New gauges and tail LEDS
#1
New gauges and tail LEDS
Thought you might like to have a look at some nice LEDS I put in my gauges, tail lights, etc. My favorites are definitely the blue gauge ones, very easy on the eyes at night, work fine with the dimmer. Also (not shown) I have a white LED panel inside the dome light housing. 36 miniature surface mount LEDS, 1.5"x 1.5" square. When it comes on the whole inside of the car is like daylight! But it's not blinding, just great light everywhere. So nice to be able to see inside, I have always hated that stock wimpy peanut bulb, this looks awesome, just what I was hoping for.
I ordered them here:
http://www.v-leds.com/
I ordered them here:
http://www.v-leds.com/
#3
Re: New gauges and tail LEDS
These are the ones I got:
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/G...98444-1-2.html
On my Civic it uses 6 lamps to illuminate the gauge cluster. They are the brown lampholders, the black lampholders are indicator lamps (idiot lights). Twist 1/4 turn left to remove, careful with the PCB ribbon. With your parking lights on, probe the PCB traces with a voltmeter. Note which trace is + and mark with a Sharpie, and a mark on the same side of the lampholder so you put it together right. The LEDS are polarity-sensitive, and will only light one way. If they don't light, rotate the lampholder 180 degrees. Do them 1 at a time so you can make sure each one is lit (hard to see in the daytime, and easy to drop parts at night!). Also a good time to clean dust and polish your bezel and lens, use Rain-X, clean first. Renews and shines hard plastics very well.
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/G...98444-1-2.html
On my Civic it uses 6 lamps to illuminate the gauge cluster. They are the brown lampholders, the black lampholders are indicator lamps (idiot lights). Twist 1/4 turn left to remove, careful with the PCB ribbon. With your parking lights on, probe the PCB traces with a voltmeter. Note which trace is + and mark with a Sharpie, and a mark on the same side of the lampholder so you put it together right. The LEDS are polarity-sensitive, and will only light one way. If they don't light, rotate the lampholder 180 degrees. Do them 1 at a time so you can make sure each one is lit (hard to see in the daytime, and easy to drop parts at night!). Also a good time to clean dust and polish your bezel and lens, use Rain-X, clean first. Renews and shines hard plastics very well.
#5
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Re: New gauges and tail LEDS
I thought blue light put more strain on the eyes? I prefer amber myself.
I saw a guy here on H-T once selling LED dome light replacements consisting of an array of LED's on a PC board, but I think he was banned for not following proper seller/sponsor policies or something. Is that like what you have for your dome light?
I saw a guy here on H-T once selling LED dome light replacements consisting of an array of LED's on a PC board, but I think he was banned for not following proper seller/sponsor policies or something. Is that like what you have for your dome light?
#6
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Re: New gauges and tail LEDS
Take a picture of your dome light on and of the actual board in the slot, sounds like something I'd like to do as I hate the stock bulb too.
#7
Re: New gauges and tail LEDS
Patrick, I dunno about the guy you mentioned, I'm not selling them, just recommending what I bought.
V-Leds does have amber in that style as well, 2 slightly different styles here:
http://www.v-leds.com/24-74-LED/Amber-LED/sc122292-1-2/
The dome light array is here (I'll post some photos soon):
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/D...40471-1-3.html
The dome array comes with a bunch of adapters to clip into the bullet bulb clips or other connection. If it doesn't light one way, reverse it. Currently I just let it lay on the lens loose inside, but it's crooked. Later I'll solder the wires to the contacts and secure it with a little velcro or something to hold it straight. Doesn't matter, only if you pay attn to it. Light from it is beautiful, get the HID white color.
V-Leds does have amber in that style as well, 2 slightly different styles here:
http://www.v-leds.com/24-74-LED/Amber-LED/sc122292-1-2/
The dome light array is here (I'll post some photos soon):
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/D...40471-1-3.html
The dome array comes with a bunch of adapters to clip into the bullet bulb clips or other connection. If it doesn't light one way, reverse it. Currently I just let it lay on the lens loose inside, but it's crooked. Later I'll solder the wires to the contacts and secure it with a little velcro or something to hold it straight. Doesn't matter, only if you pay attn to it. Light from it is beautiful, get the HID white color.
Last edited by garykf16; 04-13-2009 at 03:32 PM. Reason: forgot something
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#8
Re: New gauges and tail LEDS
I carefully measured the inside dimensions of the dome light, it fits easily under the lens with no mods req'd. However, I'm going to better secure it and cut/bend the bullet bulb tabs down, and directly solder a female socket to them. Base of the board is epoxy sealed, so it won't short on them.
#9
Junior Member
Re: New gauges and tail LEDS
I used to have blue, loved the color but after a year of it my eyes started constantly hurting when driving at night and the lowered visability as well... I've got full rgb conversion in there now but I run mostly red at night, rgb strips are for show/*****-n-giggles...
#10
Re: New gauges and tail LEDS
I decided to go for the blue because the regular bulbs were a little too harsh, and, when you open it up, guess what.....they were already using little blue sleeves over the OEM bulbs to alter their color ! Now I'm waiting for them to send me the electronic flasher which should have come with my order. No biggie. The LEDs are such a low power draw, it fools the stock flasher and it goes crazy like when you have a dead bulb and it speed-flashes. Electronic unit is a plug & play just like OEM style.
#11
Dome light M-SMD panel detail
OK, here are some photos to give you guys a better idea of what this really looks like when lit in the car. It totally blows away the original peanut-type bulb in brightness and wide-angle field of smooth white light.
The panel measures 1.5" x 1.5" x .5", fitting easily under the lens with room to spare. I haven't secured it in final position yet, so it's just tucked in there loose for now. Comes complete with various socket adapters. The wire pigtail is 2" long.
The closeups were taken at several exposures to better show the detail and give a good idea of how bright this really is, the light intensity is not variable.
On my Civic there is a very dim glow when the light is off, no real bother when driving, don't even notice it. For some reason there is a very tiny voltage present, but almost no current. I probed and measured barely 1 mA draw with the doors closed and everything off. At that rate, the digital clock would drain the battery first! If it really bothers you, simply flip the slide switch to OFF.
The panel measures 1.5" x 1.5" x .5", fitting easily under the lens with room to spare. I haven't secured it in final position yet, so it's just tucked in there loose for now. Comes complete with various socket adapters. The wire pigtail is 2" long.
The closeups were taken at several exposures to better show the detail and give a good idea of how bright this really is, the light intensity is not variable.
On my Civic there is a very dim glow when the light is off, no real bother when driving, don't even notice it. For some reason there is a very tiny voltage present, but almost no current. I probed and measured barely 1 mA draw with the doors closed and everything off. At that rate, the digital clock would drain the battery first! If it really bothers you, simply flip the slide switch to OFF.
#14
Dome light M-SMD panel
No problem, you'll love it. Here's the link:
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/D...40471-1-3.html
$19.99
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/D...40471-1-3.html
$19.99
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