LED Dash Conversion - What Solder Tip/Iron

[N!CK R]

Now that i have finished my uni exams and have a much better timetable i have decided to attempt a dash conversion for the white leds.

I think i know which leds i need, just need to buy myself a new soldering iron.
Can anyone recommend a soldering iron and what sorta tip i would need to solder the leds?

i was thinking the Dremel VersaTip looks quite good, but not sure if the tip is small enough?
http://www.dremeleurope.com/dremelo...C7327DB9AD8602A33027?&ccat_id=890&prod_id=330

Nick

 

[ChorleyFM]

Speak to Jaffa182 he has done his own and knows whats what.

Click or Click

 

[24Seven]

That one should be fine, id recommend a decent pair of tweezers if your going to do it aswell! Just finished my conversion a few days ago and im chuffed with it. You doing them all white?

 

[N!CK R]

Yea gonna give it a go in white, will kinda go with my theme of black and white a bit more than blue...
Ive got a spare speedometer to practice on firstly, so hopefully it should go smoothly.
Did you just do the dash, or the clocks aswell?
Would you mind hooking me up with a link to where you purchased the leds and where you get the leds for the clocks?

Cheers
Nick

 

[Tigger]

Are Jaffa182's dials the White Lockwood ones?

 

[24Seven]

Ive done all the clock display, standard HU, climate control, window switches, esp button in blue, instrument panel in blue apart from temp and fuels gauge in white, think it looks lovely

The clock display was a bit of a bugger as I didnt want the LED's shining through like ive seen on some of the guides on here so I had to use some strip board and make a recess in the bottom of the plastic using a dremel.

Got all my LED's from RS components, http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/...|1||new_uk|1&selectAttribute=White#breadCrumb

Make a note of the polarity of the LED's aswell before you take them off as the boards dont have any markings on apart from the instruments which have a K to denote negative

 

[N!CK R]

Sounds very very good mate, get some pics up.
Have to get myself a dremel now aswell...

That website is ever so slightly confusing, theres loads of 'em!
The top one is £3.19 per led aswell!!
Any clues as to what is uited for the speedo, i think i need some different ones for the clock dont i?
Is it this that i need for the clock (5mm wedge)
http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/automotive-bulbs-wedge-c-101_128.html

Cheers again

 

[Tigger]

24Seven - Any pics of yours mate?

 

[Andy_con]

heres a tip about tips!

buy any tip and if you find its to big file it down.

 

[24Seven]

It is a bit confusing yeah, I used these for the white ones, http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=6545896 look spot on.

They will do for the speedo, climate control panel etc as they are all surface mount LED's. There is two 12v bulbs in the clock display in a 172 so you could either buy 2 direct replacements in blue (not sure what type to get) or make your own using resistors and strip board although thats a pain in the arse.

 

[24Seven]

24Seven - Any pics of yours mate?

Ill get some later on when its dark mate

 

[richy22]

Christ how much are you lot paying for leds???

http://www.rapidonline.com/Electron...rightness-surface-mount-LEDs/77736/kw/56-2998

 

[pete_clio]

do the windoe switches and central locking buttons etc all use the same as the speedo and CC....also, how many do you need?

 

[richy22]

do the windoe switches and central locking buttons etc all use the same as the speedo and CC....also, how many do you need?

No they use normal led's. You need a total of 3 Leds in there If I Remember Correctly. For Window Switches.

Ones like these...

http://www.rapidonline.com/Electron.../3mm-LEDs/3mm-standard-LEDs/29289/kw/blue led

Obviously not that voltage rating etc.

You could use the PLCC type ones but if you open up the window switches you will see why its a pain using the PLCC type!

Mine are all done in blue... changing to multicoloured.rainbow led's soon

 

[pete_clio]

lol god if i even know what they were or voltages etc!

PLCC??

hmm i must look to open mine at the weekend and see though i feel this maybe more trouble than its worth!

can you remember how many SMDs you neede for your dash and clocks etc? and are those oens you linked the exact ones? i fancy going all standard in white!

 

[24Seven]

Those LED's are much cheaper, fortunately I got mine for free but id go for the cheap ones!

The window switches and central locking use through hole ones but you can snip the head off them and solder a surface mount one on top of the leads very easily. Cant remember off hand how many but theres 28 alone just for the climate control panel.

 

[pete_clio]

cool so if you could link what type you need for each part that would help me...if you can be arsed!

Dash -
CC -
Window switches -
clock -
trip comp
locking button -

may have forgotten some?

cheers

 

[N!CK R]

I reckon if i order 100 there should be enough plus some spares... dont have climate control either so that a few less!
Ok, so i know what i need for the speedo, the clock uses small led wedge bulbs. The windows switches, locking button and rear window heater uses....?

 

[richy22]

lol god if i even know what they were or voltages etc!

PLCC??

hmm i must look to open mine at the weekend and see though i feel this maybe more trouble than its worth!

can you remember how many SMDs you neede for your dash and clocks etc? and are those oens you linked the exact ones? i fancy going all standard in white!

PLC is the type of LED... there PLCC-2, PLCC-4... gets very confusing huh??!

From memory there's about 25 in the climate control and about the same in the dash. About 50 of the PLCC ones "should" be enough.

Then if you wanted to do the window switches etc probably another 10 or so??

Honestly can't remember!

 

[N!CK R]

cool so if you could link what type you need for each part that would help me...if you can be arsed!

