I'm wanting to make my instrument cluster dash lights to glow red. I was thinking of going with red LEDs. I did read about repainting the orange plate to white. I also read about members using LEDs. I was wondering which LEDs they used and what the part number was. Any help would be great. Looking on the Superbright LED sight, there was several 194 type replacements bulbs. I didn't know which ones to buy. Thanks
Got these. So cheap, couldn't hurt. http://www.ebay.com/itm/10x...m4613291e33&vxp=mtr. They worked. I just had to bend the terminals to the other side so they had better connection. Makes my gauge needles look light they are lit. I'll have to try some differenty colors. Didn't even take the cluster out. Just took off the top cover and reached down. Was able to follow the circuit traces for lighting. I know Chinese, but if you by them here where do you think they are made.
[This message has been edited by cmechmann (edited 01-05-2014).]
Got these. So cheap, couldn't hurt. http://www.ebay.com/itm/10x...m4613291e33&vxp=mtr. They worked. I just had to bend the terminals to the other side so they had better connection. Makes my gauge needles look light they are lit. I'll have to try some differenty colors. Didn't even take the cluster out. Just took off the top cover and reached down. Was able to follow the circuit traces for lighting. I know Chinese, but if you by them here where do you think they are made.
I tried those, no real improvement (85 dash). Went with Rodney's bulb kit. Lot happier now.
------------------ Anything I might say is probably worth what you paid for it, so treat it accordingly!
LEDs does not dim well. I've tried LED and went back to normal 194. The problem is LEDs have much less range of dimming w/ OE dimmer circuit.
Bright dash + driving at night can cause problem to see the road. Call Light Pollution and is a real problem. Very easy and common issue outside of city. You want dash to dim as possible to see outside at night.
OE setup are always dim? Then see my Cave, Dash Dimmer
Color light can have problem too... Make sure you can easy remove whatever if/when color doesn't work.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
LEDs does not dim well. I've tried LED and went back to normal 194. The problem is LEDs have much less range of dimming w/ OE dimmer circuit.
Bright dash + driving at night can cause problem to see the road. Call Light Pollution and is a real problem. Very easy and common issue outside of city. You want dash to dim as possible to see outside at night.
OE setup are always dim? Then see my Cave, Dash Dimmer
Color light can have problem too... Make sure you can easy remove whatever if/when color doesn't work.
^ this... Plus
I have had LED's in my instrument clusters for a few years (since 2006/07). I do have all aftermarket instruments. My white face instruments looked great with the blue LED's, and my black faced instruments looked great with red LED's. The whole set looked great (IMHO), but would not dim consistently or linearly (as in per-portioned to the knobs movement).
Also, I noticed that the LED's, no matter where I got them from, would not last as long as the regular bulb. I had to replace them quite often (full set of red (7) over a year, and blue (2) every other year). That could be due to my suspension and car riding so stiff, or that I drive on very bad roads with stiff suspension. But, prior to the LED swap-out, I never had to replace my bulbs (since 1997 to 2006/07), and went LED due to the color issue and gauge swap.
I eventually replaced some of the red LED's with red bulbs and red gel covers on them, just the hard to swap out ones. The rest are still LED, and I will keep them LED. It is hard to get the color blue from a regular bulb.
Just my experience with them. I like them, and some are still LED. The red bulbs with the red gel covers look no different than the red LED's.
Where are the red gel covers available? Maybe with the dimming problems I should go with the regular bulbs. My main interest is getting my dash a better red than it is now. Do you think just the red bulbs or the red gel covers would do it or do you think that orange plate needs to be painted white or red?
Where are the red gel covers available? Maybe with the dimming problems I should go with the regular bulbs. My main interest is getting my dash a better red than it is now. Do you think just the red bulbs or the red gel covers would do it or do you think that orange plate needs to be painted white or red?
AutoZone/Pep Boys/etc… should generally have tinted color incandescent bulbs, or LEDs, available. You can probably find them cheaper on eBay/Amazon/etc… of course.
I don't think you'd need to paint anything. You'll probably want to stick with white/yellowish (~3500K) bulbs for most signal/warning indicators though.
Also, I noticed that the LED's, no matter where I got them from, would not last as long as the regular bulb. I had to replace them quite often (full set of red (7) over a year, and blue (2) every other year). That could be due to my suspension and car riding so stiff, or that I drive on very bad roads with stiff suspension. But, prior to the LED swap-out, I never had to replace my bulbs (since 1997 to 2006/07), and went LED due to the color issue and gauge swap.
-Dave
I am guessing you never used a regulated power supply to run the LEDs... almost no one does. LEDs do not respond well to power spikes or lack of current control... If you bought LEDs with resistors that were sized for 12V and your car runs 13.8-14V, it is going to shorten the life. There are also regular power 'events' in automotive electrical systems that will destroy unprotected LEDs.
Originally posted by carbon: I am guessing you never used a regulated power supply to run the LEDs... almost no one does. LEDs do not respond well to power spikes or lack of current control... If you bought LEDs with resistors that were sized for 12V and your car runs 13.8-14V, it is going to shorten the life. There are also regular power 'events' in automotive electrical systems that will destroy unprotected LEDs.
I was just wanting my instruments to be red like the latter GM Pontiac radios, not orange. Does anybody have any ideas on how to do that? Sounds like LEDs is not the way to go. If I painted the orange plate in the instrument cluster red, would that work? Or going with just red bulbs? Maybe painting it red and bulbs. If I go with red bulbs, would that make the instrument less bright? What do you think?
I had asked the gentlemen from TLG about dimming and he said there is no problem with that, so i think the issue is a mute point, unless they are not being truthful, but i think he was being honest. I am going to upgrade mine in the next few months, I will update how they are working.
My led dash lights dim just fine. Thay are from tlg. My rear Pontiac, side (7 led) marker lights and rear license plate have led lights. I forgot about my brake light too.
My led dash lights dim just fine. Thay are from tlg. My rear Pontiac, side (7 led) marker lights and rear license plate have led lights. I forgot about my brake light too.
jim,
Does the P-O-N-T-I-A-C led upgrade make a big difference in how the light appears? According to the TLG folks, they rave about it, just curious of your opinion.
And what color LEDS did you use in you dash when you upgraded? I am thinking Amber because I like the stock look of that sort of sunset orange the car has now.
[This message has been edited by st88fiero (edited 01-10-2014).]
