Volvo penta engine panel

snowbird30ds said:
Has anyone on here made their own panel for a VP engine? I'm looking to rearrange my helm layout and was wondering about led for the warning lights, ie what sort of shunt resistor across charge light to get alternator going?
Engine is TMD41A.
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VP appear to use 33 ohms as an excitation resistor.
Measured by coyi in this recent thread Volvo Penta D2 55A alternator problem qv.

I think I might use a 10 watt resistor rather than 5 watt I suggested in that thread.
 
I used ordinary warning lights as sold in 1000 car spares shops because, when I did it, they were easier to source than LED warning lights. Current consumption isn't relevant, because they'll never be on long enough for that to matter. The panel was painted ply, set in a frame so it was let into the side of the cockpit out with the switches out of harm's (and my knee's) way.

Moving the start controls to where I could reach them while at the tiller was one of the better improvements I made to the boat.
 
I'm not going to use the car shop jobbies as the plan is to make it look nicer and free up some space, I've found some neat looking ones on aliexpress that are done with the graphics you chose so won't need anything labeling.
My boat is a stinky so the panel is not tucked out of the way it's in front of me all day while cruising.
The present panels have had bits added and changed over the last 40 years so is very messy.
 
snowbird30ds said:
I'm not going to use the car shop jobbies as the plan is to make it look nicer and free up some space, I've found some neat looking ones on aliexpress that are done with the graphics you chose so won't need anything labeling.
My boat is a stinky so the panel is not tucked out of the way it's in front of me all day while cruising.
The present panels have had bits added and changed over the last 40 years so is very messy.
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Sounds good. What search term would you use to find that?
 
ithet said:
Only slight thread drift..

Can the LED BA7S bulbs be used to replace the filament bulbs in the VP alarm module? And if so would they be brighter?

e.g.
Light Bulb Road Legal 12 V Under 1 W LED T4W Up To 50000 Hours Cold White Blue | eBay
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As I understand it T4W LEDs have the same light output as 4 watt filament bulbs and are therefore suitable for use as car side light bulbs etc although consuming less than 1watt.
Think they may be be too bright as panel indicator bulbs but on the other hand not pass enough current for the initial alternator excitation , This is why later VP engines have an additional circuit via a resistor (35 ohms IIRC ) which provides the excitation current.
 
VicS said:
As I understand it T4W LEDs have the same light output as 4 watt filament bulbs and are therefore suitable for use as car side light bulbs etc although consuming less than 1watt.
Think they may be be too bright as panel indicator bulbs but on the other hand not pass enough current for the initial alternator excitation , This is why later VP engines have an additional circuit via a resistor (35 ohms IIRC ) which provides the excitation current.
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Thanks. I have an MD2030 with the external resistor. My reason for asking about the LEDs was that the indicator strip over the bulbs has become somewhat obscured so I would like brighter bulbs. And yes, I have tried cleaning and polishing the strip on both sides.

Edit - if I could find brighter versions of the BA7S filament bulbs I would fit them.
 
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