[flakita]

pics

okay here is a picture of the cluster lit with the #74 leds, sorry its blurry its cold outside and I have'nt quite figured out how to use my camera in the dark...

the other picture is of the #74 leds placed into the stock housing...one is a forward facing and the other is a tri star...

if you notice it appears dim above the 60mph mark, thats because my cluster is bad and I have one on order...

 

[flakita]

very good! Ill be ordering hyper-white.....

good, remember if you get the tri stars to just wiggle them around a little to get them in...the forward are simple! have fun...I'll get better pictures when I learn how to use this new digital camera, and i'll send some pics of my dash once its put back together I am replacing parts of the grey with sc 07 black, and I had all my meter trim and the trim around the radio professional high glossed black at the custom body shop my friend works at!! its the same exact finish as the black meter trim on the 07 sc!!

 

[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 incandescent 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.

 

[bomonster]

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

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-

 

[elemento]

okay here is a picture of the cluster lit with the #74 leds, sorry its blurry its cold outside and I have'nt quite figured out how to use my camera in the dark...

the other picture is of the #74 leds placed into the stock housing...one is a forward facing and the other is a tri star...

if you notice it appears dim above the 60mph mark, thats because my cluster is bad and I have one on order...

OKay it seems like the LEDs in your pic (right side) don't look similar to the ones I bought from superillumination...Yes it is the push in type...Maybe supeillumination changed the type of LED or is using a different vendor...Anyways I believe Chris and myself tried using the same type of LEDs and they DID NOT FIT!! So maybe it is these different ones that do who knows...All I know is the ones I got don't fit. I don't think Chris would have gone through all that trouble if it fit....I guess if Flak says it fits he must have a diff one that does...cool

 

[Drop_Box]

He got these from superautolumination......not superillumination. I think they're two different sites??

 

[flakita]

okay....

lets clear something up first and foremost...i am a female...yes females do mods too...

NOW THEN, as I said before you cannot use these bulbs in your climate control knobs they are completely dif bulbs, the ones in your climate control are neo wedge bulbs, the top ones are 5mm and the bottom ones are 3mm...
the guage cluster bulbs are standard # 74 bulbs, these can be replaced with #74 leds or #74 incandescents....these bulbs work correctly as long as you put them into the housing the same way you put the stock bulbs into the housing and push them down to lock them in place, I ran into no negative or positive issue whatsoever.elemento I don't know which bulbs you got and why they did not work, as I stated last night and showed you in the pictures above...

they worked and fit fine for me so I wont continue debating the issue, all I can tell you guys again is to come off the 3 bux for one bulb and try it, thats what I did and thats how I found out it worked, I did'nt go off what everyone saying they were to long because of the simple fact that they are the same size bulb and I tried to measure the distance I had inside the cluster, I ordered the forward facing bulb first, I wanted it to be brighter so I ordered the tri star, the reson I got only 3 was because I did'nt want to waste the ones I had already gotten, the tri stars cost a little more, so I just mixed them up.


now for those of you in doubt or simply cannot find the web site, or do not know what your looking for...here it is, type in this

Superlumination.com 74 37 leds (Automotive Replacement Light Bulbs ... or
74 37 Instrument Panel Lights

 

[flakita]

how many

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

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]

putting the myth to rest

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!

 

[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]

yes

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]

amend

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 incandescent 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.

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-

 

[Drop_Box]

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-

 

[lizzurd]

Hey guys and ladies...I had recently bought the blue incan bulbs from superlumination and Love em. See, I like my dash to be dim...not crazy about bright lights when Im driving. As long as I can see my numbers and whatnot Im fine. It was great to just plug and play. Now I have a ?, what about the HVAC lights anyone find where to get colored ones or should I use glass paint? Any how thanks everyone for sharing your info...EOC rules!!

I ordered both blue and red just in case.The blue was too dim for me.....the red is bright enough...but now i have to address the radio and heater controls.

I tried glass paint on my dash bulbs but couldnt get a consistant look.May not have been using the right kind of paint....or i just wasn't patient enough.

 

[HockeyGuy21]

were the reds bulbs or LEDS? and where did anyone (who has them) get them?

 

[AlumEnt]

Are there any pics of an all red dash, that would be like the crv all red. Also like a submarine. I was thinking of doing red since the whites don't end up white, and I don't want blue.

 

[bonez76]

Hi folks. Well I ordered the blue 74 incan bulbs from superlumination.com Made the cluster look great (imo). Then thought what about the a/c panel...so far the solution (a cheap one) I found that works....Sharpie! Used red on the bottom smaller bulbs and blue on the top bigger ones. Been tryin to take a pic but the lighting isnt right or I need a better camera. Did a test at home to see how well the sharpie would last on a hot bulb so I smeared some on my ceiling fan bulb. Which btw gets really hot....and it held...so I figure those little bulbs in the a/c shouldnt get any where near that hot. Just a experiment I thought was worth trying.....

 

[DaPumpkin]

Dumb question...

Will the stained glass paint work on clear LED bulbs for COLOR. I want to get an orange affect... or is amber orange-e enough. My E is Tangerine Met.