Pulsing dashboard illumination

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lavectrix
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Pulsing dashboard illumination

Has anyone noticed the illumination on the gauges pulsing from brighter to dimmer and back every few seconds while underway? It's subtle, and can only be detected at night. I'm willing to ignore it, unless someone has info that this might be symptomatic of a larger problem...

undead
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

Yep mine does this, usually when going under streetlights

The display has built in light sensor to dim or brighten the display accordingly.

myvectrix2008
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

Now that you come to mention this, I have noticed it on the same road of every journey. When I'm riding in the dark, the sensor must automatically adjust as the street lamps are spread apart. As soon as I ride in a more evenly lit area, it goes back to a constant backlight.

undead
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

Thats the one!

kevin smith
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

pulsing/ dimming speedo lighting. arr are we shure ?????????
or could it be a faulty / poor earth conection ?????????????? i wunder kev

moccasin
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

Yep. We're sure.

It's the dimmer sensor. Brightens the display when there's more ambient light, and dims it when it's darker around you so it doesn't blind you or make you look like a Smurf rolling down the road! HAHA!!

lavectrix
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

Thanks for the responses... But, hmmmmm...

I'm not sure I can detect a pattern to the pulsing. It happens on stretches of dark road with no streetlights. And it follows its own rhythm - too regular to be influenced by the random sequence of street lighting (in my mind). Anyone know where this sensor is located? Unless, of course, you're all pulling my leg about its existence at all...

AndY1
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

It does exist. If you look closely at the the speedometer, there's a small dot in the bottom part of it. That's the sensor.

Mik
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

The blinking is a little annoying...I think it is because it seems to have a time delay. It does not immediately follow the external illumination intensity, it waits a few seconds. That's why it seems erratic!

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kevin smith
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

i always thought that the little dot was a red light
to say hey you have unrestrickted this scooter and it is over the limet. so i was wrong !!
but to be truthfull i never noticed it / well not with the old software any were as i drove a loner and it did this on it
but soon as new sorftware fitted it did it ..

lavectrix
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

Right you are, sir! Put my hand over that little dot on the speedo and sure enough, the gauges change their illumination accordingly. Should never have doubted what was said here...

But it's still annoying.

garygid
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

Put a "dot" of back tape over the sensor and ... constant lighting?

Cheers, Gary
XM-5000Li, wired for cell voltage measuring and logging.

moccasin
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

Put a "dot" of back tape over the sensor and ... constant lighting?

Might make it hard to see on a bright day.

garygid
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

Maybe one could replace the light-sensor with a suitable "pot" and have a constant-intensity user-controlled illumination level?

And, add a SPDT switch to select between "auto" or "user" control.

Cheers, Gary
XM-5000Li, wired for cell voltage measuring and logging.

AndY1
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination
Put a "dot" of back tape over the sensor and ... constant lighting?

Might make it hard to see on a bright day.

Why do you think so?

The LCD backlight lits up when it's dark, not when it's bright, does it not?

garygid
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

Usually backlights come on when the headlights are turned on, and the instruments are brighter in the "day" and dimmer at "night" (to avoid too much glare into night-adapted eyes).

Cheers, Gary
XM-5000Li, wired for cell voltage measuring and logging.

moccasin
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination
Put a "dot" of back tape over the sensor and ... constant lighting?

Might make it hard to see on a bright day.

Why do you think so?

The LCD backlight lits up when it's dark, not when it's bright, does it not?

Was thinking it was on all the time, but you're right, it's just the LCD that's on during the day. If you covered the sensor with tape, the backlight might always think it was night and might always burn.

I just can't see enough annoyance in the flickering to make me want to change anything. Maybe that's because I only ride under a dozen or so street lights on my way home. I guess if you had street lights for 20 miles, it could get slightly annoying, but where I'm from, we're too busy looking for critter eyes at night to even notice dashboard issues!!

mesman
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Re: Pulsing dashboard illumination

I've noticed that also, as you say, espically at night. Over here in the USA, the requirments are for lights to always be on, so the backlight is always on too. Its not noticable in the day but at night it definitely changes intensity some. I don't think this is tied to the light sensor (or at least not to the changing external light conditions). I've driven for a long stretch of no lights and the backlight still pulsates. I've noticed this when charging in my garage too (under static lighting conditions). Its more amusing than annoying to me however.
Some transistor in the circuit (a "real" one or in an IC; or the sensor itself) is probably too close to saturation normally, making the display "jump" occasionally from psudeo-random voltage fluctuations; as they probably intended the brightness change to be smoother also. A pretty minor imprefection, imho.

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