I changed out the amber clock LED to blue using the tech area on this site. I also removed the two dash incandescents and replaced with four blue LEDs.

Check it out:
http://www2.arkansas.net/~barcenilla/dash/1.JPG

I'll try to get better pictures and add them soon...It's tough taking them in the dark...

That looks really nice! Very good job!

SWeet 8) Nice job bro.

sick! that wut i want...but am not confident in doin it myself....i always break isht. props.

looks good - congrats on on not cross soldering the pins -

Same mod's crossed my mind occasionally - and to change ALL the lights including the dummy lights for oil, batt., belts etc too --- but with an orange box... to what... green? Just have to leave it I suppose.

That is really nice. Who wants to do mine? :D

How did you change the dash LED's for the AC knobs? I used the bulb covers and the blue ones look really dark. Yours look exactly how I want mine to look.

Nice job. More pics please. And maybe a write up on how easy/hard it was to do...Thanks!

looks really good!!!!

looks great...

I want to do that in green. Is it possible to do that in green? What do I need for this mod?

can someone point me towards the faq on how to do this??? THanks

Wow :shock: ... That looks really good.

how much $ in parts and how long did it take? Any particular brands/model #'s of parts.
I need to do something like that as it is a little dark for my daughter at night.

Looks great!

Thats looks really good. Completly stock! :)

I like it....give us more info. please. Where did you get the parts? How much money? What tools are needed? Time needed? Etc.

-Z

Looks really sharp. love how the a/c is blue. the leds are def. better than the 194 covers that peopleuse.

ooo shiny!
i like em great work! :D

can someone point me towards the faq on how to do this??? THanks
Check out the tech section for this...I used the larger 1206 LEDs since the 1106 LEDs are damn near impossible to find.

I want to do that in green. Is it possible to do that in green? What do I need for this mod?
It would be muuuch cheaper to do it in green...about 1/4 of the cost. The blue and white LED's are relatively new technology...that's why they cost so much.

Nice job. More pics please. And maybe a write up on how easy/hard it was to do...Thanks!
Will do...soon.

I like it....give us more info. please. Where did you get the parts? How much money? What tools are needed? Time needed? Etc.
I got the clock parts at some cell phone LED site...(4) $2+ a piece. LC LED also has them (see tech forum), but you have to buy a minimum of 15. For the dash LEDs, I went to Radio Shack... (4) LEDs at $5/piece (they have two kinds, get the ones with the brighter MCD output)...these can probably be found cheaper online. The resistors for the dash LEDs (don't know if this is required, but I calculated what I would need to avoid overcurrent to the LEDs to prevent burnout) I got at Radio Shack for $1. Like I said earlier, if you went with another color other than blue or white, you could do it for a quarter of the cost.

As far as difficulty, it was relatively easy for the experienced solderer. I would not recommend tackling this if you were a first-timer, especially concerning the clock mod (the dash mod is easily reversible if you screw up, you would just need to invest in a desoldering iron). You need a low-wattage soldering iron and some really steady hands to do the clock mod though. And don't forget to use desoldering braid to avoid leaving piece of the old LED's (or worse...pulling some of the printed circuitry off the board). The most time-consuming part was aiming the dash LED's to get the most even light distribution.


Thanks for the props guys!

Sweet!

So do you have the address of the cell phone site you bouight the LEDs for the clock and maybe the part numbers for the particular LEDs you used here? Yours looks really bright compared to some of the others that I've seen.

looks good! congrats on the new mod, i am going to have to look into that. :D

Beautiful.
Tell us more, tell us more..

that really looks tough to do, hehe, i wouldnt do that ____!

This is a cool mod because it's DYI, it's relatively cheap and it looks really cool. Good work. MY GOD why is Fazure on my tv?!

I got the Blue 1206 LEDs at:
http://www.all4cell.com/
It was $11 shipped. They included a fifth spare for free.

I'll try to get some more pictures tomorrow (especially the dash mod) evening to make the setup more understandable.

Coolness, thanks! So... Do you by any chance have the radio shack part number for the LEDs you used on the control area? The radio shack around here never has a good stock on the LEDs, so I'd have to order those on their site or something. I was checking through the tech section, but it's hard to find a single difinitive answer to what LEDs people were using. If I was going to do it I'd want it to turn out like yours, hehe.

