LED lit gauges

[Supa Ninja]

Ok so I said to myself, " those Jetta gauges look sick lit up", and ever since I've been thinking about doing that to my Supa/914. Since I haven't seen any plug and play, LED lights for early 911/914 or 944 gauges yet (I know they exist cause BillK is sporting some). I decide to make my own, originaly I wan going to break the original bulb and solder on the led to the filimant wire. Quickly decided to go a different route. On the 944 gauges the sockets were very easy to stuff the diodes into, and after it was all said and done it looked like a professional install, no soldering, but some 5 min epoxy for potting is required.
Now the 911/14 gauges are another story, the socket is not having it, I got it to work but it looked like crap, and I don't think it will survive very long. I did a lil brain storming and figured out the sockets for the early 944 speedo and tach work in the 911/914 gauges, just need to add a piece or two of electrical tape because the hole size is a hair bigger on the 11/14. So I am now on the lookout for more sockets.
Finally, if you are still reading this you probally are asking how they turned out. I used the high intensity Blue LED's, and on the 911/14 gauges it looked awesome, almost as good as the newer Jetta's. I am very impressed. Now the blue LED's don't quite look right on the yellow marked 944 guages. I'm going to get some red and green, and maybe yellow LED's tommorrow and continue the experiment. If all else fails some white faces will fix it.

Nick

PS before you attemp this at home, make sure you don't over current the LED's or they will smoke, and at $2.50 USD a pop that can get expensive. If you don't know electronics IM me and i'll do the math for you. The equation is basically

Circuit voltage-voltage drop(depends on LED and how many are connected together) then divide that number by how many mA they can handle and the answer is how much resistance you'll need to add to the circuit.

[boygenius]

Sounds awesome, please post some pics when you get a chance... :agree:

I have a spare set of 914 gauges and I was thinking of starting to tinker with them.

[Supa Ninja]

Just make sure you do the math or the LED's won't last long, the ones I got will work for 100,000 hours if the current is below 30mA. I really need a to get a camera. Blue LED's definitely work on the 914 gauges. I all geeked about getting some different color diodes for my 944 gauges and in the mean time I think I'm going to install the blue ones into the 914. If you got any questions let me know.

[NO_H2O]

I have been wanting to do this for a while. I love my wifes jetta dash at night. Were did you get the LED's and do you have a part number? Pix please.

[Supa Ninja]

I'm gunna have to get some film for my camera, and then have it developed on a cd-rom so I can post them up here. I picked up the LED's at Fry's, but they came from a company called Coast Cutlery www.coastcutlery.com and they are replacement bulbs for some of their LED flashlights. The pn is TT7802CP, I've seen on ebay some dudes from China slinging LED's for cheap as well.
Give me a few days to get some pics posted.

Nick

[zen]

ditto. want to do on my bug and 944. sounds like a great tech article considering the math required, fitting particulars, parts...hint...hint.

[Supa Ninja]

Zen,
In the middle of writing the first post it dawned on me that this would make a great tech article. I'm still working out the particulars, mainly what color LED for the yellow marked 944 gauges, I got the 914 ones solved for the most part. I'm waiting on a reply from www.pelicanparts.com for the part number for the 944 style sockets. I am going to take pics of the different color combinations cause that will be a huge factor for most people. I also just now realised that the gauges are wired up in series-parallel so that will change the math used to determine nessasary resistance. I've been a electronics tech for 10 years now and it's kinda cool that it is coming in handy on my GL project.

Nick

[boygenius]

Supa Ninja... Just break down and get a cheap digital camera. I got the $99 wal-mart special. If you want to post alot of pictures it will pay for itself with the savings from not having to buy and develop film.

[Supa Ninja]

Your right BG, I should break down and get one, but I've been having my eye on a MP3 player thats around that price. I am a cheap bastard.
Anyways when I get my film developed I'll post a teaser pic so you'll have an idea of what it will look like. Looks like the blue LED's are the ticket for gauges with black backgrounds, white markings and orange needles.

[zen]

get a cell phone with camera and mp3 capabilities. quailty will be slightly less than separate components, but it is easier on the wallet and you get all in one device.

[Supa Ninja]

I didn't even know they make those. I need a new cellie cell anyways cause mine is a piece of crap and I can't hear anything on it. I'll have to peep that out.

[samcat]

I plan on using RGB leds (about 5 per gauge) when I redo my dash with the porsche gauges... Wire up a 0 - 100% rheostat resistor to each colour... Then I can fiddle the dials and get the exact colour I want All gauges will match automatically

Cya,
Sam C

[volksdragon]

we sell the led's and the resisters for them as well as the mounting clips for them

http://www.bigfootcomputers.com/Merc...gory_Code=0327

[Supa Ninja]

Thanks for all the input guys. I have some UV (aka black light, 420nm) LEDs on the way. I think they will work really good with ****pit style gauges, and I am considering them for my liscence plate light on the bike (we have white plates in CA). I know they aren't the best thing in the world for my eyes but I don't sit there and stare at my gauges so I should be fine. It's starting to get a lil honda-ee but I really want to modernize my gauges and not spent a arm and a leg doing it.
I have finally worked out the numbers for the resistance and am currently running a life test on a couple of blue(470 nm) diodes in a 914 speedo. I'm going to let it run for at least a day straight to make sure it's reliable and my resistor will hold up. Input 14.7 vdc, 110 ohms, 3.4v on each diode, 25mA per LED. The resistor is a 1/4 watt and that is border line for this so I'll probally step up to a 1/2 watt one when I actually install it in the car. I am also getting some better red and yellow LEDs. I'll take pics of all of them in action for the tech article.

[NO_H2O]

wouldn't these be much easier.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT