How to convert your Analogue dash to run LED's

How to convert your Analogue dash to run LED's

Before we start - Information you need
This guide will show you how to take your standard Analogue dial bulbs (2-3W cap-less sidelight bulbs) and replace them with Light Emiting Diodes (LED). There are many colours, designs and sizes available for LED's.

Here is your standard bulb design, note that the bulbs are actually capless side light bulbs, with that in mind you can purchase certain coloured LED lights on special boards that are direct replacements for these bulbs. In that case there is no need to do this conversion... however only a few colours will be available and the light output may not be uniform.

For this conversion we will be using the bulb holders, so keep hold of them.

LED choice
Led's are great but standard ones have their downfalls, mainly their viewing angle. A normal bulb will emit light at all angles, an standard LED will have a viewing angle... most e-bay ones are around 20 degrees which isn't ideal for a uniform light output.

On the carlton dash a series of perspex panels are moulded into shapes, the light is refracted (bent/angled) inside the perspex to provide a uniform output.
Here is what one of the perspex panels looks like:

This light refraction helps but the LED must still have a wide veiwing angle.

The best LED's to use for dashes are 5mm, this is also the most common size which means more choice for colours!

This is a typical 5mm LED:

This is a 5mm white LED, Viewing angle of 20 degrees and produces a light intensity of 1600mcd.

You can use this type, but in my experience it won't give you a perfect uniform light level over the entire dash.

This is a far superior LED, its pretty uncommon and harder to find, it has a flat head which like the perspex board design has the effect of refracting the light and increasing the viewing angle:

This 5mm flat head LED is white, has a viewing angle of 80 degrees and produces 1600mcd.

1 LED per holder is sufficient for the light level we want. However the amount of MCD (Micro-candella) will dictate the overall amount of light, its a personal preferance at the end of the day but here is a rough range:
1000mcd - Dim
1500mcd - Average light output
2500mcd - Comparible to standard bulbs at max

Shopping list:
5mm LED, colour of your choice with a light output of no less than 1500mcd (not too high though) x4
Suitable resisters to lower the voltage from 12v (99% of stockists supply suitable resisters when you purchase LED's)
A roll of electrical solder
A good soldering iron, a 40W item is enough
A good worktop lamp, a steady eye and hand.

Lets get started:
First off you will need to remove the bulbs and holders from the back of the dash, this involves removing the dash from the car.

With the bulbs and holders removed pull the bulb out of the holder and discard.

Now take a resister and bend one of the wires at a 90 degree angle, then again another 90 degree as soon as you can. The idea being this wire should now be running parrallel to the resister body. Now fold the wire over on itself a few times until you get a thick clump of wire, like in the picture:

Now insert the resister body into the centre of the holder so that one of the metal sides houses and holds the clump of wire and the other end of the resister is pointing straight up in the air. Place a blob of solder into the metal clip to secure the wires in place.

Now pick up the LED, you will notice one leg is sorted than the other. The shorter leg is the negative feed, fold this leg in the middle once, then fold it again (see picture below), then bend the entire leg at a slight angle. Take the longer leg and bend it in the opposite direction, about 5mm along the wire bend it again so it now runs parrallel to the shorter leg, measure another 5mm and cut the remainer off.

Now it will need to be soldered to the holder, first off solder the longer leg to the resister and cut off any excess.

Now press the shorter leg with the bent over wires into the other metal clip on the holder, place another blob of solder onto it so the wire cannot move.

All done! Repeat 4 times to cover the entire dash and enjoy.

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