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DIY: Change Color of Guage Cluster 07-08

104K views 183 replies 92 participants last post by  Noobstar 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
This got barried in the 03-06 section so I brought it out here. I hope that is ok. Their is not one in here.

I have been wanting to do this for a while now and finally got around to it. Thanks to Jotaro for the idea and pics. After looking into this mod I still had a lot of questions because the information about it is spread around. So here is a how-to broken all the way down, enjoy.

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**Caution**If you have not soldered or D-Soldered anything before then you might want to practice on some old electronic circuit boards to get the hang of it. Read the how to solder and desolder from this site to learn the proper way. http://www.geocities.com/mistertippy/howto/index.html

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What you need:
-Philips Screw Driver
-Needle Nose Pliers (smaller ones)
-Soldering & D-Sordering iron(You want a soldering iron with low watts, mine was 15w. Higher watts may damage the board) You can buy soldering irons at Radio Shack
-Beer Can filled 1-4 way with water(This is to put the hot solder in that you take off of the board)
-SMD LEDs (Best place to get them is http://www.oznium.com/plcc-2 The LEDs are plenty bright, I ordered them Sunday and got them Wednesday)

Total Time 1-2 hours that is with the removing of the cluster from the bike.

To get your dash out for LED Mod go here http://www.600rr.net/vb/showthread.php?t=97411


The tools that I used:





What The LEDs looked like:




1. Take the 9 screws out of the back:

2. Remove the 4 screws on the circuit board (recommend unscrewing ¾ of the way and then using your hand to do the rest. This lowers the risk of you slipping when the screw comes out and hitting the board.)


 
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#108 ·
Yeah I took it to a local computer store and theytroubleshooted the problem with me. turns out the leds have to go a certain way. Not being a noob at soldering but being a noob at LEDS it was a rookie mistake.

Lesson to be learned: If you are doing this process on your own it only takes about an hour and it's an easy easy process. Just make sure you put the LEDS on the exact way they came off. (HINT: your led lenses with have what looks to be an arrow, make sure u observe which way that arrows pointing before you remove it.)

Thank Tripage for the attempts to help my noobness lol
 
#109 ·
You did all of them and only got one wrong without even looking? YOU need to buy a lotto ticket. Imagine if you did all of it and were that lucky.
 
#111 ·
Regarding soldering, LED's in particular, there are a couple of tips that I would like to share. If using PLCC-2 SMA LED's (the ones on our gauge clusters). The how-to write up is a good resource.

1. Prior to removing and attaching LED's, I found it's best (if you have a dual wattage soldering iron), to heat it up at 15W, THEN switch to 30W for a couple of seconds, and back to 15W to solder. I found that while 15W is safer as it won't damage your LED's or board, if you're at least somewhat experienced with soldering, the extra "boost" in temp is just enough to efficiently melt the solder.

2. With this, to remove the LED's, heat up one side of the LED and with the iron, push the tip up and/or pry with tweezers/needle nose pliers. This will angle the LED in the air and simply heat up the opposite side and the LED will simply come off.

3. With installation, heat up and de-solder the sites. Add a drop of new solder to the sites (lead-free is best). Holding the LED with pliers/tweezers onto the now hardened solder, heat the base of the LED and the new solder should adhere nicely. Heat the other side and the LED will wit nicely. If, crooked, while heated, you can then position the LED where it needs to go. A little alcohol on a cotton swab will clean up the area nicely.
 
#115 ·
Definitely worth a little cut haha. Not only did I change the leds but I also cleared the needle to shine through better

Sent from my DROID Pro using Motorcycle.com Free App
 

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#117 ·
Okay with all due respect to Tripage and I know this should probably go in the "Buying Experience" section but I feel that this info would get more views and help out more people in this thread but I have to tell you guys about DREAMSGAUGE on Ebay.

This company has one of the best customer support help i've ever seen in an Ebay transaction. To start, I ordered from them, got a sweet deal, 15LEDS any color I wanted for $8 shipped, so I bought my friend a set too haha. A week went by and still no LEDS or response from the company. I was getting a little erie when out of the blue I get a response after sending numerous messages to them. Apparently the owner and operator of the company was in the hospital (At this time im feeling like a d1ck) He responded to all my emails the day he got out..wow. He apologized for the wait and he had no idea I didnt recieve them yet. USPS messed up the address.
The next day I got my LEDS and my friend got his the day after. Although it wasn't DREAMSGAUGE's fault, they gave me a full refund on one of my sets! They came in a large well packed envelope with instructions(w/ pictures) and a couple extra in case I messed up. Well I messed up anyway as you read above^^. I also recieved an email with the directions as well.
Today I just got another email out of the blue asking if I recieved the package yet. The guy just got out of the hospital again! I told him yes and also explained that I would need to buy just a few more from him. Without hesitation and no questions asked he asked for my address and said they were FREE! Talk about customer service!

All in all, I highly reccomend buying from DREAMSGAUGE on ebay. The service, quality, and price was A+++ I couldnt be happier with them.


 
#120 ·
#124 ·
The needle is glue on. Warm up the glue a bit so you don't break the needle
 
#126 ·
You can get the polarized film from http://www.polarization.com/polarshop/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=31

They have other types of films too, but that's the super-high-contrast polarized film, which is what you want. You can select whether you want the film with or without adhesive. Some people here were recommending to get the one without adhesive and just kind of wedge it in behind the panels, but I'm lazy so I got the one with adhesive. I'll be putting it on this weekend, so if you want to wait until then I'll let you know how it goes and post up pics.
 
#131 ·
Use Isopropanol (sometimes called Isopropyl alcohol). You can get it in the first aid section at any drug store. Just make sure it's the 99% concentration Isopropanol, because they're likely to have several different alcohol mixes there. The isopropanol evaporates at room temperature, so you can put as much of it on there as you want. It won't damage any of the electronics.

You can use a toothbrush or something similar to scrub the glue off, just make sure you use a new toothbrush. You want to clean the surface, not introduce new contaminants.

You can also check out my LCD blackout how-to video at the link below:

http://www.600rr.net/vb/showthread.php?t=293235
 
#135 ·
If anyone is curious of what happened with the right blinker LED being out I'll explain that real quick. I first tested the circuit board and found that blinker to be not working. So I replaced it and went to test it again, still nothing. I realized that the left blinker LED had a delayed start up so I re-soldered that connection and used the same LED on the left and voila! Hope this will help in the future if someone runs into the same problem.
 
#141 ·
Dont remove the needle

follow the instructions from cbroman and desolder the whole thing from the back its way easier and you cant screw up the needle assembly that way.

plus, the assembly is out of the way to remove the leds from the tach location on the board.



here is mine i did last week:
red +white led + polarized

 
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#142 ·
Damn is so "good"

I want to put.
Fuel - White (Black:Letters)
RPM Meter -White (The top RPM :RED)
Needle : RED
Right Section with all the details :White (Black:Letters)

That is what i am thinking.

I am a little bit scared.

If it was a computer board i would know everything how to do it assembly and dessambly ,in just 5' :D
 
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#173 ·
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