The DIY led gauge cluster thread

[fueled by hate]

This thread is to show people how I did mine so they can copy if desired.

To start off here is another guy who did his, but the design of the cluster is a little different, but still another source for info.

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Tools needed:
soldering iron
hot glue gun
wire (I used wire from a junk wiring harness)
extra battery or power source for testing
screwdriver
wire cutters and/or strippers
leds
printed circuit board (pcb)
voltage regulator lm317t and heat sink
resistors and capacitors
DMM
thermal paste

Note: You can buy the pcbs, resistors and capacitors in bulk off ebay and pay less than or equal to that of radio shack and get 10 times the quantity. Just make sure you buy from U.S. sellers so you don't wait a month for shipping from China.

The leds I'm using are superflux style. I used Nichia white leds that can be ordered from their U.S. vendor. Part number is NSPWR70CS-K1

General Lighting/Lamp type LED

The red leds are actually red-orange, but look very red. They are lumileds part number I used is hpwt-dh00.

To use these leds you need to buy a pcb like this with the small copper contacts on one side.

Grid-Style PC Board with 2200 Holes - RadioShack.com

You will need a voltage regulator and heat sink.





Adding this will maintain a constant voltage to your leds no matter if the car is on or off.

First thing you need to do is measure the voltage on your car battery while the car is off. The lm317 will only work when the output voltage is 1.5 volts greater than the input voltage. This means that if your car battery tests 12.5 volts you need to set the lm317 for less than 11 volts. I set mine at 10.87 volts and used a 390 ohm and 3000 ohm resistor. To calculate the voltage you want use this site.

LM 317 Calculator

Once you figure out the output voltage you want order your resistors and capacitors that you need. Next you need to get the specs on your leds and use this calculator to figure out what resistors you need for them.

LED series parallel array wizard

Your source voltage will be the output voltage from the lm317. The diode voltage forward will be the voltage your leds runs at. The current will be the milliamps (ma) your leds run at. Then enter the number of leds. I ran the Nichias at 3.1v at 50ma and ran two in a series. I ran the lumileds at 2.67v at 70ma 3 in a series. Once you figure out all your specs order the resistors you need for your leds.

Finished lm317 board should look something like this.




Next I cut up the board and started soldering the leds on to little squares. Don't solder the led legs for too long or you'll bur them up or shorten their life span. Easiest way to cut up the board is to score it a few times with a razor blade then use cutters. You can also spray the boards any color you want.





Easiest way to connect wires is to strip a small piece off, then put solder on the wire, then solder it to the led. You want a decent amount of solder on the board because it acts as a heat sink for the led.





Remove your gauge cluster and remove each individual gauge. Each gauge has clear plastic rods that light travels through to light up the needle.





What I did was hot glue my red-orange led to the end of each then wrap it with black electrical tape to prevent the red from bleeding through.




Next start aiming the white leds then gluing them in place once satisfied. I used my drill battery that was drained slightly below the output voltage I needed.





The mph gauge is a little harder to do but is relatively the same idea. There are plastic rods that aim down that throw light on the odometer that you will need to glue some white leds to like the needles. You don't have to wrap them in tape because you want the light to bleed out.






The tach is a little easier to do since there is room to glue the leds to the cluster.



Do the last gauge and you're almost done.



Next wire everything up.




If you forget the polarity of an led while wiring everything up you can use a dmm in resistance mode to dimly light it up. This works well for the red leds, but not as much for the white because it requires a higher voltage.





Also, the bulb for the clock is on the same circuit as the cluster lights so you need to replace it with an led.



Here is the cluster installed. I am a camera noob and don't know all the settings.







Also I bought this from auto zone and shortened it for a quick side project.

[killer240]

sweet.. now do the DCC lol

[fueled by hate]

It already has leds in it and don't want to put the better leds I got in because I ran out for now and I'm tired of tearing up the interior.

[Slammed Assassin]

+1 for good work!!
looks dope!!

[Options13]

omfg, what i've been waiting for for a LONG time, + 1

[R_G]

nice. How is it driving at night>? Is it so bright that it hurts your eyes?
I have the same DMM and i love it. no auto range crap.....lol

[sickstatus]

damn, i want to do this.

[az_240]

Why would you go through all this work and make a mess with wires when you can just replace the bulbs with LED type and get the same result? Also that is way too bright... you won't even be able to see the road with how much it will glare.

