in a series circuit with biasing, once the foreward bias of the LEDs is overcome, all that really matters is the ammount of current flow, which stays constant through a series circuit. You've got a bad LED. Any number of things can happen from a overheated LED, but the worst is when you install it and think everything is all good, but eventually after 20 hours it starts flickering. LEDs in series should be uniformly bright.

 

New problem... Since I have red gauges mixed in with the blue, the knobs now have a slight reddish glow instead of just blue. This is fine for the heat selection, because the closer I go to the heat, the more red it gets. However, the middle knob has a little pink coming in it. Is there any way to prevent that?

lol I also lost the blue bulb in the AC switch, that's not a problem since I'm using LEDs, right?

 

I never had a problem with that. Try to put more blue light in there under the knobs. also, if it's really important, you can notch it with a dremmel so the light dosn't pass through from the red. Did you try testing it?

The blue bulb isn't an issue.

 

i had the same problem. i ended up sticking a quarter roll wrapper around the center to keep the leds used for the numbers and stuff away from those i used for the knobs.

 

^^ Not quite sure I understand that fully... What do you wrap the quarter roll around? Would white-out work as well?

 

on my controls, i drill holes in the white plastic for the regular face illuminations. i then route leds to the center and right around the dial rod for the light on the knob. i had red leds for the knob light and blue for the face lights. the blue was bleeding over into the center and making the red look pink. i just took a quarter roll wrapper, trimmed it a bit, and opened it up around the inner leds, and high enough so that it kept out all of the blue light for the faces.

 

for the way you're doing it, just cut with a dremmel between the dial portion and the number portion. it will isolate the light enough. Make sure you're using the whiteout too.

 

Everything's coming along well, but my trouble now is trying to get the LEDs in the cruise etc switches. It's such a small area in there, and trying to fit an LED, resistor, then trying to solder it all in there just isn't working very nicely... I'm at the step where you have the last pictures for in the DIY. Which side did you solder the ends to, the bottom or the main side? (last or second to last pic in the diy?) I think my main problem is getting the solder to stick to the circuit, but I've roughed it up and done what I can. Any other tips?
Thanks!

 

well, you do know where to put the resistor and also to use a 3mm led right?

as far as soldering to the copper circuit pieces, try doing to it without getting the components on immediately. identify where you want the connections to be. the hardest part of soldering on to the copper circuit is that the circuit is such a large heatsink. it sucks heat right away from the solder point, and its tough to get it hot enough. what you need to do is get a SUPER hot gun, and then hold it to one point for a solid 10 seconds, and then start feeding solder on to that point. it shouldnt blob on the surface of the copper, it should almost look like its melting into it and becoming part of it. after you have those spots, solder the components into them. for the led, it helps to bend it up with a pair of needle nose so that it will support itself in that hole. hold the hole end of the switch off the edge of a table(so that the led can dangle beneath, with its leads stuck in the circuit hole), and solder the leads right in.

its sooo f***in hard to explain this type of thing...lol. hope you understood. i can get you some pics in a couple days maybe.

to answer the other questions, see the little divot space in the underside of the switch. last "diy" picture, with the black lines indicating cut points. the resistors fit almost perfectly in that space. they will stick out a little and give you slight troubles when putting stuff back together, but its totally doable.

 

My technique for soldering does not change one bit except the ammount of time spent on the item



1. contact- touch hot iron to less delecate surface to be soldered

2. Build a bridge- apply solder to side of iron touching surface to be soldered- this increases heat transfer and uses the iron more efficiently.*

3. Tin the surface- place a bit of solder on the surface to be soldered, not on the iron. (sometimes you can't help, like in those wells)

4. Join- Starting with the more resiliant surface, heat until solder starts to melt and then join the two surfacs together. Move your iron around to ensure both surfaces are hot.

5. seal- Apply solder from the side not being heated, ensure solder melts(liquid not plastic type melting. plastic is worthless),

6. cool- cool quickly. to increase cooling capabilities, a plyers is a common heat sink used, or you can blow basically, anything with metalic mass or moving air will work as a heat sink.

* most important for you



Really what it comes down to on LEDs, is heat the surface until you melt solder and then apply the LED, but do it carefully. once you have one leg mounted, you can bend the other leg in or out of the way.



Plastic stage is the time in between fully melted and fully hard. It's also known as a cold joint. Because of research, the common mixture of lead, tin and silver is such that there is almost no plastic stage anymore. Once you heat up solder for a while and especially in larger quantities, the properties change and the solder has a much larger plastic stage. It might look clumpy, or it might "stretch" instead of follow the iron. The problem of cold joints isn't very common today because of the perfection of the mixture, so it has taken on the meaning of moving the joint while the solder is cooling, which is actually a "fractured joint".



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>A joint in which the solder does not make good contact with the component lead or printed circuit board pad is called a cold joint. It's a soldered joint that was made incorrectly as the solder was melted on to the metal, but the metal was not hot enough to melt the solder, meaning that the solder didn't really flow and is not bonded to the metal. A cold joint is a mechanical joint at best: it may hold together for a while, but it will eventually break loose, and it will never conduct electricity very well. Cold joints occur when the component lead or solder pad moves before the solder is completely cooled. Cold joints make a really bad electrical connection and can prevent your circuit from working, and should be removed.

Cold joints are easily fixed, and can be recognized by a characteristic grainy, dull gray color. First, remove the old solder with a desoldering tool or simply by heating it up and flicking it off with the iron. Once the old solder is off, you can resolder the joint, making sure to do it right by keeping still as it cools.</div>