Led Glow Needles [Archive]

cherrington17

01-11-2010, 01:58 PM

First and foremost, a thank you goes to YaleroYnot for being the first documented member to do this.

Difficulty - High! If your not good at soldering, and have jumpy hands... don't do this.
Time - ~2hrs - discluding epoxy/hot glue set times and led test times.

His how-to write up...

the best way to put it is everything has to come apart in this order

back cover
front "glass"
circut board
front gauge face ( slowlly pry it and let th glue release work al the way around slowly it is only plastic )
remove the gauge "motors" label them (don't know if it matters but i did"

drill #12 holes at 9/3 and 12 o'clock then go and redrill # 33 hole ( .116 ) 3mm leds are .115 and drill the hole on the small gauges at 3 o clock. ( looking from the back ).

place the leds in the holes ( conecting them in series + - + - .... ) solder the leds together the final result should be three leds in a circle about the size of a AA batery. with a positive and negitive lead.

take a hack saw blade and put two groves in the plastic around the gauge "motor" so there is a place to run the wires.

after pressing in the leds.and pushing the wires in the dished area. take hot glue and glue the leds in and cover the wires with glue to insulate them from the gauge "motor". contiue till all 4 gauges are done. then solder a resistor (220 ohm 1/4 watt for 3 leds) to the positive side of the series curcit. then chain all the curcits together and come out of the cluster at the bottom center. using hot glue to attach the wires.

i recommend testing the leds thru out the process to make sure that every thing is working. i use a power wheels charger as my 12 volt power.

--------------------------------

My revisions...

I used 3mm leds (as did he) in a series 3 per gauge, 2 gauges wired together. This gives you 6 leds together, which is ~12v. (for myself, i had to add a resistor inline with the wire to prevent them from blowing up, when the alternator is running) TEST BEFORE MOUNTING. I did this 3 times because i got cocky, and didn't.

I used a dremel on top of the drill listed above. An engraving bit to cut down some of the plastic on the inner ring, so the wires have somewhere to tuck into. Also, to drill the holes on the back of the gauge face a little bigger, for a better flush fit for mounting.

THE MOTORS ARE NOT INNER CHANGEABLE! Keep track of where your needles are, and what order they are mounted in.

You WILL remove your needles, so have a good way to recalibrate them. The gas/coolant are easy if you know where they normally sit when the car is warm/tank is full.
The tach, you definitely need to know where your car idles.
For the speedometer you have a few options. When the car is on, but not started... clearly its at ZERO. But, this will not perfectly calibrate it.
-Best option, have a OBDII reader that will give you your actual MPH and calibrate it with the front end lifted.
-There are other ways (the way I did it) and its just much to risky to recommend to others. (involves a GPS and an empty highway)

Pics!
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/IMG_0287.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/IMG_0288.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/IMG_0289.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/IMG_0290.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/IMG_0292.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/IMG_0294.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/IMG_0293.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/IMG_0184.jpg

I will add pics that have them with the other lights on, later.

If the spots around the leds seem odd, its because its blue plastic. If they seem darker then yours, its because I used a sharpie to darken the back of the plastic to prevent the other leds in my gauges from adding color to the needles.

The 2nd to last picture has too many holes, I know. I was originally going to have 2 colored needles. Decided not to... when i found out that many leds wouldn't fit. The leds are shiny, because of the epoxy on the back of them, holding them in place/protecting the wires.

Rexter9x

01-11-2010, 04:15 PM

Ahh, the gps method of redoing the speedo... lol, been there, its always fun

Vic28

01-11-2010, 04:41 PM

Now the question... how much would you charge to do it? lol

cherrington17

01-11-2010, 05:10 PM

Couldn't pay me enough. Like most of my led work. I do it once, revise it 2-3 times... wouldn't ever want to do it again. :lol:

Philbar71

01-11-2010, 05:15 PM

Very nice work man. I'll check this out and see how hard it will be when i am doing the LED gauge mod.

cherrington17

01-11-2010, 06:34 PM

Few more with everything on and functional. (obviously taken indoors still)

Red:
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/CIMG1082.jpg

Blue:
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/CIMG1083.jpg

Both:
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/CIMG1081.jpg

Silentalero

01-11-2010, 07:30 PM

nice mang.

a4d2a0m

01-12-2010, 07:50 PM

Do any of the needles change brightness as they move around???

cherrington17

01-12-2010, 09:23 PM

only the tach (the light in the 9 o'clock position didn't push through far enough)

the rest of them don't at all...solid color the whole time.

xnick

01-12-2010, 09:37 PM

looks great, will definitely be something I tackle before getting her on the road,

Thanks for the great write-up!

