Questions about lights

[numus]

Installed a full wave rectifer and upgraded everything to LEDs (using wled-5x UV for the gauge cluster and 74x colored leds for each indicator... will upgrade with pictures tonight of the console fully lit)




The UV bulbs may not be bright enough for this application and might have to switch back to the red ones

Switched from the original all white bulbs to - Red 74x - Oil, Blue 74x - High Beam, Green 74x - Turn Signal and Cool White 74x - Neutral



WLED-5x Red


Wled-5x UV


The red's are much brighter but I think the UV may be bright enough (since the engine lights i am adding are UV also)
Note: Camera's have a UV filter on them so they appear blue.. but the real color is purplish-blue  (blacklight).

[lucky4034]

Looks great man....  I'd love to do this mod

[numus]

Looks great man....  I'd love to do this mod

All the parts cost about 12 bucks (not including soldering iron, shrink tube and solder) and only involves rewiring 2 wires on the gauge harness (to install the full wave rectifier.. although if you are going LED turn signals you should probably just install 2 zener diodes and ground the other side of the turn signal LED).

[adidasguy]

A zener diode is a whole different beast. You do not want to use that type. A zener allows voltage to flow when it exceeds its breakdown voltage - hence they are often used in voltage regulators.

You want plain old diodes - like a 1n4001 or some other plain diode with a minimum voltage of 24v or more and current of 1/4 amp or more (so they don't fry with a voltage or current spike)

All About ZENER Diodes from WIKIPEDIA
==============================
A Zener diode is a special kind of diode which allows current to flow in the forward direction same as an ideal diode, but will also permit it to flow in the reverse direction when the voltage is above a certain value known as the breakdown voltage, "Zener knee voltage" or "Zener voltage." The device was named after Clarence Zener, who discovered this electrical property.

A conventional solid-state diode will not allow significant current if it is reverse-biased below its reverse breakdown voltage. When the reverse bias breakdown voltage is exceeded, a conventional diode is subject to high current due to avalanche breakdown. Unless this current is limited by circuitry, the diode will be permanently damaged due to overheating. In case of large forward bias (current in the direction of the arrow), the diode exhibits a voltage drop due to its junction built-in voltage and internal resistance. The amount of the voltage drop depends on the semiconductor material and the doping concentrations.

A Zener diode exhibits almost the same properties, except the device is specially designed so as to have a greatly reduced breakdown voltage, the so-called Zener voltage. By contrast with the conventional device, a reverse-biased Zener diode will exhibit a controlled breakdown and allow the current to keep the voltage across the Zener diode close to the Zener breakdown voltage. For example, a diode with a Zener breakdown voltage of 3.2 V will exhibit a voltage drop of very nearly 3.2 V across a wide range of reverse currents. The Zener diode is therefore ideal for applications such as the generation of a reference voltage (e.g. for an amplifier stage), or as a voltage stabilizer for low-current applications.


Diode part numbers for different currents and voltages
Voltage    1 Amp  part    3 Aamp part
50 V     1N4001          1N5400
100 V    1N4002          1N5401
200 V    1N4003          1N5402
300 V       —                1N5403
400 V    1N4004          1N5404
500 V       —                1N5405
600 V    1N4005         1N5406
800 V    1N4006         1N5407
1000 V   1N4007       1N5408

[numus]

True

[Flying Pig]

2 white T10's for the gauges.
Blue T5 for the high-beam.
White T5 for the neutral light (green was too expensive on ebay). 
Red T5 for the stupid light.

The LED bulbs are much easier to see during the daytime. Previously I had to put my hand over the gauges to block the sun to be able to tell if a light was on. Too bad the turn signal can't be easily switched 

[adidasguy]

Too bad the turn signal can't be easily switched 

Actually it is quite easy. Did it in my 1992, 1994 and 2009. read through past posts for the 2 or 3 different ways to do it.

