Air Con Temp Background Colour, took the plunge! - Now RED!

[dchuraman]

Did it this evening...excuse the quality and overexposure of the light in some of them, will try to get some better ones

[rehmondo]

That actually looks really nice, did you have a chance to look at the yellow led that air power/speed uses?

[dchuraman]

thanks, yeah thoese leds are the same type as the blue ones, but theres a semi circle of them, each corresponding to all the lights you see on the outside when you turn the dial

[easybreeze]

Smart, I think I would have gone for red to match the rest of the dash... but then again, would the numbers be visable???

Good work tho!

[Andy-GTI]

Looks good

Which rating did you go for on the LED's?

[Andy-GTI]

Smart, I think I would have gone for red to match the rest of the dash... but then again, would the numbers be visable???

Good work tho!

Yeah was thinking red myself, cant see why they'd not be visible, you can see them on the white and the blue.

[dchuraman]

Looks good

Which rating did you go for on the LED's?

the guy i bought them from said they were 1500mcd, though i think thats 1500 max, sont know exactly what they are putting out, but they are significantly brighter than the blues when compared, but seems to work well

[wigit]

dchuraman fair play fella

[dchuraman]

dchuraman fair play fella

thanks bud!

Dev

[Zarger]

Better than blue, but i can't help but think that red would look best.

[dchuraman]

i personally dont think so, i think there would be too much on that panel area if it was red, plus, like someone said, i think the writing would not be quite as clear, as its not a very intense black if that makes sense, and while i think you would see it, i think it would get a bit lost in the red. I may try it though. I just wanted to get it white to streamline it with everything else.

Edit: also, the red leds are not to my eyes, 'red' if that makes sense, the red you see in the car is not a typical red, so i was worried that red background would not match as well, therefore if it was slightly off from the red around it, it wouldnt look very good

[wigit]

i would love to see red

[dchuraman]

i would love to see red

hehe ok ok, if lots of people want to see red then maybe ill get some red ones and give it a go, maybe on one side, i may like it! but not just yet, want to live with the white for a week or so, see what i think

[dchuraman]

i also found out that the vw colours in the dash, bar white i think, are patented, and for example the blue, you cant just buy an led to match it, it is a combination of a 430nm led being run through a translucent white filter. i dont know if the red is the same

[Andy500]

Good point that, an off red would look naff. Maybe still worth trying though as the difference may be so subtle that the human eye couldnt tell the difference.

[dchuraman]

i may give it a go, dont know what red wavelength to go for though, theres loads to choose from

[iAmbu]

Was this relatively easy to do? Do you have a lot of experience with a soldering iron?

[dchuraman]

Was this relatively easy to do? Do you have a lot of experience with a soldering iron?

well, looking at the previous pictures on the other thread showing the leds, i though it would be fairly easy, as the leds are quite big, however when the new ones turned up they we tiny! obviously the picture was misleading as it was taken close up.

I have a fair amount of experience with a soldering iron, but not a massive amount by some peoples standard. Also intersting to note that i managed to do this witha relatively large tip, as i couldnt find my smaller ones. It seems to work ok. The first LED i soldered down looks a bit naff, but the other 3 look perfect really.

i would say if youre confident and not too shakey handed, you can do it, just remember to flick the old leds away when soldering them off, and then find them again incase you want to reuse them. also i didnt add any extra solder on, i used what was on the pads already, which was just the right amount.

ill try and put some instructions up if enough people want it

[pat15312]

Hi mate,
I like what you've done with the air con lights!
How dark is the black though? It looked a little washed out on the pictures...
Also i was thinking that a good write up tutorial would certainly warrant a place on the roccopedia *nudge*
I know i'd love to do this mod but unless i had an idiots guide i wouldn't have the confidence to do it...
I'm sure many others in the forum would say the same.
Cheers and well done!

[dchuraman]

thaks pat15312. The black looks worse in the pictures, i couldnt get it to stand out properly, ill try take some in the day and see if that helps, but it stands out much the same way as it does on the blue, if not more as the contrast is greater. im going to order some red lights, to try that out at some point, ill probably order them today and do the mod later in the week, so i will take some pictures of the process and do a guide. its not that hard if youve got a bit of skill with a soldering iron. im sure you could do it even if you dont, but i dont want to suggest that as i dont want to be help responsible for anyone breaking theres! once ive done the guide people can make their own mind up as to whether they want to do it