Interior dash button illumination, green to blue???

[ritchie_perriam]

when i was sitting in some traffic tonight i was wondering what would be required to change the colour of the buttons on the radio and dash from green to blue?

is there a led behind every button or is there a few leds and a fibre optic setup?

and is it the led that gives the button illumination the colour or is it a green filter with a white led.

it does look like a big job but i was wodering if anyone has given it a go?

[tamis]

yea guys anyone who knows how to? I was wondering too! its a shame its not in blue or red for the type r from the beggining....

[tomcat]

I would guess that the each switch has it's own individual very small bulb, which is coloured by some filter inside the switch. Thats how most switches in cars have been set up over the years, can't see Honda changing it some how.

[ritchie_perriam]

seems like it would just be a HUUUUUGE job to change some buttons! and probably expensive! wonder who decided the civic would have green lights when it was being designed? seems wiered that they have a funky driver display and offer blue footwell lights but then just give us green buttons!

[Greedy]

Yep it's a huge job. Each unit is seperate such as a switch or modules like the stereo. Within each the illumination is done differently - stereo has some bulbs with light pipe to illuminate area so there you only have to change a few bulbs (technically they are lamps as bulbs grow in the ground - incase any techy's are reading) and simialir bulbs are used in each tacho etc but in some cases where space is tight then min LED's are used (sparingly as they are expensive). To replace the bulbs you would have to contact a specialist as the bulbs are a special unit which then have a nats condom over them the change the colour and you can't just buy them. To replace the LED then you need to be a expert at soldering as they are about 3mm sq and 2mm thick (not the ones you see in maplin) and that's assuming you can find a colour and intensity which matches what ever you have replaced the little condoms with.

I've am involved in the development of such interior lillumination. Unless you are an expert with the facilities then don't play with it as you'll find it very difficult to acheive a harmonious finish to it.

Sorry to be a party pooper as I agree that green really does not match the ethos of the car

[robbo51]

Youve got me confused???
There is only one LED that's green (CD Player)
The others are blue or white
Green Dash???
Where??

[Greedy]

Actually fair point Robbo (see you've still got that nice avatar) the technical name for the night time illumination colour on Civic is "White Gold". No green about it. But the problem with changing it still stands.

The 2 pics below are 1. An LED from the Temp Sw in the Pass door for dual climate. The Yellow 'foam block' is 3mmx3mmx1mm and sits on top of a white led as a filter - thus you have to change the LED and the filter. 2. The lamp in a Heated Seat Switch on which you can see the yellow/gold 'condom'. It's less than 3mm diameter

That's assuming I've attached the pics correctly - first time.

[czechplastik]

White, white gold or green either way it would still look better backlit in blue.

[p64]

Hello!
As you can see from this picture of the headunit/nav circuit board, there are bulbs, covered with blue rubber cap, which produces yellow light+blue filter = green effect. Changing them with diodes is not easy, mainly because you can't get the diodes to flood the light the same way. And as discussed above, every segment has its own shade and different solution.

But you can change the LED at the bottom middle and get a differnt CD indication.

link

Andrej

[robbo51]

Originally Posted by Greedy

Actually fair point Robbo (see you've still got that nice avatar) the technical name for the night time illumination colour on Civic is "White Gold". No green about it. .........................................But the problem with changing it still stands.
.................................................. .................................................. ........

So its not green then is it. So why call it green??

[p64]

I say again, what do you get from plain bulb and blue filter? Green, any shade. Identical as on 7gen Civic I owned. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what it says, it's how it looks like. And the fact is, that every panel uses differnt light sources.

Bye, A

[civicfan]

Maybe there was some thought behind it, maybe eye fatigue at night with too much blue light? Frankly, I have seen the aggressive illumination in blue/red on the VW Passat and to me it spoils the otherwise nice car a bit

[ritchie_perriam]

Originally Posted by civicfan

Maybe there was some thought behind it, maybe eye fatigue at night with too much blue light? Frankly, I have seen the aggressive illumination in blue/red on the VW Passat and to me it spoils the otherwise nice car a bit

yeah it would be a bit too extreme having it as bright a blue as VW's maybe a pale blue or even the same white as the radio display?

im gonna stiop thinking about it now or before i know it im gonna have the dashboard in bits in my living room!!!!!!

[ukpm]

Yeah - I was about to post (as I am now) to say where's the green? I think somebody should have gone to spec savers, lol...

I quite liked the 'white gold' or whatever it is. Blue doesn't work as well for these sorts of things as blue light scatters more easily and is harder to see under dark cabin conditions. You'll have noticed this effect before with aftermarket stereos made and installed by people who don't know any better - but they're a bugger to focus on sometimes, with the light just looking too intense.

Red is supposed to be the way forward, as one by one all the major manufs are switching to red or orange illumination.

[czechplastik]

The Audi red illumination always looks pretty good. I agree the VW blue is intense sometimes.