JAG
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| posted on 29/1/04 at 04:38 PM |
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Push-bike speedo - Illumination
I'm fitting a bike speedo to my car.
The SVA man will expect it to be illuminated when I turn on the side/headlights. I don't want to buy a special bike lamp for this and was
planning on making something.
I am hoping somebody has already done something similar that they would be prepared to share with me.
Red LED's seem to be a good idea but I don't have the electrical knowledge to connect them to my cars 12v system. Can anyone advise??
Thanks guys - look forward to your ideas.
[Edited on 29/1/04 by JAG]
Justin
Who is this super hero? Sarge? ...No.
Rosemary, the telephone operator? ...No.
Penry, the mild-mannered janitor? ...Could be!
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Carl.H
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| posted on 29/1/04 at 05:49 PM |
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i'm not electricly minded either, but would of thought you'd need a transfomer. if there's a
MAPLIN nere you i've always found them helpful
I drink to make other people interesting.
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Peteff
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| posted on 29/1/04 at 07:58 PM |
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When I helped fit one on a car we used a Sierra numberplate light on top of the steering column to shine back onto the face of the speedo. A bit low
tech but it passed sva.
yours, Pete.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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Ben_Copeland
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| posted on 29/1/04 at 08:30 PM |
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Ooooo stone age 
Ben
Locost Map on Google Maps
Z20LET Astra Turbo, into a Haynes
Roadster
Enter Your Details Here
http://www.facebook.com/EquinoxProducts for all your bodywork needs!
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givemethebighammer
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| posted on 29/1/04 at 11:16 PM |
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maplin sell 12v leds so no need for transformer
http://www.maplin.co.uk/products/module.asp?CartID=040129231430803&moduleno=2054
http://www.maplin.co.uk/products/module.asp?CartID=040129231430803&moduleno=2056
Its what I have to replace the bulbs with in my old smiths gauges.
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ady8077
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| posted on 29/1/04 at 11:20 PM |
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Hi
You can buy 12 led's from maplin's, just ask them to show you which pins pos+neg. If you want proper little lights that shine on to the
speedo try halford or a car mag, or ebay
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2456175799&category=28646
there all the rage with the boy racers
Adrian
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JAG
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| posted on 30/1/04 at 08:55 AM |
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givemethebighammer
Those LEDs look ideal.
First question; Can I just connect them straight to the 12v source?
Second question; How have you replaced the bulbs in your Smiths gauges?
I have Smiths gauges and was hoping to use red light to illuminate them. Can you give me some details.
Thanks Guys for all the replies.
Justin
Who is this super hero? Sarge? ...No.
Rosemary, the telephone operator? ...No.
Penry, the mild-mannered janitor? ...Could be!
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givemethebighammer
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| posted on 30/1/04 at 04:41 PM |
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My smiths gauges have or had green filters in the sockets where the bulbs fitted. They have at some time melted and are now in various states of
meltedness. I intend to completely remove all of the green filter and fix some of the 12v leds in place of the bulb, using silicon or similar to
produce a "plug" to fit the bulb socket. I had intended to wire them directly into the 12v supply (careful check the led polarity), but I
intend to use a smiths voltage regulator with the gauges so will probably wire them in with this.
Apparently the voltage reg help the gauges read correctly. Gauges expecting 12v, but will get more in reality (13.5v or more ?)
