Instrument cluster light bulb color change

[flakita]

Originally Posted by bomonster

Aw mannnnn..... I'm excited now.

So, flakita, if you were ordering them all over again, would you go with the tri-star all around or did you purposely get only 3 of them?

What's the deal with the climate controls? I thought they were the same. I've read through this thread so many times I'm confusing myself. :) I thought I remembered someone actually saying the LED's worked for them on the climte control area but not the gauges.

And how many LED's are needed total? (Oh yeah, it's back in this thread somewhere.)

Thanks for the info flakita, I can't wait to get mine ordered.

-Bo-

bo,

you need 9 bulbs in total

[flakita]

okay guys just for you I opened up my cluster so you could see the leds inside of it sitting in their housing locked into place, if you notice they still have about a cenimeter of space aabove them...you see see a picture of the tristars and of the forward facing...and I have also included a new lit up " led" guage photo, last nights was blurry!

[ramblerdan]

Great work, Flakita. As the tri-stars seem to be three LEDs, are they brighter than the others?

[elemento]

Hey Flak sorry didn't know you was a female,
OKay now like I stated before the bulbs me and Chris got earlier don't look like the ones you show in the pic which would lead me to believe they are not the same...I also mis-stated the name..I got mines from www.autolumination.com. So the ones you got are obviously different I don't doubt the ones you put in would work but, when Chris and I bought ours it looked different and won't work. If you ever find which ones to work for the HVAC I would love to know...cool

[flakita]

Originally Posted by ramblerdan

Great work, Flakita. As the tri-stars seem to be three LEDs, are they brighter than the others?

yes, thats exactly what they are ramble, and what makes them better is that they face outward in 3 dif. directions, as where the forward facing only points straight out which does'nt make for very bright lighting...I was very pleased with the tri star leds I am working on the climate controls now, I was trying to find something that looked similar to the stock neo wedge in there...well one day I decided to purchase only 1 10mm neo wedge led, just to humor myself and see if it worked...and I was electrified when I turned the power on and they lit up...they do not cover the whole back of the whole in the cluster, and they are shorter, but they flipping worked...they will only work to replace the 5mm stocks not the smaller 3mm, they are to big for those.

and remember, they are not the exact size to fit the wholes, but somehow they touch the electrical board and work...as for the 3mm theres no other way but to buy led resitors and replace the stock and get out your trusty solder gun. I purchased these for a very cheap 99cent on ebay and they flash between red and the blue...

[flakita]

yep only one bulb!!

[flakita]

Originally Posted by ramblerdan

Flakita, can those LEDs be plugged into the sockets one of two ways? That is, a half turn apart, either 0 or 180 degrees? I ask because LEDs are polarity-critical: One lead must be attached to positive, the other to negative. If the polarity is backward, the LED won't light.

But the twist sockets were designed for bulbs, for which polarity doesn't matter. It's been a while, but IIRC the bulbs fit in the socket either way, and the sockets fit in the instrument cluster either way. So it should be possible to install the LED backward (electrically) and be left wondering why it doesn't work. Just something to bear in mind when installing.

hey ramble...I rechecked this, went back and yes...the polarity must be correct so you all know...if it does not light, take the bulb while its in the housing and turn it halfway or opposite of what you had to make sure the polarity is correct!!!!

[bomonster]

Hey all,
I got my white 74 LED's in the mail today and installed them. Worked like a charm, just had to get the polarity right.

Anyway, I ran into a small problem that I haven't been able to find much mention of. The areas of the gauges that light up 'white' are actually pressed out of a blue plastic. It's almost the same color as electroluminescent blue, like indoglo on timex watches. So basically, my gauges light up a nice bright light blue, even my odometer. :rolleyes:

I assume noone has mentioned this because I am the only person that went with the white LED's. It also explain's why the hyper-white incandescent bulbs appeared blue in an earlier post.

In short, if you are thinking of getting white LED's, you could save a few bucks and get hyper-white incandescent bulbs.

I took my gauges apart and don't see a way around the film since the actual text of the gauges is pressed out of this material. Am I way out here or has anyone else noticed the same thing?

I wonder if that means that my A/C and gear shift lights will be the same hue or will they be white? Hmm....

-Bo-

[dancetiludrop]

Bo I have the hyper white bulbs in mine and they gave a blue tint even before I put custom gauge faces in.

Not sure about the climate controls...but i'm with you I would assume they're the same way.

Do you notice the leds being any brighter??

[bomonster]

Well, I haven't driven around at night or powered them with the engine running. I turned them on in my garage with just raw battery power but my first opinion is that they are really close to stock brightness, if you are talking just about lumens. With the alternator running and everything they will definitely be brighter.

The color is definitely different than stock. That's probably just because there is a pure white LED there now instead of a yellow-ish incandescent.

I am pleased but a little disappointed. I had hoped to have a nice white color to my dash. It's not the end of the world though. :)

-Bo-