HOW-TO WORKLOG: LED Loaded Instrument Cluster (+60 LEDs!) BRIGHTEST ORG CLUSTER YET
HOW-TO WORKLOG: LED Loaded Instrument Cluster (+60 LEDs!) BRIGHTEST ORG CLUSTER YET
Welcome, ladies & gents! This thread will be detailing how to create what I promise to be the BRIGHTEST instrument cluster yet seen on the .org. We will be utilizing SMT LEDs mounted on a PCB that will be retrofitted into the stock instrument cluster housing. This is essentially considered a ‘worklog’ as I will be updating the thread as progress is made. Also, for those wondering about the interior overhaul – this is the final project, so I will be updating that thread with this AND all of the other works that have been done since its last update. As with any HOW-TO, you mess it up, that’s on you. Let’s start with a list of supplies…
TOOLS- Wire Stripper
- Wire Cutters
- Soldering Iron, 25W minimum
- Dremel w/ cutting wheel & sanding drum accessories
SUPPLIES
I purchased the majority of these items from mouser.com. All of these items can be found there A LOT cheaper than what you’d find at Radio Shack. I will update the list with part numbers later on, as to make it easier to find them on the site.
- Solder
- Heatsink Paste
- 20 or 22 Gauge Wire
- 120Ω Resistors x 100
- Aluminum Heatsink x 4
- TO-220 Voltage Regulator x 4
- PCB/Prototyping Board w/ Copper Holes
- SMT LEDs (you choose the color, get ‘em on eBay) x 100
- #4-40 ¼” Bolts (You can get these from Josh’s sponsor, aka Home Depot)
LED COMPARISON
A lot of people have been asking about this one. In this picture you will see a comparison of three different types of LEDs. The first ones are the SMT LEDs, you can see how tiny they are. The middle one is a superflux LED, and the one on the right is a 5mm LEDs. You can see that we are using some tiny LEDs here!
STEP I – BOARD CUTTING
The first step will involve cutting the PCB as to accommodate our LEDs. You will need 4 disks total. Two will be 2” in diameter for the fuel and temperature gauges; two will be 4” for the tachometer and the speedometer. Measure them however you wish. I personally chose to use my chrome gauge rings as the template.
STEP II – LED SOLDERING
You will notice there are copper leads on either end of the LEDs. You will begin by putting a dab of solder on the hole where you wish to put your LED, then putting the LED into position, then soldering it on the board. Solder however many LEDs as you wish, making sure they all go (+) to (-). The LEDs will be soldered in runs of three, so slap some solder down between the first-to-second, second-to third LEDs to make each run.
STEP III – POSITIVE LEADS
In order to make the positive leg of the circuit, begin by taking a small piece of wire, strip the end, and solder it onto the positive end of the first LED of the first run. Then run this lead to the first LED of the second run. Get a new piece of wire, make another lead connecting the first LED of the second run to the first LED of the third run, so on and so on.
STEP IV – NEGATIVE LEADS
You will be doing the same thing you did in STEP III, only this time you will be connecting the negative leads. Thread one end of the resistor through the bottom of the disk and connect to the negative lead of the third LED of the first run. Continue this for the remaining runs, snipping off the extra length. Turn the disk over, and connect each OPEN resistor lead together.
TOOLS- Wire Stripper
- Wire Cutters
- Soldering Iron, 25W minimum
- Dremel w/ cutting wheel & sanding drum accessories
SUPPLIES
I purchased the majority of these items from mouser.com. All of these items can be found there A LOT cheaper than what you’d find at Radio Shack. I will update the list with part numbers later on, as to make it easier to find them on the site.
- Solder
- Heatsink Paste
- 20 or 22 Gauge Wire
- 120Ω Resistors x 100
- Aluminum Heatsink x 4
- TO-220 Voltage Regulator x 4
- PCB/Prototyping Board w/ Copper Holes
- SMT LEDs (you choose the color, get ‘em on eBay) x 100
- #4-40 ¼” Bolts (You can get these from Josh’s sponsor, aka Home Depot)
LED COMPARISON
A lot of people have been asking about this one. In this picture you will see a comparison of three different types of LEDs. The first ones are the SMT LEDs, you can see how tiny they are. The middle one is a superflux LED, and the one on the right is a 5mm LEDs. You can see that we are using some tiny LEDs here!