JLw7123

01-12-2010, 09:42 PM

looks good I am thinking of buying LEDS for the inside of my car and trunk. red and blue LEDs and blue ones for the gauges.

kwhauck

01-12-2010, 10:11 PM

great job! A nice solid, well thought out write up!!

AndyT3

01-13-2010, 08:25 AM

Yeah, that looks pretty nice.

JLw7123

01-13-2010, 11:26 AM

did u have to do any solder any of the wires.

cherrington17

01-13-2010, 12:18 PM

yes... lots of soldering is involved.

:huh: what makes you think i didn't?

Nate's Alero

01-13-2010, 12:24 PM

amazing job.. all my projects are on hold, until i get my new soldering gun..

JLw7123

01-13-2010, 12:27 PM

just bought a soldering gun today. Going to do the sub wiring and speaker wiring the right way.

Nate's Alero

01-13-2010, 12:29 PM

just bought a soldering gun today. Going to do the sub wiring and speaker wiring the right way.

cross my fingers that i dont hear a report

"from Milton NH, a 19 year old kid sets fire to a 1999 Olds Alero, for improper soldering techniques)

:-D

JLw7123

01-13-2010, 12:30 PM

do not worry I have soldered before when I Helped hook up my friends system.

AleroDrime

01-14-2010, 12:42 PM

cherry thats how my led needles r dont but how are yall getting the prnd321 to light blue, is there a way to change the color of ur miles too?

xnick

01-14-2010, 01:35 PM

cherry thats how my led needles r dont but how are yall getting the prnd321 to light blue, is there a way to change the color of ur miles too?

Not sure how it is in the Alero, but most vehicles use a vacuum display for the mileage (green display). The answer is no, you cannot change the color using an easy method - other than replacing the board. You can lay a tint film over it, but you'll always have the green mixing with the color.

white04alero

01-26-2010, 02:46 AM

so what did you wire these to? did you wire them to a separate switch or did you wire them in so that they come on when you turn the headlights on?

also. on the oznium site, i did not see a 220 ohm 1/4 watt resistor. im guessing that you can use a resistor with a different ohm rating, same watt rating, with either more or less led's, correct? and since ohm is a measure of resistance, and the higher the ohms, the more resistance, would i be correct in assuming that if 220 ohms is good for 3 leds then something like 560 ohms would be good for 1? 2 maybe?
i guess im led-ignorant. school me if you will.

Nate's Alero

01-26-2010, 08:29 AM

i've done this as well.... and am able to help anyone... i've gone LED nuts... PM meh if ya need halp

AleroDrime

01-26-2010, 11:13 AM

Nate's Alero

01-26-2010, 12:40 PM

its two wires that are coming out the harness for the gauges, a gray and a gray striped one it think, you solder into those, id have to look to make sure its gray wires though

DO NOT SOLDER!!!!!

Use quick taps or w/e, those are reversible

lonnie

01-27-2010, 10:33 AM

DO NOT SOLDER!!!!!

Use quick taps or w/e, those are reversible
Also unreliable..they will eventually separate or cause an intermittent issue. Fused links always work the best.

Nate's Alero

01-27-2010, 10:41 AM

Also unreliable..they will eventually separate or cause an intermittent issue. Fused links always work the best.

yeah, never had an issue with taps if the area is not submittable to movement... when behind the gauge cluster, i think not lol

AleroDrime

01-27-2010, 11:45 AM

solders fine if you want to reverse it cut off the free wire and tape it up

+even red wire taps arent that effective on some of the factory wiring

lonnie

01-27-2010, 03:15 PM

yeah, never had an issue with taps if the area is not submittable to movement... when behind the gauge cluster, i think not lol
Even though you haven't had a problem yet still doesn't make it a good idea. All vehicles have movement, I've seen plugs that plug into an outlet back out alittle bit over time with slight vibration..and that was in a tower building with just radios in it....even a small amount of vibration that you may not feel could cause a problem, so yes there is still vibration behind the gauge cluster. Nothing beats a fused link, or the piece of mind that comes along with it. To each his own everybody is going to do things the way they see fit. You would rather use taps...I would rather solder!

cherrington17

01-27-2010, 07:18 PM

i solder.. but i'll admit, i just recently changed all my gauge lights to one giant twisted wire connection w/ decent tape.

I got tired of soldering them all together, then soldering them all.. (7 (+) wires now with 1 common ground) It has been flawless for now, and it makes testing each easier, as well as pulling the unit out MUCH easier.

I would not recommend this for anyone though. :lol: Solder, or use wire connectors.