Topic: IC's Interesting LED Gauge Lighting

[Industrial Cafe]

I've had a lot of inquiries on my gauge lighting setup, so here's a short write-up.


apparently 3 LEDs on the speedo have gone out, so I need to disassemble it and see if it's a solder joint or what.
I didn't have a camera when I did the setup, so I don't have any progress pictures but I'll try to explain it as best I can. You have to disassemble the gauges like so-
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=58003.0

   Then I made some new gauge faces up in photoshop by scanning my old ones in and making changes.


After that, I sanded the faces with 600 grit until all the paint was gone and just the clear blue-green discs were left. That way the light could come through with minimal obstruction.
NO PICTURE

I noticed inside the gauge, there's some metal stand-offs/light diffusers under the faces that have the perfect amount of space in there to attach the halo's with silicone adhesive.

The white 80mm 24LED halos came off ebay from china, I don't think they're the best quality, and you may need to QC and rework 'em some of the solder joints. or get the CCFL ones.
example picture of a 100mm halo



I polished the needles and clear coated them-

 
then I painted the outside of the reflector with gold hi-temp paint and you could only see a little ring which is a neat little detail.


when I make another set I'll use the CCFL type-


I did this mod a while ago, so if there's any questions ask 'em

[Industrial Cafe]

how bright it is at night

[Really?]

At least the two LEDs that went out did it in the right place.

SO, the halo ring is what makes it nice and round?  Nothing special done the plates to assist?

[Industrial Cafe]

nope, just a ring of LEDs.

[Industrial Cafe]

if it helps, the LEDs are about 2mm away from the plate.

[wannabridin]

that sounds good so far!  does your gauge faces have the numbers and tick marks cut out to allow light through?  when you say you sanded down the faces, do you mean the factory plastic pieces that mount in the gauge?  

also, i was considering using a flexible strip of LED's, but i think it would give "hot spots" of light on the face.  where did you get the angel eye?  i've made ones before out of clear acrlyic window blind handles, and then cut little marks on the backside to spread the light around easily.  it works somewhat like a fiber optic tube.  looks so good, i hope i can achieve similar results in regards to brightness!!

oh ya, the gold "beauty" ring, did you just paint the top/outer face of the reflector housing?  i take it by CCFL, you mean cold-cathode?  like the ones in a computer tower?

one FINAL edit:  i found these:

http://www.retrosolutionsllc.com/servlet/the-CCFL-Angel-Eyes/Categories

not a bad deal, what's the OD of the gauge face??

[Laminar]

How'd you affix the new gauge faces to the gauges? Printed on paper and glued? Screenprinted?

[Really?]

I noticed the speedo kind of keeps going after 160.  Is that when you really don't wanna know how fast you are going?   

[DaytonGuy]

I've never been inside a set of gauges, so forgive me if this is a dumb questions, but how do you wire the LEDs? 

[Industrial Cafe]

lots of questions

yes, I sanded the plastic face with all the numbers and words on it. they have a tab at the top and bottom so you can line up the new faces.

The reflector that I painted gold is a separate piece from the black housing, you can remove it and paint the whole outside of it gold and the inside is still white to reflect light over the face.

the 80mm white 24LED halos were from ebay.
  I think any other option (fiber optic/flexible LED/whatever) will give you hot spots.
the halos are on a hard perfectly round backer.

   The faces are printed on adhesive back white vinyl with a UV resistant ink. no cutouts. (except for where the screws and ODO go) They only cost me 40 bucks at a local sign shop, and he printed me up 2 sets.
  The picture I posted is the actual file I gave the guy (as well as my sanded discs so he could scale em right)


                   if you ever go over 160mph, does it really matter after that?  

I wired the led's by soldering their leads to the original wires for the bulbs.

as for the gauge face measurement it's 3.545 inches-


if I missed a question, let me know

[OldSchool_IsCool]

Damn SEXXY!!  Awesome work there IC!!

You should think about printing up another speedo face that goes to 320.  Park outside a biker bar and let the fun begin!!

[Industrial Cafe]

someone asked me if they could get the extra set from me, but I can't remember who it was...

[Really?]

Damn SEXXY!!  Awesome work there IC!!

You should think about printing up another speedo face that goes to 320.  Park outside a biker bar and let the fun begin!!

I definitely agree, it is perty sweet.

Finish the gauge to 200.  That would definitely make people say WTF.  Especially to those that do not know better.  Oh yea, take the tach way up high too!

[Industrial Cafe]

heh, it redlines at 9500 before you notice a drop off in power and I haven't gone over 145mph at 7500rpm if memory serves me.

One day I'll do a top speed video from the perspective of the gas tank and We'll see.

[OldSchool_IsCool]

It doesn't actually have to GO 200 or red-line at 15K, but the HD guys don't need to know that! 

[wannabridin]

nice responses!  so is 80 the "magic" number here for something that fits really well inside? 

[Industrial Cafe]

yes. the 100mm is too big. it's bigger than the gauge casing.

[wannabridin]

awesome!  well then, i guess i'll try and get some of those 80mm white angel eyes i found.  yours have a bluish tint, this was because of the color of the reflector correct?

i didn't realize that the gauge faces were transparent plastic?  it seems like if the paint was removed then there could be some light "leaks" or some undesirable background glowing on the overlays??

[Industrial Cafe]

the gauge faces are a translucent blue-green, so the light that comes through has a nice soft blue-green color with a white light that comes around the reflector, lighting up the outside of the face.

[Industrial Cafe]

I'll get a pic real quick.

[Industrial Cafe]

[mystic_1]

After the 160, add "sub-light speed", "light speed", "ridiculous speed", and "ludicrous speed".



mystic_1

[OldSchool_IsCool]

YES!!! Erase the MPH and replace it with WARP FACTOR!

[wannabridin]

IC'S GONE PLAID!!!! 

so IC, your gauge overlays are solid correct?  ie no cutouts for the ticks or numbers/letters?  i guess i'm just being ignorant or something, but i don't see how the white LED's are shining through blue-greenish...  or is the inside reflector surface a different color???

[Industrial Cafe]

no cutout numbers or tick marks.
it may be hard to believe, but the plastic that Honda used for the gauge faces is a blue-green circle of see through plastic. making the white light turn blue-green.  much like a stage filter.

hope that clears it up