sh0ko
02-03-2009, 09:31 PM
hopefully ryan stickies tis eventually...ill pretty it up here in a second i promise to finish this very very soon
anybody know how to make the pictures a bit smaller? i still want to link them to bigger pictures like i do now but the thumbnails smaller
FOUND SOmE POSTS ON SAnDiNG OFF THE RED ON THE NEEDLES FOR THOSE WHO GO WITH COLORS OTHER ThAN RED AND WHITE
unplug the battery first! before you test ANY of the leds
Materials Needed
4 x 5 wide or 6 led in the color of your choice
1 x 74 wedge base bulb (http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/74-2.jpg) Ignition key ring
1 x high power led for a 194 replacement (i used WLED-WHP15 Wedge Base Bulb (polarized))
(http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/wled-whp15.jpg)
But you could definetly try this
(http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/wled-whp18.jpg)
A few sheets of 400 to 600 grit sand paper
Optional ( 2x t1.5-x instrument led bulb (polarized)) http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/t15-2.jpg ( in green)
so this is for the members here who might be thinking of doing the led cluster conversion. Its not a hard conversion but i thought id contribute to the community by writing up some tips and tricks i found while doing this conversion. basically im trying to upgrade the original mr2oc thread here for beyond.ca...just things i did differently and it seemd to work out beter for me than the mr2oc boards diy so dont try to flame me for what might be already posted at mr2oc.. im just trying to help Ill also snap pictures as i finish this writeup and show which leds i used for things such as the plates, inside the trunk etc. Ill link the original diy thread from mr2oc in a bit as it tells u how to dissemble the dash for those who don’t know how. First things first
the type of leds required.. now theres a huge debate as to whether or not to use the
5 wide led or the (WLED-x5 LED Wide Angle LED bulb)
http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/wled-x5.jpg
6 led which can be purchased at superbrightleds.com (WLED-x6 LED bulb)
http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/wled-x6.jpg
now from experience i purchased 6 led white... 6 led red and 5 wide leds.... personally the 5 wide leds are the way to go (COOL WHITE RECOMMENDED FOR BRIGHTEST)... they have the widest angle without having to sand down any of the bulbs (which ill get to in a minute)
the 6 led however are quite a bit brighter and i would recommend them if your going for a red conversion but if you want that much brighter in white but with a few more hot spots then get the 6 led in cool white.
The 5 leds however pretty much come with a 180 degree viewing angle or beam whatever u wanna call it. And sanding those 5 corners down proved to be even more effective in widening the beam...i could barely see hot spots on thinmysters conversion unless i REALLY stared hard. The problem with the 6 led is that although theyre bright.. ur gonna get hot spots no matter what... and their viewing angle i believe is only 35-45 degrees.. piss poor... but thats the point of sanding it down.. to try and get that damn angle close to 180 degrees.
Next the sanding....
Try to get as damn close to the anode or cathode (the metal bit embedded in the bulb) as you can. If however you manage to sand all the way down to it.. good bye led. The point of doing this is so that we get close to a 180 degrees of viewing angle. Now ppl recommended a dremmel but personally after doing this by hand id much rather prefer this method. Reason i say this is if you use a dremmel its EXTREMELY easy to chew away at the led at a VERY fast rate (but this depends on the dremmel as well). And that can lead to you hitting the anode and cathode. SO what i did was buy those big sheets of 600 grit paper put it on a flat surface and started rubbing the led up against it. Its a slower process but a much more accurate one.... you can see the process of how far your sanding and how straight the surface of the led is.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/sanded.JPG
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/sanded2.JPG
Heres a picture of what a sanded vs non sanded led looks like.
Now theres been a bit of complain on mr2oc that the leds will flicker or pop out after a few mths... im guessing thats with the vibration of the cars while driving...if your purchasing the led`s from superbrightleds youll happen to notice that the leads /contacts are just a simple ONE wire coming out for each end. this is of the led vs a normal 194 bulbs contacts.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/bent1.jpg
If you simply plug those leds into the bulb sockets its gonna move and wiggle around like mad without any force required. So what i did was simply take those leads and bend em in the middle to create a u shaped form. I found it easy to pinch down with my nail the middle of the contact and bend it around with a flat head screwdriver. Be careful because you might snap the lead in half or break it off altogether. Dont rush this.
