LED Conversion Started

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Old Apr 8, 2004 | 07:23 PM
  #81  
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!

This has gotten CONFUSING. Too much info from too many people...

I found a great online tool for measuring what resistor you have based on the bands and markings on it...

CHECK IT OUT

It says I'm actually using 400ohm resistors. Now if I could just figure out if 400ohms were big enough for 14v of constant power...

Anyone?? Anyone?? Beuler? Beuler?
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Old Apr 8, 2004 | 11:40 PM
  #82  
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Re: !

Originally posted by jriga
This has gotten CONFUSING. Too much info from too many people...

I found a great online tool for measuring what resistor you have based on the bands and markings on it...

CHECK IT OUT

It says I'm actually using 400ohm resistors. Now if I could just figure out if 400ohms were big enough for 14v of constant power...

Anyone?? Anyone?? Beuler? Beuler?

400 is too little, u need about 560, but i went with 620 ohms just to be safe. i had a fight with the ebay guy too, and he was very lost when i was talking to him, so i gave up ordered 100 resistors from www.mouser.com which cost like 2 bucks
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Old Apr 9, 2004 | 08:33 AM
  #83  
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Re: Re: !

Originally posted by rbf351
400 is too little, u need about 560, but i went with 620 ohms just to be safe. i had a fight with the ebay guy too, and he was very lost when i was talking to him, so i gave up ordered 100 resistors from www.mouser.com which cost like 2 bucks
That's hilarious - I JUST got done reaming that guy... he tried to tell me he sent a spec sheet with the LEDs - UH WRONG ANSWER ASSHOLE.

Anyway - OHM's Law:
(Source Voltage - LED Voltage Drop) / Amps = Resistance
(13.8VDC - 3.1VDC (White LED) / 0.028Amps (20mA) = 382.14 OHM Resistor Neeed

Round up to be safe, 390 OHM...

If I'm reading this tutorial correctly, one LED would be safe with a 390 OHM resistor wired directly to a 13.8VDC source.

But your real-world experience speaks for itself - were you burning them up with smaller resistors...??

Wonder how much the brightness goes down by using a 620 OHM compared to a 390 OHM??
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Old Apr 9, 2004 | 08:48 AM
  #84  
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Re: Re: Re: !

Originally posted by jriga
That's hilarious - I JUST got done reaming that guy... he tried to tell me he sent a spec sheet with the LEDs - UH WRONG ANSWER ASSHOLE.

Anyway - OHM's Law:
(Source Voltage - LED Voltage Drop) / Amps = Resistance
(13.8VDC - 3.1VDC (White LED) / 0.028Amps (20mA) = 382.14 OHM Resistor Neeed

Round up to be safe, 390 OHM...

If I'm reading this tutorial correctly, one LED would be safe with a 390 OHM resistor wired directly to a 13.8VDC source.

But your real-world experience speaks for itself - were you burning them up with smaller resistors...??

Wonder how much the brightness goes down by using a 620 OHM compared to a 390 OHM??

with the resistors he sent, they would work perfectly for about 3 weeks then all of a sudden start to blink, then eventually die. the 600 ohm ones do dim it a little but not much
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Old Apr 9, 2004 | 04:52 PM
  #85  
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please don't let SilverKnight sees this thread....he's a mod maniac and he will definately do this...hehehe
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Old Apr 10, 2004 | 12:38 PM
  #86  
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Re: Re: Re: Yeah.

Originally posted by jriga
I would order all new LEDs if I could find a good location to get factory made flat head LEDs... in the cluster they will be absolutely critical. Everywhere else I can sand them down - but after you sand it down, the case isn't as clear - would be awesome to have some that are square headed with a polished clear square lens...
You can polish the LED after its been sanded, the thing you want to get is from the nail polish aisle at the drug store. It's called a 3-stage nail buffer or something (I use it for model airplanes, to polish out the plastic glass, yeah yeah, I know).

Anyways, its has 3 different grits of sandpaper bonded to a flexible stick. The roughest grit is probably 1000, then I would guess 8000 and 12000 are the next grits. You can get a mirror shine on just about any surface with it. They are about $3 each. Once its shined up nice, you could also try dipping it in future acrylic floor was for a real gloss finish...but i don;t know if th eheat from the LED would affect that.
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Old Apr 10, 2004 | 12:49 PM
  #87  
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looks good
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Old Apr 10, 2004 | 03:06 PM
  #88  
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Yeah.

