Gauge cluster technical question - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

iovaykind · 02-24-2010, 07:59 PM

So I tried today to switch my gauge to blue LEDs..and stumbled upon a problem AFTER i tore everything apart..not to mention at night

sometimes i can just be so impatient it hurts.. scratch that, it always hurts me.

So anyway, the problem I stumbled upon was that I didn't know which way to put the LEDs, not sure which one is the positive side and which one is negative. Is there anyone here who have switched to LEDs and knows which way to put the LEDs in?

LUVLEXUS101 · 02-24-2010, 08:12 PM

If it doesnt light in one direction flip it around! lol thats my way

Chris Crash · 02-24-2010, 08:13 PM

I thought LED's polarity didn't matter?

iovaykind · 02-24-2010, 08:14 PM

But how do you know if it will light up if you have to connect all the cables to the back of the speedo.. and are the lights wired in series? cause i blew something and had to solder a new wire for the lights to work again.

iovaykind · 02-24-2010, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

I thought LED's polarity didn't matter?

Regular light bulbs don't matter, LED's do.

Chris Crash · 02-24-2010, 08:27 PM

According to this diagram, the longer metal piece is positive.

iovaykind · 02-24-2010, 08:30 PM

I know which side of the LED is positive, I just need to know which side of the speedo cluster is positive.

MurderedOut · 02-24-2010, 08:31 PM

Just put all the LED's in and hook everything back up but don't put the whole dash back together. Hook the NEG battery terminal back up and test them and the ones that don't light up just flip around.

Chris Crash · 02-24-2010, 08:34 PM

Ah. Try a test light. Hook it up to one side and ground it, if it lights that's positive. If it doesn't, then it's negative.

iovaykind · 02-24-2010, 08:36 PM

See the thing is, when I did that for just one of them, it didn't light up, but out of nowhere something sparked.. and I realized it was a section of wire. Basically, I hooked up one LED and put it in, turned it on and it blew. Not the LED but a section of wire like I mentioned.

If I put all the LEDs in, and turn it on, will the wire blow again if some LEDs are plugged in backwards?

Chris Crash · 02-24-2010, 08:42 PM

Wow. Sounds sketch. I've never toyed with LED's so I can't really help. Maybe someone else will chime in.

You should take pics and post a DIY about this, I see people wanting to do this all the time.

hill8570 · 02-24-2010, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iovaykind

If I put all the LEDs in, and turn it on, will the wire blow again if some LEDs are plugged in backwards?

No. They're diodes -- if they're hooked up backwards, just nothing happens.

LUVLEXUS101 · 02-24-2010, 08:44 PM

They're not wired in series

iovaykind · 02-24-2010, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hill8570

No. They're diodes -- if they're hooked up backwards, just nothing happens.

Not the LED's blowing, the wiring on the back of the speedometer

iovaykind · 02-24-2010, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUVLEXUS101

They're not wired in series

When the section of wire blew, all four lights stopped working. I thought that meant they're wired in series, but if that's the earlier part of a parallel connection, then I understand why it would blow. I'm just afraid it will blow again, fixing the blow was extremely difficult.

Three of the four bulbs were taken one, the last one had the LED and that made it blow. Any speculation as to why it would blow in the first place?