The finished product should look like this.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/bent2.jpg
Now try fitting them into the sockets. It BARELY moves.. much less than when the lead was straight anyways. Its pretty jammed in there and theres much more contact with the sockets.
Now all you need to do is replace the 4 194 wedge bulbs behind the cluster after sanding them all down and bending the leads /contacts. DO NOT and i repeat DO NOT change the empty fuel light with an led. The loads are different and itll keep ur empty fuel light on at ALL times something u don’t want obviously. (the picture is of a jdm cluster so it might be on the other side for the usdm) Just change it with a brand new 194 bulb (why not the gauge is out anyways might as well do a change of the bulbs). Keep in mind the leds for the gauge cluster are UNPOLARIZED so it dosent really matter which way u stick em into the socket.
location of fuel light:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/gas.JPG
PURELY OPTIONAL SIGNAL CHANGE
dealing with the signal bulbs is a little different. you dont need to sand or wedge the bulb in and out of a socket. all you need to do is buy a twist lock replacement bulb.
t1.5-x instrument led bulb (polarized)) in green. I forgot to snap a picture but looking at the led's contacts (shown here)
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/t15-2.jpg
we find that theyre actually not fully flat against part of the socket. bend them down so theyre exactly flat seen like the picture above before you twist tehse on. otherwise the bulb will not fit all the way down and twist at all and if somehow you manage to force it down you better look if the circuit was damaged. If the contacts are also not pushed down it can cut away at the green electrical sheet or whatever the hell its called. (and im in electrical engg -_-")
just make sure your hazard siwtch is plugged in (thank you ryan) before testing these. (start your engine to check em) and TADA
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/signalled.JPG
WHOALA the finished product (im SO SORRY FOR THE BLURRY PICTURES... thats something i rushed the damn pictures.. AND ITS DEFINETLY ABOUT HALF AS BRIGHT AS whats seen in pictures but that goes for any color)
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/blurryred.JPG
Still working on this so gimme a bit of time this week im trying to do this writeup for ppl as fast as i can. Damn school and work. And if you want me to come over to do it for you feel free to phone me. It took me an hour or so to do thinmysters but we also had to take the gauge cluster out which is always a pain in the ass.
-----------------------------------------------------
Ignition Key Ring
now ive been chitchatting with a few mr2oc members who seem to know exactly what theyre doing. They told me that if purchasing the high powered led for a 74 wedge bulb replacement that it simply will not fit.
you want the 74-x Wedge Base LED bulb not the 74hp-x
the reason im saying this is because the 74 hp is 1/16 of an inch longer than the 74x. however you can clearly see and ive been told that you cannot sand down this bulb because it will hit the anode and cathode right away.
Which leads us to a problem.. the 74-xhp light is gonna be WAY too long...aobut 3mm too long..hence only the 74-x is suitable...id hafta say dont expect any colors to be bright unless its white or blue... i will ask thinmyster to snap pictures and ill snap picutres of mine to show different colors (red and white in this case)
its fairly simple to remove the ignition key ring.. just remove the screw at the bottom..
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/ignitionscrew.JPG
and pop off the surround. the bulb socket is simply locked it so twist it pull it out and remove the old 74 wedge bulb. (sorry mr2mike but hehe i still laugh at the story u told me with your ignition key ring bulb... thinmysters and mine slid out with a simple tug but hey urs works)
howevr the 74-x bulb is still too long so Sand it down as MUCH as you can. If you dont the led jam up right against the surrounds interior plastic which helps spread the light.
insert the new bulb... but dont reassemble the ignition key ring just quite yet. Because these 74-x bulbs are POLARIZED the + and - poles will play a part in whehter the led will light up or not.
plug in your battery again and see if the bulb lights up. if not pull it out and plug it with the position of the poles on the bulb opposite from what they previously had been inserted at. TADA. should light up. reassemble the ignition key ring and your key ring is DONE.