Originally posted by GINge!
You can polish the LED after its been sanded, the thing you want to get is from the nail polish aisle at the drug store. It's called a 3-stage nail buffer or something (I use it for model airplanes, to polish out the plastic glass, yeah yeah, I know).

Anyways, its has 3 different grits of sandpaper bonded to a flexible stick. The roughest grit is probably 1000, then I would guess 8000 and 12000 are the next grits. You can get a mirror shine on just about any surface with it. They are about $3 each. Once its shined up nice, you could also try dipping it in future acrylic floor was for a real gloss finish...but i don;t know if th eheat from the LED would affect that.
SWEEEET!! That's what I needed... this conversion goes into full effect tomorrow... thanks for that tip, that will really help!
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Old Apr 12, 2004 | 07:23 PM
  #89  
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whats the update on this
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Old Apr 13, 2004 | 08:43 AM
  #90  
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Originally posted by dragon084
whats the update on this
mine has been done for months
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Old Apr 13, 2004 | 12:14 PM
  #91  
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I effectively ruined my sunroof switch -cruise switch didn't turn out so hot either... my dash is in a few huundred pieces ... the center consol is much more difficult than it looks and appears it should be...

My only real difficulty is that it doesn't look factory, or anywhere close in my car - I'd like to be able to say it was my procedure... it's not though... the way this has to be done to transmit the LED light requires removal of a film on the back of everything - this film is hard to remove... and once you remove part of it you start actually removing the emblem on switches...

I.E. - My sunroof switch shows a pic of a car, but the acetone ate the pic of the actual sunroof - looks kind of stupid actually...

Trying to decide on whether to continue or cut losses and buy a couple new switches and return car to normal...

RBF's looks good - maybe I'll FedEx hiim my cluster and radio...
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Old Apr 13, 2004 | 02:23 PM
  #92  
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Originally posted by jriga
I effectively ruined my sunroof switch -cruise switch didn't turn out so hot either... my dash is in a few huundred pieces ... the center consol is much more difficult than it looks and appears it should be...

My only real difficulty is that it doesn't look factory, or anywhere close in my car - I'd like to be able to say it was my procedure... it's not though... the way this has to be done to transmit the LED light requires removal of a film on the back of everything - this film is hard to remove... and once you remove part of it you start actually removing the emblem on switches...

I.E. - My sunroof switch shows a pic of a car, but the acetone ate the pic of the actual sunroof - looks kind of stupid actually...

Trying to decide on whether to continue or cut losses and buy a couple new switches and return car to normal...

RBF's looks good - maybe I'll FedEx hiim my cluster and radio...
raido i have no prblem doing, but cluster takes time
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Old Apr 13, 2004 | 03:32 PM
  #93  
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Originally posted by rbf351
raido i have no prblem doing, but cluster takes time
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 01:18 AM
  #94  
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Sorry that i'm late, but I just got my CLS and wanted to see some of the after photos if you guys still have any. I've been thinking of doing this exact thing to my ride. I'm hoping that the gauge cluster looks like the new TL, TSX (BLUE).

BTW, i've done a complete search and havent found any pics.
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 07:28 AM
  #95  
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Originally Posted by AMorgCLS
Sorry that i'm late, but I just got my CLS and wanted to see some of the after photos if you guys still have any. I've been thinking of doing this exact thing to my ride. I'm hoping that the gauge cluster looks like the new TL, TSX (BLUE).

BTW, i've done a complete search and havent found any pics.
don't waste your time or money doing it

here is what mine looked like before i put it back to stock
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 09:47 AM
  #96  
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Why did you go back to stock?
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 10:01 AM
  #97  
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Originally Posted by NOLACLS
Why did you go back to stock?
it doesn';t look like the pic in person, u can actually see where each LED is placed and it looks ghetto, also i couldn't get the leds to last for more than a few weeks
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 10:04 AM
  #98  
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?
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 10:07 AM
  #99  
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the leds kept burning up, not matter how high of a resistor i used there was just too much power going through them and they died, if i could get my hands on a new TL, Accord or TSX cluster i could figure it out
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 10:11 AM
  #100  
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Originally Posted by rbf351
it doesn';t look like the pic in person, u can actually see where each LED is placed and it looks ghetto, also i couldn't get the leds to last for more than a few weeks
fuk that
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 11:30 AM
  #101  
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Originally Posted by rbf351
the leds kept burning up, not matter how high of a resistor i used there was just too much power going through them and they died, if i could get my hands on a new TL, Accord or TSX cluster i could figure it out
You must have had something wrong with the voltages or it was spiking when the lights came on.
LED’s pretty much last forever if driven with the proper voltage.
Usually they die a quick death if given brief surges over their capacity.

