LED's don't need to be isolated as much as standard bulbs.
How you mount them depends on what suits you best.
My 7-segment displays are on a PCB, but analog replacement LED's are on leads with heat shrink.
What mounts are you using? chrome Bezels? black plastic units? or are you mounting the LED's behind plastic?
The black plastic mounts are good for vibration isolation.
MarkC
Using chrome bezels onto some ally... Was thinking of using some rubber washers to mount the ally, when I work out how the hell I'm going to do this that is!
Sound good.quote:Originally posted by J7-11
Using chrome bezels onto some ally... Was thinking of using some rubber washers to mount the ally, when I work out how the hell I'm going to do this that is!
I completed my digital tacho unit yesterday, still need to calibrate yet though.
I am planning on using bar graphs for the fuel and temp guages.
I've used a computer ribbon cable to separate the actual display from the signal processing unit so that it is as minimalist as possible.
This way I can mount the display units in either a very flat, black facia'd panel which can be mounted onto an upright Kat windscreen,
or mount them into narrow, wide panels which can be mounted under the top of a standard EF windscreen (I should be able to get them down to 5-6 cms deep max).
The signal processing units will be hidden away inside the fairing.
This way it places the readouts closer to my 'line of vision' (with LDR's to control output intensity), while removing the instrument binnacles.
MarkC
Sounds all very nice and tricky!
I take it LEDs draw stuff all current therefore the wire required doesn't have to be very thick??? I've got some 8 core that I was thinking about using fore the sake of tidyness...
What about instrument lights and tacho fire? Much current? Get away with thinner wire or...?
The LED's only draw 10's of MilliAmps (depending on how many segments are lit up).quote:Originally posted by J7-11
Sounds all very nice and tricky!
I take it LEDs draw stuff all current therefore the wire required doesn't have to be very thick??? I've got some 8 core that I was thinking about using fore the sake of tidyness...
What about instrument lights and tacho fire? Much current? Get away with thinner wire or...?
I went for the data ribbon cable because I had 20 odd solder connections between the signal processor and the display, plus I have a big roll of data cable sitting in the room doing sod all.
It would also be handy to be able to use computer ribbon cable connectors on the boards themselves.
I did have to split the wires into groups of 6/7 when soldering to board though, otherwise the cable will 'bunch up' badly around the connections.
I haven't test run it yet, but I will be doing so over the next few days and let you know how it goes.
I'm finishing off my wiring repairs at the moment so that I can go and stir up all the hot-rodders at the Summer Nats (15 minutes from here, close enough to stir, far enough to run and hide).
The instrument lights will depend on the particular LED's used. 7-segments and bar graphs all use the same amount of power basically, but higher power LED's require more power. But I would be surprised if they exceed 40-50 MilliAmps each. Should be ok, but check.
The signal feed into the processor unit is a standard 5 Amp auto wire (same a spower and earth), it has to run from the fairing down under the tank so a strong wire is required, as well as being able to handle up to 100's of milliAmps (plus surges).
The tacho unit is restricted to 9 volts.
The actual base kit that I am modifying is Dick Smith Cat No. K3241, which does not require any programming, but is soon to be dropped.
It only runs up to 9900 RPM, but my EF redlines at 8500 so that's enough leeway.
I do have most of the mods worked out to add in a '1' digit on to the left side to give 19900, plus conversion to incorporate a bargraph display.
Where did you get your LED's from? In Canberra we don't have much better than Dick Smith and Jaycar to choose from, they're not bad, but not exceptional either.
Sydney has a good range of providers.
MarkC
Went 2 Jaycar, got some decent LEDs and bezels that should work out ok...
So how thick do you reckon for the tacho feed? Instrument lights?
I'm using standard 5 Amp wire for the Tacho feed (get it from any auto store), cable strength and durability is more important for this one I think, plus it's only one wire.quote:Originally posted by J7-11
Went 2 Jaycar, got some decent LEDs and bezels that should work out ok...
So how thick do you reckon for the tacho feed? Instrument lights?
The instrument lights are best hooked up with standard Jaycar hook-up wire (code WH3001 for black), which is half the size of the 5 Amp, but still strong enough to handle a motorbike environment.
How many LED's are you running?
Just 4, blue, red, yellow n red for my warning lights... I bent up a bit of ally the other day, and just have to shape it with the dremel now, drill the holes, solder the resistors onto LEDs, wire to these, then connect it up and see if they work! Which will require me to put my rearsets on (was going to get them powdercoated, but just wanna get the bike on the road!) and install the flasher unit (got a Libertek one for free!)
Hmm I 'acquired' a bit of wire from work so will just use that! The 8-core should be fine for the LEDs and use something thicker for the tacho feed I guess!
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