LED Gauges ~ Hi Res Photos and Vid
03-19-2011, 08:22 PM
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LED Gauges ~ Hi Res Photos and Vid
Got a few hours without the little man, so I finished up my LED work on my Gauges.
BEFORE:
AFTER, engine running
Signals:
EDIT: 24/04/2011, Final Pic, see page 2 for more pictures of updated gauges:
And the old Video:
There are NO hotspots, I've never seen a LED job so uniform... And I'm not just saying that cause it's my job, I'm saying that because I really haven't ever seen one so consistant. The needles illuminate the SAME all the way around.
There is more hot spotting with the Stock Incandecent bulbs!
This is easily the best LED gauge job I've done to date. I can't wait for the next one! I was thinking about getting clear needles (so the needles illuminate blue), but I'm not doing that now that I see these results, I absolutely love it.
Can someone please post a similar picture of the stock 2001 SE gauges at night, lit with dimmer turned all the way up? I forgot to take one, want to post a Before/After, TIA
~Matt
BEFORE:
AFTER, engine running
Signals:
EDIT: 24/04/2011, Final Pic, see page 2 for more pictures of updated gauges:
And the old Video:
There are NO hotspots, I've never seen a LED job so uniform... And I'm not just saying that cause it's my job, I'm saying that because I really haven't ever seen one so consistant. The needles illuminate the SAME all the way around.
There is more hot spotting with the Stock Incandecent bulbs!
This is easily the best LED gauge job I've done to date. I can't wait for the next one! I was thinking about getting clear needles (so the needles illuminate blue), but I'm not doing that now that I see these results, I absolutely love it.
Can someone please post a similar picture of the stock 2001 SE gauges at night, lit with dimmer turned all the way up? I forgot to take one, want to post a Before/After, TIA
~Matt
Last edited by TunerMaxima3000; 04-24-2011 at 07:47 PM.
03-19-2011, 08:46 PM
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.That would require some hotspotting though if you want it to pan over the tach (from 1000 to 2000, etc. to 7000 RPM), following the radius of the tach
03-19-2011, 09:37 PM
#6
03-20-2011, 01:41 AM
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Wow, that does look good! Nicely done. I do have two questions though:
1) How many separate bulb areas are there? It looks like 4 for the gauges (+2 more for the turn signals). Is that right?
2) Is there a reason people seem to go custom LED as opposed to using SuperBrightLED.com #74 bulbs? Is it just that the SuperBrights aren't bright enough? Or don't fit?
The dim lighting doesn't bother me enough to re-wire/calibrate/sand the cluster but if I can drop something like these in, I'd be a happy camper. Appreciate any advice!
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...2F74-xHP3.html
1) How many separate bulb areas are there? It looks like 4 for the gauges (+2 more for the turn signals). Is that right?
2) Is there a reason people seem to go custom LED as opposed to using SuperBrightLED.com #74 bulbs? Is it just that the SuperBrights aren't bright enough? Or don't fit?
The dim lighting doesn't bother me enough to re-wire/calibrate/sand the cluster but if I can drop something like these in, I'd be a happy camper. Appreciate any advice!
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...2F74-xHP3.html
03-20-2011, 06:43 AM
#9
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Wow, that does look good! Nicely done. I do have two questions though:
1) How many separate bulb areas are there? It looks like 4 for the gauges (+2 more for the turn signals). Is that right?
2) Is there a reason people seem to go custom LED as opposed to using SuperBrightLED.com #74 bulbs? Is it just that the SuperBrights aren't bright enough? Or don't fit?
The dim lighting doesn't bother me enough to re-wire/calibrate/sand the cluster but if I can drop something like these in, I'd be a happy camper. Appreciate any advice!
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...2F74-xHP3.html
1) How many separate bulb areas are there? It looks like 4 for the gauges (+2 more for the turn signals). Is that right?
2) Is there a reason people seem to go custom LED as opposed to using SuperBrightLED.com #74 bulbs? Is it just that the SuperBrights aren't bright enough? Or don't fit?
The dim lighting doesn't bother me enough to re-wire/calibrate/sand the cluster but if I can drop something like these in, I'd be a happy camper. Appreciate any advice!