[fueled by hate]

No its not overwhelmingly bright, its a cheap camera but I tried to adjust it. Looks more like the second pic in real life. Reason I didn't throw some cheap china pnp led bulb is that 95% are garbage and burn out. I also didn't want any hot spots and mine looks brighter than that ^ cluster above. It's not a lot of work or really hard to do, it's just time consuming.

[az_240]

^The cluster above is mine. I have no hot spots and it is actually too bright at times... I have to turn it down using the dimmer. Superbrightleds.com HP 5-led bulbs. Way less work and probably cheaper.

[Enna]

S13 cluster doesn't work as well with the plugin LED's as S14 ones do. You can see it in most of the LED gauge cluster threads. But seriously that is bright. I want my shit bright but goddamn.

[R33E8]

Thank you for using QUALITY leds!



I personally would have used some cheaper LEDs for the back light like Cree P4's.. If you want any more Nichia Rajin's, let me know, I have a full stick left..

[A54]

Fueled By Hate- Nice thread... LED is a option, just like it is a option to drive a Nissan. Not everybody will want or will do it. Nice to see something different. Thanks for the info...

[Bushido]

looks awesome!

[stinky_180]

cool diy... i wonder how long it will take before your guage cluster starts to melt...

[Tha Darkness]

insanely amazing

[Om1kron]

thats' just fucking ridiculous, mike from clearcorners showed me one of his lights he made (some s13 coupe tail lights) probably from 3 feet away and I felt he pointed a fucking lazer in my EYE... why would I want that brightness on my gauges?

[ka-titties]

holy fucking shit thats bright. too much for me. nice work though.

[fueled by hate]

Originally Posted by R33E8

Thank you for using QUALITY leds!



I personally would have used some cheaper LEDs for the back light like Cree P4's.. If you want any more Nichia Rajin's, let me know, I have a full stick left..

lol how much you want for the stick?

[ADiamond240sx]

That dash looks like a Christmas tree....

[JohnnyDrfiter22]

Nice Job!!! now do your interior a favor and do something with the door fabric!

[DALAZ_68]

another thing...white LED's like that actually hurt ur eyes more than anything in the dark...ur eyes are constantly adjusting from the cluster to wat ur looking at on the road...shouldve gone with amber or something not so painfull to the eyes...

[Mosaic]

That's a good effort, Since you are running the LEDs off a VARIABLE regulator, a simple addition of a different resistor & switch in the LM317 circuit can dim all the LED'S easily. Alternatively the addition of a transistor switch driven by your headlight power can autodim everything quite nicely.
If u want the schematic I can shell one out for u anytime.

The matter of color is of some importance in the case of nightvision you want RED LED for your dash. Amber ok, NOT green, Blue or White. Dimming will allow the use of those other colors though. The lower the light frequency the less it screws ur nightvision. Thats why ppl who use Blue tinted headlamp blind u compared to yellow tinted lights.

Have u guys noticed that Xtrails now come with amber/red dashboard gauge backlights?

[Bushido]

Amber lights are second best to green for night instrumentation.

it's because of the rods and cones in your eye. When you look out the window at night, then glance at a brightly lit white or blue gauge the rods and cones have to shift more dramatically than if they were exposed to red or green wavelengths.

Which leads to fatigue.

look at the cabin illumination on aircraft. Every one I've seen lights up either green or red.

[Mosaic]

The reason why blue/green is used in a cockpit is NOT for nightvision acuity but exactly the opposite reason. Because nightvision equipment is not sensitive to it.
see this link
Rigel Systems Why Red Light

[az_240]

I think it depends on the person... I know I could not stand red gauge clusters when I worked at a car dealership. They just look weird and are hard to see. Other people really like the red lights.

[KA-T_240]

Originally Posted by az_240

^The cluster above is mine. I have no hot spots and it is actually too bright at times... I have to turn it down using the dimmer. Superbrightleds.com HP 5-led bulbs. Way less work and probably cheaper.

Back in the day I tried this on my s13 cluster. I ended up trying multiple different LED types(with different amounts of LED) and ended up with horrible hot and dark spots.


In the end, what I have done to convert my gauges to light up red was getting Testors Red Candy Coat(something like that) and painted the bulbs. It worked awesome. However, the far left bulb somehow always endeds up getting less and less red over time. I have repainted it 2-3 times where as the other bulbs have not been touched.

[Mosaic]

Great idea with painting the bulbs, I do glass art and Pebeo transparent red never fades.

[dopplganger1]

how would i go about doing this if i want it to light up white during the day and then turn amber during the night and have the needles be lit up red the whole time?

[dopplganger1]

anyone have any insight on the dual color setup im tryin to match em to my prosport gauges?

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