Date: Fri, 20 May 2005 12:06:51 -0400
Reply-To: Robert Harris <rdh24@CORNELL.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Robert Harris <rdh24@CORNELL.EDU>
Subject: LED dash lights; bright oil idiot light
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Here's a good Saturday morning project idea for folks who like to fiddle
with their Vanagons.
My instrument cluster lighting circuit shorted out a week or two ago and
got irreparably scorched, and after looking at how many $ used gauge
clusters are fetching on eBay these days I decided that replacing was NOT
AN OPTION for this cheapskate!!!!
So I got some high-output red LED lights and made a new lighting
circuit. Turned out great I thought... I love the red dashboard
lighting... great for night vision, will never burn out, and red lighting
gives the bus an "airplane cockpit" look at night. Very cool. Here's part
numbers in case anybody else want to do the same.
For the sockets above the speedo and tach:
(x2) 5mm wide-angle red LED, #276-309. Reshape the insides of the VW white
plastic bulb holders just a bit and you can fit an LED down into them
aiming right at the gauge face (which they need to). Gives a nice sharp
bright red light, at least as bright as the VW incandescents and fully
dimmable.
For the clock and idiot light labels:
(x2) Jumbo super bright red LED, #276-086. If you file a bit off the sides
of the LED it makes a nice press fit into the white VW bulb holder. I also
roughed up the rest of the LED surface to make the light less
directional. These turned out dimmer than the old VW incandescent bulbs
but still adequate.
Wire these four LEDs in series; then add maybe 250-300 ohms of
resistance... use a multimeter if in doubt... you want around 20mA of
current at 12v. Radio Shack 1/2watt resistor assortment would be handy here.
ALSO, while at it, I bypassed that feeble Vanagon LED idiot light for the
low oil pressure (the one you might not even notice on a sunny day, thus
grenading the motor) and installed a nice BRIGHT red warning lamp
instead. Radio Shack # 272-332. One side gets ignition-on 12v power, and
the other goes to your low oil pressure wire coming into the dash
cluster. I mounted the bulb assembly in an unused switch blank, just under
the defrost switch. Very bright and attention-getting.
Anyway y'all have a good weekend.
Robert H
Ithaca, NY