Dash -
CC -
Window switches -
clock -
trip comp
locking button -

may have forgotten some?

cheers

Yea, or that...

i think you've got all the variants there.
Sorry to keep on, just wanna make sure i get everyhing first time round.

 

[richy22]

I reckon if i order 100 there should be enough plus some spares... dont have climate control either so that a few less!
Ok, so i know what i need for the speedo, the clock uses small led wedge bulbs. The windows switches, locking button and rear window heater uses....?

You can use the PLCC ones that you are using for the DaSh if you cut the original led off and solder surface mount ones on.

If you want il take some pics of mine in a bit so you can see what Im on about.

Also a resistor needs to be used as the window switches are fed from +12V

 

[24Seven]

cool so if you could link what type you need for each part that would help me...if you can be arsed!

Dash - surface mount
CC - surface mount
Window switches - through hole although you can use surface mount
clock - 2 x 12v bulbs although you can use surface mount if making your own circuit
trip comp - surface mount
locking button - through hole although you can use surface mount
ESP - through hole although you can use surface mount

may have forgotten some?

cheers

the link richy22 posted for the surface mount LED's is good and cheap, not sure where to get the bulbs though as I made my own circuit.

 

[24Seven]

You can use the PLCC ones that you are using for the DaSh if you cut the original led off and solder surface mount ones on.

If you want il take some pics of mine in a bit so you can see what Im on about.

Also a resistor needs to be used as the window switches are fed from +12V

iirc theres already resistors in there so if you snip the head off the old LED you can just whack a surface mount one on

 

[richy22]

cool so if you could link what type you need for each part that would help me...if you can be arsed!

Dash -
CC -
Window switches -
clock -
trip comp
locking button -

may have forgotten some?

cheers

Dash uses 6 surface mount leds... that will do your fuel, temp, rev and speedo gauges.

trip computer has 4 LEDs (taking total so far up to 10)

1 per window switch so another 3.

Clock has 2 leds.

Locking button 1

Rear Heater button 1

Climate control.... s**t loads! about 25-30??

Total then just under 50.

 

[richy22]

A few pics of the heater and lock switch. I used normal 5mm BLUE led's for mine.

This is what mines like in the dark...

Climate control in actually RED in this pic but I am changing it to white very soon.. in fact sod it il do it other the weekend.

And this is what is going in my clock soon

[youtube]WaF80M0ig0Q[/youtube]

 

[richy22]

Oh and to summarize!

I would recommend getting 50-100 of these surface mount ones..

http://www.rapidonline.com/Electron...rightness-surface-mount-LEDs/77736/kw/56-2998

And then depending on your skill/competency!

Use these for the windows/door lock/heater etc but you might need to put a resistor in there as they are only rated to about 4V and to be honest I can't remember if i did or not.. the heater/window switch already has them inside as im looking at them right now but id need to check the window switches.

http://www.rapidonline.com/producti...leno=82277&catref=55-0072&kw=55-0072#techspec

 

[N!CK R]

Thanks for your help richy, what resistor do i use though?
Can you not just use a 5mm wedge bulb?

 

[richy22]

Thanks for your help richy, what resistor do i use though?
Can you not just use a 5mm wedge bulb?

You can use any LED whether it be 5mm/3mm or surface amount but it depends on the voltage rating of the LED. For I'm pretty sure you don't need one but I will open mine up tomorrow and take a look for you if you want?

I decided to play around with my Climate control tonight as it was fresh in my head!

U can see my heater and door lock switches. They definitely didn't need resistors.

Mixture of white and blue I settled for.

I did try and do the main display White but it looked cack IMO!

 

[Dink]

this is what my dials looked like when i fitted the white PLCC-2 led's off rapid

 

[richy22]

this is what my dials looked like when i fitted the white PLCC-2 led's off rapid

By tomorrow thats what mine will be like! Fed up with blue!

Did you paint your needles white so you could see them better during the day? I.e scrapping off the orange and replacing with white?

 

[Dink]

nah i got some needles off a set of automatic dials that had white needles

 

[richy22]

nah i got some needles off a set of automatic dials that had white needles

Ahh the "easy" way! I think il just paint mine.. i like doing stuff the hard way!!

Cheers for the info though and at least I can see what they will look like white now.

 

[Dink]

tbh the pic doesn't do them justice i'm sure you'll like it

 

[24Seven]

just a few pics of mine, got something planned for the needles but that will have to wait until next week

 

[Tigger]

^ Now that's what I'm talkin about

How did you keep the numbers White in the LCD panels?

 

[A18XHO]

who wants to do mine in white?

 

[24Seven]

^ Now that's what I'm talkin about

How did you keep the numbers White in the LCD panels?

I used a colour filter, cut it to the size of the orange filter/diffuser that was already in there. Took a while to get the right look though, still not quite happy with the CC LCD as you can still see the individual LED's shining through so might have to tinker with that a bit

 

[Craig]

cool wanna do mine lol

 

[A18XHO]

someone wants to earn some money? i want mine in white

 

[richy22]

Just done my dash now White will take some piccys later on, when you can acyually see! Can't be arsed to do the clock though! Dash will be off gain soon to do some painting anyway so il have more of a play then.

I used a colour filter, cut it to the size of the orange filter/diffuser that was already in there. Took a while to get the right look though, still not quite happy with the CC LCD as you can still see the individual LED's shining through so might have to tinker with that a bit

What did you use for your filter out of curiosity? Im going to make my own ones but would like to see what other options there are just incase.