LED Position Indicator

[smleod]

So I just installed my chip and am loving it! The only down side I can see would be not knowing the position of the dial.

Concerne:
Wife (or another driver) jumps in my truck, doesn't know or remember the positions that the dial should be in, and drives it as is. (i.e. Quiet)

Solutions:
1. Post-it note beside it (my ride may not be perfect, but it is not ghetto)

2. Nicely done label or something of that nature (. . . getting there)

3. Light Emitting Diode (LED) position indicator with a position discription (now we're talking)

Needless to say I want to go with #3.


So here is the purpose of the post:
Has anyone else done this? If so, could they help a man out? If not, how does the electrical side of the chip work.

I know that there are 7 wires going to the dial. One is a ground, and the other 6 go the the position that you want to run. I was going to just tap into these and run it straight to my LEDs. When I tested the contacts, I noticed a potential problem. If I am running position 4, then all the other contacts are running a 5 volt current, while number 4 is at 0 volts. I plan on fixing this problem by using some relays. This WILL work just fine in theory, as long as the chip is not looking for a specific volt/amp reading. (I will change it a little bit because I will be adding a load (relay) to the circuite.)

So, does anyone think this will alter the chips performance? The load will be very small. I really want a 6 LED system to tell me what position the dial is in.

Thanks in advance.

[cj45lc]

Originally Posted by smleod

So I just installed my chip and am loving it! The only down side I can see would be not knowing the position of the dial.

Concerne:
Wife (or another driver) jumps in my truck, doesn't know or remember the positions that the dial should be in, and drives it as is. (i.e. Quiet)

Solutions:
1. Post-it note beside it (my ride may not be perfect, but it is not ghetto)

2. Nicely done label or something of that nature (. . . getting there)

3. Light Emitting Diode (LED) position indicator with a position discription (now we're talking)

Needless to say I want to go with #3.


So here is the purpose of the post:
Has anyone else done this? If so, could they help a man out? If not, how does the electrical side of the chip work.

I know that there are 7 wires going to the dial. One is a ground, and the other 6 go the the position that you want to run. I was going to just tap into these and run it straight to my LEDs. When I tested the contacts, I noticed a potential problem. If I am running position 4, then all the other contacts are running a 5 volt current, while number 4 is at 0 volts. I plan on fixing this problem by using some relays. This WILL work just fine in theory, as long as the chip is not looking for a specific volt/amp reading. (I will change it a little bit because I will be adding a load (relay) to the circuite.)

So, does anyone think this will alter the chips performance? The load will be very small. I really want a 6 LED system to tell me what position the dial is in.

Thanks in advance.

I don't have a clue but this sounds real interesting

Good luck with your project

[ticopowell]

I took a few electronics classes in high school and college, and if I remember right, they have transistor chips that will invert the charge so if you get 2 of those, they should have 4-6 input/outputs plus the positive and negative connectors. If you get one of these, spend the time and energy to set up a circuit board with these proper connectors, then set up the LED's wherever you want them, it should work!. you could also do it a lot more simply by installing the leds like you want, then all you really need to do is to look at the light that is off... that would be the position. You also could look at one of the stickys here and do the clock thingy... that would work for me..
If I were smart enough I guess I could set up an led indicator light system then sell them... lol.
Either way Good luck! and let us know what you end up doing.

[smleod]

So here is what I have figured out. I also plan on plugging my pos+ for the LED to my dimmer switch so I am able to dim them at night. If I cannot do that, I will install my own dimmer dial. I will have to trial and error what lights are to what position before I mount them, but it wont be that bad.

I got the relays at the junk yard for under $7.00 total. They are all the same Ford part number and should work fine. I have them wired so when power is eliminated, (the switch is in that position), the power will be allowed to the LED, thus turning it on.

[ticopowell]

that seems like it should work great, , post pictures when you are done

[smleod]

So here is the gig.

I hooked everything up, but the draw was too much and it nulled out the chip. I removed my set up and everything works fine again. I think that the relay is drawing too much because they are the large mechanical type. I think I am going to try some smaller electronics in hope that I can get the draw down.

I will try and keep everyone informed and post the pics of the old setup.

[ttyR2]

Assuming the stock 6-position switch is a single pole six position switch, you could swap it out for a dual-pole six position switch which has two separate sets of six position contacts that are electrically separate. Wire up one set to the chip, the other to your LED's. The LED's will then follow the switch setting.

Personally, I want to find a six button interlocked switch where you press one of six individual buttons for the program you want, and it automatically disengages the previous switch.