My current project since I have everything apart to replace my ignition (which fell out once the column shroud was removed) is to Spice up my cluster.
I know the old school LED's gave people problems way back when, but I've heard nothing but good about V-leds (dont know if I am allowed to say their name, sorry if i cant) So i am going to retrofit my filiment bulbs to led ones.
There are SIX 194 bulbs which light the 3 green areas. I've decided to go with white instead of green since there is orange on the screen. My question to the perfectionist nuts who know where i am coming from... for the side (type 37?) bulbs...
Would you use white there, or match the colors?
Ex. green bulbs for the turn indicators, blue for the high, amber for the check engine and red for the brake.
I dont mind buying them all, then returning what I dont need. I just dont like messing with my 20 year old harness 3 times to get the right lighting.
Opinions?
Im honestly leaning towards color matching, but as always love to hear experiences and suggestions (but still white for the 3 main clusters)
-blain
p.s-
unless this whole project is a trainwreck, is it possible to get to the bulbs in my HVAC unit?
Some are burnt out in there anyway, but it would be sweet to have the cluster radio and hvac glow LED and match....
Why are you wanting to use colored bulbs? aren't the overlays what make the colors in the cluster anyway?
I believe you are right. The dash itself it colored, the bulbs clear. After a quick search i came up with this : http://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4050
There is one for a Thunderbird out there, I got a new computer and lost my bookmarks. someone on here might be able to chime in.
ALL the bulbs are white , like Jerry said its the overlays that determine the color .
If you use colored LEDs they will be VERY dim
You can change the bulbs in your HVAC if you wish , but I dont think it will make much difference in it .
I put all LEDs in my digital cluster but I did not change my HVAC bulbs
I figured the pure white would bleed the colors, IE the brake light would be pink, green would be teal, etc.
I can turn the gauge brightness down I guess, so I have votes that white across the cluster is the way to go.
The hvac has burnt out lights anyway, so i figure if im in there I might as well put matching LED's in there. what size bulbs are they anyway?
Sylvania doesn't list the HVAC...
Is it EATC or manual ?
I dont remember the number but the electronic one uses the same bulb as the headlight switch surround panel (turn signals and warning lamps too ) the large sections of the dash are the 194 style,the others look like a small 194
i think the smaller bulbs in the full electronic cluster are "37"
I have the full electronic hvac too.
A few areas of green are burnt out, and some of the yellow dots arent lighting up.
My cat had all bulbs burnt out (who knows why) but I replaced all the ones in the EATC and Tripminder. I put a new radio in. The EATC wasn't all that bad. Couple connectors and it pulls completely out. They were tiny bulbs. I just found similar sized ones at autozone.
37 sounds right , I have replaced the EATC bulbs but never the yellow ones.......... I dunno what they are
ooh, I never knew about this v-led place. I am in love. I've been searching for like a year for some "good" led bulbs. All the on ebay is all the same chinese garbage. These actually look like they're worth something, and the users seem to like them too. Looks like my full LED conversion may come sooner than I thought.
As far as putting them in your cluster, you have to be aware that LED's are not dimmable. They're either on, or off. So make sure you get some medium brightness ones so that you don't blind yourself at night. I'd say get some 2 3 stars, and 2 4 stars to see if one is too bright, and go from there for the rest.
And, I think it would be a good idea to color match the led's under each different use. Led's put out a much purer white than incandescents, so it will wash them some. I would say to put ambers or greens behind your green areas, since white will make them much lighter, and I think its bad enough already the color that they are. For the rest, I would just color match the reds to the reds, and whites to the whites and blues to blues....etc
I have all white ones in my digital cluster and the only light that even remotely changed color was the check engine light, it went from dark orange to like a pale orange , the other lights just got more intense the high beam indicator is a more vivid blue, turn signals vivid green, etc... just my experience .
I will add the leds that only shine from the top are useless in a digital cluster you need the ones that have the leds all around them like these
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/Gauge-Cluster-LED/White-LED/2-V-LEDS-5K-WHITE-194-p8804828-1-2.html
the ones that shine only from the top are useless period.
you are both absolutely right about the side firing bulbs. When I was trying to figure out if the orange in my cluster was a light or overlay, I saw how they have the bulbs behind the plastic bezel, and the plexiglass backing re-fracts it across the back of the lens.
its the same concept as the invisible glass led exit signs I just put up here at work lol
The ones I ordered have 4 side fire LEDs and one top led. Hopefully they fit in there lengthwise.
