Dash clock lighting - something different.

[CovKid]

Interesting. I have quite a bit of flexible RGB LED strip light left over when I fitted some in the van last week and have been messing about with it on my desk this evening. Providing you apply 12v+ to V+ marking on strip, you can connect the negative to either red, green or blue (or bridge all three for white).

Nothing special about that but I never did like the dash clock lights that much (they were, after all designed to accept small tungsten bulbs). The original RGB controller is in use, but pieces of the remaining strip, coupled to a notched switch, should give me a choice of all three colours on the clocks, or any combo-colour with more notches. Might have a go the weekend. Yes I know you can get singular LED bulbs but these strip LEDS are cheap as chips (excuse the pun) and with a little extra work in wiring them up, I could have a choice of mood.

With say a five or six notch switch, you can have red, red/blue, blue, blue/green, green, green/red, or white. Could fit another controller but a remote to change dash colours seems overkill. Just seems simpler to fit a small knob. The left-overs clearly have some use.

Something like: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/2-pole-6-way- ... itch-ff74r" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The strip can be cut down to as little as 5" - point to point.

Sorry, thinking out loud to myself here. Will let you know how I get on..... (Hakuna - thanks for the B's B's sticker)

[tforturton]

Cosmic, man

[Smosh]

That could be a funky little touch, be interested to hear how you get on!

[CovKid]

Will pick up a rotary knob on my way home from work, solder it all up this evening and test. Biggest challenge will be positioning the strip to avoid glare but have some ideas for that.

[Hacksawbob]

Interested to know where you get them cheap Raph,

http://www.gree-leds.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I bought some from here a while back. They are a Chinese manufacturer and take payment by western union which un-nerved me a bit but I got everything delivered OK. The strips can be controlled by an arduino like this

http://www.adafruit.com/product/1501" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

but gree-led do other setups as well, some with controllers funky light chasing patterns are possible with these, not that you would use that on the dash, but I thought about it in the rear of the van just for the giggles.

here's the pricing from a while back, overkill for what your doing with a minimum order of 10M but cheapest I could find at the time for what I was building which needed a lot.



For WS2801 led strip.

The GE32RGB2801A Non-waterproof $12.0/m

http://www.gree-leds.com/productshow.as ... PS7188S784" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

if you need 15m. $12/m*15m=$180

Freight cost to UK: $26 Total value: $206

Min order: 10M

[CovKid]

5 metres for about £8 Bob - with controller. Think I posted the link a while ago. Like all LED strip, there are specific points at which you can cut but whatever you have left over can still be used provided you solder on a 12v supply - even if chip control is lost. You just do it manually with the switch.

Anyway, I have the switch now (just got one from Maplins) so will solder it all on the desk this evening and perhaps do a video to show it working. I figure all I need to do is mount the switch and strip. Should be good to go.

Will hunt for RGB LED source and post in a sec.

E D I T:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5M-3528-SMD-R ... 51b4359efe" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There you go - £7.49 (on offer) for next few hours - 5 whole metres. You can use the longest length with the controller for interior lighting and whats left over can be run off the dash lighting circuit in whatever lengths you need providing you can get the power to them. I'm not keen on 'in your face' lighting but its perfect under the dash and in areas where you want a bit of light. Bridge the three RGB terminals to earth on the end of the strip and you'll get white, or you can choose one if yoiu want either red, blue or green. Or you could bridge two, say red & blue to get mauve etc.

Some great possibilities here like better lighting for heater controls, glovebox light, blah blah.

My idea of using a rotary switch is its simplicity and you can change the clocks colour as you wish. I mean there can't be many that genuinely want colour changing dash lights - too distracting. Fixed colours ok though.

They're so cheap they make a great alternative to domestic lighting too - very, very cheap to run as its milliamps.

[CovKid]

Ok, had a go this evening and it works fine EXCEPT creating mixed shades (ie red +blue) is impossible unless theres some way of isolating circuits using additional diodes. This is because if you wire red and blue to one of the switch terminals, it creates a circuit by default - linking red and blue permanently. If you map this out on paper it becomes obvious. Ghost may come up with a solution but for now I have a choice of red, blue or green. Thats ok as a start though.

Perhaps a 4-pole 6-position switch?

I think I'll also order some white LED strip and replace the number plate lamps with LED strip. Can't use RGB to make white in this instance as I have a chrome rear bumper and it would reflect the rainbow source (illegal).

[Smosh]

Ok, had a go this evening and it works fine EXCEPT creating mixed shades (ie red +blue) is impossible unless theres some way of isolating circuits using additional diodes. This is because if you wire red and blue to one of the switch terminals, it creates a circuit by default - linking red and blue permanently. If you map this out on paper it becomes obvious. Ghost may come up with a solution but for now I have a choice of red, blue or green. Thats ok as a start though.

Perhaps a 4-pole 6-position switch?

I think I'll also order some white LED strip and replace the number plate lamps with LED strip. Can't use RGB to make white in this instance as I have a chrome rear bumper and it would reflect the rainbow source (illegal).

Do you simply wire the LED strip to the existing number plate wire?

[MidLifeCrisis]

Interested to know where you get them cheap Raph,

http://www.gree-leds.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I bought some from here a while back. They are a Chinese manufacturer and take payment by western union which un-nerved me a bit but I got everything delivered OK. The strips can be controlled by an arduino like this

I think the ones that CovKid is using are not individually addressable like the examples you are quoting.
(i.e. All the LEDs will be the same colour)

[CovKid]

Yes, absolutely. The LEDs are tolerant of voltages that are over 12v at times so not a problem to patch it in. Basically you'd need to pull the existing ones off (they're pretty crappy anyway by todays standards), connect the strip to the number plate light feed and stick it up just under the tailgate seal underneath. Far better light, less current consumed and no bulbs to change. However, you may find you need to use to use 3528 strip rather than 5050. The latter is much brighter and 3528 probably more suited to the job. 3528 also has more LEDs per length so you'd get a more even light without it being overly bright. All connections need to be sealed from the elements. A glue gun would probably sort that.

You can buy LED strip in short lengths with flyleads attached but works out cheaper to buy a reel. Make sure the strip is silicon and not resin. Resin ones are affected by sun and cold temperatures.

I always think ALL flasher bulbs should be LED too as a battery soon goes flat running bulbs and if you DO break down, the LED ones will run for a couple of days rather than just a couple of hours - important for safety.

Do you simply wire the LED strip to the existing number plate wire?