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...2F74-xHP3.html
2) The LEDs are normally brighter if installed properly in stock locations, but not A LOT brighter, actually I didn't notice hardly any change in brightness going from stock to the T5 LED. That's not surprising because I went from White incandecent bulbs to blue LEDs. (the 'deeper' the colour, the lower the output )
The biggest issue with stock, is they're T5 size. Metal maxima has a write up to replace the T5's with T10 (194, etc), this way you can keep the incandecent type lighting (less hotspot), it's also cheaper to go that route.
The other issue is, if you want to change colour, you need to buy a tinted incandecent bulb, which decreases the output (and the colour isn't as good as coloured LEDs)
LED's you can buy any colour, and the brightness is only determined by how much you want to spend on the quality of the LEDs.
The link you provided would give you good lighting compared to stock, but if you buy multi-SMD type expect hot spots (this may be hard to understand, see below.)
I do have one thing I want you guys to know that is not common knowledge about gauge lighting (and a lot of other lighting), I'll have to post pictures later tonight to Illustrate it to you though. There is a reason the multi-SMD bulbs are not ideal, even though you'd think they would illuminate better in all directions. This is actually NOT what you want to do, you WANT it pretty directional.
I'll explain later, need to post that vid when I get back to my computer later too.
To be continued :P
Last edited by TunerMaxima3000; 10-01-2012 at 02:52 PM.
03-20-2011, 07:17 AM
#10
Not to be a party pooper, but what voltage did you calculate your resistors for? They would last a lot longer if you popped a current limiting LM317 in your circuit. If you used less than 15v on the calculator they will burn out in about a year
03-20-2011, 09:38 AM
#12
Also Tuner did you have to pull off your needles to get this done or was it able to be done from the back end? I really don't feel like pulling off my needles. Also which color leds did you go with? White?
03-20-2011, 10:41 AM
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Hey Tuner...Not only will you do mine but you will do mine green! But seriously this **** looks impossible to me lol I'm a network administrator, completely out of my circle. You should offer service make a couple bucks.
Last edited by Sneaky Green; 03-20-2011 at 10:45 AM.
03-20-2011, 11:30 AM
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Knight I've been wanting to switch over to some voltage regulators etc in recent times vs soldering so many resistors. Any details on how to put one of those LM317's to use?
Also Tuner did you have to pull off your needles to get this done or was it able to be done from the back end? I really don't feel like pulling off my needles. Also which color leds did you go with? White?
Also Tuner did you have to pull off your needles to get this done or was it able to be done from the back end? I really don't feel like pulling off my needles. Also which color leds did you go with? White?
I tapped into the circuit board (illumination circuit), and each led 'pack' for each needle tapped into a different power location, so as to limit possible circuit board overloading (seen it happen). The easiest and most intellegent way for my application is individual resistors.
I used Blue 3mm LEDs for the needles, and cheap Ebay 5mm wide angle T5's for the stock locations and signals.
I didn't have to pull off any needles. This is actually the easiest gauge set I've done it on, because they're 'basic' gauges, no Odomoter reel or anything.
Expect $150 + Shipping at the absolute minimum.
03-20-2011, 02:43 PM
#17
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The link you provided would give you good lighting compared to stock, but if you buy multi-SMD type expect hot spots (this may be hard to understand, see below.)
There is a reason the multi-SMD bulbs are not ideal, even though you'd think they would illuminate better in all directions. This is actually NOT what you want to do, you WANT it pretty directional.
There is a reason the multi-SMD bulbs are not ideal, even though you'd think they would illuminate better in all directions. This is actually NOT what you want to do, you WANT it pretty directional.
120 degree single "high power" SMD
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...%2F74-xHP.html
03-20-2011, 04:21 PM
#19
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Excellent, thanks so much for detailing this. I know I wont get anything close to your awesome progress but I definitely want to try to get the best LEDs I can as a temporary solution. You said the multi-SMDs may not be ideal so do you think this other #74 (T5?) would be a better choice in my situation? I wont be changing color, sticking with the cool white (brightest kelvin).
120 degree single "high power" SMD
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...%2F74-xHP.html
120 degree single "high power" SMD
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...%2F74-xHP.html
I'd say go ahead with them, they will offer a large improvement over stock, and are a pretty simple replacement.
One downfall to coloured LEDs is the loss of red lines. The 'paper' on the gauges (the coloured part you see) is actually tinted differently on the backside. It's designed to pull different colours out of the white Incandecent bulbs, so if you install anything other than white, it won't illuminate the same colour. In the case of coloured leds, it just doesn't illuminate.
I have some white LED's I will likely try to install one. I need to pop it back apart so I can Aim the one LED on the fuel gauge, I noticed it is off just a little bit. And fix up some minor dim spots you can only really see in the pics.
I'll update later. For now, I'm going at headlights and window switches, etc.
Last edited by TunerMaxima3000; 03-21-2011 at 09:03 PM.
03-20-2011, 04:46 PM
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Big thanks once again. You are a wealth of information!
03-20-2011, 05:22 PM
#21
I'm planing to do the same, but a bit later this year.
I saw couple of projects here, when people cleaned up the blue paint on the back and it worked, but then - you get different colors... and you have to take needles out. I'm quiet sure that you already have checked all the available options))) Good luck with project!
03-20-2011, 05:58 PM
#22
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That is a great project - complete LED swap for interior.
I'm planing to do the same, but a bit later this year.
I saw couple of projects here, when people cleaned up the blue paint on the back and it worked, but then - you get different colors... and you have to take needles out. I'm quiet sure that you already have checked all the available options))) Good luck with project!
I'm planing to do the same, but a bit later this year.
I saw couple of projects here, when people cleaned up the blue paint on the back and it worked, but then - you get different colors... and you have to take needles out. I'm quiet sure that you already have checked all the available options))) Good luck with project!
Also, the concept of removing the blue tint doesn't really apply to night-time appearance as far as I can tell
I'm going to try orange/amber likely on Mr.Smoke's car if he wants me to, so we will find out then.
Either way, it's impossible to remove all the blue colour that is evident in the daytime because the front side (needle side) is blue as well. That was the determining factor when I decided on Interior colour. I would have went with a Cool Orange/Amber (think - creamsicle colour theme).
Last edited by TunerMaxima3000; 03-20-2011 at 06:05 PM.
03-20-2011, 06:08 PM
#24
TunerMaxima I wonder how many of those leds that SeedyROM was talking about would be needed to do what u did thats more of just having to swap out bulbs with the led right
Last edited by Clashez; 03-20-2011 at 06:12 PM.
03-20-2011, 07:12 PM
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^That's correct. I'm pretty sure he is aware that he's not going to get near the light output or effect I have. He just wants to upgrade the brightness a bit without having to do much work. Replacing the stock bulbs for high quality LEDs will acheive that for him.
Last edited by TunerMaxima3000; 10-01-2012 at 02:51 PM.
03-20-2011, 07:15 PM
#27
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LOL it wasn't a matter of getting it 'figured out' it was a matter of getting the LED's in finally. That took for ever!! I've never waited so long for them, must have been some backlog.
Of course, I got almost everything I ordered for my car in the past 2 months within 20 hours of each other. When it rains it pours.
Of course, I got almost everything I ordered for my car in the past 2 months within 20 hours of each other. When it rains it pours.
03-20-2011, 08:53 PM
#29
SN: I think you meant kph. He's Canadian, eh.
03-21-2011, 10:00 AM
#32
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They are the only dim spots, and they're accentuated in the pictures and video, it would be very difficult to spot them in person.
I will be correcting them when I add white LED's to illuminate the "red zones". There is also one hot spot, the Fuel gauge. That's just a matter of turning one LED a 1/2 mm.
They can be made much brighter of course, I chose not to on this job, I didn't want the gauges to be brighter than everything else, then if you want to dim them at times, you have to dim the rest of the illumination (not wanted).
Other option would be installing a separate Potentiometer for the gauge illumination. Not worth the effort for my application.
The next one will be better that much I can assure. I have a restock of LED's in the works right now. I also have a couple jobs coming in already. I'm trying amber this week to see if I can void the blue tint in the stock gauges.
ABS sensor will be done in the spring when I do my tear down for Coilovers and Rim install. I hate that one ABS sensor lights up 3 lights, silly automatic.
They'll be cleared soon.
I thrive off critisism, it pushes me to perfect my techniques even more. So thank you.
Last edited by TunerMaxima3000; 10-01-2012 at 02:57 PM.
