Sold on LEDs

[TomoHawk]

As usual, these imported tower bulbs are of much simpler design than you'd think-  it's just a friction fit, with one lead jammed between the plastic ring and the metal base, and  the other lead soldered to keep it from coming apart. Never mind the glue- us 'melicans will just buy a dozen more to replace the one that fell apart, especially for $1 a dozen from China.  If the bulb was made to real American standards, the ring would be glued to the upper AND lower parts, with BOTH leads soldered.

   #194 wedge bulbs are even simpler;  the two leads come out of two holes and are bent up.

Edited March 28, 2016 by TomoHawk

[TomoHawk]

That's a 1/8W resistor, right? 

You gotta get this project developed to a pretty-much-done state and submit it to ZCCM magazine-  Every S30 owner should know of this and the PWM dimmer.  It'll be just in time for summer.

Edited March 28, 2016 by TomoHawk

[Captain Obvious]

dmoralesbello, Yes, I'm going to use my PWM module for the LED's. You just can't get good control of a mix of LED and incandescent without it. If you were running all incandescent, a low value rheostat will work. If you're running all LED, a higher value rheostat would work, but if you're running a mix of technologies, the only way to truly get good control range is with a PWM design.

TomoHawk, Yes, that's a 1/8W resistor. With the resistor in the circuit and the LED current reduced accordingly, that resistor dissipates about 60mW, or about 50% of what that resistor is rated for. I haven't measured temp rise all bundled up inside the bayonet base, but I expect the metal base to act as a radiator for any heat generated. I can't believe it would ever get as hot as the original incandescent bulb, so I'm not worried about the heat.

And about your $99/dozen above... I think you slipped a decimal point, right?

[TomoHawk]

Sure...   Imported stuff is $0.99 a dozen, American made stuff  is $99 a dozen.

 

[TomoHawk]

Bruce- 

While I'm putting the little paddlewheels in my gauges, I hooked up the 10V battery with one new LED installed in the volt gauge.  It was quite bright, so I took it out, and dug up the green Sharpie and gave the chips  on the bulb a bit of green and reinstalled.  After I hooked up the battery, I turned the room light off, and lo-and-behold:  green light!   It was still a bright green, but I don't mind, because the marker took some of the brightness off, and since I won't be using all LEDs, I think it'll come out fine.  The gauges will now have a traditional green glow.  I'm looking forward to being able to read both tachys this summer, and not having to change the bulbs every year.

Since I don't have some of the weaker LEDs, I will continue to use the incandescent bulbs for the turn indicators, high-beam, etc.

Edited April 1, 2016 by TomoHawk

[dmorales-bello]

TomoHawk, let's see some pics of that green lighting! Sounds like an updated version of the classic instrument look.

[Captain Obvious]

Well I can help you out a little on the brightness of the paddlewheels as well. See the resistors? There are eight of them. Each one is 330 Ohms if memory serves?

 

The way they are connected in circuit is weird though... Even though there are eight emitters and eight resistors, they aren't paired one for one. They actually use four parallel paths through the assembly with two emitters in series in each path and two resistors in parallel in each path to limit the current.

 

But what makes it interesting is that the paired resistors in parallel are on opposite sides of the board. So if you remove four of the resistors (being careful not to remove the same position on both sides of the same board), you'll double the effective resistance in the leg, thereby reducing the brightness some.

 

Kinda hard to do with just words, and I don't have any good pics of the paddlewheels. I'll try to snap some tomorrow to explain what I'm talking about.

[TomoHawk]

Using the marker was an easier fix for me.  It only took about a minute, and a beer while I waited for the ink to dry and apply a second coat.  
Someone should invent a toolbox with an insulated compartment for "beer."  

Edited April 1, 2016 by TomoHawk

[wheee!]

I bought these green BA9 LED units for my dash...

[Captain Obvious]

Wheee, To each his own, but I've found those top broadcasting LED's created "hot-spots" of light and didn't do a great job of dispersing the light evenly inside the gauges. The farther from the edge, the better (like the clock), but I found the tach and speedo were problematic. It might just be me looking for "perfection" though. I sometimes see stuff that others don't. Can be a blessing or a curse.   

TomoHawk, That's a good idea with the marker for green. Hope it turns out as intended.

I think I've nailed down my brightness changes and have all my gauges loaded up. I put my dash back in yesterday and have a couple loose ends to tie up today. Haven't been out on the road yet with streetlamps and oncoming traffic, but initial indications in the dark garage are promising. I'll post up some details after I've confirmed everything is done.

[TomoHawk]

I agree with Cap'n O about not using the LED bulbs with the end-emitters for gauge illumination.  The top- emitter ones ought to be fine for the indicator lamps, like high beam, & turn signals.  I'm using what we call 'paddlewheel' bulbs which only have axial emitters.  If you want to, you can remove yjre top chips from the full-tower bulbs, so you can reuse the same bulbs.

I even considered painting over the little tick marks on the tachys (with a DayGlo pigment & clear paint mix) to help them get illuminated or glow, like new cars have, but that would be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how good your painting skill is.  I think the ultimate thing would be to get a plastic gauge face made with the tick marks and numbers etched so the light shows through, like the heater panel does.  Maybe someone here has the skill & equipment to make such a gauge face- only the Speed tachy needs it, who cares about the revs?

Edited April 2, 2016 by TomoHawk

[Matthew Abate]

Heads up on dash lights, regardless of the bulb type: the bluer the light the harder it is for your eyes to adjust when switching from the illuminated gauge to the road.

I spent significant time working on the redesign of Ford's sat nav screens a few years ago and this was a major point of contention between the scientists and the brand team. Brand wanted blue everything. Your eyes want red. That's why the military includes a red lens in their infantry flashlights.