Make dash lights brighter

[DarthBuick]

I was cleaning and changing bulbs on a GN tonight and tried to find something to make the cluster easier to see at night. After having the dash panel disassembled I noticed that GM used reflective light to illuminate the cluster..

I thought about something that may help

.
I
The thing that worked the best and was easy to do was to put chrome reflective tape behind the bezel cover

This was just an experiment and it could use some tweaking. Not the best phone camera pic but I could tell a significant change in illumination

 

[turbo89]

I was cleaning and changing bulbs on a GN tonight and tried to find something to make the cluster easier to see at night. After having the dash panel disassembled I noticed that GM used reflective light to illuminate the cluster..

I thought about something that may help

.View attachment 275586
I View attachment 275587
The thing that worked the best and was easy to do was to put chrome reflective tape behind the bezel cover
View attachment 275588
This was just an experiment and it could use some tweaking. Not the best phone camera pic but I could tell a significant change in illumination

That's pretty kool .. LED's made a big difference too .. I'm gonna try this just to see how much brighter they get .. Thx for the tip !

 

[DarthBuick]

That's pretty kool .. LED's made a big difference too .. I'm gonna try this just to see how much brighter they get .. Thx for the tip !

That was just a quick trial I tried tonight. With some tweaking I think I can even it out.
The thing with bright leds i am not sure if the dimmer switch will work good without buying expensive type bulbs and resisters.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

The thing with bright leds i am not sure if the dimmer switch will work

It won't.. Working on a "device" to correct that.
As for LEDS....I recall reading Dennis Kirban's ad for LEDS.. Said that his are "longer reach", and put the light closer to the ft of the bezel...May try a set on the 87.

 

[turbodave231]

A PWM circuit will dim LEDs. I found a cheap Pwm board on Amazon. I need to experiment to see how I can make it work and dim properly.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Chuck Leeper]

A PWM circuit will dim LEDs. I found a cheap Pwm board on Amazon. I need to experiment to see how I can make it work and dim properly.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

DAve, might you do this, so the original dimmer is still used?

 

[turbodave231]

I don't see why that is a problem. The pwm board has a variable resistor to control pulse width. Should be able to substitute the dash dimmer resistor in its place. Just need to work out the necessary values.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

I was cleaning and changing bulbs on a GN tonight and tried to find something to make the cluster easier to see at night. After having the dash panel disassembled I noticed that GM used reflective light to illuminate the cluster..

I thought about something that may help

.View attachment 275586
I View attachment 275587
The thing that worked the best and was easy to do was to put chrome reflective tape behind the bezel cover
View attachment 275588
This was just an experiment and it could use some tweaking. Not the best phone camera pic but I could tell a significant change in illumination

I spray painted mine bright white years ago. This also was a big improvement. A smoothed out full reflective surface may work even better!!

 

[turbo89]

DAve, might you do this, so the original dimmer is still used?

There are a lot of already pre-made modules to do this ... they aren't expensive at all .. $15 bucks or so .. you can use the factory dimmer .. just do a google and you will find a BA ZILLION modules that do this ..

 

[Gene Van Horn]

I put the LEDs in from Kirbans. 100.00 Easy install and look and work great.

 

[TurboTGuy]

The problem with LED's is longevity.

They usually only last a year and a half or two and then your tearing the cluster apart to replace one or two.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

There are a lot of already pre-made modules to do this ... they aren't expensive at all .. $15 bucks or so .. you can use the factory dimmer .. just do a google and you will find a BA ZILLION modules that do this ..

I did a Google. Found LOTS of dimmers. What I didn't see was, how they would be incorporated into the stock dimmer circuit. Might you have a source, and a diagram?
These?
https://www.google.com/search?q=LED+dimmer+modules

 

[GNVenom]

The factory dimmer resistor is a wirewound, very low ohm (I think 1.1 ohms or so) variable resistor, and would not work for wiring into a commercial dimmer. A working dimmer would have to be incorporated into the flex PC board which is where the general illumination dim circuit is wired into.

Possibly the best bet would be to use strip LED lighting inside the cluster housing, then wire it to a remotely controlled (RF) dimmer, ala Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RF-Remote-W...748609?hash=item33a5f6d301:g:RsQAAOSwLVZVprry

You would need to use the small remote to dim the dash, but I am pretty sure it'd work for a short strip of warm-white LED's. Place the strip on the inside of the green plastic dash housing, and remove the general lighting bulbs - I think there's 4 on an analog dash, 2 on a digital dash.

 

[robzombie]

Aren't there bulbs out there that could replace the 194 that are brighter [give off more light] .

There are bulbs out there that have more candle power. The 168 has 3 candle power vs the 194 with 2. Since the 168 is slightly brighter it produces a bit more heat (3.8 vs 4.9 watts).

Researching could find ones that are brighter but not knowing what the circuit board can handle would be the limiting factor. I guess if you found a bulb that put out say 5.5 you could always use the dimmer switch to control the wattage and not send the full wattage to the bulb.

I personally use 10 Watt Xenon capsules. T3 type, 12 volts for low voltage systems. and they kick ass and at .96 a bulb it's the best compromise out there and I have my dimmer turned down because they are so bright they are annoying. They put out three times the light of a 194 bulb.

These bulbs are the same size as a 194 bulb but here's the catch, they are sold as low voltage lighting bulbs for under cabinet lighting and the such, not automotive.

 

[whitehot1]

I installed 2 LED strips with 5 bulbs on each one. It came with it's own dimmer switch made into the wiring. I bought it off ebay for less than $16.00 total with shipping.

I don't use the dimmer because i want them bright all the time, that was the whole idea of installing them.

 

[DarthBuick]

I had found photos of dashes with LED lights and it looked a little too harsh for me. I used the reflective tape and it is much better than it was. I guess because the bulbs don't back-light the numbers they just bounce off the lens cover. The reflective chrome tape just enhances the light and still has the factory look just brighter.

 

[bad luck brick]

Instead of reflective tape try using a custom cut size mirror or mirrors held by crazyglue.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[earlbrown]

HVAC tape is pretty reflective. It's almost as good as a mirror since it doesn't have to go through glass twice. Not to mention it's a hellova lot easier to stick tape in place than to custom cut small pieces of glass.

What's odd is I think I have my dash dimmed a little. I know in my other cars I dim them so I can see out better.


If I were going to go through that much trouble and wanted a light show, I'd probably get some chrome house tint and do this....

That way if I need a quick escape, I jump through the day into another universe!

 

[GNVenom]

Be careful how much light power you use with bulbs. The single trace that powers the lighting receptacles on the flex board is very thin, and made even worse by the die cut that GM used to get the Tach/Boost module wiring thru it. I have seen burned traces and melted substrate due to overloading or shorted bulb sockets, and it's a bitch to fix properly. When I re-designed the flex board, I added copper to the trace area for that very reason.

LEDs are a bit less in power draw, so you're safer with them. If you use the brown-bead wedge bulbs, yes, you'll make more light, but run the risk of damaging the flex board. Then it's lights-out.

 

[GNVenom]

Another thing: DON'T EVER USE Krazy Glue or any cyanoacrylate adhesive in your dash. Ever.

The vapors released are too contained inside the dash, and will cling to your plastic components, especially the lens, and fog them permanently. And, acrylic or polycarbonate plastic affected by those vapors will break and crack all by itself.