03-21-2011, 03:55 PM
#33
I'm glad to see you didn't take my criticism angrily. It's nice to see someone who can take criticism. If you don't know how to take off the blue tint on the gauges shoot me a PM and I'll let you know. $100 is a good price for the gauges, I did mine almost 5 years ago and I still remember how annoying it was. Keep up the good work.
Very good. There is a minor dim spot around 1300 RPM and around 63 KM/h.
They are the only dim spots, and they're accentuated in the pictures and video, it would be very difficult to spot them in person.
I will be correcting them when I add white LED's to illuminate the "red zones". There is also one hot spot, the Fuel gauge. That's just a matter of turning one LED a 1/2 mm.
They can be made much brighter of course, I chose not to on this job, I didn't want the gauges to be brighter than everything else, then if you want to dim them at times, you have to dim the rest of the illumination (not wanted).
Other option would be installing a separate Potentiometer for the gauge illumination. Not worth the effort for my application.
The next one will be better that much I can assure. I have a restock of LED's in the works right now. I also have a couple jobs coming in already. I'm trying amber this week to see if I can void the blue tint in the stock gauges.
It's perfect for my application. It's not the 'brightest', etc. I didn't want that.
Also, most LED jobs that have little to no hotspotting have incandecent lights as well, this job is ALL DIRECTIONAL LEDs, nothing else. No expensive wide angle, SMD, or other fancy LED's, just high quality tried and true Standard LED's. This cuts cost HUGE, especially for my customers. If they want to pay for more, they have that option.
My 5th gen jobs are coming in well under $200, closer to $100 right now, to get a BETTER job then I have pictured. You actually think anyone can beat that price for this quality? With Warranty included?
SES just came on, idle control.
ABS sensor will be done in the spring when I do my tear down for Coilovers and Rim install. I hate that one ABS sensor lights up 3 lights, silly automatic.
They'll be cleared soon.
I thrive off critisism, it pushes me to perfect my techniques even more. So thank you.
They are the only dim spots, and they're accentuated in the pictures and video, it would be very difficult to spot them in person.
I will be correcting them when I add white LED's to illuminate the "red zones". There is also one hot spot, the Fuel gauge. That's just a matter of turning one LED a 1/2 mm.
They can be made much brighter of course, I chose not to on this job, I didn't want the gauges to be brighter than everything else, then if you want to dim them at times, you have to dim the rest of the illumination (not wanted).
Other option would be installing a separate Potentiometer for the gauge illumination. Not worth the effort for my application.
The next one will be better that much I can assure. I have a restock of LED's in the works right now. I also have a couple jobs coming in already. I'm trying amber this week to see if I can void the blue tint in the stock gauges.
It's perfect for my application. It's not the 'brightest', etc. I didn't want that.
Also, most LED jobs that have little to no hotspotting have incandecent lights as well, this job is ALL DIRECTIONAL LEDs, nothing else. No expensive wide angle, SMD, or other fancy LED's, just high quality tried and true Standard LED's. This cuts cost HUGE, especially for my customers. If they want to pay for more, they have that option.
My 5th gen jobs are coming in well under $200, closer to $100 right now, to get a BETTER job then I have pictured. You actually think anyone can beat that price for this quality? With Warranty included?
SES just came on, idle control.
ABS sensor will be done in the spring when I do my tear down for Coilovers and Rim install. I hate that one ABS sensor lights up 3 lights, silly automatic.
They'll be cleared soon.
I thrive off critisism, it pushes me to perfect my techniques even more. So thank you.
03-21-2011, 05:39 PM
#34
Great job, looks awesome..
03-21-2011, 05:59 PM
#35
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I'm glad to see you didn't take my criticism angrily. It's nice to see someone who can take criticism. If you don't know how to take off the blue tint on the gauges shoot me a PM and I'll let you know. $100 is a good price for the gauges, I did mine almost 5 years ago and I still remember how annoying it was. Keep up the good work.
Thanks very kindly though! Yeah, if I didn't have so much spare time, I wouldn't hesitate to pay someone $100-$200 for the job I posted. And my customers are getting a better job than posted for that price.