*now the thing is theres MAJOR hot spots on this and the plastic to help spread the light dosent do a very good job of spreadin the light. I will update more about this when im able to figure out how to spread the light more evenly.i was thinking sanding the light in a specific way (inverted cone) . that or some other kinda of mechanism to spread the light.. keep you up to date
-----------------------------------------------------
TRUNK
the trunk is pretty straight forward.. purchase either one of the high power leds
(http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/wled-whp15.jpg)
But you could definetly try this
(http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/wled-whp18.jpg)
trust me..althought theyre super bright... the trunk is only powered by this one bulb. Worth switching out the old pos 194 bulb that didnt light up anything for a high power led.
I used the 15 hp led just because the stock bulb in the trunk has a cage around it to protect it. If you are using the 18 powered led (the star shaped one) your going to have to cut this protector for the bulb off compeltely. However
if using the 15 hp led all you need is a pair of sharp scissors or wire clipps to cut the center top of the cage out and insert the fairly long 15 powered led bulb.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/cage.JPG
keep in mind these 15 high power led will not fit in if you unlock the cage. remove the 194 bulb first.. relock the cage.. cut a bit off the top and then stick in the new bulb. i believe the 15 highpower led is about twice the length of a 194.. so it aint gonna fit if u try to install it first with the cage unlocked and try to lock the cage on top of it after placing it into the socket. i figure keeping most of the cage intact will protect a good portion of the led rather than leaving it completey exposed.
once again this bulb is polarized so if it aint working give it the old switcharoo and whola... you should now be able to see whats in your trunk at night
heres a comparison of the 194 stock vs the 15 hp led
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/trunkledvs.JPG
vs http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/194trunk.JPG
and this literlaly is how the led looks in real life when lit
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/trunk.JPG
-----------------------------------------------------
PLATE LIGHTS
So its fairly simple.. look right above your plate.. find the two screws seen here
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/platescrews.JPG
remove the screws.. pry out the plastic cover... look where the bulbs are.. remove and reinsert the leds (THEY ARE NOT POLARIZED) plug em in whicever way
its purely up to you to sand these leds or not.. i did but i now know its kind of a waste of time ahaha and who the f*** knows why one led is bluer than the other for my plates.. its pissing me off but i can live with this...
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/license.JPG
---------------------------------------------------
control boards.. the background lighting
anybody know how to make the pictures a bit smaller? i still want to link them to bigger pictures like i do now but the thumbnails smaller
FOUND SOmE POSTS ON SAnDiNG OFF THE RED ON THE NEEDLES FOR THOSE WHO GO WITH COLORS OTHER ThAN RED AND WHITE
unplug the battery first! before you test ANY of the leds
Materials Needed
4 x 5 wide or 6 led in the color of your choice
1 x 74 wedge base bulb (http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/74-2.jpg) Ignition key ring
1 x high power led for a 194 replacement (i used WLED-WHP15 Wedge Base Bulb (polarized))
(http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/wled-whp15.jpg)
But you could definetly try this
(http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/wled-whp18.jpg)
A few sheets of 400 to 600 grit sand paper
Optional ( 2x t1.5-x instrument led bulb (polarized)) http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/t15-2.jpg ( in green)
so this is for the members here who might be thinking of doing the led cluster conversion. Its not a hard conversion but i thought id contribute to the community by writing up some tips and tricks i found while doing this conversion. basically im trying to upgrade the original mr2oc thread here for beyond.ca...just things i did differently and it seemd to work out beter for me than the mr2oc boards diy so dont try to flame me for what might be already posted at mr2oc.. im just trying to help Ill also snap pictures as i finish this writeup and show which leds i used for things such as the plates, inside the trunk etc. Ill link the original diy thread from mr2oc in a bit as it tells u how to dissemble the dash for those who don’t know how. First things first
the type of leds required.. now theres a huge debate as to whether or not to use the
5 wide led or the (WLED-x5 LED Wide Angle LED bulb)
http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/wled-x5.jpg
6 led which can be purchased at superbrightleds.com (WLED-x6 LED bulb)
http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/wled-x6.jpg
now from experience i purchased 6 led white... 6 led red and 5 wide leds.... personally the 5 wide leds are the way to go (COOL WHITE RECOMMENDED FOR BRIGHTEST)... they have the widest angle without having to sand down any of the bulbs (which ill get to in a minute)
the 6 led however are quite a bit brighter and i would recommend them if your going for a red conversion but if you want that much brighter in white but with a few more hot spots then get the 6 led in cool white.
