Led needles 101 !!!!!! - 3000GT/Stealth International Message Center

98slept · 07-30-2008, 05:36 PM

Doing led needles are time consuming and required knowledge of soldering with electronic components.
YOU MUST BE FAMILIAR WITH LED POLARITY/RESISTORS/SINGLE OR MULTI ARRAY WIRING METHODS). If your not i suggest your start learning from the google.com

You need wide angle and bright mcd surface mount leds for the needles. The wider and brighter the better. i got my leds from here. eBay Store - TopBright Led Store: PLCC-2 R G B Y W SMD LED:
The viewing angle was 120 Degrees and the mcd was 800.
There are ofcourse more ebay stores with better deals. Mine was on special for 50 piece for 10.99

What you need to do is use a drill with a drill bit that is close to the size of the hole on the white clear plastic that the gauges rest on.

You must grind the sides to make the hole wider. (allowing the leds to be out of the way of the needle assembly) You then glue the leds parallel on the sides of the new hole.(having the leds face upwards of course

)

98slept · 07-30-2008, 05:37 PM

Heres a video for the people who dont understand what the hell im talking about.

You do the same thing to the rest of the gauges you want to have leds on. There all similiar. You then soder them in correct polarity with small gauge wires.
You have to make sure the wiring dosent hang and rest on the needles assembly.Glue it on if you want.

I use only two per needles, but you can put up to four. Just make sure the hole is wide enough and dosent interfere with the needles/assembly. The needles are fat from the bottom so make sure you dont get to close to them. 3-4mm of a distance would be just fine.

Once your done with your assembly put it back on. And have the positive wire soldered to your rheostat lamp wire and the neg to chassis.( i hooked up mine to the light bulb contacts) And your done.!!!

(IF YOUR LEDS DONT HAVE A WIDE VIEWING ANGLE YOUR NEEDLES WILL LOOK LIKE GHETTO CRAP!!!)

Heres a video of my leds needles during the day. notice how i put a shirt over the dashboard to mimic night time. Now imagine how bright these are during the night!!!!!!

98slept · 07-30-2008, 05:38 PM

P.S. Here a quick tutorial on how to put the gauge assembly back on with out having to calibrate it all the time.
1-Snap the white plastic assembly on first.
2-turn the key to ign and put the tach and spedo needles on the 0's. Make sure you do it right.
3-turn the car on. wait 2 min. and then put the gas needle where it was before you began the project. wait another 2 min.
4-snap the black bezel on, and then the clear outside cover.
5- screw on the screws. and finally the dash bezel.

Another P.S. My work came out really sloppy because i was in a hurry. Im sure you will do a better job than me

98slept · 07-30-2008, 05:51 PM

i forgot to mention i sanded my needles down to remove the nasty orange coloring. Im not sure how it will look if the needles are resurface with blue or any color.Just a head ups.

Devilmightcry · 07-30-2008, 07:07 PM

aren't those neelds spring preload? as soon as you remove them you are pretty much screwed.

linchpinjoe · 07-30-2008, 07:20 PM

Looks great.

Alt0id · 07-30-2008, 07:57 PM

what do you mean you are screwed? His are obviously working fine..

Devilmightcry · 07-30-2008, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alt0id

what do you mean you are screwed? His are obviously working fine..

they won't be accurate as before.

98slept · 07-30-2008, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devilmightcry

they won't be accurate as before.

This is true but not by a lot. As far as rpms im off by 60rpms. And my speedo matches with my garmin gps mph estimator. My gas tank is fairly accurate. My rpms idle at 1000rpms because i had to increase the biss screw for my car not to die.(its having problems right now

) When i did test the rpm tach signal with a multimeter it was showing 940rpms and my rpm neddle was at 1000rpms. Does it bother me? nah.

heres another video for those who are interested in led needles!! notice how the tach needle lighting is even out at the different rpms.IGNORE my gauges and my music.

Just concentrate on the needles.

Imagine having 4 leds on the needles???

Mitsu · 07-30-2008, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98slept

This is true but not by a lot. As far as rpms im off by 60rpms. And my speedo matches with my garmin gps mph estimator. My gas tank is fairly accurate. My rpms idle at 1000rpms because i had to increase the biss screw for my car not to die.(its having problems right now

) When i did test the rpm tach signal with a multimeter it was showing 940rpms and my rpm neddle was at 1000rpms. Does it bother me? nah.

heres another video for those who are interested in led needles!! notice how the tach needle lighting is even out at the different rpms.IGNORE my gauges and my music.

Just concentrate on the needles.

Imagine having 4 leds on the needles???

