M35A2 Instument Panel L.E.D Lighting

[phataux]

nice work i have to do it when i get a deuce

 

[kendelrio]

Very nice subtle improvement. It sure does look better than a flashlight strapped to your head. Passengers never like that b/c when you look at them to talk they can't see again for 15 minutes.

 

[wsucougarx]

Very nice subtle improvement. It sure does look better than a flashlight strapped to your head. Passengers never like that b/c when you look at them to talk they can't see again for 15 minutes.

Oh man, now that's funny

 

[patch]

Now that I've poisoned myself, can anyone tell me what one of the radium gauges look like? I'm guessing they glow in the dark by themselves which is not something I've noticed on any of those gauges. The truck is a 67' and all the gauges are original (I'm guessing) with the exception of the fuel gauge (newer, all plastic rear). I did notice while doing this tha the pointer for the speedo will glow in the dark after being exposed to bright light. Very similar to if one were to hold a flashlight to the face of watch with a glowing dial. Now I'm crossing my dumb fingers hoping it's not radium.[/QUOTE]

Do a search on this site for radium, I know this has come up before. If I recall from past threads, most of these gauges were changed out years ago when the govt. became aware of the problem. In any event I wouldn't worry about it because the amount of radiation emitted by any radium gage is extremely small....

 

[CurryRA]

Thanks everyone for the info here. Although difficult, I refrained from licking the gauge pointers during this install. Thanks again

 

[50shooter]

Thanks everyone for the info here. Although difficult, I refrained from licking the gauge pointers during this install. Thanks again

Where is your commitment man...if you're not going to lick it than don't play w/it.

 

[phataux]

curry if you had used these would they not have to been wired in series and just wired how the regular lights are now?

http://www.martbase.com/20x-Red-LED-Lamp-Light-Set-20cm-Pre-Wired-5mm-24V-DC--_P2762147/

 

[CurryRA]

Yeah, if those are set up to work off 24V then you wouldn't want to wire them up in series. If you did, they would end up being half as bright as they should be. With the 24V L.E.D's you could wire them all in parallel and be done.

If you're thinking of doing this proect I'd highly reccomend using the 3mm L.E.D's as the 5mm ones just barely fit and I had to be really precise how I drilled the holes.

If you take the time to do it you won't be disappointed with the end result. Not only will the L.E.D's last for somewhere around 100,000 hours, but they also draw so little power that your electrical system won't even notice them.

 

[OPCOM]

I think that's a very clean and good job. I had thought about the LED tape around the guages so that there would be many LEDs there, more uniform. but the little LED dots would still possibly distract. I put a little shelf over the guage area on which the pyro and boost guages are mounted. Under this I put a trailer-type LED strip so I can't see the strip but it shines on the guages. What I have found is that bright little pinpoint light sources in the cab make it hard to see while driving on pitch black roads, but that is just my eyes, others may not be affected. I don't know if anyone has ever actually taken the instruments apart to see if a lamp could be mounted inside. Regular instruments are painted white or light blue inside to try to diffuse and carry the light around to the front. One thought would be to check if the guages glow in UV light, and if so, do it with UV LEDs. Bring back the 70's with black light!

Well enjoy the radium! It's a gift that keeps on giving! My dash is a little hot as well.

 

[Chevytruck]

Thanks everyone for the info here. Although difficult, I refrained from licking the gauge pointers during this install. Thanks again

opcorn:

 

[CurryRA]

If a guy was worried about the ambient light from the L.E.D's affecting vision while driving at night you could mount the L.E.D's pointing down from the top of the gauge too. That way you'd never see the pinpoint light. I agree with the concern though. If the gauge panel was directly in front of the driver (as in most vehicles), these would be distracting for sure.

As for taking them apart, I seem to recall that the metal ring around the face was crimped in several spots in order to hold the clear lens in place. The back of the gauge didn't look like you could disassemble it at all. Has anyone attempted taking one apart?

L.E.D's are available in different intensities/outputs too so you could "tune" the dashlights to something that suits you. I do plan to either add an addtional resistor or a potentiometer to be able to dim them where they need to be.

Lots of different ways to skin a cat......

