Changing Lilliput Button Color

Quattro · 09-07-2004, 04:55 PM

I don't know if this as been asked before or not. I did a quick search and didn't come up with anything. I also asked this question in another thread but didn't get too much of response.

So, can the blue buttons on the lilliput be changed to a different color?

The whole interior of my car has red lighting and the blue light coming from the lilliput buttons would look really out of place. If anyone has changed the color please post how you accomplished this and what parts would I need. If no one has done this please suggest ways on how to change the color.
Any help is appreciated.

Quattro · 09-07-2004, 06:31 PM

So anyone got any ideas?

I think that I could use some colored film and put it over the light and try to get a red color out of them without changing the lights. Would this work? Any thoughts.

Yuriy · 09-07-2004, 06:40 PM

Probably not a good idea to put red film over the blue light/film. You can do that if you are able to remove the blue stuff, but if the light itself is blue the only way to go is to replace it. Shouldn't be a big deal replacing the light diode.

jpelzer · 09-07-2004, 06:41 PM

Heh, that won't work. The LED's themselves are actually only producing the blue color... If you put a red filter, you'd basically block the LED's out entirely. The filter would only work with white LED's.

I think I posted in your other thread about this too... You could change the LED color, but only if you are comfortable with surface-mounted soldering. The LED's are not the simple type you get from Radio Shack that have the long wire leads... And there isn't really enough room to mount larger LED's anyway.

A solution that might work would be to forget the LED's, and instead put EL wire in your chosen color behind the buttons. Actually, I think that might work pretty well, now that I think about it. The LED's are actually off to the side from the buttons, so doing the same with the EL wire should work just fine...

Quattro · 09-07-2004, 06:48 PM

What is an EL wire, sorry but I don't know much about electronics? Were can I purchase one? Also if I connected and EL wire, how would I keep the blue leds turned off?

Quattro · 09-07-2004, 07:06 PM

I did a search on google for EL wire and figured out what it is. I found THIS, I think I would be able to use it, it also comes with a molex connector. Let me know what you think.

jpelzer · 09-07-2004, 07:16 PM

Yeah, that's what I was thinking of. And it's pretty cheap too. Worth a try!

Quattro · 09-07-2004, 07:20 PM

The EL wire in the link is 2.3 mm in width, do you think that would be fine or would I need something thinner?

jpelzer · 09-07-2004, 07:34 PM

Well, it'll be tight... But there's really only one way to find out...

Let us know how it goes!

kickercivic1 · 09-07-2004, 08:25 PM

man the cable might be cheap but if you mess up its going to run you more cuz u have to get another lilliput.

Luderboy · 09-08-2004, 01:27 AM

very nice idea, but seems like more trouble then its worth

Quattro · 09-09-2004, 06:08 PM

So I decided to go with the EL wire to change the color of the buttons. I was able to fine some really thin wire, it only .9mm in width. Here the LINK. I'm probably get a couple feet of it.

THIS is the inverter I'm thinking of getting for the wire. Let me know if I would be able to use this without a problem.

The only thing I have to figure out now is how to turn off the blue lights. If I can't find a way to do this, I'll just cover them with something so that the blue doesn't show.

jcdillin · 09-09-2004, 06:12 PM

I dont have a lilliput but there should be one trace that powers the whole string of LEDs that you could just cut the trace and the lights would go off. So if you ever wanted them back you could just solder the link back. Or you could just do the VCR trick and put some black electrical tape over them

Quattro · 09-17-2004, 03:23 PM

UPS came by dropped off the el wire and the inverter today. I hooked up the inverter to a ac -> dc converter and then hooked up the wire. It looked really good. It seemed bright enough for the lilliput. The inverter does put out a little hissing sound, but I think that because I didn't ground it well.

But here are the pics. The second pic is with the flash off. I couldn't get the flash to turn off on the camera so I had to cover it with my hand in the other two pics.The flash went through my fingers thats why their bighter..

shadowpuck · 11-22-2004, 11:00 PM

Quattro:

Just curious, how did your attempt to mod the button LED color work out?

Thanks!