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Dashboard UV LED lighting
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vanagon1991
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:54 am    Post subject: Dashboard UV LED lighting Reply with quote

Hi all...in the process of researching UV LED replacement bulbs for speedo/tach. I upgraded to smallcar 7K tach and decided to paint my yellowed needles UV orange. The effect worked great even for daylight driving. I tested the UV glow using a LED blacklight flashlight. The pictures do not do it justice...they look like they are "on".

Anyone find/install bright UV replacement LEDs for speedo/tach?

I plan on all blue interior lighting.

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Christopher Schimke
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The problem is getting the UV lighting to shine onto the gauges properly. The lamp housings rely on the reflection of the light inside the housing to direct the light onto the gauge faces. With the plasma gauge faces that I sell, I experimented with a number of different ways to direct the UV light, including repainting the insides of the lamp housings, modifying the lamp housing, using reflective foil shaped in numerous ways to try to direct the light, etc. While I was able to cause changes, I was never able to come up with a way to make the housing direct the light in a way that looked satisfactory to me. With the plasma gauge kits, I simply include dimable LED lamps which in my opinion give a much better overall effect for lighting up the needles than the UV lamps.

To answer your question, you can buy B8.3D UV bulbs from various vendors, but google "B8.3D UV". Some of these bulbs work better than other, but I really can't remember which ones. It was a while ago when I did my experiments.
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vanagon1991
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes I have my eye the plasma gauges but waiting for 7k tach version! Thanks for the info...will research
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Syncroincity
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I used UV LEDs in mine, and I lined the white plastic light housings with chrome foil tape so it would increase the bounce internally, seems to work fairly well.

Here's the view with the EL gauge faces lit up; also all blue LED lighting everywhere else.



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vanagon1991
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 12:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i think that works great!! That's it. Can you tell me what bulbs you used and where you got theme...??? I would like to do same set up. Thanks for posting.

Green clock color is stock? My light must have been out for awhile as I don't remember the clock lighting up actually...let alone what color it was. I like the set up!

I'm not sure if UV is only one kind of bulb (light) or if the blue LED gives you the UV effect.

I would like to do the tail and side marker lights as LED as well.

Lee
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Syncroincity
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The bulbs came from www.superbrightleds.com

I got all the bulbs seen in the photo from them, except the heater control, which came from GoWesty because of the oddball plastic holder.

The green panel in the clock position is actually a water injection computer that I set into the panel, it displays EGT and boost pressure.
See my build thread in the signature for pics and details... I also put in LEDs in all the exterior lights.
THe original clock light was white. I experimented with blue and UV bulbs, but it's difficult with LEDs to get the thing lit properly. Standard bulb tinted blue would be better.

The blue LEDs do not make the orange needles glow, you need true UV (blacklight) lights. Mine look odd because they are white gauge faces, which end up glowing faintly purple.
You may have a problem seeing the white numbers on the gauges using the UV bulbs... the main reason I get away with it is the plasma gauge faces that light up by themselves.
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syncrodoka
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

vanagon1991 wrote:
Yes I have my eye the plasma gauges but waiting for 7k tach version!

Me too!
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ragnarhairybreeks
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

syncrodoka wrote:
vanagon1991 wrote:
Yes I have my eye the plasma gauges but waiting for 7k tach version!

Me too!


sort of like this?

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alistair
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syncrodoka
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 10:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, but I want the OG style font to make it look stock but updated.
Where did you get yours from?
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ragnarhairybreeks
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll pm you.

But yeah, I get it about the original typeface.

The uv lighting of the needles is a tricky thing to make work right. The ones used in that pic are not as good as the units I have in the dash now. You still have a good portion of visible along with the uv so it does tend to cast some light on the gauge face. Chris is bang on when he wrote about the light housing design being a handicap to getting light on the needle.

Another tricky bit is getting the fuel and temp needles lit by uv. There was a neat workaround for that in the gauges pictured.

And also if you have the problem of lighting the odometer. I was only partially succesful with that.

Alistair
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