i completed the blue led Dash project

[johnwc723]

yes yes, my whole dashboard has blue leds in it, not a single bit ugly "stock" green except for the clock because it is illuminated by gas

people were asking about how it works and if it works and it works fine

use a 470OHM resistor per led installed to connected to the positive lead on the led, you of course also need to find out for each installation of leds which lead is positive and negative on the circuit board in which the led is going to be installed (incadescents dont care about + or -)

i ended up using 3mm blue leds i found on ebay this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3802235955&category=32720

works extremely well and has very high output and is cheap as hell!

i went over each led with sandpaper a bit so the light would be more diffused coming out of the "text holes" on the dash

next just solder each led wiht the current limiting resistor on the + side of the led onto the + part of the board and solder the negative part onto the negative part of the board (you will of course need a multimeter to determine which side is + and negative on the board)

make sure to not hold the solder on there too long or you may burn the led out, this has NEVER been a problem for me, i havent had it happen in all my days of leds but i have heard people complain about it happening sometimes

i would suggest working on the cruise control, and the headlights up/dimmer/rear defroster switches first as they are rediclously easy to get out and practice on (screw driver for the 3 cluster, and just push it out wiht your hand on the cruise control from inside that little fuse access slot underneath it)

well hope you guys have fun, i do have some suggestions for doing the climate control part of it but ill tell yall them when the time comes if anyone plans on doing it all, i would really suggest getting 3mm leds though instead of 5mm, the ones i showed worked perfectly for me!

let me know if anyone has any questions!

[thegreatdane]

Sweet but we gotta have pictures!

[DBMaster]

Of course, as I found when I repaced my D4 indicator with a "super bright" LED, you know that when you go LED you lose the ability to dim the lights. May be no big deal as I have always run my dash lighting on full brightness, but it might make a difference to those that like the ability to use the dimmer.

[racerx]

man, LEDs are getting popular. my friend just put about 250 LEDs in his roof, covered with black cloth, and hooked it up to his door light switch, so that's his interior now. it looks sooooo sweet. i'll get pics if anyone wants to see.
also, he's got about 1000 LEDs to place under his car for a complete looking under-carraige glow. sounds like it'll be cool too.

[johnwc723]

wow that must have taken forever to do!! heh, yeah i can get some pictures too ill post em either today or tomorrow!

[pixiesfan78]

im doin mine next sweet!

[Blkblurr]

Johnwc723, What voltage did you measure at the socket when you sized your resistor? Did you measure the voltage when the dimmer was at it's dimmest?

[johnwc723]

when the car was off and the dimmer was on full it was about 11v when the car was on it was about 13v, with the resistors on it it reduces it to about 3.3v i think when the car is running, i have been running many other leds like this and no problems yet..

[Blkblurr]

I was curious what voltage Honda used for the dash bulbs. If you use a 640 ohm resistor to limit the current to 15 milliamps you may be able to have more dimming capability. I may try an experiment with this.

[pixiesfan78]

do you guys bypass the dimmer so theres no mishaps with other people messing with it or what cause i could see it now my little neice hops in there and goes huh whats this do and blam all my hard work shot to shit.

[fuzzy audio]

got the pics?

[fuzzy audio]

nm, saw them on your gallery. NJ. Looks VERY blue and bright! :D

['89AccordLX(Rus)]

Of course, as I found when I repaced my D4 indicator with a "super bright" LED, you know that when you go LED you lose the ability to dim the lights. May be no big deal as I have always run my dash lighting on full brightness, but it might make a difference to those that like the ability to use the dimmer.

I installed LEDs in the temp/fan control panel, and the A/C button, and they react to the dimmer switch just like the other lights in the car. Maybe just some LEDs don't dim? :dunno:

[pixiesfan78]

i realy cant see the dashlights over those cold cathodes it doesnt even look like you changed any of them. turn the cathodes off assuming you have a switch and take a pic of the dash i thought you said you did all the dash lights i clearly see a red light in your gauge cluster . lol

[pixiesfan78]

back on the subject has any one figured out how to keep all dimming capability? if so what was the size resister you used? where did you get them? and any other tips you may have . i just got new lightup pedals and want to do the dash soon.

[soljaboy2000]

I just bought the leds with resistors already soldered on ebay.

[AccordArizona89]

lets see some damn pics.

[soljaboy2000]

tomorrow i will post em

[pixiesfan78]

well im the kind of guy that lets someone else test the water before i jump in. so im waiting for soljaboy to hook his up and let us know.so what were the ones you got what size resister did they have and were you able to keep dimmer?also has anyone done this with uv's or is everyone just doing blue.i got blue lightup pedals and my stereos blue but im curious about the blacklight ones. 89accordlx rus where did you get yours what were they.

[soljaboy2000]

****posted in wrong section ****