Russ's 2.1 SED Auto now in Mandarin

[djg]

Hey they look really good. Nice result. Look forward to seeing how bright they are. Might have to do this on my spare set of switches.

Changed the write-up according to my latest finds. The window switches prefer to have two LEDs because of the separating flap in the middle of the switch cap. So I also changed the resistors, actually, as I described there, I went with parallel resistors for more power and easier handling.

The LEDs I settled on are Foryard's 360 mcd green FYLS-1206PGC. Green is a happenstance but with this brightness and two LEDs in the switch they're just fine, not too bright, not too dim. I'll take pictures of them lighting in the car tomorrow.

components.jpg

finished_led.jpg

I'm rather pleased with the final layout I arrived at, looks smart, works smart. And I'm becoming proficient with SMD parts under the magnifying glass

[djg]

LEDs in the one-touch driver's side switch don't seem feasible, unfortunately. It's assembled for life (you can remove the caps and the rubber below but the actual contact assembly also holding the two bulbs can't be removed without damaging the plastic holding pins of the case.

[djg]

Seat switches are the same internally as the window switches, only one LED required, polarity is important there because the holder can't just be turned around (it could but light output would suffer). I noted the required orientations in the write-up.

[russ92xmsed]

That's a really neat little conversion there Gabor. I would love to see some pics of it in the switch lit up.

I found that one larger bulb in the window switches does work, if you direct it up into the the green holder. But two is much better idea.

The seat switches were much much brighter I found using the one bulb, than the window switches. They were fine on polarity, but yes you must be careful as you say. Only one way they can fit into the plugs with those, same with the drivers door switch. That has a special plug.

For the one touch, I actually cut down the legs on some 3mm LEDs, I think they were, and you can wedge them in inbetween the contacts. The smaller buttons have a recess where the bulb slots into, so they can't really fall over. Polarity is very important there too. Can't remember which way they go now. I used green ones on that and they arent as good. Not bright enough.

[djg]

This is it in darkness, observe the seat switches in the upper corners. Crisp, clear, just the right amount of brightness:

Darkness.jpg

But in reality it's even better than on the picture, I'm completely satisfied with it. You could add brightness if you liked (2 x 2 LEDs, for instance, they'd still fit) but I don't think it would be necessary. Colour is nicer than on the factory switches (due to the LED being green instead of white).

[djg]

For the one touch, I actually cut down the legs on some 3mm LEDs, I think they were, and you can wedge them in inbetween the contacts. The smaller buttons have a recess where the bulb slots into, so they can't really fall over. Polarity is very important there too. Can't remember which way they go now. I used green ones on that and they arent as good. Not bright enough.

I chickened out of the one-touch switch, so it's still serviceable? I'll take another look. I assumed it was cold welded rather than simply wedged into place. Then a normal, non-SMD LED is the way to go there for sure, but it has to be a resistored LED. I'll shop around if this is available in such a small package. Or, I might still do something with SMDs, stacking them vertically and adding connector wires for myself.

[djg]

The seat switches were much much brighter I found using the one bulb, than the window switches.

Yes, actually, the window switch would probably need three to have the same brightness level but four would be easier to do than three there, as I wrote earlier. But I don't think I'd ever consider it, it'd be overkill, I don't need that much brightness at eye level. As it is now, it's just fine, the tip of the arrow is slightly less bright than the body but nothing dramatic. I'll try to take new pictures, today's ones were terrible and I deleted them. But even then I don't think pictures will necessarily do justice to it, the human eye is rather different in such low light conditions.

[djg]

One obvious modification, dunno why I didn't think of it earlier. Use green LEDs as I did but start by drilling two larger holes in the bottom of the green holder. Let the LEDs themselves shine through directly.

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[russ92xmsed]

They look brilliant Gabor. There seems to be an even light through all the buttons. Something I couldn't completely get on the window switches. One arrow was always slightly dimmer.

That's also an idea, drilling a hole or holes in the green holder. Didn't think of that!
The one touch has actually been fine, with the way I did it. Just needs brighter bulbs really. I left the old lights in place, I don't think you can remove them from memory. Or it is extremely difficult too anyway.

That's a really nice, tidy, compact result. Well done.

[djg]

Yep, no justice. Although there is a difference towards the arrow ends, eyes can't see as much difference as the camera does.

Arrows.jpg

One-touch: that must be the problem with mine. I did remove the original bulbs first (yes, not easy but the pliers were stronger than the bulbs) and now I spent an hour trying to push the wires back somehow and I simply couldn't find room for that. I'll try to analyse the pictures I took earlier to see if I can come up with an acceptable routing or I have to resign for now (I have another switch in the old BX but that's stored elsewhere, I'll start again with that if all else fails).