The 5 leds however pretty much come with a 180 degree viewing angle or beam whatever u wanna call it. And sanding those 5 corners down proved to be even more effective in widening the beam...i could barely see hot spots on thinmysters conversion unless i REALLY stared hard. The problem with the 6 led is that although theyre bright.. ur gonna get hot spots no matter what... and their viewing angle i believe is only 35-45 degrees.. piss poor... but thats the point of sanding it down.. to try and get that damn angle close to 180 degrees.
Next the sanding....
Try to get as damn close to the anode or cathode (the metal bit embedded in the bulb) as you can. If however you manage to sand all the way down to it.. good bye led. The point of doing this is so that we get close to a 180 degrees of viewing angle. Now ppl recommended a dremmel but personally after doing this by hand id much rather prefer this method. Reason i say this is if you use a dremmel its EXTREMELY easy to chew away at the led at a VERY fast rate (but this depends on the dremmel as well). And that can lead to you hitting the anode and cathode. SO what i did was buy those big sheets of 600 grit paper put it on a flat surface and started rubbing the led up against it. Its a slower process but a much more accurate one.... you can see the process of how far your sanding and how straight the surface of the led is.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/sanded.JPG
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/sanded2.JPG
Heres a picture of what a sanded vs non sanded led looks like.
Now theres been a bit of complain on mr2oc that the leds will flicker or pop out after a few mths... im guessing thats with the vibration of the cars while driving...if your purchasing the led`s from superbrightleds youll happen to notice that the leads /contacts are just a simple ONE wire coming out for each end. this is of the led vs a normal 194 bulbs contacts.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/bent1.jpg
If you simply plug those leds into the bulb sockets its gonna move and wiggle around like mad without any force required. So what i did was simply take those leads and bend em in the middle to create a u shaped form. I found it easy to pinch down with my nail the middle of the contact and bend it around with a flat head screwdriver. Be careful because you might snap the lead in half or break it off altogether. Dont rush this.
The finished product should look like this.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/bent2.jpg
Now try fitting them into the sockets. It BARELY moves.. much less than when the lead was straight anyways. Its pretty jammed in there and theres much more contact with the sockets.
Now all you need to do is replace the 4 194 wedge bulbs behind the cluster after sanding them all down and bending the leads /contacts. DO NOT and i repeat DO NOT change the empty fuel light with an led. The loads are different and itll keep ur empty fuel light on at ALL times something u don’t want obviously. (the picture is of a jdm cluster so it might be on the other side for the usdm) Just change it with a brand new 194 bulb (why not the gauge is out anyways might as well do a change of the bulbs). Keep in mind the leds for the gauge cluster are UNPOLARIZED so it dosent really matter which way u stick em into the socket.
location of fuel light:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/gas.JPG
PURELY OPTIONAL SIGNAL CHANGE
dealing with the signal bulbs is a little different. you dont need to sand or wedge the bulb in and out of a socket. all you need to do is buy a twist lock replacement bulb.
t1.5-x instrument led bulb (polarized)) in green. I forgot to snap a picture but looking at the led's contacts (shown here)
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/t15-2.jpg
we find that theyre actually not fully flat against part of the socket. bend them down so theyre exactly flat seen like the picture above before you twist tehse on. otherwise the bulb will not fit all the way down and twist at all and if somehow you manage to force it down you better look if the circuit was damaged. If the contacts are also not pushed down it can cut away at the green electrical sheet or whatever the hell its called. (and im in electrical engg -_-")
just make sure your hazard siwtch is plugged in (thank you ryan) before testing these. (start your engine to check em) and TADA
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/signalled.JPG
WHOALA the finished product (im SO SORRY FOR THE BLURRY PICTURES... thats something i rushed the damn pictures.. AND ITS DEFINETLY ABOUT HALF AS BRIGHT AS whats seen in pictures but that goes for any color)
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/blurryred.JPG
Still working on this so gimme a bit of time this week im trying to do this writeup for ppl as fast as i can. Damn school and work. And if you want me to come over to do it for you feel free to phone me. It took me an hour or so to do thinmysters but we also had to take the gauge cluster out which is always a pain in the ass.
