LED dash lights
Posted: 21 Jan 2017 18:02
Been thinking about this for a while. A few others have posted things about it but I thought I'd share what I bought and how it's worked out so far. Maybe others will find it useful.
We all know that the standard dash bulbs are really, really dim. When I had my dash out a couple of years ago I cleaned & polished everything and put in brand-new bulbs-- still dim. But LEDs change that pretty decisively.
I rigged up an old gauge panel as a test piece and took some pics with the same camera settings (1/10 second exposure) to capture the difference between old (stock) and new (LED) lighting.
Test panel: Old (stock) lighting: LED lighting: The bulbs in question (old & new): Four bulbs are needed for the standard cluster (speedo = 3; fuel & temp gauge = 1). Naturally, if you want to replace the idiot lights too you would need another 3 or 4 bulbs, but I didn't bother.
There are lots of LED options out there of course. I got these ones: WLED-WWHP5 (warm white) from http://www.superbrightleds.com. You can find them here: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... t-car/206/ I chose this type because they have 5 little LEDs and therefore project their light in all directions, unlike some others that only throw their light in a limited arc. They were $5.95 USD apiece plus S&H.
Even though I wanted BRIGHT, I chose the "warm white" variant of this bulb (3000K) both because it's not as blue as the "cool white" variety (6500K) and because it produces 65 lumens rather than the cool white's 90 lumens. This same part number is also available in blue, green, amber, red, and blacklight/UV (ooh!) if anybody wants to be puttin' on a real fancy light show.
A note of caution though. I forgot until I pulled out my gauge cluster that the lights for the FACTORY TACH are different than the other instrument lights. Because they're not wired through the circuit board but rather on a separate harness, they have a different base: the so-called "bayonet" type.
Two of this alternate type are needed for the factory tach. At superbrightleds they're called BA9S-WWHP5 and they cost $4.95 apiece. You can find their specs here: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... ifications
Even though these bayonet-type bulbs are also called "warm white" their output is higher than the wedge-base type (90 lumens).
So, with S & H I'm into this little upgrade for about $32 USD plus S&H (for 4 of the one type, 2 of the other). In Canadian bucks it's about a bazillion percent higher of course.... but I figure it'll be worth it to be able to see what's going on!
We all know that the standard dash bulbs are really, really dim. When I had my dash out a couple of years ago I cleaned & polished everything and put in brand-new bulbs-- still dim. But LEDs change that pretty decisively.
I rigged up an old gauge panel as a test piece and took some pics with the same camera settings (1/10 second exposure) to capture the difference between old (stock) and new (LED) lighting.
Test panel: Old (stock) lighting: LED lighting: The bulbs in question (old & new): Four bulbs are needed for the standard cluster (speedo = 3; fuel & temp gauge = 1). Naturally, if you want to replace the idiot lights too you would need another 3 or 4 bulbs, but I didn't bother.
There are lots of LED options out there of course. I got these ones: WLED-WWHP5 (warm white) from http://www.superbrightleds.com. You can find them here: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... t-car/206/ I chose this type because they have 5 little LEDs and therefore project their light in all directions, unlike some others that only throw their light in a limited arc. They were $5.95 USD apiece plus S&H.
Even though I wanted BRIGHT, I chose the "warm white" variant of this bulb (3000K) both because it's not as blue as the "cool white" variety (6500K) and because it produces 65 lumens rather than the cool white's 90 lumens. This same part number is also available in blue, green, amber, red, and blacklight/UV (ooh!) if anybody wants to be puttin' on a real fancy light show.
A note of caution though. I forgot until I pulled out my gauge cluster that the lights for the FACTORY TACH are different than the other instrument lights. Because they're not wired through the circuit board but rather on a separate harness, they have a different base: the so-called "bayonet" type.
Two of this alternate type are needed for the factory tach. At superbrightleds they're called BA9S-WWHP5 and they cost $4.95 apiece. You can find their specs here: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... ifications
Even though these bayonet-type bulbs are also called "warm white" their output is higher than the wedge-base type (90 lumens).
So, with S & H I'm into this little upgrade for about $32 USD plus S&H (for 4 of the one type, 2 of the other). In Canadian bucks it's about a bazillion percent higher of course.... but I figure it'll be worth it to be able to see what's going on!