STEP I – BOARD CUTTING
The first step will involve cutting the PCB as to accommodate our LEDs. You will need 4 disks total. Two will be 2” in diameter for the fuel and temperature gauges; two will be 4” for the tachometer and the speedometer. Measure them however you wish. I personally chose to use my chrome gauge rings as the template.
STEP II – LED SOLDERING
You will notice there are copper leads on either end of the LEDs. You will begin by putting a dab of solder on the hole where you wish to put your LED, then putting the LED into position, then soldering it on the board. Solder however many LEDs as you wish, making sure they all go (+) to (-). The LEDs will be soldered in runs of three, so slap some solder down between the first-to-second, second-to third LEDs to make each run.
STEP III – POSITIVE LEADS
In order to make the positive leg of the circuit, begin by taking a small piece of wire, strip the end, and solder it onto the positive end of the first LED of the first run. Then run this lead to the first LED of the second run. Get a new piece of wire, make another lead connecting the first LED of the second run to the first LED of the third run, so on and so on.
STEP IV – NEGATIVE LEADS
You will be doing the same thing you did in STEP III, only this time you will be connecting the negative leads. Thread one end of the resistor through the bottom of the disk and connect to the negative lead of the third LED of the first run. Continue this for the remaining runs, snipping off the extra length. Turn the disk over, and connect each OPEN resistor lead together.
STEP V - TO-220 VOLTAGE REGULATOR
Now that the outer ring of LEDs has been completed, it’s time to test everything out! Get used to this, as we will be testing this quite frequently throughout. First things first, Take a TO-220, put some thermal paste on the back, and attach an aluminum heatsink to the regulator with a #4-40 bolt. You will see three legs on the regulator. The leftmost leg facing you will be the power supply in. The middle leg goes to ground, the rightmost will supply the board. Simply make a temporary connection to the regulator.
STEP VI - TESTING
Now that the outer ring of LEDs has been completed, it’s time to test everything out! Get Pretty simply here. Connect the leads of the regulator to the respective leads on the battery and test. Make sure the leads on the assembly are not touching any metal on the chassis…or anywhere for that matter!
Now that the outer ring of LEDs has been completed, it’s time to test everything out! Get used to this, as we will be testing this quite frequently throughout. First things first, Take a TO-220, put some thermal paste on the back, and attach an aluminum heatsink to the regulator with a #4-40 bolt. You will see three legs on the regulator. The leftmost leg facing you will be the power supply in. The middle leg goes to ground, the rightmost will supply the board. Simply make a temporary connection to the regulator.
STEP VI - TESTING
Now that the outer ring of LEDs has been completed, it’s time to test everything out! Get Pretty simply here. Connect the leads of the regulator to the respective leads on the battery and test. Make sure the leads on the assembly are not touching any metal on the chassis…or anywhere for that matter!
FTW.
hahahah...
id like to see a comparison of yours and meanbean's when you're finished. he did this a while back already, just never made a thread or posted pictures... he used superflux LEDs. i wonder if he'll come out of the woodwork in a little bit.
id like to see a comparison of yours and meanbean's when you're finished. he did this a while back already, just never made a thread or posted pictures... he used superflux LEDs. i wonder if he'll come out of the woodwork in a little bit.
Originally Posted by Metal Maxima
Thanks, fellas! I should have some more pics in a few hours...got some errands to run, then I'm sitting down at teh workbehcn for about 3 hours. 
...get with me...have a proposal for you....:
Originally Posted by Blackwind
im in for the red x's
Originally Posted by BigLou93SE
In for the pics too.. Looks very good, but I am also wondering about the stock dimmer switch as fanaticrockford has asked.
STEP VII - TEMPLATE CUTTING
The next step will be hacking the bejeezus out of the OEM plastic template. Using a dremel cutting wheel and sanding drum, simply cut away as much material as you need to fit the boards. The problem with sanding the plastic, you will find, is that the plastic does not sand so much as the friction of the wheel casues it to melt. So don't expect it to look pretty.
