400 LED VU shadow bar

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calman46

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I have the VU LED kit in my WOPL400 . I need to get rid of the shadow bar across the VU face . Cause of the shadow ? LED postions ? The VU face in light path ? I was going to try to reflect the light back at the LEDs with some mirrored foil inside the top of the VU . Any suggestions ?
 
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calman46 said:
I have the VU LED kit in my WOPL400 . I need to get rid of the shadow bar across the VU face . Cause of the shadow ? LED postions ? The VU face in light path ? I was going to try to reflect the light back at the LEDs with some mirrored foil inside the top of the VU . Any suggestions ?
Click to expand...

Picture? What is a shadow bar
 
Very good Marco . Can you replace the WO LEDs with other type ? Is there any special LED voltage requirements for the WO board ? I have WO paperwork some where..
WOPL Sniffer I have 400 apart but I think there is(was)a picture on the WO site on the shadow bar .
 
calman46 said:
Very good Marco . Can you replace the WO LEDs with other type ? Is there any special LED voltage requirements for the WO board ? I have WO paperwork some where..
WOPL Sniffer I have 400 apart but I think there is(was)a picture on the WO site on the shadow bar .
Click to expand...

Yes ! But remember to verify the Led current .
Joe uses ultrabright Leds ( 20 mA ) , but generally 10 mA Leds are very popular .
In this case replace the 8 180 Ohm resistors with 330 / 360 Ohms . Not critic .
Ciao
Marco
 
I did it to Joes LEDs on the board and it soften the light but the shadow is still there . Do I need to scuff of LED more ? It looks frosted now .
 
No !
Try to clean internal parts of VUs.
Gently remove the top cover , eventually using a credit card as a tool
Clean the cover inside / outside with the Lcd screen cleaner and
check the condition of the special white tape used for diffuser
and for heat isolator . Clean it very well and check if it is flat .
And last but not the least clean carefully the alu panel of VUs.
Ciao
Marco
 
An other suggestion : you could glue a piece of white cardbord on the
plastic tape diffuser . With leds heat is not a problem .
For sanding leds 10 sec. are sufficient .
No hurry !! If you are tired wait for tomorrow .
These things require patience .
To remove a little scratch (2mm long ) on the paint of the plastic mask
of my PL 700B it took me 4 hours : I had to add a little strip of black cardboard
on the rear face of the front panel .
This is only an example !
Ciao
Marco
 
I got it . Where the WO board attaches to the meters there was a nut spacer on all 4 posts. I removed them and now the LEDs go into the meter case further . I'm not sure why the spacer nuts where ,maybe from the old board .I don't remember if they are mention in WO paperwork. Now I can experiment with color and clear . I have those LED kits , 5mm & 3mm . Their rated for 2.5v-3.2v and 5mA-18mA so I should be ok ,worse case they burn out ,right?
Meters are nice and clean inside the white diffuser is in good shape with some burn marks from the old lamps I suspect .
 
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There is still a faint shadow of the VU face . You can see the half round cut out part . Maybe bending the LED leads so the LEDs go further in to the VU case .
 
Use 3mm. leds. ( like original nut bulbs )
If you use this type of leds (less than 20 mA ) , you must replace the 8 resistors .
Don't worry , it took me 3 days to find the right color
according my personal taste .
Anyway disconnect a VU and test the color inserting only one led .
Use a 1 kOhm resitor in series and external power supply with regulator ,
like a model train power pack .
Besides ,gently moving the led, you should find the reason of the shadow.
Ciao and have good job .
Marco
 
calman46 said:
I did it to Joes LEDs on the board and it soften the light but the shadow is still there . Do I need to scuff of LED more ? It looks frosted now .
Click to expand...

You need the LEDs to be as far into the meter lens as possible so you get total internal reflection off the inside of the lens front surface as described in the installation notes.

1. Usethe nylon washers provided to space the Light Board off of the back of themeter such that the round body of the LEDs just kisses or is slightly off ofthe front plastic jewel lens. Gettingthe LEDs as close to the lens as possible without crushing or bending the LEDsor LED leads against the lens helps to maximize the light dispersion via totalinternal reflection against the meter lens inner surface. A dozen #6 x 1/16†thick washers have beenprovided for this purpose. Mostapplications require either one or two nylon washers stacked on each screw studunder the light board and above the meter case to get the recommended LED spacing. Put the last 4 nylon washers on top of theLight Board before installing the hex nuts provided to prevent scuffing of thePCB surface. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN THE NUTSON THE METER STUDS. A gentle tighteningis all that is required.
 
I bought my LED board kit a while ago not sure it came with washers (I can check). What I did was to put the LEDs (clear 3mm) straight in ,back them of the white diffuser and soldered. I didn't change the resistors . Do you think the LEDs will burn out? My meters now have a soft light no shadow . I did lined the 3 sides inside of the of the VU lens with chrome foil thinking it might reflect the light , I did them both so I'm not sure if it did anything. The original LEDs are bent at 90 at the bottom of the LED lens which puts them to low on the VU face(scale) and the edge of the VU face causes the shadow. I was going to try bending the LEDs at 90 further away from the LED lens so they would be higher inside the meter and pass the edge of the VU face . I still might .But I don't want the bright spots either . Boy am I fussy . See pictures how mine look now .
 

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The shadow on the left VU is not O.K.
In my unit it disappeared soon after sending . It's due to the screw inside the VU .
I used the 90° degree position like original .
For resistors I can't answer , because I don't know the max current of your Leds .
Welcome to the world of lighting !
It' necessary much patience . I have experience with model rail roading and
and I can guarantee that is a very difficult matter .
Ciao
Marco
 
meter_closeup.JPG

This is a Dynaco VU , but the design is more or less the same .
Look at the 2 screws near the coil . They are the culprits .
For leds I used the same shape of original kit : 90 °, same height , same depth . It's perfect .
You must replace the 8 180 Ohms resistors with 330 Ohms .The original kit has been designed for 20mA . Check with Joe
to be safer .
Ciao
Marco
 
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