I'm booking up fairly quickly actually, I haven't even posted locally yet. At this rate I won't be able to either, I'll be backlogged huge
I'm working with a few LED manufacturers now as well, trying to get some better deals, hopefully that will decrease price too!
I'm going to try some different colours, and illuminate the RED zone now, I'll post some pics later.
-Matt
03-21-2011, 08:58 PM
#36
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EDITED POSTS: The 'dark zones' listed in the Temp gauge and elsewhere don't exist, the only gauge that has Red on it is the Tachometer.
---------------------------
Ok well bad news regarding the SE gauges, that tint is going to have to come off for most colours. White/Blue, Cool Blue, and MAYBE White are the only possible colours for the SE 5th gen gauges without removing the tint.
Doesn't mean it's not possible, it just means it will cost a bit more to do alternate colours.
Anyhow, I spent most of my time tonight figuring out the logisitics of different colours. So I only got a bit of tweaking in on my set up.
DISCLAIMER: The hotspot at 180km/h will be adjusted. As well, the Red-Zone Illumination was just a test, It will be the same as the rest when done.
3mm White LEDs I'm using (yeah it's that bright):
And here's a pic of my wiring on the back side, disregard the one piece of tape, it was a quick picture, not fully installed:
---------------------------
Ok well bad news regarding the SE gauges, that tint is going to have to come off for most colours. White/Blue, Cool Blue, and MAYBE White are the only possible colours for the SE 5th gen gauges without removing the tint.
Doesn't mean it's not possible, it just means it will cost a bit more to do alternate colours.
Anyhow, I spent most of my time tonight figuring out the logisitics of different colours. So I only got a bit of tweaking in on my set up.
DISCLAIMER: The hotspot at 180km/h will be adjusted. As well, the Red-Zone Illumination was just a test, It will be the same as the rest when done.
3mm White LEDs I'm using (yeah it's that bright):
And here's a pic of my wiring on the back side, disregard the one piece of tape, it was a quick picture, not fully installed:
03-21-2011, 09:24 PM
#37
If you don't mind sharing your supplier could you pm me who it is. My white LEDs have a light blue hint to them and yours seem to be perfect white. Also good work, the dark spots are completely gone now.
03-21-2011, 11:37 PM
#38
Love your work Tuner, LED work always catches my interest
Glad to see you sharing some of the info too. Any word on how this is any different or more difficult on 5.5 gauges?
Last edited by luvlexus101; 03-21-2011 at 11:42 PM.
03-22-2011, 04:51 AM
#39
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I'm still working out the specifics. From my reading it seems 5.5 clusters have needles that are sandable, which means their colour can be changed.
Also, the 5.5 SE light's tint cannot be removed, meaning Cool Blue and White/Blue are the only realistic options, without changing gauge faces.
So far I have little information on GXE, etc. for all years.
I would love some information, or pictures of everyone's stock gauges for reference (day and night). This way I can compile a list of options for each model/year for customers to choose from, and for you guys to view.
I STILL need a Nighttime shot of the stock 2000/2001 SE gauges, can someone please grab that for me?
03-22-2011, 10:29 AM
#40
Thanks man.
I'm still working out the specifics. From my reading it seems 5.5 clusters have needles that are sandable, which means their colour can be changed.
Also, the 5.5 SE light's tint cannot be removed, meaning Cool Blue and White/Blue are the only realistic options, without changing gauge faces.
So far I have little information on GXE, etc. for all years.
I would love some information, or pictures of everyone's stock gauges for reference (day and night). This way I can compile a list of options for each model/year for customers to choose from, and for you guys to view.
I STILL need a Nighttime shot of the stock 2000/2001 SE gauges, can someone please grab that for me?
I'm still working out the specifics. From my reading it seems 5.5 clusters have needles that are sandable, which means their colour can be changed.
Also, the 5.5 SE light's tint cannot be removed, meaning Cool Blue and White/Blue are the only realistic options, without changing gauge faces.
So far I have little information on GXE, etc. for all years.
I would love some information, or pictures of everyone's stock gauges for reference (day and night). This way I can compile a list of options for each model/year for customers to choose from, and for you guys to view.
I STILL need a Nighttime shot of the stock 2000/2001 SE gauges, can someone please grab that for me?
For whatever it counts for, here's a stock 5.5 cluster, should be close enough