I also ordered the $20 set to do my inner most bulbs next to my front grille. we will see how this works.
I'm still depressed that my new NOS lenses I bought in 08 are already fogging up inside :(
I am very interested in those. I ordered some cheap ass chinese garbage ones on ebay and they were not bright enough, and they were also wired backwards and caused my blinkers to operate incorrectly.
I think any led you use on a turn circuit needs a resistor installed. the only reason i did the inner lights before the outer ones is they dont blink,well.... im pretty sure they dont. i has been a couple years since ive seen its reflection off someones tailgate haha
Correct the inner lamps do not blink, what is weird about my car the rear lamps and the inner fronts are 3156/3157 style........... but my outer/ corner lights are 1157/2157 style .
and one more thing . I used the forward shining LEDs in my warning and indicator lamps and they are fine,, the side facing ones were necessary for the LCD part of the dash. I have no clue how a standard cluster back lighting is configured
Mine do:D
A handy little modification I did myself. Inners are runners with ignition on and blink with turn signals:cool:
A little video about a Light Modded cougar (http://tinypic.com/r/2w6c3y8/7)
The wierd clicking at the start is me trying to start the car but the battery was to dead. I had to use jumper cables just to get the lights on.
It blinks about 3 times for each side with all lights on, and about 3 times for each side with just ignition on.
Guys that have done this............ does the cluster still dim correctly? The same wide range of adjustment?
LED's will not dim unless specified. And I've only noticed "dimmible" led bulbs for home use at lowes lol
I copied this off their site, from the FAQ Im wondering if anyone has tried dimming with these specific LEDs
Will LEDs work with the dimmer?Back to top
Yes LEDs will dim just like a standard bulb.
Most can dim but below a certain voltage they'll just turn off completely. I never use my dash lights at anything less than full brightness (which isn't much) so the LEDs I've tried out in the past that dimmed still got quite dark before they shut off. I haven't tested any in some time though so hopefully the newer designs actually work better than the I used to purchase. I must still have like $100 in different LEDs in some box somewhere, all of which were too dim for use. Some came close dead on but they still sucked at filling the panels with light.
The blue LEDs, which were "rated" for the same output, did better than the green and white LEDs that I tried behind the green diffusers. The one red I had of course did nothing at all but I didn't expect it to.
Yeah I've got a few bucks worth of useless red ones sitting around too.
I can't wait to see how these work out for blain to see if they're really worth buying.
My order never processed due to server error, so when I get home tonight I will reorder some colored ones.
Even if they are too dim, its turn signals and bright indicators, nothing that will be on 99% of the time lol
I am going to check my clearances also, the flat "flank" type is no longer preorder and is now available, brighter and shorter than the ones i originally ordered
I don't think the flat ones are good for your application though. They need to be able to shine up also. I think the ones you ordered are going to be the best application for you. (as long as they fit...)
The six bulbs along the top of the cluster shine (or refract) through the lens down-ward. The flank type have a 180 degree high output which would cover all but the top inch of the cluster, where I dont recall any lights being, right?
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/DomeMap-LED/White-LED/V-LEDS-HID-5K-WHITE-4-p8825900-1-2.html
"Our M-SMT bulbs use the latest in High Power LED technology. This bulb has a full 180 degrees of light side to side"
Not exactly ,,, they actually shine about 340* there is a small spot at the very top that has do diffuser
I tried to take these pics but my camera is only 3.1 mega pixel
You can kinda see what i mean though
I'll take my cluster out and see how the sockets line up. In my head as long as there is 180 degrees of coverage left to right, straight down, there isnt any need for light to shine on the top half.
Besides I need to get an exact count on what colors I need for my "37" type bulbs.
I'm not sure about that.. let us know
I used the 360* bulbs in mine after trying the forward facing ones which were totally useless , I couldn't even see any part of the dash :hick:
like these
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/Gauge-Cluster-LED/White-LED/2-V-LEDS-6K-WHITE-194-p6638587.html
The link you just posted was the ones I wanted to begin with, but didnt think I had that kind of depth available.
Leaving work now, I'll update my thoughts after I pull the dash out tonight.
Yeah, the forward facing LED's aren't enough for our clusters and whatnot - the center at the bulb will be bright and it will quickly dim off to the sides. Standard bulbs are narrow and tall, emitting more light out the sides to help illuminate the surrounding areas. LED's will always look different but any design that utilizes reflectors and puts out more light to the side will work and look much better.