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LED swap! color change green to blue (in progress)

Discussion in 'Prius c Accessories and Modifications' started by SquallLHeart, Mar 21, 2012.

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  1. ftl

    ftl Explicator

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    #41 ftl, Jun 14, 2012
  2. XRinger

    XRinger Member

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    Those steering wheel controls LEDs look brighter than my stock LEDs.. Why is that?
    My green LEDs seem pretty dim when night driving..
     
    #42 XRinger, Jun 14, 2012
  3. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    they're definitely brighter.. lol.. it's just how blue light is for our night vision i think.. it definitely stands out..

    but now that i mentioned it... in actuality... the more "visible" wavelengths of color are actually more in the green spectrum... hmm.. i think it's just how the stock green LEDs are... probably..

    actually.. yea.. i think it is.. because i've switched out stock green leds for other green ones that turned out to be a lot brighter.
     
    #43 SquallLHeart, Jun 14, 2012
  4. massparanoia

    massparanoia Active Member

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    Your car came out awesome. I would love to change over everything in my car to red. I drive a lot at night. Maybe sometime when I have the time and patience.

    Great job man.
     
    #44 massparanoia, Jun 14, 2012
  5. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    I would want dimmed and not bright led during night time driving

    -Htc Tapatalk ( sorry for auto spell correct )
     
    #45 Flying White Dutchman, Jun 16, 2012
  6. XRinger

    XRinger Member

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    Especially since you can't dim the steering button LEDs.
    What little Night Vision I still have is still very sensitive to bright lights.
    When I use a GPS at night, I have to crank it down until it's almost black.. :cool:

    I wonder if red is the better choice, since it's the color we used to protect our NV when I was in the military.?.
    Or, maybe Green is the new Red?
     
    #46 XRinger, Jun 16, 2012
  7. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    from my experiences.. red preserves NV very well and probably is the most known color on the spectrum to do so.. amber and orange/orange-red are also commonly used colors by auto manufacturers on their interior illuminations for the same purpose

    green is the most visible on the spectrum.. however i am unsure on its NV preservation qualities... most likely.. its being used because they can have the light dimmed down pretty well, and still be visible.. that's my only guess.
     
    #47 SquallLHeart, Jun 19, 2012
  8. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    No you are correct, red would be best for NV, Amber is my second choice. The question was posed in an earlier post why the Blue was so bright and the Green so dim. Not all SMT LEDs have the same mcd brightness index. I bet if you were to look up the LED Toyota uses, you would find it to be quite a low emission LED, while the Blues that the OP used were probably rated in a rather high number I would think. As far as dimming the steering wheel, it is possible, you would have to isolate the line that supplies +12 to the LEDs and tie it in to the 12 volt dimming circuit. It has been done by others in previous posts!
     
    #48 KK6PD, Jun 19, 2012
  9. peterjmc

    peterjmc Ping pong in Ding Dang...

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    I read through the posts and I'm not sure if I missed it, but what type of LEDs did you purchase? Are all SMT LEDs the same size?

    I'm looking to do this myself in addition to the switches but not sure what or where to buy the LEDs from.
     
    #49 peterjmc, Dec 20, 2012
  10. BlueStreakinC3inIN

    BlueStreakinC3inIN New Member

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    Question? Have you thought about illuminating shifter knob?
     
    #50 BlueStreakinC3inIN, Dec 28, 2012
  11. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    No, not really! All LEDs DO NOT have same mcd output, which is the measurement of the light output of the SMD device! Check out this website.... Search Results For "smd" | Component LEDs | Super Bright LEDs
    The surface mount LEDs they have, all have different mcd outputs. If you dig deeper, say, go to Digi-Key, you can find same style, color LEDs, with different mcd outputs!
    When buying the replacement LEDs for a project such as this, this is something you need to take into account!
     
    #51 KK6PD, Dec 28, 2012
  12. koipond

    koipond Member

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    Love the blue! If I was in driving distance I'd have you replace all mine in a heartbeat (I don't have the guts to test my luck with a soldering iron inside my dash)
     
    #52 koipond, Jan 3, 2013
  13. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    The work would go a million times faster with a board heater and a set of Metcal tweezers. I love my Metcal :)
     
    #53 2k1Toaster, Jan 25, 2013
  14. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    +1

    On my circuit boards I have to take into account what kind of LED I want/need depending on the source/sink requirements and availability.

    One of current favourite LED's I ordered a couple of to play with are these:

    [​IMG]

    112 red lumens, 180 green lumens, 900 mW of blue, 224 lumens of white. 10W of power in any colour out of a tiny SMD LED... I love it.
     
    #54 2k1Toaster, Jan 25, 2013
    KK6PD likes this.
  15. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    it looks... so.... pretty.... :love:
     
    #55 SquallLHeart, Jan 30, 2013
  16. kingnba6

    kingnba6 Active Member

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    wow man i wish i had the same skill as you to do this mod. damn crappy old school lookin color. the new color looks GREAT!
     
    #56 kingnba6, Mar 17, 2013
  17. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Were you able to identify the leds you removed and did you check to see if they were fully driven. Just curious.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #57 Britprius, May 9, 2013
  18. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yes, Touch Tracer is optional on the c (standard on the Liftback and not available on the v).

    On the Liftback, the Touch Tracer floats in the instrument cluster and replaces the fuel gauge and instant mpg gauge as illustrated below.

    [​IMG]
     
    #58 Tideland Prius, May 10, 2013
  19. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    It's not an option, it's standard on the 3/4.
     
    #59 ztanos, May 10, 2013
  20. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    actually.. i haven't had much time to take apart that section... though i do have a little bit of free time this afternoon.. i'll report back. (assuming you were asking about the driver window switch?)

    umm.. otherwise, the other leds are pretty much plcc-2 sized.. iirc..
     
    #60 SquallLHeart, May 12, 2013
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