Low Budget DIY Solution for Burnt Out Needles
11-24-07, 06:49 PM
#62
Driver
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hey i recieved my parts and went to radio shack to get the wire.. well all they have is 22 guage ... dont know if thats small enough... u mentioned 30... and also in the picture you have the negative end of the led soldered to the resistors.... well if u follow the resistors it goes to the positive terminal on the needle...??? and the tip of the led is positive going with the wire to the negative part of the terminal......??????? doesnt make any sence...
11-25-07, 01:56 AM
#63
Lexucanafer
Thread Starter
hey i recieved my parts and went to radio shack to get the wire.. well all they have is 22 guage ... dont know if thats small enough... u mentioned 30... and also in the picture you have the negative end of the led soldered to the resistors.... well if u follow the resistors it goes to the positive terminal on the needle...??? and the tip of the led is positive going with the wire to the negative part of the terminal......??????? doesnt make any sence...
In Step #3, I explain how to solder the wire to the negative (or cathode) side of the LED.
And in Step #5, I describe how the resistor lead is soldered to the positive (or anode) side of the LED.
In the picture it may appear to you that the resistor lead is attached to the negative pad of the LED, but that is not the case. If you follow the resistor lead, it goes above the surface of the LED without touching it and is attached to the bottom or positive (+) pad of the LED.
In Step #6, I solder the wire to the negative terminal of the needle and the resistor lead to the positive terminal.
Concerning the proper wire for the job: you probably should have checked with your local Radioshack to be sure they had the wire you needed before placing the order at Digi-key for the other parts. 22AWG wire is too heavy for this project. You need less than a foot of wire to do this DIY. Maybe try going to a local electronics repair shop in your area and ask them if they can spare 8"-10" of insulated 28AWG or 30AWG wire. They probably wouldn't even charge you for it.
Last edited by Lexucan; 11-25-07 at 02:11 AM.
11-25-07, 09:15 AM
#64
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yeah... that makes much more sence.. can i just have the resistor go around the led instead of over it... dont want it to touch the other point on the led...u think that would be ok? idk... im just runnin it by the expert here... thanks
11-25-07, 09:53 AM
#65
Lexucanafer
Thread Starter
It would be trickier to get the resistor lead to go down the side of the LED without touching it. The solder terminals on this type of LED usually cap the ends and so there would also be a risk of the lead touching and shorting out the LED with the lead running down the side. It is a pretty confined space inside the tip of the needle.
What you could try (referring to the picture in Step #3) is turning the LED around so the (+) solder pad is at the top and the (-) pad is at the bottom. Then you could attach the resistor lead to the top pad and run the insulated wire to the bottom pad. But doing it this way may also be tricky in that it could likely prove to be more difficult to solder the resistor lead to the LED pad without the wire first being attached to the LED to stablize it, as described in Step #3. Remember you are working with a very small LED and it will move while you are trying to solder to it if you don't have a way to keep it stablized. That is why I soldered the wire to the LED first and then taped the wire with the LED attached to it to my work surface so it couldn't move while I soldered the resistor lead to the other end.
But do some experimentation and determine what method works best for you.
Good luck.
11-25-07, 11:45 AM
#66
I used a popcicle stick with a small hole drilled in the center just big enough to let the LED tabs overhang... The led actually fit tight to the stick making it very easy to solder... I used several holes as they loosen during soldering...
11-25-07, 12:04 PM
#67
Lexucanafer
Thread Starter
Like the old saying goes, "Getting a skinny little wire soldered to a tiny LED is the mother of invention"....or something like that...
11-26-07, 04:46 PM
#69
Lexus Test Driver
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Truly, truly, interesting. I remember someone else painted their needles silver and used a green led strip to illuminate things. Parker, have you tried fitting that into the cluster behind the smoked plastic?
11-26-07, 05:18 PM
#71
Lexus Test Driver
The LED's would only fit half way, because that drive indicator doesnt allow room to reach the other half. (If you get what I mean)
And nah, doesn't need to be less intense because the LED's are facing directly onto the cluster, so it doesn't effect your eyes. Plus, the red LED's were specifically chosen for night driving, as it also has least effect on your eyes at night, just like we use red lights in the aircraft instruments.
Anyway, I thought I'd come back here, since I had been busy for a while, and this place is great... I'm getting an SC soon, so will be good for the info.
Last edited by Parker Gen; 11-26-07 at 05:30 PM.
11-27-07, 06:07 PM
#72
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i finally got my 30 gauge wire wrap from another radio shack.... now all i am waiting on is the other led's that illuminate the background... i figured while i was in there i would change all the lights out... hopefully i will get this done before this weekend... and i will definately post some pictures..... wish me luck!!
11-28-07, 07:06 PM
#75
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well here it is... i am still waiting for the back lights i ordered from ebay... the guy didnt tell me they would be shipping from hong kong....
they dont look too great but they are sooooo much better than having no light to see how fast i am going...
i think they will stand out more when i get the super white bright led's for the background...
thanks soooo much guys for all the tips and help... my lexus is geting better and better thanks to this fourm....
BTW.. i put the led in horizontally rather than vertically.. meaning i soldered to the sides of the led rather to the "top, and bottom"... and i used a black sharpy marker to "black out" the rest of the needle.. i think i might have done it a little too much... the light is kinda short... like not very wide or illuminative... tell me what u think!
they dont look too great but they are sooooo much better than having no light to see how fast i am going...
i think they will stand out more when i get the super white bright led's for the background...
thanks soooo much guys for all the tips and help... my lexus is geting better and better thanks to this fourm....
BTW.. i put the led in horizontally rather than vertically.. meaning i soldered to the sides of the led rather to the "top, and bottom"... and i used a black sharpy marker to "black out" the rest of the needle.. i think i might have done it a little too much... the light is kinda short... like not very wide or illuminative... tell me what u think!