electronic dash

[VH_Commodore_Wagon]

Does anybody know if it is possible to change the colour of the lighting on an electronic dash ... the green is yuk

[NORTI]

I have donated my dash to illuminateyourcommodore to experiment with the digital dash, change colours etc.... they do a fantastic job on heaps of others

& so far it doesnt look good something about the way its made

[matty88]

Blue would look nice...

I'd imagine just changing the LED/bulbs won't just do it though.

[NORTI]

yeah I want purple & blue to replace the green & red....

Ask Miss-E for updates on my dash.

[Wrayza]

Never heard of it being done but now its really got me thinking.. I'm guessing they used different length diffusers on all the bars of the speedo/tacho to make up the lines, if so it might be as simple as changing the led behind each diffuser?

Thought about changing the illumination of the headlight and wiper dwell switches? I've done mine in red, its pretty strait forward and looks mad.

[NORTI]

yup, they can change other things, they do heater controls, & other console lights in other models. Headlights, & billet buttons VN- onwards etc.... looks mad!

But I havent asked what the problem is with the digi-dash on why they havent been able to change that yet.

[VH_Commodore_Wagon]

I would just love to be able to change it from green - it doesnt realy go with the copper colour of the interior
I am sure i have seen a picture of somebodies calais dash with them changed on this site but i have been searching for days looking for the picture but cant find it - im sure they were a kind of violet anyway i will keep looking or if anybody else has seen it (maybe i was just imagining things)

[Wrayza]

Has anyone seen the diffuser plastic you can buy to convert the original led colour to another? Reckon that would work?

[NORTI]

dunno?

right thats it, Im on the hassle now lol. Ill ask all those questions.....

[VH_Commodore_Wagon]

no ideas yet ??

[Stevo-d]

The Calais electronic display is a "vacuum fluorescent" type display (same as is used in old video recorders), and it would be near impossible, probably totally impossible to change the colour of it.

The only way I could imagine to do it, as mentioned, is to somehow get ahold of a translucent coloured cover to replace the clear one... I'm not too good with the primary colours, but a red coloured cover might give you a violet coloured display (I know red and blue make purple).

I'm happy with the green colour, but my cover is cracked and needs replacement and Holden doesn't sell them anymore - I'm in Brisbane and there is a company at Wynnum that seemed like they might be able to make a new one if I take the old one to them.... I'm sure there are lots of companies that do this kind of thing.... they can probably make them in different colours too.

[Cane_It]

a red diffuser over a green light will give you a dirty orange/brown colour... theres no way of turning green into a nice blue or violet with a diffuser alone.

the LEDs arent overly bring sometimes so going a colour tinted diffuser over the LEDs wil make them appear dimmer...

would only look good if all the other dash illumination matches for colour though. I like the green and red because I have a cerelean interior...

[Stevo-d]

Like I said, I'm not good with the primary colour combinations....

My point is though, vacuum fluorescent displays are sealed units (similar to regular fluorescent "tube" lights) - there are no LED's involved, and I could not see any way the colour could be changed as they are built using a specific phosphor that will illuminate to a specific colour when given an electric charge.

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

im changeing the colour of my vl dash lights to blue i would post a pic but it dosent look right for some reason but looks good in real life & the reason people cant change the lights in the vb-vl series is because the actual face of the speedo and clock/tacho has a permanent green backing so its not possible to change the colour but im working on it....ok heres a sample but keep in mind the actual colour displacement IS evenly dispersed but the camerea must be light sesetive or something as to look at it in real life its near perfect in colour displacement with no dark areas

[NORTI]

Ive seen VH dashes done, so it can be changed.

Cheers for the VK info!!! ANy ideas on making brighter in anyway?? My old one was really bright & my new one isint

[Cane_It]

Like I said, I'm not good with the primary colour combinations....

My point is though, vacuum fluorescent displays are sealed units (similar to regular fluorescent "tube" lights) - there are no LED's involved, and I could not see any way the colour could be changed as they are built using a specific phosphor that will illuminate to a specific colour when given an electric charge.

your are right, I was a bit sloppy with my post by refering to them as LEDs...

[Stevo-d]

hey cxcxcxvcvcvc,

Looks really nice!

Some old workmates of mine were doing a similar thing with their instrument clusters, but we're talking here about the VK electronic instruments which do not have backlights or anything like that.... they are a totally digital display that are illuminated by default (i.e. you don't see anything on the display unless the internal processor of the instrument cluster chooses to show it - see the pic attached).



I do have pics of the instruments powered up, but can't find them at the moment

Tell you what though, if I used a standard instrument cluster with mechanical type instruments, I would definitely be doing a similar thing as you!

Note to NORTI: if you are using LED's for the lighting, they might be under powered... otherwise, install more LED's!!!

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

cheers steve the photo i took dosent do it justice thought it looks heaps beter in real life! as for the changeing the green to a diff colour im not sure if its possible probably better to change to diferent setup??

[NORTI]

I dont know what Im using? Stevo says they arent LED's so how if possible, do I make the display brighter? My old Calais had 360,000K on it & was really bright in comparison to my new Calais which has 230,000 & is quite dull & hard to see?

You would think my old one with more use would be duller right?

[JD]

just a quick point, maybe you should go on a ford forum and ask if they have done something like this because the xe/xf fairmont/lane also had a similar style dash and them may of had some success with working with it.

[Stevo-d]

NORTI,

IMO there are two possibilities for dim lighting...

1. check your dimmer varistor (attached to the headlight switch... not likely, but check it out) - make sure the wire coils and contact are clean and there is no corrosion... if there is, a bit of fine grade sand paper should clean it up.

2. your digital instrument cluster has a faulty ambient light sensor or a faulty conection.... I can't quite recall, but I believe the sensor is wired seperately from the instruments (one of the loopback wires) - make sure all your plugs are connected firmly into the back of the instrument cluster - maybe even unplug them, then plug them back in to help ensure they are getting a good contact.

[NORTI]

definetly not the headlight/dimmer switch

But Ill check the ambient sensor if I can find it.

[Stevo-d]

The ambient light sensor is mounted in the instrument cluster surrounding panel, at the bottom (along the same line as the indicators for battery, reverse, high beam, hand brake, etc.) - it is toward the right hand side.

Thinking more about it now though, I think the sensor is only used when the headlights or parking lights are on, so if your display is dim all the time, you might be kinda stuffed. Sorry.

[NORTI]

in comparison to my old one its dull all the time. I was told that my old one was a 'freak' dash, as everyone else's is like my new one. My old one didnt dim even when headlights turned on, remained bright all the time (I prefer that)