[danster125]

OK, please "dumb" this all down for me.  I have a 2004 GS 500 and the high beam light went out.  I have already gone through the rounds with an online site and they told me that Suzuki no longer makes the lights (of the right size).  Long story short, what LED do I need to buy and what do I need to do with it to replace the high beam light.   PLEASE make it as simple as possible.  After reading all the posts, do I buy the T10 and shave it down?  I think I can do that?!?

[numus]

OK, please "dumb" this all down for me.  I have a 2004 GS 500 and the high beam light went out.  I have already gone through the rounds with an online site and they told me that Suzuki no longer makes the lights (of the right size).  Long story short, what LED do I need to buy and what do I need to do with it to replace the high beam light.   PLEASE make it as simple as possible.  After reading all the posts, do I buy the T10 and shave it down?  I think I can do that?!?

If you are talking about the high beam indicator light, just get the 74x.. it fits perfectly.

[ThatOtherGuy]

First of all, thanks to all the posters for the inspiration to replace my warning lights with LEDs.  My high beam indicator light had blown some time ago (was driving around on high beam for who knows how long ) so I needed to replace the warning light.  Turns out that current T5 replacement globes are only 1.2W, down from the standard 1.7W for the high beam (3.4W for the others).  We all know how hard it is to see these lights at the best of times so I was determined to go LED.  The information here has been invaluable.

So today I set about doing the changeover and aside form accidentally reversing the diodes on the turn indicators (was told the wrong info at the shop) it has been a success.

I used white T5 LEDs since I could not get green T5s for neutral and turns.  I figured just get all the same, the colour of the lens does get a little washed out but I figure I know which is what, so as long as its lit who really cares?

For anyone in Australia (or outside for that matter) that wants to use Jaycar Electronics, I have kept a list of the part numbers and they are as follows:

T5 White LEDs x 4
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=ZD0380

12V 5W Zener Diode x 2
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=ZR1440

I replaced the Speedo and Tacho lights, but used Narva Arctic Ice Halogen T10 globes (had them from a packet of replacement headlight globes), they are quite bright and have a nice brilliant white colour like an LED, so I'll leave them in for now.  I did buy some T10 LEDs, but not having a spread of light, they were quite average.  The ones with spread were 9 times dearer and I saw no need since the halogens seem to be quite fine (and were free).

It cost me less than AUD$9.00 to do this conversion, plus some solder I already had, some heat shrink I already had and some patience (where can I buy that ).

As mentioned apart from having to unsolder everything to reverse the diodes, the conversion was fairly straightforward.  Just make sure to test it all before putting it back together as the T5s are polarised so if they are in wrong way, they don't glow.   Doing the turn indicator lamp was a PITA as there is not a lot of room or spare wire.  But bascially I turned the Light Green wire into the positive feed to the dash LED (feeding the source Light Green and Black through the diodes first) and wired the return Black wire to the Black/White return earth wire that supplies the other warning lights with an earth.  Works a treat.

So thanks again for the information and inspiration.

[Paulcet]

One reason for the confusion on the diodes is that those are the wrong kind. Should use regular diodes, not zener.  A better part # would be 1N4001.

[ThatOtherGuy]

Bugger, oh well, it works for the moment.  If I change it, I'll probably go with the other idea I saw of having individual turning warning lights (each side of the dash) and relocate the nuetral to a central location.  Then the diodes become redundant.

[prmas]

I have a much simpler answer to the indicator tell-tale modification. I just used a standard (but good quality) 6 volt T5 globe. It was an experiment and has been perfectly successful. As the light flashes, and it is mostly at idle when the voltage drops a little there is not enough "on" time for filament to get hot enough to "blow". Mine has been in there over 12 months with no problem. Being a standard tungsten filament it still produces a "yellow" light so the colour of the flashing light is still the same as standard, just brighter. It is not quite as bright as the LEDs but not far off. With the LED bulb my neutral light is now a different colour to the indicator tell-tale so effectively I now have four different colours.
I hope this might be some help as it is so simple but works.

Cheers
Macka

From my earlier post in http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=53366.msg712970#msg712970