lighted TS chip switch - homemade

[bondsman]

Putting this in the bottom hole of a three gauge pillar pod. Used an old gauge, alot of wire, 6 resistors, 6 LEDs, 21 rectifier diodes, a 2-pole/6-position switch. Took me about two days to get the wiring right.
But now my son will always know what position his TS chip is in.

Had to leave out the 3, 4, 5 pics....can only have 4 on here. But you get the idea..

when the truck is off (tinted and looks black)


position 1


position 2




position 6

[fastassf250]

Pretty slick looks cool. Are the green lights really bright?

[speeddemon31176]

Very sweet lookin. I am betting that took alot of adult beverages to complete.hahaha.

[rockets10510]

what would you charge to do another one?

anthony

[bondsman]

It is pretty easy (once I got the wiring figured out). I will post a writeup on it so everyone can do it. If you know how to solder. You can do this..

[DZL JIM]

Very cool!
Can't wait to see your write-up!

[DZLJIM]

Dang it, logged in wrong.

Any way to make it smaller so you don't need to take up an extra gauge hole?

[bondsman]

Sure, it could be made smaller. You could put the LEDs anywhere like 6 holes in the dash around your switch or wherever you wanted. We chose a gauge to put it in a 3 gauge pod because we only needed 2 gauges (pyro and boost). By the way Jim this is for the chip that you sent us.. The 94 with a manual tranny in Moyock, NC. We will be sending our injectors to you for the stage 2's soon.. I did a writeup but I didn't take pics. So I will go ahead and post it. It is long winded but pretty complete. It will follow.

[bondsman]

Here are the parts......from Radio Shack

1 - 2 1/16 gauge, open it up and gut it out.
1 - 2 pole, six position switch part#275-1386
3 pkg of 2 green leds part # 276-022
1 pkg round pcb kit part # 276-004
1 pkg rectifier diodes (25 pack) part # 276-1653
2 pkgs of resistors (came 5 to a pack and needed 6) 470ohm for the LEDs I used. #271-1115
22ga wire
solder
couple of small screws to mount the pcb to the guage with standoff spacers
an old ts chip switch for the wire and plug
soldering iron
electrical tape
VHT Nite Shades to tint the glass
drill with tile and glass bit


First I stripped everything off the gauge. Opened it up (had to pry around the edge of the face), removed the light tube from the back, gut the inside, retain the two screws that hold the clamp that secures it to the pod.

The new 2-pole/6-position switch has a long handle and will not fit inside the gauge (depending on how deep your gauge is), i ran the switch part through where the light tube was and secured it with the nut.

Take the round pcb that fits in the gauge, drill a hole for the switch handle, slide it over and drill two small holes in the gauge that corresponds with the pcb mounting holes.

With the metal side down, place your LEDs (clip the long leads down to about a quarter inch) in the pcb around the switch (make sure the knob is on so you know what it will look like). Arrange the LEDs however you like. Once you settle on your position of the LEDs, turn the PCB over and solder the legs to the board.

Wiring the LEDs. If you look inside the LED, there is a straight lead and one shaped like an L. The straight one is the positive lead and the curved one is the negative (wire it backwards and it won't work). Solder 6 black(-) wires to the curved or L side and solder 6 red (+) wires to the straight side. Label the red wires 1-6. The black are all ground wires. Run those wires out the back of the gauge. Secure the PCB to the gauge with the screws and standoff spacers.

We will wire the switch next, then connect the switch wires to the LED wires with alot more wires.

Wiring the switch. On the back of the switch there are 12 pins around the perimiter and two in the center. Each center pin goes to 6 of the outer pins. So use your multimeter and check for continuity between the center pin and its corresponding 6 pins, label the outer pins 1-6 for each center pin.
Get ready to solder.... cut 12 red wires about 3" long. Pair the up and solder a resistor inbetween them so you end up with 6 wires with a resistor in each one. Solder those 6 wires to the switch on the 6 legs you identified as 1-6 for the LEDs. Solder one 3ft. red wire to the center pin that corresponds to those 6.

Now the switch is LED wired. Let's connect them.

Cut 21 3" red wires and 21 1"red wires, pair them up. Now get those rectifier diodes. On the diode there is a solid grey stripe around it (that is the side that blocks current and it will go towards the LEDs). Place the Diode inbetween a 3" and 1" wire with the stripe towards the 3" wire (cut the ends of the diode to about 1/4 inch), now solder the diode to the wires. Do all 21 sets and you end up with 21 wires with a diode inbetween them.

Grab your diode wires and the gauge (LEDs). The red wire that you labled 1, take 6 of those diode wires and solder the 3" side to #1 LED wire. Take 5 diode wires and solder the 3" side to #2 LED wire. Take 4 diode wires and solder them to #3 LED. 3 diode wires to #4 LED wire. 2 diode wires to #5 LED wire and 1 diode wire to #6 LED wire.

Alot of solder right... now tape all the solder joints up including the diodes and resistors. Now for the fun part.

Grab the switch wires. You are going to solder all of those other wires to the switch wires.

Position #1 to one of the wires attached to LED#1. Position #2 wire to LED wire #1 and #2. position #3 to LED wires #1, #2, #3. Position #4 to LED wires #1, #2, #3, #4. Position #5 to LED wires #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 and position #6 to the remaining 6 wires which should be #1-6. Tape all that junk up. Solder all your black wires together and attach a 3' piece to it. Now go our to your battery and hook the red to positive and black to negative and turn the switch and it should go in sequence like my photos.

Now lets wire the chip plug. On your TS switch, pull the black rubber sleeve from around the switch to expose the wires. Cut the wires off the switch. Now on the remaining pins on your new switch that you wired all the LEDs to that are bare (should be 7 - 6 on the perimeter and 1 in the center). On the center pin, solder the black wire from your TS wire harness. If you look at the plug end you can see the wire colors. Black is the common, then on the opposite side of the plug is a blue wire, that is position 1 for your chip and they go in sequence towards the black wire 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 with 1 being the blue wire. Just solder those to the corresonding pins on your new gauge switch. and you are done with the soldering. Tape it all up..

Next take your gauge glass and mark the hole for the switch to pass through. Go outside, get a piece of wood and grab your water hose. Drill a hole in the wood slightly larger than your glass bit, place the marked hole in the glass over the hole you just drilled. With your glass bit and your drill set to super slow start drilling the hole with light pressure and water running on it. It will eventually go all the way through. When your hole is drilled, check for fitment on your switch. now on the back side of the glass take your VHT Nite Shades and tint your glass. Mine is pretty dark (can barely see through it). Let it dry... Place the painted side down on the switch/gauge and reinstall the ring.

Your done....

I realize this is really drawn out but the key points are the diodes...make sure the stripe is towards the LEDs. If you want only one light to light up for each position, then you don't need the 21 wires inbetween the switch and LEDs just the resistor and 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3 and so on.

If something needs clarified, please let me know and I will do my best to try and describe it.