Frickin a that looks awesome!!!

Coolness, thanks! So... Do you by any chance have the radio shack part number for the LEDs you used on the control area? The radio shack around here never has a good stock on the LEDs, so I'd have to order those on their site or something. I was checking through the tech section, but it's hard to find a single difinitive answer to what LEDs people were using. If I was going to do it I'd want it to turn out like yours, hehe.

This is what I used:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F006%5F002%5F000&product%5Fid=276%2D316

anyone know of a place where i could get this kind of work done? i'm a little hesitant to do it myself.

I am going to need some help too! Oh well, I will order everything, then find someone to do it!

Bonza mate! excellent job!

Overall picture:
http://www2.arkansas.net/~barcenilla/dash/1.JPG

Closeup of clock (I had trouble with the exposure on the digicam washing the numbers out...looks much better in person):
http://www2.arkansas.net/~barcenilla/dash/2.JPG

Closeup of dash mod:
http://www2.arkansas.net/~barcenilla/dash/3.JPG

Position of dash LEDs to achieve even light distribution:
http://www2.arkansas.net/~barcenilla/dash/4.JPG

Solder work at back end including resistors:
http://www2.arkansas.net/~barcenilla/dash/5.JPG

Back end of the dash faceplate showing the light diffusers (these diffusers do not work as well for LEDs since the light pattern of a LED is focused):
http://www2.arkansas.net/~barcenilla/dash/6.JPG

So that is exactly how the lights should be positioned? I guess that is an ignorant question, but I dont want to get half way into this and need to do something else.

So that is exactly how the lights should be positioned? I guess that is an ignorant question, but I dont want to get half way into this and need to do something else.

That is the position of the LEDs...took me an exhaustive amount of trial and error (moving, assembling, disassembling, moving, etc.) to arrive at that...yours for the price of...FREE!!!

Did you resistor the A/C knobs to 12v?

Did you resistor the A/C knobs to 12v?

I did resistor the LEDs to to drop the voltage to an acceptable level (to keep from premature burnout). Calculated using R=V/I...V being (12V - Vforwardvolt) and I being the current rating of the LED.

cool i am doing this. so you used the radio shack 276-316 leds on the controls, but what resistor size did you use?

and so on the clock they are 1206's, resistors as well or no?

thanks!

The clock 1206 LEDs do not require a resistors since it is a simple swap.

I added the resistors to the dash mod since it was a retrofit (replaced incandescents).

Did you notice any problems using blue 1206's since the factory led's are 1.8-2v and the blue ones most likley are 3.5-4v?

cool i am doing this. so you used the radio shack 276-316 leds on the controls, but what resistor size did you use?
Calculating it out, you would need a 187.5 ohm resistor for each light socket. The closest one available of 220 ohms should do:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F002%5F014%5F001&product%5Fid=271%2D1313
Connect a pair of the LEDs in parallel, with the resistor in series for each light socket.

Did you notice any problems using blue 1206's since the factory led's are 1.8-2v and the blue ones most likley are 3.5-4v?I have had no problems with the ones I ordered from http://www.all4cell.com/.

Why didn't you do the speedo while you were at it?

please put this in the tech section it looks way better then the caps! Very clean job.

Why didn't you do the speedo while you were at it?

I've always liked the stock white speedo, so I didn't touch it. I was actually going to white LED everything, but I thought that the blue would flow better with the headunit and would also keep the dash from getting a little loud.

I think it would be cool for someone to go multicolors...perhaps red/blue...red/white/blue...etc.

I've always liked the stock white speedo, so I didn't touch it. I was actually going to white LED everything, but I thought that the blue would flow better with the headunit and would also keep the dash from getting a little loud.

I think it would be cool for someone to go multicolors...perhaps red/blue...red/white/blue...etc.


I agree. I like the white speedo too.....I think white & blue actually flows VERY well. :D I have actually carried that flow/theme to the outside of my xB with blue neons under my Polar White paint. :lol:

Man you know your Ohm's Law a lil :-D Nice work