The next step will be hacking the bejeezus out of the OEM plastic template. Using a dremel cutting wheel and sanding drum, simply cut away as much material as you need to fit the boards. The problem with sanding the plastic, you will find, is that the plastic does not sand so much as the friction of the wheel casues it to melt. So don't expect it to look pretty.
STEP VIII - SIGNAL BULB CHANGEOUT
While we're at it, we might as well as swap out those boring old LEDs inside the OEM template. Some of you may have bulbs, so it'd be a bit more involved. (you'll need a resistor). For those fortunate enough to have LEDs, simply heat up the solder on the opposite end, and pull the bulb out. DON'T CUT IT. The OEM bulbs are 3mm, but we might as well as upgrade to a nice 8000MCD 5mm Blue LED. Simply push the new LED through the open holes, and resolder back in.
Now, if you make the mistake of cutting the OEM leds, you will find that you might strip the copper off of the original solder points. Don't fret. If this occurs, simply sand off the silicone cover of the leads (both sides), and solder there. It ain't pretty, but gets the job done. I made this mistake only on the first bulb, I'm trusting you not to make any.
While we're at it, we might as well as swap out those boring old LEDs inside the OEM template. Some of you may have bulbs, so it'd be a bit more involved. (you'll need a resistor). For those fortunate enough to have LEDs, simply heat up the solder on the opposite end, and pull the bulb out. DON'T CUT IT. The OEM bulbs are 3mm, but we might as well as upgrade to a nice 8000MCD 5mm Blue LED. Simply push the new LED through the open holes, and resolder back in.
Now, if you make the mistake of cutting the OEM leds, you will find that you might strip the copper off of the original solder points. Don't fret. If this occurs, simply sand off the silicone cover of the leads (both sides), and solder there. It ain't pretty, but gets the job done. I made this mistake only on the first bulb, I'm trusting you not to make any.
STEP IX - TAPE, TAPE, AND MORE TAPE
Now we're ready to start attaching out templates. You've spent all this time getting up to this point, the last thing you want to do it fry the entire circut board OR the cluster, so do yourself a favor and wrap her up in electrical tape. I figured this one out after I fired my master window switch before perfecting my alternative method to LED-ing the switch.
Now we're ready to start attaching out templates. You've spent all this time getting up to this point, the last thing you want to do it fry the entire circut board OR the cluster, so do yourself a favor and wrap her up in electrical tape. I figured this one out after I fired my master window switch before perfecting my alternative method to LED-ing the switch.
STEP X - TEMPLATE ATTACHMENT
We're finally rounding the bases now! Ok, the next thing you are going to want to do is use some glue to attach the template to the board. Apply liberally in areas that will see no metal-to-metal contact, or specifically - nowhere that would mitigate electron transfer on the LED or OEM board. Oh, yeah...don't forget to make a (+) and (-) lead to get power to the board!s! Run those wires through the OEM lighting hole.
We're finally rounding the bases now! Ok, the next thing you are going to want to do is use some glue to attach the template to the board. Apply liberally in areas that will see no metal-to-metal contact, or specifically - nowhere that would mitigate electron transfer on the LED or OEM board. Oh, yeah...don't forget to make a (+) and (-) lead to get power to the board!s! Run those wires through the OEM lighting hole.
Originally Posted by Metal Maxima
Well, that's all for now. I'm heading back to the dungeon to finish this up. See you all soon!
Originally Posted by nsnrider
how many hours spent on the project so far?
STEP XI - WIRING
Alright, time to wire everything up. After pulling the leads of the positive and negative ends through the OEM bulb holes, you will need to solder everything to the voltage regulators. For simplicity, I suggest tying all negative leads together. Additionally, you will want to splice all of the input power lines into a single larger wire so that when it comes time to wire everything, you will only need to deal with two wires. Now, lastly, you will want to tap a single wire off of any OEM bulb point, as we will be using this as the actuator lead for you SPDT relay.
Alright, time to wire everything up. After pulling the leads of the positive and negative ends through the OEM bulb holes, you will need to solder everything to the voltage regulators. For simplicity, I suggest tying all negative leads together. Additionally, you will want to splice all of the input power lines into a single larger wire so that when it comes time to wire everything, you will only need to deal with two wires. Now, lastly, you will want to tap a single wire off of any OEM bulb point, as we will be using this as the actuator lead for you SPDT relay.