No Power Lighted Needles On Gauge Cluster After Needle Repair

[Niko]

i recently repaired my burnt out needles at work with a bunch of surface mount LED's. when i installed the needles the worked and then all the lights shut off. now i can't get any power output for the needle lights. anyone ever have this problem and know how to fix it? are there fuses in the cluster?

[SAFRO.COM]

Gee, take it back and tell em you want either your $$$ back or fix it for free for me.

[jtsosie]

Hi,

I just bought some SMD LEDs to repair my needles.

Did you ever have any luck finding a solution?

How did you go about repairing yours?

Were you able to use the original needles and just replace the LEDs?

Thanks,

Josh

[BoaR]

was it just the needle lights that went out, or the entire cluster lights?

if it was the needles, before putting them back in did you do the 9v battery test ? if yes and they worked, did you have the polarity - + correct?

Im presuming that you did the DIY mod yourself. if someone did it for you go ahve them fix it back up. if it was yourself, my $$ is on incorrect LED voltages and insta poof burn once the cars electricial system kicked in. (see my info led thread why)

good luck repairing the problem!

@jtsosie - check for the needle fix thread. yes you can just rip out the innard needle leds and drop your own in. that thread has all the info. make sure you get the correct voltages !

[jtsosie]

Hi BoaR,

Where is your LED thread?

I did a search for your username and didn't find an LED thread.

I have the LEDs to make my new needles, but I'd love more info before continuing, especially on reading the initial message in this thread. The LEDs I bought are 2.0v SMD LEDs.

Thanks,

Josh

[BoaR]

hehe was 2 posts below this one actually -> http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=51118

all in all you can use whatever led/lights/bulbs you want, high low bright dim whatever. but for the backlighting you MUST have 14v and 3w going into them.

for the needles I actually couldnt find mini led's locally, so I just bashed up some diode-type red leds (the kind that look all cheap and oval shaped meh) I figured that it wouldnt matter because the needle is being blacked out anyways. shaved the sides down to the width of the needle, and made sure my resistors were centered for the most part.

Aside from that I used the needle DIY fix thread for all the other specs. the resistors etc all the same. works fine even with those cheapo types I used. the tip is just as bright and looks just as good.

oh the weight of the needle didnt even register on my ounce digital scale.... it was that light. I was actually shocked that it didnt even pick the needle up. so weigh your needles before/after. some people have had balance issues (not many tho - probably just a real heavy hand at soldering) so mine weigh'd 0 in and 0 out. good to go ;)

EDIT: in case you meant the actualy diy needle fix thread, that you couldnt find its here -> http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217411

EDIT again: just realised that you meant the voltages coming off the needles themselves. Im not sure if someone multimetered this before, i completely forgot to myself =/ the dealership guy said the only thing that was not 12v in the cluster was the backlighting (8 green cap twists) the rest was 100% 12v. so the diodes I used were the ghetto kind, but still 12v rated.

[SRVCM]

hehe was 2 posts below this one actually -> http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=51118

all in all you can use whatever led/lights/bulbs you want, high low bright dim whatever. but for the backlighting you MUST have 14v and 3w going into them.

for the needles I actually couldnt find mini led's locally, so I just bashed up some diode-type red leds (the kind that look all cheap and oval shaped meh) I figured that it wouldnt matter because the needle is being blacked out anyways. shaved the sides down to the width of the needle, and made sure my resistors were centered for the most part.

Aside from that I used the needle DIY fix thread for all the other specs. the resistors etc all the same. works fine even with those cheapo types I used. the tip is just as bright and looks just as good.

oh the weight of the needle didnt even register on my ounce digital scale.... it was that light. I was actually shocked that it didnt even pick the needle up. so weigh your needles before/after. some people have had balance issues (not many tho - probably just a real heavy hand at soldering) so mine weigh'd 0 in and 0 out. good to go ;)

EDIT: in case you meant the actualy diy needle fix thread, that you couldnt find its here -> http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217411

EDIT again: just realised that you meant the voltages coming off the needles themselves. Im not sure if someone multimetered this before, i completely forgot to myself =/ the dealership guy said the only thing that was not 12v in the cluster was the backlighting (8 green cap twists) the rest was 100% 12v. so the diodes I used were the ghetto kind, but still 12v rated.

I got about 20 sm leds left after my mod if you want a few ill send you 8 for free just need your address.

srvcm

[jtsosie]

I remember reading something that had me thinking the needles were 5v or 6v.

Going on the thought that they were 12v & needed 18 SMD LEDs for the long needles, I planned on creating a 6-series, 3-parallel, set. After cutting into the needles, hoping to use the original circuit boards (or at least get an idea of how to draw a new one), I found the original needles had a 3-series, 6-parallel set. That means they used 4v LEDs if 12v needles or 2v LEDs if 6v needles.

Does anyone know for sure what voltage the needles run on?

Thanks,

Josh

[BoaR]

I never took the volts from the needles themselves sadly. More problematic were the backlighting cluster.

For the needles, even low volt LED's will work it seems, its really not a huge issue. The biggest problem you will have stringing LEDs together will be the weight.

The needles (this part I did) weight nothing. literally. On a ounce & gram digital scale, they didnt even trigger the scale at all. I tested a goose feather beside them which actually weighed more than the needles. and yes, i was astonished.

After your needle mods (use the DYI thread on this) I weighed them again - same. weighed nothing. so this way the balance isnt off. I skipped the part of using 2x ohm resistors, and stuck with one centered in the needle instead. with a modified simple red LED at the tip. + to - etc etc..

You already opened the needles so you know how little room you have inside. jamming strings in there is tough, getting it to also weigh nothing will be difficult. =/

leds can take a beating, be run at lower voltages etc... my red tip one was kinda like the silly crap round ones you can get at radio shack. just I didnt get them there, but a proper circuit store. I believe they only carry 12v ones now that I think about it. considering his ultra bright white ones were 12v and he said when I asked, "the leds are 12v like normal ones" .

so im going to make a pretty good guess that its "not" 12v pumping into the needles, as that would make them hot (you know there isnt much room in there at all. that side plastic touches everything) but a lower voltage.

my setup mod as it is goes like "rated" 12v red round led, 1x 330ohm resistor and a tad of 30 guage wire going + - on the leads. works fine and I can see the red tips juuust fine. no strain nothing agasint the white backlighting. It's bright but I doubt its sucking 12v. note that solder and wire throws a bit of resistance too, so thats why I figured I could get away with only 1 resistor in there.

hope that helps ! and good luck making a string... pics please if you rig that up and its the same weight. I feel the pain of working in that TINY space... and would like to see how you fair !

^_^