Changing dash cluster lights
Changing dash cluster lights
Changing my dash lights to a something brighter than factory green. Thinking of using blue led lights. Anyone by any chance know what kind of leds I should be buying? Not sure what type it is and can't really be bothered to pull off the dash just to have a look. Cheers!
Re: Changing dash cluster lights
I think the LEDs you are looking for are called "T10".
Go for the brightest possible, sometimes they are a lot dimmer than you'd expect.
Ps. Just a tip, I put blue ones in mine and they looked like shit, so I got some white ones, much nicer.
Go for the brightest possible, sometimes they are a lot dimmer than you'd expect.
Ps. Just a tip, I put blue ones in mine and they looked like shit, so I got some white ones, much nicer.
Re: Changing dash cluster lights
A quick caution on this idea. The police may take offense to your blue LED dash lights. The LED upgrade is a good idea IMO as the back lighting on the Galants is pretty ordinary. The green light effect is only made by transparent 'boots' that slip over the globes. Maybe try the white LED wedge replacement globes and refit the green boots back over them to see if they are any brighter?
Re: Changing dash cluster lights
Because they leds are pretty cheap ill probably just buy a bunch of different colours and see what looks good, hopefully it comes out ok!
Re: Changing dash cluster lights
Alright so my gauges stopped working.. Can anyone tell me which wires I need to plug back in haha. Dumb move on my behalf trying to take apart the dash and everything with only 45 minutes before I had work!
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LukeAussie
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- Joined: Fri May 18, 2012 9:55 am
- Location: Adelaide
Re: Changing dash cluster lights
Oh no, what a pain! This one will have to be a systematic process to ensure you get everything plugged back in the right way. Tacho and Speedo should be easy to check, as speedo has the cable that comes from the gear box (a big thick cable), and the tacho has power and a cable off the coil, but I'd be checking everything carefully to make sure you've plugged everything back in the right way and into the right sockets.
As an aside, the dash cluster in my HJ Galant is pretty cool, in that it pops out and has a hard connector moulded to the cluster itself, so that as you pull it out and/or push it back into position, everything either disconnects or connects at once. Quite tidy!
As an aside, the dash cluster in my HJ Galant is pretty cool, in that it pops out and has a hard connector moulded to the cluster itself, so that as you pull it out and/or push it back into position, everything either disconnects or connects at once. Quite tidy!
Re: Changing dash cluster lights
Managed to get everything working just need to plug the speedo cable back in. Annoying how short they are! Figured I will just undo it from the gear, plug it in the dash and then thread it through the firewall again. For some reason when I tried the led lights they didn't light up..
Re: Changing dash cluster lights
I've got a feeling they are polarity sensitive. But you should have at least one of them working as the odds of you installing them all the same is pretty low... Might need to clean the contact faces on the back of the circuit board.
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LukeAussie
- Posts: 353
- Joined: Fri May 18, 2012 9:55 am
- Location: Adelaide
Re: Changing dash cluster lights
Yep, the speedo cable is definitely tight! On my 5-speed conversion, it's about at it's maximum limit (though I did get a new cable made longer since the upgrade)!
And yes, LEDs are most definitely polarity sensitive. Put them on backwards, and they definitely won't work. It might pay to double check them out of the car (obviously checking the correct polarity of connecting cables) before you put it all back together, to be sure something else hasn't gone ary...
And yes, LEDs are most definitely polarity sensitive. Put them on backwards, and they definitely won't work. It might pay to double check them out of the car (obviously checking the correct polarity of connecting cables) before you put it all back together, to be sure something else hasn't gone ary...
Re: Changing dash cluster lights
I'm quite sure I've tried the LEDs both ways.. Not sure what I'm missing.
Re: Changing dash cluster lights
Which globes should I replace?
Is there anything that looks wrong with the dimmer?
Is there anything that looks wrong with the dimmer?
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LukeAussie
- Posts: 353
- Joined: Fri May 18, 2012 9:55 am
- Location: Adelaide
Re: Changing dash cluster lights
Okay, lets back-pedal a bit :-)
With the LEDs, first confirm that they're actually working. Get the LED, put it in series with a resistor of some kind (a 12V globe will do), and connect to the battery to confirm that you have a working device, and also which side is the positive (cathode) and negative (anode) pins of the LED. Make note and remember which is which.
Next, get a multimeter and check the voltage level of the contacts you're planning to connect the LED to (with or without the existing globe). Obviously have the lights turned on, to simulate the on condition. Rotate your dimmer, and check the max and min voltages.
Now, a LED needs a particular voltage to work (an on voltage), and works quite differently to a globe. It's a semi conductor device, and is either on or off, and varies in brightness depending on current flow (as opposed to a particular voltage drop, which is the case for a globe). Verify that the voltage drop is reasonable (most LEDs will be around 2V drop, so you need at least this much, but check as if you're not passing the voltage threshold, you won't get the LED to come on), and then check that the dimmer resistance is not so big as to limit the current to the point that you can't see the light. If the dimmer limits the current too much, you may never get enough light from the LED, in which case, you can bypass it with a resistor of less ohms. From memory, a 1k ohm resistor will provide enough resistance for reasonable light, and you could maybe go as low as 470 ohms without any problems...
Let me know how you go...
With the LEDs, first confirm that they're actually working. Get the LED, put it in series with a resistor of some kind (a 12V globe will do), and connect to the battery to confirm that you have a working device, and also which side is the positive (cathode) and negative (anode) pins of the LED. Make note and remember which is which.
Next, get a multimeter and check the voltage level of the contacts you're planning to connect the LED to (with or without the existing globe). Obviously have the lights turned on, to simulate the on condition. Rotate your dimmer, and check the max and min voltages.
Now, a LED needs a particular voltage to work (an on voltage), and works quite differently to a globe. It's a semi conductor device, and is either on or off, and varies in brightness depending on current flow (as opposed to a particular voltage drop, which is the case for a globe). Verify that the voltage drop is reasonable (most LEDs will be around 2V drop, so you need at least this much, but check as if you're not passing the voltage threshold, you won't get the LED to come on), and then check that the dimmer resistance is not so big as to limit the current to the point that you can't see the light. If the dimmer limits the current too much, you may never get enough light from the LED, in which case, you can bypass it with a resistor of less ohms. From memory, a 1k ohm resistor will provide enough resistance for reasonable light, and you could maybe go as low as 470 ohms without any problems...
Let me know how you go...
Re: Changing dash cluster lights
Before I read your above comment I tried the LEDs in the dash again and actually managed to get it all working without having to troubleshoot, but the bad thing is the blue LEDs do look kinda awful. They only light up half the numbers on the speedo and I got the brightest ones supercheap had!