bens1088 Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Just redid my gauges with the free overlays I had printed at a shop. Still painting the needles red. Also, picked up a steering wheel today with a hub for $20. I'm thinking of doing the LED upgrade for the gauge lights. Any thoughts? I want a blue background. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 did you consider printing your guages on EL foil and running a small 12v power inverter to control the tint/brightness? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bens1088 Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 oh whatttttt no i didnt. i should have done that. oh well too late now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 n3v4r t00 l4t3! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffer949 Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 what is EL foil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffer949 Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Ok I just googled it. It comes in sheets but it doesnt look like you can cut it. Would you just print in the midle of it and wrap it and tuck the extra behind the guage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 EL foil can be cut as long as the "BUS LINE" which is the positive and negative terminals, be intact in a certain way. It is dependant on the manufacturing process of the EL foil and how they have arranged their sequence of terminals along the edge. In addition, you need an inverter to hook up to the EL foil that uses a special PWM type circuit (I think) that will allow the colour to change from green to blue for a standard EL sheet, or Red to Pink on those EL sheets, or yellow to Orange on those colour-ranged sheets. The 12 volt inverter's colour changing capability is, what I think to be, a direct relation of how bright you want it to be. There is a point at whcih you can get the Red to be solid enough to look nice, or you can blast the voltage up and have it bright pink, which is indefinitely brighter. I experimented with cutting and printing EL foil for a friend, but after providing him with the finished product we got into an argument and have not spoken since. So, I can't comment on it's success, but I know that's how it's done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Alternatively , you can use EL Wire, which can be wrapped and hot glued into place along the perimiter of a set of guages. It will definately give a cool look, and if you can get clear needles for your guages and stick a 3mm high powered LED in there too they would look very cool. the inverters are cheap as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 http://cgi.ebay.com/A5-size-electroluminescent-sheet-El-back-light-panel_W0QQitemZ110295665463QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item110295665463&_trkparms=72:1205|39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 http://cgi.ebay.com/12-volt-DC-inverter-for-El-wire-strip-tape-panel-sheet_W0QQitemZ380062358432QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116 talk with the seller to see if you require a lower-powered inverter for a cut sheet, as listed inverter is for the full sheet size. You may overpower the foil and burn it out, which can happen. It just starts to fade or not work at all over time. Keeping the amperage just below the full-lit operating amperage will extend the life of the EL foil drastically. Same as an incandescent light bulb running at 50% power with a dimmer. It will last more than 20 times longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Here's a link to the install I did... http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=101686 Rather than printing directly on the EL sheet, my buddy printed the faces on some translucent film which was placed over the EL sheet. Worked great. I used the stock dimmer to adjust the voltage to the inverter to dim the sheets. I'm running at it's lowest setting. Full strength is VERY bright! Nigel '73 240ZT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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