Voltage reg supplier:
http://www.gower-oaks.co.uk/smithoverb1.htm
[Edited on 30/1/04 by givemethebighammer]
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ceebmoj
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| posted on 30/1/04 at 08:58 PM |
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Hi
If you intend to use LEDs so lighting the background of your gauges as well as using the 12v ones to can also get a dc voltage regulators witch is a 3
pin device that looks a little like some transistors you connect 12v to one pin 0 to another and get 5 on the third pin obviously witch pin is witch
will very form regulator to regulator but if you get one I can advise on witch is witch the adnvantage of using this route and the protecting a 3.5v
LED wit a 330 ohm resistor or directly a 5v led is that there is a lot more leds to choose from including throws in mounting open to you in the LEDs
that you will have valuable
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SeaBass
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| posted on 31/1/04 at 12:35 PM |
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Hi Guys,
Number of points I though I'd pick up on. Firstly installing red LED's in Smiths gauges. The light emitted from and LED typically has a
very narrow beam spread. When used in automotive applications, car manufacturers use light guides to transfer light from a single LED to several
points where it is required. I would have thought that if you install and LED in the standard bulb holder 'cylinder' on the back of the
gauge, all the light would fall on the rear of the face and wouldn't illuminate the front of the face. You may have to paint the inside of the
gauge with either white or silver paint to overcome this.
Secondly, don't use the Smiths voltage regulator! This basically switches the vehicle voltage on and off about six times a second to give an
average voltage of about 10v. Because smiths aux gauges work on bimetallic principle they react so slowly that you never notice... (watch them when
you power up) The regulator was added to overcome load on the electrics making all the gauges dip. If you wired the illumination into this the
LED's would flash! The original panel illumination was run at vehicle voltage.
Oh and typically vehicle voltage will run at about 13.5V...
Cheers
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Ben_Copeland
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| posted on 31/1/04 at 10:09 PM |
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You can buy wide angle LED's.. the ones that boy racers fit in their dash's instead of the bulbs. Works for them, should work ok for
smith's gauges
Ben
Locost Map on Google Maps
Z20LET Astra Turbo, into a Haynes
Roadster
Enter Your Details Here
http://www.facebook.com/EquinoxProducts for all your bodywork needs!
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givemethebighammer
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| posted on 1/2/04 at 10:29 AM |
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thanks, never knew exactly how the smiths voltage reg worked !! I had thought about the low spread of light from an led compared with a bulb. If it
comes to it I may even mount several inside the gauge AND paint the inside silver \ white. Lastly are we saying I will definately need the smiths
voltage reg for my gauges to work correctly ? (they are from an old triumph dolomite) ?
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SeaBass
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| posted on 1/2/04 at 06:20 PM |
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Yes you'll need either and original Smiths regulator(looks like a little metal box on the back of the speedo normally) or equivalent regulator
chip. I used Dolomite gauges for my dash and used the voltage regulator for the aux gauges... Check the
website here...
Cheers
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givemethebighammer
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| posted on 1/2/04 at 08:29 PM |
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nice site seabass, particularly like the way you have reused the triumph cheese wedge warning light cluster. I was about to chuck mine out but now I
think I may well try to do something like you have. Wouldn't mind a few details on the method of construction if you can spare a few miuntes.
From what I can tell from the photos it involves photocopying or lazer printing on to acetate sheet ?
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SeaBass
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| posted on 1/2/04 at 08:39 PM |
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Certainly, as you've guessed I took dimensions from the cluster unit. Used a CAD package to knock up symbols and outlines etc then printed using
laser printer on paper. Took to photocopier and copied twice using the same sheet of acetate (if you get my meaning) to get a dark covering (the laser
printer wasn't too dark). That's about all there was to it. I tried to use SVA friendly symbols and it looks great in operation. Much
better than the original. There are far too many segments in the standard one. You'll need to work out how the thing is wired. Some bulbs use a
common earth, some a common live etc. You can play about with coloured diffusers to give whatever you want. I had two at my disposal so chopped and
changed. The standard piece of transparent plastic in the front has a button thingy in the middle of it so I cut some acrylic sheet to use instead.
Painted bezels on all gauges matt black to fit with feel of car...
Cheers
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givemethebighammer
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| posted on 1/2/04 at 08:44 PM |
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thanks seabass, I'll dig out the multimeter and see if I can work out the wiring. Might even subsitute the bulbs for leds... no problems with
direction of light on this one !!!
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