 

[Jake0147]

Yeah, the gauges are crimped. The ring that holds the clear lense is crimped all the way around, and it's pretty much not pretty when you try to take them apart. Not to mention that your crimped and then uncrimped and then recrimped area needs to be flat so the gauge can be re-installed flat against the gauge panel... Better to make a test run on a broken gauge and see if you've got what it takes. I sure don't have it.

I'm thinking I'm gonna try Bjorn's approach with the different bulbs first. Of course I've been thinking that since early last summer, so maybe I'm not thinking hard enough about it.... They're almost bright enough to be fine for me as they are. If that doesn't cut it, I have to ask, in the pics above there appears to be a reflected "X" with a beam from each LED. Is that a camera effect, or is that truely how the LEDs appear when actually viewed first hand?

 

[CurryRA]

The reflected "X" is was really exaggerated by the fact that it was pitch dark outside and my camera didn't want to focus. Also, any bit of dirt/dust stuck to the back of the gauge lens is going to be illuminated.

The L.E.D's I put in have a narrow (10 degree I think) beam. If you could find L.E.D's that have a wider beam they would throw the light more evenly. There is somewhat of an "X" shape to the light cast by the ones I installed. With the 5mm L.E.D's (as mentioned before) I really had squeeze them in and subsequently the holes in the gauge were drilled just about perpendicular to the gauge face. If you used a 3mm L.E.D then you should be able to angle the mounted hole backwards that that the light shines more directly on the face of the gauge and away from the gauge face.

Hope this helps a bit, Ross

 

[shepsjeep]

The LEDs are a great idea! A TIP - When I was in the Navy working on Aircraft instruments, we used a little trick that works really well. Before you install the bulbs/LEDs, paint 1/2 of the bulb/LED vertically with black paint and face the other side to the face of the instrument, this will minimize the glare and light only the letters on the dial. You have to keep the bulb stationary in the dial and use high heat paint for bulbs. LEDs just flat black model paint.
GREAT JOB and clean install!!!!

 

[CurryRA]

That would certainly help alleviate the glare problem on the glass. Good idea and thanks, Ross

 

[JSBIRD69]

The reflected "X" is was really exaggerated by the fact that it was pitch dark outside and my camera didn't want to focus. Also, any bit of dirt/dust stuck to the back of the gauge lens is going to be illuminated.

The L.E.D's I put in have a narrow (10 degree I think) beam. If you could find L.E.D's that have a wider beam they would throw the light more evenly. There is somewhat of an "X" shape to the light cast by the ones I installed. With the 5mm L.E.D's (as mentioned before) I really had squeeze them in and subsequently the holes in the gauge were drilled just about perpendicular to the gauge face. If you used a 3mm L.E.D then you should be able to angle the mounted hole backwards that that the light shines more directly on the face of the gauge and away from the gauge face.

Hope this helps a bit, Ross

The 5mm LEDs used on your lighting project appear to have a 15 degree viewing angle.

The 3mm red LEDs I'd like to use on my own such M35A2 panel lighting upgrade project will have a 45 degree viewing angle.

I will also more than likely mount them from the top side of the gauge face...and so far, blacking out the front side of the LED is not out of the question either.

Many thanks to Ross for posting your conversion process in such great detail, with awesome pics as well.

Many thanks to everyone else for some very good input as well.

Jay

 

[rango]

not to step on any toes, but did you look into retrofitted bulbs that are LEDs?

LEDtronics | LED, LED Lights, LED Light Bulbs, LED Lamps, LED Indicators, Super Bright LEDs sells almost any preexisting bulb as an LED setup

 

[JSBIRD69]

Blind baby

not to step on any toes, but did you look into retrofitted bulbs that are LEDs?

.... clip ....

I did...being the cheap ass that I am.

But, I'm sneaking up on 60 years of age so fast it's scary...and can use the extra illumination.

Plus, it's a perfect project for a tinkerer.

 

[1970amgeneral]

that looks really good man. i was thinking about doing something like that with my deuce. i unplugged all gauges to repaint and lost my diagram so now i have no idea where they go. they are not labeled or numbered due to age i guess. so any suggestions?