Why Do People Use LEDs in their gauges?
#24
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i bought LEDs for my gauges a couple years ago and saw a huge improvement. i replaced the green stock bulbs/condoms with green LEDs and the color was just a nice deep green, a true green instead of the dull green/yellow from stock. i don't have any hot spots on the instrument cluster, but i did on the heat and A/C panel. also, even after ordering the correct size of bulbs for those areas, they wiggled and did not fit tight. i had to put them in and lay some rubber cement at the base to keep them in, and even that didn't keep them very tight. i've had 5 burn out so far and too. i do like the look of the LEDs but i can't say the quality is very good (products from 2 years ago, maybe the new stuff is better). just my experience.
#25
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I ordered some of the superwhite incandescent bulbs.
As for LEDS. I did LEDS in a car a few years ago. I used basic Wide Lens leds and it came out great. That was before they have these leds with mulitple leds for different angles. I did LEDS recently and even with the wide lens it threw a narrow beam and caused hot spots. I am kinda think they changed the design where you have to buy the more expensive ones for better results. I choose incandescent since they wil throw the color I want and so far my OEM bulbs have lasted this long so longevity isn't an issue.
As for LEDS. I did LEDS in a car a few years ago. I used basic Wide Lens leds and it came out great. That was before they have these leds with mulitple leds for different angles. I did LEDS recently and even with the wide lens it threw a narrow beam and caused hot spots. I am kinda think they changed the design where you have to buy the more expensive ones for better results. I choose incandescent since they wil throw the color I want and so far my OEM bulbs have lasted this long so longevity isn't an issue.
#26
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Looking at your picture I mnetioned that your rear defroster, power transmission button and cigarete lighter are not light up. It does the same on my 2001 and I thought that the bulbs are gone. Now it put me in confused situation if there are any bulbs to light up those buttons? Does your light up and just bulb blown or they not suppose to light up (which will be very strange)?
#27
I couldn't get my cig lighter bulb changed for the life of me. The stock bulb seemed to be permanently attached to the plastic housing that holds it. All the other's were easy....
Any help on the cig lighter bulb?
Any help on the cig lighter bulb?
#28
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Looked through the gauge backlight thread again, and I didn't see one satisfactory outcome from LEDs in the gauge cluster. They cost more, they don't output even light at all, no matter what style you get and they don't offer any more color options than incandescents.
Snapped a pic of my gauges tonight. Had these super white bulbs in for over 2 years now. Light is even, bright and it cost me less than $10 for all the bulbs.
LEDs in your gauges are one bandwagon worth avoiding. Save yourself ~$40 and just install some incandescents!
Snapped a pic of my gauges tonight. Had these super white bulbs in for over 2 years now. Light is even, bright and it cost me less than $10 for all the bulbs.
LEDs in your gauges are one bandwagon worth avoiding. Save yourself ~$40 and just install some incandescents!
#29
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Apparently the digital camera is compensating. I did the same bulbs and it does not look like this. They are white but still kinda dim. Look at the stereo and hazard switch etc. They are not as bright as the camera makes them look. I took a pic with my camera and it did the same thing. Made them look a lot brighter than they are.
Question.. I don't care for the green blinker caps, and if you take them off it certainly looks bad. Anybody find a way to change this up any?
#31
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Apparently the digital camera is compensating. I did the same bulbs and it does not look like this. They are white but still kinda dim. Look at the stereo and hazard switch etc. They are not as bright as the camera makes them look. I took a pic with my camera and it did the same thing. Made them look a lot brighter than they are.
#32
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If I take a picture it would look like the above pics. But, I can tell you they re not that bright. They are probably about half as bright as the pictures make them look. They are an improvement over the stock green but don't expect results like the picture shows.
#37
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Read the posts regarding taking pics of the gauges. Look at the stereo, it's not that bright in person. gives you an idea of how much the camera is exaggerating the light.
#38
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Cool thread, Thanks for the link I am going to switch over all my lights to LED when I get the money. I bought some 1157 LED's about four years ago and when I put them in as turn signals and they flashed really quick so I had to put two resestors in the line to slow them down. Now with the newer ones can I just replace the bulb and it will flash at a normal speed?
#39
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anybody know?
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