The LED’s I installed by my HomeLink buttons in the CL-S have been in there for nearly three years without problem.
I have the voltage controlled via an inline potentiometer and they go on/off with the headlights.

Shawn S
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 12:06 PM
  #102  
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Originally Posted by rbf351
the leds kept burning up, not matter how high of a resistor i used there was just too much power going through them and they died, if i could get my hands on a new TL, Accord or TSX cluster i could figure it out
WOW, I cant believe that no one here has done this with success, I'm shocked! Oh well, thanks for the pics and info. But, if anyone has success doing this, i'd really like to see the end results and DIY info for all of us to see.

There's gotta be a way to do this. That blue dash lights on the TSX and TL are just too sick to pass up.
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 12:08 PM
  #103  
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Originally Posted by AMorgCLS
WOW, I cant believe that no one here has done this with success, I'm shocked!
Did you read the post DIRECTLY above yours?
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 12:14 PM
  #104  
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Originally Posted by Shawn S
You must have had something wrong with the voltages or it was spiking when the lights came on.
LED’s pretty much last forever if driven with the proper voltage.
Usually they die a quick death if given brief surges over their capacity.

The LED’s I installed by my HomeLink buttons in the CL-S have been in there for nearly three years without problem.
I have the voltage controlled via an inline potentiometer and they go on/off with the headlights.

Shawn S
the strange thing was that everything was working perfectly except for the gauge cluster. thats what made no sense to me. and it was only certain LED's in the cluster that were burning out not all of them.
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 12:18 PM
  #105  
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Originally Posted by chris3240929
Did you read the post DIRECTLY above yours?
Sorry dude, but yeah I did. He says that he installed the L.E.D.'s in his homelink. Unfortunately I was referring to the dashlights.

Did I miss something?
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 12:21 PM
  #106  
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Originally Posted by AMorgCLS
Sorry dude, but yeah I did. He says that he installed the L.E.D.'s in his homelink. Unfortunately I was referring to the dashlights.

Did I miss something?
i still have the white leds installed in my homelink, anything that already has LED's will work perfectly, it's just things that used regular bulbs are a bitch to convert
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 12:23 PM
  #107  
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Originally Posted by AMorgCLS
Sorry dude, but yeah I did. He says that he installed the L.E.D.'s in his homelink. Unfortunately I was referring to the dashlights.
Yes, it’s a different area, but similar topic.

Here’s a “refresher” of what I did for the newbies: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...light=HomeLink
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 12:30 PM
  #108  
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Good stuff Shawn, but don't you do something similar to this in real life...ie:engineer, etc?
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 12:32 PM
  #109  
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Originally Posted by rbf351
i still have the white leds installed in my homelink, anything that already has LED's will work perfectly, it's just things that used regular bulbs are a bitch to convert
that sucks ass! I wonder what you need to do, to get the blue lights to work correctly for the guages?
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 12:33 PM
  #110  
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Originally Posted by AMorgCLS
Sorry dude, but yeah I did. He says that he installed the L.E.D.'s in his homelink. Unfortunately I was referring to the dashlights.
Just bustin chops.
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 12:44 PM
  #111  
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Originally Posted by chris3240929
Just bustin chops.
hahahah, thanks man. Just starting to pick up on the humor here.

LOL
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Old Nov 8, 2004 | 01:27 PM
  #112  
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Originally Posted by AMorgCLS
that sucks ass! I wonder what you need to do, to get the blue lights to work correctly for the guages?
get me a TSX, Accord or TL cluster to rip apart and i will see how they get it to look so nice, my brother won't let me pull his TSX cluster out
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Old Nov 9, 2004 | 03:21 PM
  #113  
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Originally Posted by rbf351
get me a TSX, Accord or TL cluster to rip apart and i will see how they get it to look so nice, my brother won't let me pull his TSX cluster out
LMFAO, I dont blame him. Just tell him that you'll get his car detailed one day. Then take the car to one of your friends and get it done there.
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