LED lit gauges

[Supa Ninja]

Where's the fun in buying some already done. Those will work in the VW/ early 911/914 gauges. What I'm doing will be much cheaper (except for the sockets that will need to be purchased), plus I'm looking at using yellow and UV LEDs. For those already running 944 gauges my way will be hella simple, and very well priced.

Nick

[Supa Ninja]

I stumbled across this site, they have a whole line up of automotive based products check it out. I will try to cross reference what we will be able to use. www.superbrightleds.com

[zen]

i would love some help figuring out what i would need for some interior lighting. don't need much. was thinking of one or two per side just under the dash. white or maybe blacklight. would love to get my 914/911 gauges white too. stock lighting on them suck.

[NO_H2O]

Here are your int. lights.
http://discountleds.com/fixtures.htm
And 914 gauge LED's
http://discountleds.com/otherleds.htm

[Supa Ninja]

H2O that was a good link, it's lookin like most of the LED lighting issues have been handled by the aftermarket now. I was just at radio shack and I picked up a couple of LED holders for for the liscense plate lights on my bike. I think they will work good for your underdash lighting. The UV leds won't light up much unless your wearing white socks. The white will, just try and get the widest angle for illumination. Peep this link www.lsdiodes.com
I really like Samcats idea with the multicolored leds and the rheostat, that would be very trick. For me just having every led dim with the dimmer switch will make me happy.
This LED thing has become an addiction for me. Are there any 12 step programs for this?

Nick

[samcat]

For working out what resistor to use:

http://bit-tech.net/article/68/

And the BEST leds to use.... STUPIDLY BRIGHT!
Luxeon stars...

http://bit-tech.net/review/82/

And if your in the UK and want LEDS try these:
http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/ <--- I have used there 12v resistors before on my car, works fine
http://www.maplins.com/

Cya,
Sam C

[zen]

Originally Posted by NO_H2O

Here are your int. lights.
http://discountleds.com/fixtures.htm
And 914 gauge LED's
http://discountleds.com/otherleds.htm

well that is easy enough. plug and play. concerned as to if that adhesive is good enough in the long run vs. recessing one with a base up into the dash (leaves a bigger hole though).

[NO_H2O]

I would scap the peel-n-stick right off the bat and go with a real good glue.

[Supa Ninja]

I finally tracked down the part number for the early 944 light bulb sockets/holders apparently they are also used on 74-89 911's, and www.pelicanparts.com wants 6.25 each . I use that socket for the LED conversion on the early 911/914 gauges. I'm gunna go to the local Porsche wrecker and see what they want for some. In the mean time I have crunched the numbers and figured out how to solder up the resistor to the LED and have it all fit in the socket. That means it will be plug and play . Also next week I'll know how the UV leds look in the different gauges as well as liscense plate lights.

Nick

[zen]

let us know. if you are in the mood to pick up extras and make them plug-n-play, let me know. so why not go with the ones no_h20 pointed out? too easy and just wanted to do it yourself or is there a technical difference you are looking at?

[Supa Ninja]

Yes it will be to easy to spend $30 and bamm be done with it. But the way I'm doing it the socket will be universal between the 911/914 and the 944 gauges. Plus I'll have other color options, such as yellow/amber and UV, both of which I think will work awesome with the above mentioned gauges.

Nick

[Supa Ninja]

Quick Update

Ok I got a regulator circuit built and tested....gunna have to wait for the ones I ordered through work. "why would Supa waste his time with a regulator circuit?" Automotive electrical systems have voltages that are continuously fluctuating 11-15v with the ocassional spikes. LEDs don't like to go over their rated current (most are 20-30mA) and when I calculate the required resistance I use 13.7v as my input, so when the system only puts out 12.4v the current drops and light output drops as well, but the LEDs will last a lil longer. Now the current regulator circuit I'm working on will output a consistant 30ma(or whatever I set it to) with a fluctuating input from 12-20v, higher spike protection with some protection diodes.
I've been testing the different colors in the different gauges, it looks like amber works in the yellow 944 gauges, but red works better. The UV/blacklight LEDs work in the VW/914 gauges like I guessed they would. I already installed a resistered set of blue LEDs in the 914, looks good. There is a noticable difference in brightness between 6000 mcd and 10,000 mcd.
I also solved the socket problem for the VW/914 gauges, so now its a easy modification to the stock sockets, plus they are cheap on www.pelicanparts.com, I think they are around a dollar each.
On my bike I hooked up some UV LEDs for liscense plate light and the do make the plate glow very bright but it's a purplish color which is illegal, so I'm going to put in a push button switch that will turn the UV LEDs off and turn on white LEDs while riding. (doesn't make it go faster but girlies will dig it). I'm still a few days off from having some pics developed. Zen if you want I'll pic up some sockets from either pick-n-pull or Bug-O-Rama and you let me know what color LEDs you want and I'll see about having a set for you when you come to NorCal in a couple of weeks.

Nick

[Supa Ninja]

I have a update for all you LED Heads(bad joke, I know). I finally got the correct Regulator and installed, I modified the original circuit to power the LEDs in parrallel as opposed to strings of 3. VW and Porsche power their incadesent bulbs in parrallel so that makes the most sence to do it that way. So far I have a half hour of running time, 11 UV LEDs in parrallel, constant 30mA, 16vdc input, and when I drop the input to 12vdc the current stays exactly the same. The only down side I can see is the more LEDs I add the more current it draws, so I have to adjust the poteniometer as I add and subtract LEDs.
I'm going to borrow a digi-cam this weekend and hopefully figure out how to photograph the color/guage combos for the tech article. I'll also draw up a schematic of the circuit for all you Do It Yourselfers, and a link to a resister calculator for those that are content with using just resistors.
For now I'm going to leave the LEDs on for a life test over night just to make sure nothing gets too hot and smokes. I am really happy with the results. Just to give you an idea of the costs, I built the limiter circuit for under 5 bucks. R&D costs are another story, I know I smoked over 30 dollars worth of LEDs.

Nick

[samcat]

LED Calculator:

http://www.bit-tech.net/article/68/

Cya,
Sam C

[Supa Ninja]

When I do the Tech article it will be done properly and that will take some time to do. I got a lot of changes happening with a upcoming new job, and a move so time is not on my side. So I'd like to appologize to anyone waiting for it.

Nick