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Cheap way to brighten up your dials.


FOSTA
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I recently got a new stereo and thought I'd like my dash to match the red lighting so I done my heater control with red LEDs and then bought some red led bulbs for the dials. Now when I turned them on they wernt very bright and didn't look very good. So it got me thinking, I seen a 5mtr reel of smd LEDs on eBay for £7.00. They are on a ribbon cable and come protected in a gel cote and you can cut them every 3 LEDs and solder new wires on so they are easily cut down to the size you need.

 

So this is what I done:

 

Cut strips to size and hot glued them in place.

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Then I decided to make the top end 160-180mph and the red line brighter:

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Then I orderd a set of pcbs for around the needles to make them glow white but for some resason they don't make the needles look very bright as I was expecting, its not the pcbs as the are bright as hell when they are not behind its just not shining through very much for some reason :/

 

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And after all that I don't think I like them, think ill change them to all white lol

But I just thought I'd share for anyone that wants to do it :)

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The problem with using LED's is that it's difficult to get an even spread of light and you end up with hot spots. I've recently done a stainless steel dial install on the MR2 and used white EL Panels (same tech as Indiglo dials) and coloured transparent film behind the dials, the EL panels can be cut to shape and are very easy to install. I also replaced the standard bulbs with white LED's to illuminate the needles and tacho.

 

http://www.elwirecraft.co.uk/el-products/el-panel-categories/

 

Pic is a bit blurry and the blue is a lot stronger in real life.

 

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6811/dscf0521x.jpg

Edited by Nic (see edit history)
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  • 3 weeks later...
The problem with using LED's is that it's difficult to get an even spread of light and you end up with hot spots. I've recently done a stainless steel dial install on the MR2 and used white EL Panels (same tech as Indiglo dials) and coloured transparent film behind the dials, the EL panels can be cut to shape and are very easy to install. I also replaced the standard bulbs with white LED's to illuminate the needles and tacho.

 

http://www.elwirecraft.co.uk/el-products/el-panel-categories/

 

Pic is a bit blurry and the blue is a lot stronger in real life.

 

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6811/dscf0521x.jpg

 

That looks fantastic :thumbs:

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In all fairness Heckler did some for me in my old car. I didn't have a problem.

 

Red is quite a good colour as it doesn't damage night vision as much as other colours (so my Tom Clancy novels say).

 

True story (it's to do with the visible spectrum ;)), so fair enough. :)

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  • 7 months later...

What I did, to get mine red, was to fit white leds - the square top type, smd ones, and then use red self adhesive overhead projector film and stuck it to the back of the dial faces.

 

Just simply cut small squares, peel back the dial face without removing the needle, and stick the film to the back of the dial. Works a treat, and cost less than £1 ;)

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What I did, to get mine red, was to fit white leds - the square top type, smd ones, and then use red self adhesive overhead projector film and stuck it to the back of the dial faces.

 

Just simply cut small squares, peel back the dial face without removing the needle, and stick the film to the back of the dial. Works a treat, and cost less than £1 ;)

 

pics?

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