dash lights

[sirtokesalot]

many different bulbs throughout. are there any led options for the dash bulbs? climate control heated seat switches the tiny ones in the dash switches and window switch. ive changed them all as of now with other bulbs from part cars but most of the replacements did not have the green condom over the bulbs like the old ones did and now i have a mix of green and white illumination would like to replace them all with led's in the factory green color.

[Cfoust]

As long as you know the bulb size you can find led replacements. Anywhere from ebay, Amazon, and a ton of independent online retailers will have them. The key is knowing your bulb size

[sirtokesalot]

21 minutes ago, Cfoust said:

As long as you know the bulb size you can find led replacements. Anywhere from ebay, Amazon, and a ton of independent online retailers will have them. The key is knowing your bulb size

thats the issue im having. i dont know what size they are most of them are fixed to bases and are supposed to be replaced with the base. im ok with having to in trwist the leads off the bases and put new bulbs on the original bases just dont know what bulbs to use. some of these things are tiny like smaller than a piece of rice some are the same size as a piece of rice and soime are about twice as big ad the rice.

[Rampage]

Check out the ones on this page and see what you think.

They have 3 sizes (3-4-5mm) in shades of white and 4 colors.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/instrument-cluster-gauge/neox-led-bulb-high-power-instrument-panel-led/221/7737/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIs-ra5-W_5gIVA9vACh1J1QccEAQYAiABEgJUz_D_BwE

I might try them out if someone gives me "a round to it".

[heartless]

6 hours ago, Rampage said:

I might try them out if someone gives me "a round to it".

i could 3d print one of those up for you in a matter of minutes...

Edited December 19, 2019 by heartless

[Rampage]

10 hours ago, heartless said:

i could 3d print one of those

Thanks, but then my wife would find out about those and she would request mass production. I couldn't handle that. Maybe later.

[sirtokesalot]

i wound up hunting for hours and found some green led's with solderable leads on them and ordered those. im just going to untwist the bulbs off the original bases and twist the new ones in. it took some time to find led's that were 12 volt without a resistor being needed but i found them ill update when they arrive how well they work. hopfully they will fit in all the bub locations. https://www.ebay.com/itm/20pcs-Green-4-7mm-Mini-LED-Bulbs-Instrument-Panel-Backlight-Gauge-Lights-12V/293056962307?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649  if they dont work out i have other projects i can use them in.

Edited December 19, 2019 by sirtokesalot

[Rampage]

You do know that an LED (light emitting diode) is a diode and will only conduct current is one direction. If hooked up in reverse it will not conduct and therefore no light.

I noticed on the ones you are getting that one pin is longer than the other. That usually means they are polarized, . Sometimes they have a flat side at the base of the plastic. Try one and see if it is polarized.

If it does not light, turn it around.

Some companies make bipolar LED that will light in either direction and some can be a different color depending on direction. They have two LEDs mounted in opposite directions. 

Mark the base of each one so you know which terminal goes to positive. Then check the FSM to see which terminal is positive on the light socket. You'll have to check each one.

For the instrument cluster, the Battery or Charge light must be the original incandescent bulb if it has one.

[Tom Newell]

"For the instrument cluster, the Battery or Charge light must be the original incandescent bulb if it has one."

Thanks for the information. Is the incandescent bulb needed to provide a proper resistance to make the sensing setup work?

As a follow-on question related to the answer of the prior question, if one wanted to use an LED to replace the incandescent bulb, could an additional inline resistor be added so as to make the cumulative resistance equivalent to that of the originally specified incandescent bulb? (Googling tells me resistance is additive; I stand ready to be corrected if this concept is incorrect.)

Thanks,

Tom Newell

[nvu]

You could, though depending on the led and resistor picked, it may not light up at all if there's a fault or light up all the time when there's no fault.  It might not detect the case of the alternator sending overvoltage as the led doesn't light up in reverse current situations.

[Rampage]

I think the two problems with using an LED in this circuit are:

1 the LED forward current is only 50-60ma and the bulb is around 1amp used to excite the regulator to start charging until the Diode Trio takes over when charging. So I don't think the voltage would be high enough to start the regulator.

2 when charging there is a little over a volt difference (I measured 1.2v) between the battery and the light terminal so the LED may light even if the alternator is charging.

[sirtokesalot]

i put the green leds in today and it looks great but its not quite right. i had to order some red and white ones as well and am waiting for those now. the green led's drown out the red and blue like the needles on the gauges and the blue/red on the heat control dial. the red is almost non existent with the green led's and blue is now green. im hoping if i mix a combo of green and white in certain places i can get the colors right and not look off. the red ones are for the indicators on the switches to show the selected item is on vs off because green led's completely down out the red diffuser in the switches.

[uniberp1]

Nail polish

[sirtokesalot]

8 hours ago, uniberp1 said:

Nail polish

if the combo of white and green doesn't look right i was thinking about glow int he dark red paint for the needles. id still have to figure out the hvac controls dial color being wrong. might just have to use the original style bulb in that one spot. ill post pics later when i figure out whats the best combo of colors to go with. im doing every light minus the warning bulbs in the instrument cluster. every switch and back light. im currently waiting for the next 2 colors of led's now i should have ordered them when i got the green ones but didn't know i would need the different colors. tracking says by the 9th so could be anyday before then but by the 9th i should know what im doing with it.

Edited December 31, 2019 by sirtokesalot

[sirtokesalot]

so this is where im at now. still dont know how i like it because the dash lights are slightly different color than the other leds i got for the switches.