thejameshimself
Well-Known Member
^^^
sure it was making good contact? I had to bend a few of my sockets to make sure they were.
sure it was making good contact? I had to bend a few of my sockets to make sure they were.
Ok, started my led project, here are some pics
- Thread starter talontsiawd
- Start date
yep, made sure everything was connected well. the problem didnt only happen in the cluster, it happened for the license plate light and one of the tail lights (the one that takes 168). but like i said, ever since i was more cautious about starting my car without the leds on, none have failed
retroshark
Well-Known Member
i ordered everything on that list to redo my LED's cause i made my own ones back like 3 years ago, and most are dead lol. i didnt really research anything on it, just took the word of matty and ordered them LOL
im lazy today, so im hoping that i followed good advice
ill be sure to post pictures
locovaca
Member
Hey there, I used my Ranger as my test for doing an LED conversion, that went well so I'm diving into my Accord.
One tip I found- not sure if it's been mentioned yet- for pulling the needles. I first pulled off the needle rests for the tach/speedo, then reconnected the cluster. The needles hang down with the key out. Turn the key to ignition, and you'll see them pop up somewhere below the needle rest. They consistently go to the same position, which is money. So I placed my marks there instead of trying to do some wacky "put the needle on while you drive" method
Here's how my Ranger gauges came out- I'm going for the same "7th gen" look with my Accord. Had to take green paint off the Ranger faces to keep it from coming out blue.
(Yup, there's a hot spot on the 45, have to do some plastic trimming yet)
One tip I found- not sure if it's been mentioned yet- for pulling the needles. I first pulled off the needle rests for the tach/speedo, then reconnected the cluster. The needles hang down with the key out. Turn the key to ignition, and you'll see them pop up somewhere below the needle rest. They consistently go to the same position, which is money. So I placed my marks there instead of trying to do some wacky "put the needle on while you drive" method
Here's how my Ranger gauges came out- I'm going for the same "7th gen" look with my Accord. Had to take green paint off the Ranger faces to keep it from coming out blue.
(Yup, there's a hot spot on the 45, have to do some plastic trimming yet)
vorin
Well-Known Member
looks nice, def post pics of your accord, i'm really excited to do mine soon.
locovaca
Member
Here's the results for my Accord. My order from SBL:
3 WLED-CWHP6 (six high power leds all pointed radially, fit in the 194 sockets)
4 74-CWHP3 (three high power leds, two on the sides and one on top)
14 74-HP bulbs- 5 Red, 1 Blue, 4 Green, 4 Amber.
I used the whites for the backlight, the odometer, and the two front lights up top. The rest of the colored bulbs went to their appropriate idiot light.
I did put down some foil tape to help reflect the light more evenly. On the 74 white back illumination bulb I covered up the top pointing LED because it caused a massive hot spot; the two on the side were just fine. While testing, despite appearing to use the same bulbs and what SBL said on their site, the 74 white bulb appeared more purple than the 194 version, but in the end it was almost not noticeable.
The colored 74 bulbs' bases were too wide for the holders. So, I had to take out the LED (just bend the leads out, and *carefully* break the glue that holds the circuit board to the plastic) and file down the sides so they fit in the holders. Careful is the name of the game, I broke three LEDs off this way.
Other lessons learned- don't use an LED for the fuel light. The way it's designed it has just enough resistance to not light up a regular light bulb, but with an LED that's thrown all out of whack and the light was on all the time. You could probably work around it by figuring out a resistor to stick in the mix, but I was feeling particularly lazy.
The fuel gauge was also a b*tch to get back. All the other needles were really easy because they "react" very quickly. The fuel gauge is VERY slow, so much so that I thought I wasn't getting the needle on right. I finally figured out that it takes lots of time- on the scale of minutes- for the needle to move the full range.
So here's the semi-final pics. There's still a bit of a cold spot on the fuel gauge at the empty mark, but it's not as noticeable in real life and I don't know if there's much else I can do for it. I broke two green and the blue LEDs, so in this pic the Key light and the High beam are still regular bulbs, to give you an idea of the intensity difference. I also didn't touch the door ajar light section.
3 WLED-CWHP6 (six high power leds all pointed radially, fit in the 194 sockets)
4 74-CWHP3 (three high power leds, two on the sides and one on top)
14 74-HP bulbs- 5 Red, 1 Blue, 4 Green, 4 Amber.
I used the whites for the backlight, the odometer, and the two front lights up top. The rest of the colored bulbs went to their appropriate idiot light.
I did put down some foil tape to help reflect the light more evenly. On the 74 white back illumination bulb I covered up the top pointing LED because it caused a massive hot spot; the two on the side were just fine. While testing, despite appearing to use the same bulbs and what SBL said on their site, the 74 white bulb appeared more purple than the 194 version, but in the end it was almost not noticeable.
The colored 74 bulbs' bases were too wide for the holders. So, I had to take out the LED (just bend the leads out, and *carefully* break the glue that holds the circuit board to the plastic) and file down the sides so they fit in the holders. Careful is the name of the game, I broke three LEDs off this way.
Other lessons learned- don't use an LED for the fuel light. The way it's designed it has just enough resistance to not light up a regular light bulb, but with an LED that's thrown all out of whack and the light was on all the time. You could probably work around it by figuring out a resistor to stick in the mix, but I was feeling particularly lazy.
The fuel gauge was also a b*tch to get back. All the other needles were really easy because they "react" very quickly. The fuel gauge is VERY slow, so much so that I thought I wasn't getting the needle on right. I finally figured out that it takes lots of time- on the scale of minutes- for the needle to move the full range.
So here's the semi-final pics. There's still a bit of a cold spot on the fuel gauge at the empty mark, but it's not as noticeable in real life and I don't know if there's much else I can do for it. I broke two green and the blue LEDs, so in this pic the Key light and the High beam are still regular bulbs, to give you an idea of the intensity difference. I also didn't touch the door ajar light section.
bdeitemeyer
Well-Known Member
Looks nice, good work.
I also learned the lesson about using an led for the fuel light, my "low fuel" warning light has constantly been on ever since my conversion months ago.
I also learned the lesson about using an led for the fuel light, my "low fuel" warning light has constantly been on ever since my conversion months ago.
Moloch
Member
can anyone list all the bulbs needed for a full interior LED conversion? im new to this forum btw ;-)
vorin
Well-Known Member
loco, what do you plan on doing for your needles? they seem really dim in the picture.
cirsurvive711
Well-Known Member
search dude it works wonders
