Bulb Types

[Hexa-dB]

Hi,

I've just passed my test and gained my wife's 51 Yaris (she's got a a 54 Yaris now!).

I'd like to change the dashboard lights (around the heater controls etc) to blue. I've followed the guides on removing the dash and tried painting the bulbs with Halfords bulb laquer which wasn't too successful. I'm thinking of giving up on that and buying some LED bulbs like the ones here:

http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/default.php?cPa...6848eb7d4d265d8

What type would I need for the dash lights? I'm guessing the LED bulbs consist of the LEDs and suitable resistor built in?

Also, I've tried the bulb laquer on the courtesy/festoon light without much success so I was thinking of doing the same for that - what size replacement do I need?

I'll probably come across like a right idiot for wanting to change the colour of the lighting as soon as I get my first car but I just really like blue interior lights :)

(I have no intention of fitting under-car neons, shopping lists or anything like that!)

[minidoughty]

Hi,

I've just passed my test and gained my wife's 51 Yaris (she's got a a 54 Yaris now!).

I'd like to change the dashboard lights (around the heater controls etc) to blue. I've followed the guides on removing the dash and tried painting the bulbs with Halfords bulb laquer which wasn't too successful. I'm thinking of giving up on that and buying some LED bulbs like the ones here:

http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/default.php?cPa...6848eb7d4d265d8

What type would I need for the dash lights? I'm guessing the LED bulbs consist of the LEDs and suitable resistor built in?

Also, I've tried the bulb laquer on the courtesy/festoon light without much success so I was thinking of doing the same for that - what size replacement do I need?

I'll probably come across like a right idiot for wanting to change the colour of the lighting as soon as I get my first car but I just really like blue interior lights :)

(I have no intention of fitting under-car neons, shopping lists or anything like that!)

I got this one:

Here

[Hexa-dB]

I got this one:

Here

Cheers

Any ideas about the bulbs behind the dash?

[minidoughty]

na sorry.

[Blue84]

Cant help on the light question, but that does sound like a good idea. I like the idea of that myself.

Congrats on passing your test, Yaris is a great car to start off with.

[armoredfist2002]

The size of the led's are either 8 or 10mm, I used 5mm and had to glue them in.

If you know what voltage the original one's run off you can connect them to where they come from.

I used resistors and connected them up I believe it's a green or green and black wire which turns the dash light on when the headlights are turned on. And to ground them I connected them to a large bolt at the back of the dash.

Be very careful when you put it all back together as 2 of the legs on the led's broke.

Try searching for similar post's as there was a writeup on how to add a thin ccfl instead of the led's.

Tough job but worth it, here's mine

try this

this helped me

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...topic=42157&hl=

[edli83]

hmmmz, u have to add a reisistor manually, aint there no direct replacement that you could buy?

[armoredfist2002]

hmmmz, u have to add a reisistor manually, aint there no direct replacement that you could buy?

not that I know of

or you could put a blue piece of balloon or rubber over the led, as the standard ones are just green rubber over a white led

[edli83]

so can you change the standard cd player lights as well?

dont wana end up with half the dash green and the other half blue lol

[Hexa-dB]

I had another dig around last night and I think the bulbs behind the heater controls are the twist-lock type (well, I twisted one and it came out!).

This looks pretty similar:

http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/product_info.ph...6848eb7d4d265d8

For £2 I'm tempted to order a couple and see how it goes.

The bulbs behind the cassette player look a bit smaller, I think I'll need to take another look at them.

Also, they sell LEDs with a suitable resistor fitted:

http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/product_info.ph...6848eb7d4d265d8

By the way, I've had no luck at all with the Halfords bulb laquer. It made my courtesy/festoon light look all patchy (I found it really hard to apply evenly) and not very blue. I tried it on the bulbs behind the dash (after removing the green covers) and now I just have a weak yellowy light.

armoredfist2002 - Your dash looks amazing, I think I saw a pic when searching before - it's probably what inspired me to do it :)

[paddyboy15]

Hi. Here's what i bought...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5off-5mm-Mega-bright...oQQcmdZViewItem

I removed the original bulbs from the dash and took the bulb out of the holder. i replace the bulb with an LED which sits on top the holder (if that makes sense. The LEDs legs go through the holes in the holder and out of the bottom of the holder.

This is where i soldered the supplied resistors to one of the legs (cant remember if its + or -, but instructions are provided.

Now the legs have to be bent carefully(!) to the grooves on the bottom of the holder, so a connection is made when you put it back in.

Thats it.

And i'm useless with stuff like that, so its not too difficult.

However, the buttons by your trip computer etc cannot be changed (I think) and will remain green.

