Vanagon EuroVan
Previous (more recent) messageNext (less recent) messagePrevious (more recent) in topicNext (less recent) in topicPrevious (more recent) by same authorNext (less recent) by same authorPrevious page (May 2005, week 3)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
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
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

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


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.