ScionTCTrav

I got my Whtie LEDs from LC-LED.com..Those LEDs dotn work..They are the wrong voltage..So Im going RED. Like Panasonic..I wanted Blue really bad but everyone has blue! Thanks Panasonic. They were 12.40 for 40 of them..and I did a 2 Day Shipment!

endlessracingz

I always like matching the exterior color to the interior.

wgeee7478

Actually if the speedo needle part is on a independent driven circuit and not parallel to any other LED's, then I don't see why you couldn't just make the speedo numbers blue and the gauge needle red. That's what I would do...

And ScionTCTrav, how did you get the LED's with the wrong voltage? Typical Surface mounts are in the range of 2V - 3.5V and should still work albeit dim if there's not enough voltage.

ScionTCTrav

Well the Voltage that the LEDs I got from www.lc-led.com are Required 3.8V and when I installed them..I would go out to my car and check each one after doing them..On the Center console, I would do one at a time..

Well when I got to like the 3rd on in a row..They were all DIM Like REALLY DIM..and I would remove the 1st on I put on and then they would be BRIGHT.

This happened w/ the Other LEDS on the other side of the Center Console Board.

The Gauges look good..Tho..

And the 3 LEDS behind the LCD on the Center console...Were a Biotch..I put them all in 3 different combinations and still couldnt get them 2 work..with any 2 in they would be bright..but w/ 3 they werent..

One Installed..


Notice the Middle LED Not lit...and the Buttons on the Console arnt bright.. at all


The Gauges look good tho..

ScionTCTrav

1 Installed..

Notice the middle LED isnt Lit.. and the Console buttons arent Bright

Gauges..

hotbox05

hmm 500 i'll do it if ya get me all the leds. and u can take the price of leds outta the 500 price. i did the clock and will soon be doing the speedo in my xb , i also did the ac lights.

wgeee7478

Hey ScionTCTrav, that looks awesome. Anyway it sounds like the circuit might be in parallel, which means voltage would travel the path of least resistance. Plus if they even lit up after you put in each one it couldn't have been in series because you wouln't have a ground.But anyway, to remedy the problem, I'd probably start taking out the trusty multimeter to find out exactly how much voltage is going through the points. The hard part about putting LED's in parallel is that no two LED's are exactly alike, if one has more internal resistance than the other, voltage would immediately go to the other. The only way to remedy it is to have matched LED's, which is kind of difficult. Well hopefully you'll find a creative solution.

Hey hotbox05, not to discourage you but this might be a little out of your league cause you have to desolder the LCD clock which is exremely fragile and also all the surface mount components are packed pretty tight which doesn't leave you much room for error like our xB's. If you just started soldering, I would suggest you practice on more electronics first to make sure you have your skill down to a natural reflex. Just my .02. I don't want you to ruin somone's expensive gauge cluster. That would be too expensive of a lesson to learn from. Trust me on this.... Been there, done that.

hotbox05

gotcha wgeee , more practice cant hurt much i guess i'll stick with xb and xa's

ScionTCTrav

Thanks wgeee Im going to radio shak today to get a desolder pump..and to get a small multimeter and check the voltage when i do mine tomorrow I'll let u know what i get on the voltages...so if im right and correct me if im wrong..i should get the same voltage going into it that i get outa it right?...Thanks alot man

endlessracingz

Well assuming that the circuit is in parrallel and the LED's are acting as resistors then the voltage should be the same across each LED. So for every LED on there you should get the same voltage across it.

wgeee7478 i think when ScionTCTrav said he did one at a time, he simply removed one stock LED and replaced it with his LED. So I wouldn't say that they aren't in series but who really knows. Only the trusty multimeter will know! Or if you have the wiring diagram. Look at this a ME talking about EE things.

ScionTCTrav

Yes I did replace 1 Stock LED at a time..I will buy the multimeter today..

But what am I checking for the voltage input and output..If they are all the same..what then..?

endlessracingz

you are to measure the voltage across each, as in the positive end of the multimeter on one side of the LED and the negative on the other side. This number should be the same across all the LED's at least the stock ones if the circuit is in parrallel.

wgeee7478

endless... is correct. The ultimate goal here is to make sure that there is enough voltage going through the circuit to power the white LED's. If the circuit is truly in parallel, I would try replacing the LED that get's no voltage with another one. The LED's are not exactly like resistors per say, but because they do have a typical 0.7V drop you can safely say they do have some internal resistance. Just try to remember LED's this way. All in all, the multimeter tells no lies. If the voltage coming out of the contact points for each LED doesn't meet the req. for a white LED, then you will have to devise another way of lighting up the back with white color.

endlessracingz

Correct if I am wrong but can't you find LED's to fit all circumstances? or does each color LED depend on the voltage that each needs? I can see how that might be true, just like certain spectrums of light and headlight bulbs.

I'm glad that those EE classes that my bachleors in ME needed are coming in handy.

wgeee7478

Hehe, yeah tell me about it, this is all starting to jog my memory from my BS in CompE. Anyway, mostly white and some blue LED's are a special case because different manufactures make them in their own way which makes it different from one another. Some make it to req. higher than typical voltage, some make it so the minimal voltage req. is just barely in the range of a normal color LED. That's why it's important to know how to read the data sheets if available. Sometimes they're not available(like in my case when I did my xB), so you just have to work with what you got.

It's kind of different with headlights though because you are always dealing with a constant 12V (more like 13.8V) source. The different spectrum of headlights really has nothing to do with voltage but rather what was used to manufacture the bulb. I remember back in Chemistry that if you apply a heat source to different chemicals, they would give off flames of different color. Kind of like fireworks to say the least. However the higher wattage on the other hand means that you are pulling more amperage through your stock wire harness, and that's what will burn it out if it's not hefty enough. And if you're talking about HID, the reason why they use a extremely high voltage is because there is no filament to carry the voltage from one point to the other. The voltage has to literally jump from one point to the other in mid air which air being the greatest resistance needs to be overcome.

endlessracingz

Makes perfect sense. I'll have to look into more of what your talking about with what voltage LED's i'll need to use for when I get my tC and if the data sheets will be available, which i think they are for the tC. I'm not sure if scionlide has them cause I am not a member ie one that pays for the advanced services.

SilyOtter

im not sure how those LED's are setup behind the dash or what they look like but im assuming thier tiny little ones small squares maybe 1 or 2mm across?.. if so dont those cell phone upgrade places in malls have those? my friend had new LED"s soldered in her phoine...might bet eh same?

endlessracingz

might be the same, not sure what the power output on the cell phone is to power the LED's so I can't answer that question.

wgeee7478

Yeah, you can use those led's from them too. They will work as long as you get the right size. Most of these surface mount LED's have the same operating requirements so it shouldn't vary too much. However, these places may charge you a premium compared to electronic supply places because either way they want to make a profit off the LED's.

hohlecow

hey guys, first of all, thanks for the great write up and discussion. i think this looks really hot.

i'm planning on getting the tC with the blue illumination kit, and would love to replace the console and gauge cluster LEDs with blue ones as well, but how does this affect warranty?

some more questions:
- is there a way I can get replacement gauge clusters to mod before having to rip out the stock ones?
- why aren't blue LEDs standard with the blue illumination kit?
- is there any equivalent aftermarket parts that will do this?
- what color is the stereo illumination, and how hard would that be to mod as well?
- for the guys who have done this, how hard would you say it is on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 - changing a lightblub, 10 - rewiring your house).

i have no problem soldering or de-soldering, but i'd rather have this done professionally if possible.