EDIT: DONT BUY THOSE bulbs! i thought they-d fit but they dont!!! as far as i know, the way i did it is the easiest and cheapest way. i Think there are ways of getting better results, but I know this is cheap and fairly easy.

Hope this helps

Also, forgot to add. buying the second lot of leds with resistors seems good, but if you use the holder, as i did (which makes it a hole lot easier), the resistor has to be fitting on the bottom of the holder.

also, this involves no gluing and is not permenant, you can change back to standard bulbs anytime!

[edli83]

so you've got

. ------- HOLDER --- RESISTOR----- ORIGINAL CONNECTION

LED

. ------- HOLDER --------------------- ORIGINAL CONNECTION

is that right?

EDIT: also why is a resistor needed?

[Hexa-dB]

Hi. Here's what i bought...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5off-5mm-Mega-bright...oQQcmdZViewItem

I've just ordered some :)

I did consider those RGB colour fading ones but decided that would be too cheesy and distracting

EDIT: DONT BUY THOSE BULBS! i thought they-d fit but they dont!!! as far as i know, the way i did it is the easiest and cheapest way. i Think there are ways of getting better results, but I know this is cheap and fairly easy.

Hope this helps

Also, forgot to add. buying the second lot of leds with resistors seems good, but if you use the holder, as i did (which makes it a hole lot easier), the resistor has to be fitting on the bottom of the holder.

also, this involves no gluing and is not permenant, you can change back to standard bulbs anytime!

Thanks for that - I was pretty close to ordering those bulbs :)

I think between yours and armoredfist2002's advice I should be able to manage it :)

[paddyboy15]

edli83 Posted Today, 10:36 AM

so you've got

. ------- HOLDER --- RESISTOR----- ORIGINAL CONNECTION

LED

. ------- HOLDER --------------------- ORIGINAL CONNECTION

is that right?

EDIT: also why is a resistor needed?

Kinda right.

The holder is just plastic, so the legs of the LEDs fit through the holes where the original bulb ones did. so effectively, all you're doing is adding a resistor on the correct leg (cant remember which).

The resistor is needed to convert the LED to work in a 12v system i believe.

[Woody27]

can add resistor to either leg as an electric current is not affected by direction! Plus if the LED's dont work you may have them the wrong way round as there a diode that allows current only to pass one way! just a useful point for those who dont no much electronics :P

[edli83]

so what kind of resistors will we need to do this?

[Woody27]

It is a basic formula to use to calculate it but you need to know the current running to it and the Voltage the LED's run on! The way to do this would be check the fuse that goes before the circuit as we would know the current that it will be below then (or use a multimeter to measure it) You then minus the Voltage of the LED from the 12V supply so you get something like 9V and then fitting a resistor value corresponding to this 9V divided by the current so you get a value in ohms! :P

And if thats too confusing for you you could always buy one of these with built in resistors so you can plug straight into the 12V supply without worries! :P Dunno how bright they will be though but worth a try that cheap! If you want really bright ones you can buy super bright LEDs and use the above working out! If you give me a value for the current (fuse protecting the lighting circuit) or reading from an ammeter i can find you the LEDs and give you resistor values if you want :P Btw i would say ultrabright blue LEDs look the best out of LED colours!

Hope that helps and is understandable! If not ask more and i will try and explain more!

[edli83]

argh so i need to get hold of a multimeter:S aint touched one of them since gcse physics lol

cant i just use any resistor? :P what happens if the resistor is rated for higher ohms?

[Woody27]

If you get a resistor with too high a value it will be dimly lit! if you get a 1k (1000 ohm) resistor it will protect it fine but it wont light very brightly. You can tell if its too bright as red goes orange, etc. (being a school kid of course we have sat there blowing up every component :D) but yeah i would imagine for a 12V supply for a normal LED your resistor value would be around 600 Ohms. Multimeter would be a good way to measure the current accurately. Also i would buy a few LEDs as you may blow a few or they may be already broken.

Plus remember the longer leg is for plus and the shorter leg (and flat side of the LED) is the negative leg!

Ok guys this is working out to sound a lot more confusing than it actually is :P If you guys are getting really stuck you can add me on msn (address is in my profile on here) or PM me! I will be welcome to help! Of course you can keep asking in here aswell just the other ways are easier.

EDIT: O and Just so you understand basics, its Ohm value shows how well is stops current (high ohm value = low current and voltage can get past) So you cant blow a resistor unless you exceed its power value (which you wont)

[Hexa-dB]

Ok, a quick update..

I bought the eBay LEDs mentioned above. They came with 470 ohm resistors.

