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Led Diy

1K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  wcleafs 
#1 ·
Please bear with me as this is my first attempt at a DIY

My earlier post showed LEDs in my dash and I was asked for a DIY, well here I go.

1. selected the LEDs I wanted to use, I selected High intensity Blue LEDs. I got their operating voltage and desired current and applied it to the formulas at this link http://www.metku.net/?sect=view&n=1&path=m...dcalc/index_eng
that allowed me to figure out the current limiting resistor I required.
In this case I created 4 small circuit boards and fed them from on 12 v source.

2. after obtaining all the parts required I used a printed circuit board kit from radio shack to build 4 identical boards that would just cover the light holes in the instrument cluster of my 320i. I think they were about 1 1/2 in by 1 in. I traced the lines out on the boards and etched them in the solution that came with the kit.
Info on this is available in the kit. see the crude attachment sorry about that
when making the boards I ran power to the board which was then fed to a resistor ( in this case a 633 ohm resistor) this then fed the LED in series.
I assembled each board and provided enough wire to connect the power and grounds

3. I removed the dash from the car and set up a small 12 volt battery to set up the aim of the LEDs (leave enough leg on the LEDs to allow you to bend them to aim)

4. after having the set up correct I then used clear silicone to mount them to the top of the cluster unit so that the LED just hung through the opening. Caution should be observed not to knock the aim of the LED off while mounting them.

5. after mounting and drying I removed the bulbs from inside the dash and connected the power wire to the hot line on the bulb socket

other than that I need a few days and a better drawing program to give you a good drawing if one is needed

Cheers :idea2
 

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#2 ·
will the LED's be able to adjust with the dimmer?

can we put one in the shifter knob and tell me what gear im in... dont need it but it may be fun for a while.?

how much time/money was spent ?

did you use red LED's ?
 

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#3 ·
Originally posted by idanity@Nov 24 2004, 09:10 AM
will the LED's be able to adjust with the dimmer?

yes to a certain point the dimmer will only work until the LED hits if voltage cut off point or in otherwords the miminum voltage required to operate

can we put one in the shifter knob and tell me what gear im in... dont need it but it may be fun for a while.?

you could probably hook some thing up if you got some sort to indication to the computer what gear you are in. you could then pick off those signals


how much time/money was spent ?
money was probably around 40 bucks give or take 5, the most expensive part was the high intensity LEDs

did you use red LED's ?
used blue seen in the pic in my other thread refitting dash with LEDs
:wrench
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