove it but unfortunately the DC-AC converter board still has to be in the cluster is also powers the red needle illumination.

 

Mmmm, yeah, probably..

Interesting, though blue...? Getting some Hyundai flashbacks with illumination capable of vaporizing eyesight within minutes during night travels, though to each their own .. I guess..

 

Not blue, ice blue. It has some green in the spectrum not hard on the eyes. Have the same colour in other cars it's great.