To fit them I did the following:

Removed the top part of the central console thing

Behind the heater controls there's a kind white plastic square, which the bulbs are mounted on. I removed that (I may have had to remove two screws holding a piece of plastic in front of it, I can't remember now)

Once that white piece is out you can see the bulbs.

My first attempt involved removing the green rubber caps from the bulbs and applying some blue bulb laquer from Halfords. This was a dismal failure. It put it back together and ended up with a dim yellow light. I then tried putting some of the blue laquer on the clear "lightpipe" thing that transmits the light from the bulbs to the labelling on the dash. That didn't work either, it ended up too dark and not very blue.

I decided that the LEDs werre the only thing for it, so I ordered the ones above. I'm not sure if this is the best way of doing it but it seems to work...

I removed the bulbs in the twist-lock holder thing (screwdriver in the slot on the back)

The bulb has two long wire legs that go through the holder and wrap around, I unwrapped these 'legs' and removed the bulb from the holder.

I then took one of the blue LEDs, bent one leg (the + one, the shortest) a bit and soldered a resistor to it, as near to the actual LED as I could - then trimmed off the excess bits of leg from the LED and resistor, leaving one leg of the resistor long.

I then had:

 
---[resistor]-|----\
			  |	 )
--------------|----/

I managed to get the legs through the holes in the bulb holder, and wrapped them around the bulb holder the same way that the original bulb was done. When it was done the resistor was mostly inside the bulb holder and the LED stuck out of the top. It's a bit tight but it does fit.

Note - Be very careful that you don't let the 'live' leg of the resistor (the one that wraps around the holder) touch the + leg of the LED (bypassing the resistor) because it'll blow the LED! Also be careful when bending the legs as they snap quite easily.

Once it was all put back together it looked a lot better than before. The LEDs aren't amazingly bright though, and some bits of the dash don't light up as well as armoredfist2002's. I may try some brighter LEDs, or even 2 x 3mm LEDs.

I know I've repeated a lot of what was said above but I thought it might help people visualise it a bit!

[Woody27]

Quick point is that the LONGER leg is the positive leg! Also you the negative leg is distinctive as not only is it shorter but also the LED itself has a flat side on its lip at the cathode (-ve). O and you can either try getting a resistor with a smaller value or brighter LEDs to get a brighter light. This will help a bit on light coverage but more LEDs of a higher brightness is your best bet for bright even distributed light. You could also try cold cathode ray tubes for a glow behind them (not sure about the fitment of them though! doubt its hard)

You need to get some piccies up so we can see! :D Well done so far anyway!

[Hexa-dB]

Quick point is that the LONGER leg is the positive leg! Also you the negative leg is distinctive as not only is it shorter but also the LED itself has a flat side on its lip at the cathode (-ve). O and you can either try getting a resistor with a smaller value or brighter LEDs to get a brighter light. This will help a bit on light coverage but more LEDs of a higher brightness is your best bet for bright even distributed light. You could also try cold cathode ray tubes for a glow behind them (not sure about the fitment of them though! doubt its hard)

You need to get some piccies up so we can see! :D Well done so far anyway!

Cheers for the correction

I have seen 10,000 or 12,000 mcd LEDs, with a 30 degree viewing angle - the ones I fitted were 7,000 mcd with a 15 degree viewing angle so I may try replacing them.

Pics when I get the bottom cassette player ones done to match :)

[Woody27]

hehe not a problem! Yeah they will obviously be much brighter and help! Plus maybe try bigger than 3mm LED's (if possible) That way you can get more coverage aswell! What colour have you done it in out of interest as some colour look odd (specifically with the heater control which should clearly be red to blue for hot to cold though some people light it red so looks like its all red :P)

[Hexa-dB]

hehe not a problem! Yeah they will obviously be much brighter and help! Plus maybe try bigger than 3mm LED's (if possible) That way you can get more coverage aswell! What colour have you done it in out of interest as some colour look odd (specifically with the heater control which should clearly be red to blue for hot to cold though some people light it red so looks like its all red :P)

I did it in blue - so my heater is all blue! (I may try adding a red LED as well, if I can find a way to squeeze it in). The LEDs I used are 5mm, I was thinking of squeezing in two 3mm ones instead but I think a brighter 5mm would be better.

By the way, for anyone needing a way to work out resistor values:

http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz (It's a good job that PC power supplies have a 12v rail, so a lot of PC modding stuff can be applied to cars and vice versa :) )

[Woody27]

Lol yeah i would jam a red one in ther if you can to make that look right :P In the middle you may get purple from the mix though :P yeah one of the PC voltage rails is 12V but its the current you gota note. I think its under 3A so alls cool on calculating that! I may go for some superbright lighting of my dash when i get it just to get colour matching the HU i want. But yeah good luck and get those piccys up when your done!!!