ptkim

$15 each! ouch. did you get them from Farnell UK? You must have gotten one of them big ones. Mine are only about.. 4mm, I think.

anyhow... X_x I'm tired as hell after 3 hours of wiring and soldering.





The cluster's needles (thumbs up for OLT! Looking good..) are I don't know why, but show up more orange in picture. It's red really. Well, reddish orange more like. The backlit bulbs are 24's.. ghetto painted with blue marker (3 weeks so far, and they still look ok).

The the climate control back light were replaced 3 hyper white LEDs that I converted (complete hack job in soldering and wiring. Trust me, it's ugly inside). I had to point the LEDs pointed downward - so 90 degrees perpendicular from viewing angle to avoid halos on the screen. There's still tiny bit of blotchness, but really difficult to tell unless you look closely. I'm overall happy. I was going to do blue (see previous thread), but it just looked kinda dim and blue didn't really go along with the cluster, so I went white. I HOPE THEY LAST LONG! If they die within a few weeks, I blame OLT for jinx'ing it :P cause he said I bought cheapies, lol

Now I tackle the Pioneer stereo unit... so far I replaced 5 bulbs with white LEDs.. and the display will be done with white LEDs as well. One thing though.. I think I screwed up the ribbon cable. 4 contacts came off loose and I can't figure out how to solder them back on I guess I have to solder point by one with needlepoint soldering iron. I'd appreciate any tips on this.

ptkim

Just finished all LED mods on climate control and stock stereo unit.

It looks better in person than the picture, but you get the idea. Platinum white look from white LEDs. I ended up replacing ALL bulbs with white leds, which made it almost blindingly bright on the ***** and some buttons



Now my gauge cluster looks dull compared to the CC unit and stereo. I think my next project is upgrading size 24 bulbs to white leds...

any tips on upgrading to gauge cluster LEDs OLT? are you using 8mm white leds or just 4mm ones? I suppose you can fit 2 to 3 leds per bulb cut out hole to point to different directions so there's no "cold spots"?

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

hey that's your project. I haven't finished mine.

I did find this interesting chart in my books and scanned it. It is the display circut for the time and mileage display.

SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

Hey Gang:

I took my Sc into Lexus this am for an alignment and some adjustments, and they loaned me a RX300. That cluster is very easy to read. All numbering is platinum white, bright as can be, and even the needles are gray. Nice

One, do you know what backl;ighting they use?

Altstadt

ptkim

Rx300's use cold cathode tubes I believe....

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

sucks for them. cathodes have more electrical problems than led's by far. ever been to the LS forum and seen all the "my dash won't light at all" posts? at least the stock led's die gracefully.

nextlevelcoupe

iTrader: (1)

i'm glad you talked me out of those cathodes and into leds. those cathodes have temperature related issues,need a ballast to power them and are very expensive to replace. my cathodes are going in the trunk (for improved lighting) and possibly the interior coutesy light, if possible.

ptkim

So I finished up my gauge cluster LED mods (2 LEDS in each hole, pointed approximate 45 degrees to avoid cold spots as much as possible), and oh boy, they are blindingly bright, especially at night. I think I came out of my car teary eyed after 45 min commute from work. Even dimmed down, just a bit too blinding for me. I thinki I'm gonna reposition them 90 degrees.. that should avoid all cold spots and hopefully not so blinding to the eyes..

and the stock stereo unit and temperature gauge. yup, some buttons are blinding as hell too with white LEDs. but at least i dont' have to look at them straight. LED mods all the way for me.

Chris4.3

iTrader: (32)

ptkim, that led mod looks sweet all around! Big to you and Brian

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

OK i have taken a few weeks off from designing needles and i REALLY missed it, so tonight i started back in the lab coming up with new idea's and this one is one of my favorite needles yet.

It is two 6k waterfalls twisted together to form a dual colored waterfall. it is awsome in person. this is with NO BACKING on the needle at all!! i am firing 12k worth of led's in this needle.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

with the backing on. 6k white fired into 6k blue in a daisy chain formation.

HotBoy

Those needles look awesome. If you ever want a test cluster just let me know ( I am probably the 10 millionth person to say that )

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

video of me firing up some bloody red smd's. the glare off of them was bright enough to light up my hands and face under a bright worklight

http://home.comcast.net/~bcrowder19/smds.AVI

ptkim

Nice

that could be like Yoda's light saber (if he was 3 inches tall). teehee

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

i think i could build a heckuva light saber with this also, $2,976.34 worth of led's in these 2 bin's @ retail ($15 each)

all 6k high output.