How do you "test the rpm tach signal with a multimeter?"

07-30-2008, 05:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
98slept Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: EL PASO TEXAS Drives: 98 sl Trader Rating: (4)	Led needles 101 !!!!!! Doing led needles are time consuming and required knowledge of soldering with electronic components. YOU MUST BE FAMILIAR WITH LED POLARITY/RESISTORS/SINGLE OR MULTI ARRAY WIRING METHODS). If your not i suggest your start learning from the google.com You need wide angle and bright mcd surface mount leds for the needles. The wider and brighter the better. i got my leds from here. eBay Store - TopBright Led Store: PLCC-2 R G B Y W SMD LED: The viewing angle was 120 Degrees and the mcd was 800. There are ofcourse more ebay stores with better deals. Mine was on special for 50 piece for 10.99 What you need to do is use a drill with a drill bit that is close to the size of the hole on the white clear plastic that the gauges rest on. You must grind the sides to make the hole wider. (allowing the leds to be out of the way of the needle assembly) You then glue the leds parallel on the sides of the new hole.(having the leds face upwards of course ) __________________ 98 SL TWIN TURBO TT 9b's at 5psi/ 95 TT ecu/Ebay precat eliminators and downpipe/3sx lightweight pulley/k&N intake/Fidanza lightweight flywheel/Centerforce dual friction clutch/walbro 255 fuel pump/MP solid motor mounts/Passport gauges/99 front conversion/l.e.d gauges/needles

07-30-2008, 05:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
98slept Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: EL PASO TEXAS Drives: 98 sl Trader Rating: (4)	Re: Led needles 101 !!!!!! Heres a video for the people who dont understand what the hell im talking about. You do the same thing to the rest of the gauges you want to have leds on. There all similiar. You then soder them in correct polarity with small gauge wires. You have to make sure the wiring dosent hang and rest on the needles assembly.Glue it on if you want. I use only two per needles, but you can put up to four. Just make sure the hole is wide enough and dosent interfere with the needles/assembly. The needles are fat from the bottom so make sure you dont get to close to them. 3-4mm of a distance would be just fine. Once your done with your assembly put it back on. And have the positive wire soldered to your rheostat lamp wire and the neg to chassis.( i hooked up mine to the light bulb contacts) And your done.!!! (IF YOUR LEDS DONT HAVE A WIDE VIEWING ANGLE YOUR NEEDLES WILL LOOK LIKE GHETTO CRAP!!!) Heres a video of my leds needles during the day. notice how i put a shirt over the dashboard to mimic night time. Now imagine how bright these are during the night!!!!!! Last edited by 98slept : 07-31-2008 at 12:33 PM.

07-30-2008, 05:38 PM	#3 (permalink)
98slept Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: EL PASO TEXAS Drives: 98 sl Trader Rating: (4)	Re: Led needles 101 !!!!!! P.S. Here a quick tutorial on how to put the gauge assembly back on with out having to calibrate it all the time. 1-Snap the white plastic assembly on first. 2-turn the key to ign and put the tach and spedo needles on the 0's. Make sure you do it right. 3-turn the car on. wait 2 min. and then put the gas needle where it was before you began the project. wait another 2 min. 4-snap the black bezel on, and then the clear outside cover. 5- screw on the screws. and finally the dash bezel. Another P.S. My work came out really sloppy because i was in a hurry. Im sure you will do a better job than me

07-30-2008, 05:51 PM	#4 (permalink)
98slept Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: EL PASO TEXAS Drives: 98 sl Trader Rating: (4)	Re: Led needles 101 !!!!!! i forgot to mention i sanded my needles down to remove the nasty orange coloring. Im not sure how it will look if the needles are resurface with blue or any color.Just a head ups.

07-30-2008, 07:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
Devilmightcry The dark shall be with us Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: MO Drives: 93' VR4 Trader Rating: (12)	Re: Led needles 101 !!!!!! aren't those neelds spring preload? as soon as you remove them you are pretty much screwed. __________________

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07-30-2008, 07:20 PM	#6 (permalink)
linchpinjoe Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Batavia IL Drives: 99VR4 Trader Rating: (17)	Re: Led needles 101 !!!!!! Looks great. __________________ "The Journey To Perfect, And To Conquer It's Definition"

07-30-2008, 07:57 PM	#7 (permalink)
Alt0id Paid Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Rockford, Illinois Drives: '94 3000GT SL Trader Rating: (1)	Re: Led needles 101 !!!!!! what do you mean you are screwed? His are obviously working fine.. __________________ Need new capacitors for your ECU? http://www.3si.org/forum/f4/brand-ne...6/#post4971676