-----------------------------------------------------
Ignition Key Ring
now ive been chitchatting with a few mr2oc members who seem to know exactly what theyre doing. They told me that if purchasing the high powered led for a 74 wedge bulb replacement that it simply will not fit.
you want the 74-x Wedge Base LED bulb not the 74hp-x
the reason im saying this is because the 74 hp is 1/16 of an inch longer than the 74x. however you can clearly see and ive been told that you cannot sand down this bulb because it will hit the anode and cathode right away.
Which leads us to a problem.. the 74-xhp light is gonna be WAY too long...aobut 3mm too long..hence only the 74-x is suitable...id hafta say dont expect any colors to be bright unless its white or blue... i will ask thinmyster to snap pictures and ill snap picutres of mine to show different colors (red and white in this case)
its fairly simple to remove the ignition key ring.. just remove the screw at the bottom..
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/ignitionscrew.JPG
and pop off the surround. the bulb socket is simply locked it so twist it pull it out and remove the old 74 wedge bulb. (sorry mr2mike but hehe i still laugh at the story u told me with your ignition key ring bulb... thinmysters and mine slid out with a simple tug but hey urs works)
howevr the 74-x bulb is still too long so Sand it down as MUCH as you can. If you dont the led jam up right against the surrounds interior plastic which helps spread the light.
insert the new bulb... but dont reassemble the ignition key ring just quite yet. Because these 74-x bulbs are POLARIZED the + and - poles will play a part in whehter the led will light up or not.
plug in your battery again and see if the bulb lights up. if not pull it out and plug it with the position of the poles on the bulb opposite from what they previously had been inserted at. TADA. should light up. reassemble the ignition key ring and your key ring is DONE.
*now the thing is theres MAJOR hot spots on this and the plastic to help spread the light dosent do a very good job of spreadin the light. I will update more about this when im able to figure out how to spread the light more evenly.i was thinking sanding the light in a specific way (inverted cone) . that or some other kinda of mechanism to spread the light.. keep you up to date
-----------------------------------------------------
TRUNK
the trunk is pretty straight forward.. purchase either one of the high power leds
(http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/wled-whp15.jpg)
But you could definetly try this
(http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/wled-whp18.jpg)
trust me..althought theyre super bright... the trunk is only powered by this one bulb. Worth switching out the old pos 194 bulb that didnt light up anything for a high power led.
I used the 15 hp led just because the stock bulb in the trunk has a cage around it to protect it. If you are using the 18 powered led (the star shaped one) your going to have to cut this protector for the bulb off compeltely. However
if using the 15 hp led all you need is a pair of sharp scissors or wire clipps to cut the center top of the cage out and insert the fairly long 15 powered led bulb.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/cage.JPG
keep in mind these 15 high power led will not fit in if you unlock the cage. remove the 194 bulb first.. relock the cage.. cut a bit off the top and then stick in the new bulb. i believe the 15 highpower led is about twice the length of a 194.. so it aint gonna fit if u try to install it first with the cage unlocked and try to lock the cage on top of it after placing it into the socket. i figure keeping most of the cage intact will protect a good portion of the led rather than leaving it completey exposed.
once again this bulb is polarized so if it aint working give it the old switcharoo and whola... you should now be able to see whats in your trunk at night
heres a comparison of the 194 stock vs the 15 hp led
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/trunkledvs.JPG
vs http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/194trunk.JPG
and this literlaly is how the led looks in real life when lit
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/trunk.JPG
-----------------------------------------------------
PLATE LIGHTS
So its fairly simple.. look right above your plate.. find the two screws seen here
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/platescrews.JPG
remove the screws.. pry out the plastic cover... look where the bulbs are.. remove and reinsert the leds (THEY ARE NOT POLARIZED) plug em in whicever way
its purely up to you to sand these leds or not.. i did but i now know its kind of a waste of time ahaha and who the f*** knows why one led is bluer than the other for my plates.. its pissing me off but i can live with this...
http://www.members.shaw.ca/Victa/led/license.JPG
---------------------------------------------------
control boards.. the background lighting