Red Heater Controls

[fla 9]

Well done that man. Where's the "How to" Andy? I guess the pics dont do it justice but how bright are the numbers on the fan switch? And is it just as simple as removing the panel and wiring some leds in there?

[Henny 0]

very neat! Looks good... 8)

[Andy Brookes 0]

the light is not even, but not bad.......well its 200% better than the original lighting!!! I think Zarman has it cracked with the EL sheet, but the LED's cost less than £2 and the EL sheet and inverter would have been nearer £40, so i'm gonna stick with the LED's for a bit.

 

Maybe Zarman could do a kit to go with his dial's????

 

The LED's in the rotary controls work very well, it's just lighting up the rings evenly that is difficult.

 

On the Subject of a "How To", I think the pictures above speak a thousand words. The LED's are Maplin 12V SB's, used some copper bar as busbars and support for the LED's, this replaced the optic spider. And a bit of glue gun action. Not much more to tell.

[fla 9]

I gonna give it a go when I have a bit of spare time - blue leds for me though. Could you not link th eleds to the optics to aid light distribution? BTW, what's an EL sheet?

[kieron 0]

Hi Andy

 

Like the heater controls. :thumb right:

 

To get the light more even would clear rubber tubing to replace the optic spider around the rear of the dials help? You could then insert the LEDs into either end of the tubing.

[Henny 0]

fla, EL sheet = electro luminescent sheet.

 

It's a sheet of material which glows when you pass a current across it (normally an AC voltage, hence the need for an invertor) The advantage is that it gives off a completely uniform light output.

[Andy Brookes 0]

that could be worth experimenting with Mr Johnson......i'll have a go tonight.

[Andy Brookes 0]

I experimented tonight with the idea of tube. I have added a couple more led's, bringing the total to 14! and used the tube as a difusser. Much better light spread and something i'm happy to put in the car now.

 

What do ya think?

[Andy Brookes 0]

the camera has real difficulty taking the lit pics, the light is red'er in real life and the top of the centre ring doesnt look as bright as it does in the pic's.

[fla 9]

Excellent i must say. Certainly one for my car. Have you replaced the spider optic totally and replacedit the "led tube" per dial as well as the satellite leds around the middle?

[Andy Brookes 0]

yep spider is in the bin, each dial has its own led.

[fla 9]

So let me get this right - you've got about 8 leds for the centre control with a bit of hose around the front panel for diffusion. And you have 1 led to each side of the side dials with a vertical hose diffuser? Or have i missed some out on the sides? Of course there is 1 central led per dial.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Good work Andy 8)

[Andy Brookes 0]

There are 8 LED's (4 pairs) which replace the original spider (2, 4, 8 and 10 o'clock). These led's pass light into the original light pipes attached to the cover panel.

 

These LED's also light the centre ring as I have machined away part of the black housing (best explained by looking at the pic's)

 

I have removed the original centre clear diffuser which sat in the part I have machined away, and also removed the green diffuser from the cover panel. These are replaced with the clear tube running around the centre control knob to provide the diffusion, other wise the led's shine through and you get bright spots.

 

I have 2 extra LED's at 12 o'clock to light the top of the centre ring.

 

I have one further led providing light to the left of the flap control knob, this is diffused with another piece of tube. There is no need (or space) to have an LED on the Fan speed side, as the fan numbers light up very nicely using the standard light pipe in the cover plate.

 

One thing I havent mentioned is the lightpipes for the knobs themselves, I originally found some red light pipes in my wifes Ibiza, but found they were to large to fit under the Corrado Knobs. I have ended up using 3 clear outer lightpipes that I found in the Passat controls and a set of Golf 3 heater controls I had. The centre lightpipe with the bulb has hit the bin. Each of these lightpipes has an LED shining through.

 

I hope that clears up any confussion. Shout if you have any more questions.

[kieron 0]

Looking good Mr Brookes! :)

 

Glad to see the tubing idea worked. :thumbleft:

[potatonet 0]

zarman, nice setup, mine is the exact same cd player and all....

[fla 9]

Just to resurrect this thread, Andy how did you actually remove the control panel from the dash - I'm a bit afraid of unclipping all the directional cables and mixing them up, or worse still they fly away being in tension. Is there any way of just removing the control panel part of it and leaving the base section with the cables inside, so I can work on the dials and use your busbar method? Cheers

[potatonet 0]

and is there some control system I can get for a G60? red layover or something