Stock gauge illumination modifications October 11, 2012, 11:35:17 PM Yes, I'm going to keep making threads as some of these can actually be informative for people A few people have tried LEDs only to end up with something dim, uneven, or just odd shades when using different colored bulbs like so:So I got more LEDs in today to try and found that I'm good with standard 5000-6000K whites with the green bulb filters removed from the cluster. Note that the gauges themselves ALSO have a green filter in the face of each gauge. Red LEDs look terrible and are very DIM having to go through the gauges' face filters.So, my findings using the brightest "168/194 replacement" LED bulbs:"1W High Power"About half as bright as it needs to be. About the same as the stock bulb illumination with the car off (12v from battery). There may be better models of this thing, but the one I got was junk."8 SMD"Very bright, but the light spread is not quite wide enough on side illumination for the gauges. Brighter than the ones that contain 4 emitters, even with the ones with 4 emitters having larger emitters (doesn't mean anything). Works well for direct illumination. Recommend for indicators, in the appropriate color. I tested blue in the highbeam and it was quite nice."4 SMD"Did not do well with illuminating gauges to stock bulb levels. Works well for lighting up indicators. Recommend for indicators, in the appropriate color. I tested blue in the highbeam and it was quite nice."5 SMD with side emitters"This bulb actually works very well for our gauges with their side emitters. The bulb is about the right side to fit into the cluster without hitting anything The taller ones with 9 emitters won't fit. I'm not sure the front facing emitter even does anything useful. Now I do have two different brightness levels of these bulbs. The ones that I got from ebay and shipped from California are brighter than the stock bulbs. The ones I got from China about twice as bright, which makes dimming them much needed, but great for daytime driving. These are too tall and sit up close to the lower cluster indicators, causing a hotspot in the middle so I cannot recommend them for that use.My FindingsAfter removing the green bulb filters, I found that the needles and odometer light up nicely in white, with the gauges still green. I tested "4500k" and "5000k" LEDs (more like 4000 and 5500). There are no reflectors in the cluster so a lot of light is lost. Note that the pictures below are all taken from my phone. When a new CF card comes in from Amazon, hopefully tomorrow, I'll retake pictures of the final product.Inserting a "warm white" (color temperature is more neutral than warm) 5-emitter into the center of the cluster:Inserting a "cool white" 5-emitter into the center of the cluster:Since I had plenty of cool whites, I installed 5 for illumination and got this:It looks pretty good, but the edges, especially along the top gauges, are pretty dim. Next came out the aluminum foil and silicone.There is more light, but a lot of it is getting in the side and washing out the color of the gauge. You do need SOME of this side light to light up the needle's position. Only the speedometer and tachometer have needles that are clear, allowing light to penetrate them. I'm thinking of using some type of clear strip adhered to the gauges, or cluster face, to block most light, but still allow a little through for needle illumination.Odd issue with turn signalsI noticed it before, but I figured I had a bulb issue. It turns out, my left and right turn signal "lenses" that are in the cluster's face are different materials. One allows much more light through, and appears a much brigther green. I have no idea why this is, but you can see the differences. If you look at the bulbs in the reflector picture above, you can see the bulbs I used to give me simialr brightness and color...it's a dumb workaround, but it'll do for now.What I recommend:Illumination: 5-SMD bulbs in green if keeping the cluster filters, or standard white otherwiseHighbeams and turn signal: Any of the bulbs work well, but the 5, 4, and 8-SMD bulbs are brighter, so stick with themLower indicator bulbs: 4-SMD or 8-SMD flat bulbs to provide a lot of even forward-facing light. Yes I am using some 5-SMD ones in the above picture until my other colored LEDs come in Quote Selected
Stock gauge illumination modifications Reply #1 – October 12, 2012, 09:50:21 AM Can I ask for a noob graphic? A pic of the bare cluster and the lights circled with which they are for your recommendation. Quote Selected
Stock gauge illumination modifications Reply #2 – October 12, 2012, 10:47:08 AM I will try. In a few weeks I'll have tons of spares and can sell leftovers to anyone at cost per bulb. I purchased many of them in larger quantities (10-packs) to get a cheaper rate per bulb. I'd expect the total cost to be around $1 per bulb, so $11 in parts. I don't need a hundred of these things laying around...I made a complete order from China (along with newer 37/74/T5 bulbs than what I have) last weekend, then just wanted to get the cluster back into the car soon so I purchased more from California to get them shipped here quickly. I will compare my batches from there, to the stuff I've recently received from California, to see if they're matched in output in any way. The last bulbs I got from China were last year and things change.I will also be swapping out the other bulbs in the dash to revisit what works best. I initially tried all this over 5 years ago, but at the time, nothing was to satisfaction for the cluster or dash lights. I still have all those useless, and at the time expensive, dim bulbs sitting in a box. Quote Selected
Stock gauge illumination modifications Reply #3 – October 12, 2012, 11:05:33 AM But do they dim? Quote Selected
Stock gauge illumination modifications Reply #4 – October 12, 2012, 11:33:27 AM Thanks for the thread Quote Selected
Stock gauge illumination modifications Reply #5 – October 12, 2012, 12:23:09 PM Quote from: EricCoolCats;400337But do they dim? They all dim perfectly fine, surprisingly. Well not that surprising, but I turned the voltage down and they dimmed nicely from 12v, down to about 7.8v where they were off. High power leds I use work well from 2.5v up to 3.4v, so limiting output by voltage will also limit the current due to characteristics of the leds themselves. When I last used some IN the car, the dimmer is obviously more sensitive as the stock incandescent bulbs would dim from 14v, all the way down to 0v. You get almost 1/2 of the dimmer's movement to do the dimming, rather than all of it. This COULD be modified by making some changes to the dimmer, but *shrug*, not worth the hassle (yet). Hell, I may modify that just because I can, if anyone wants a step by step guide on it.I think my CF card is arriving today so I can get REAL pictures again - phone cameras are AWFUL, especially with low light. I could sure use a new digicam with decent video recording capabilities due to the customization they offer, but for any video, my canon camcorder will have to do. A used 7D would be nice for a cheap all-around crop body, since canon is releasing even newer models lately.Anyway, I'll get what I can, when I can. Quote Selected
Stock gauge illumination modifications Reply #6 – October 19, 2012, 02:57:29 AM I pulled the cluster apart again to take care of the turn signals. Turns out that one side had TWO lenses installed, not just one. I popped one off and the two are now equal to one another in output and color. They look great.My 5-bulb white emitters from China arrived today. They are a MUCH better color temperature (white with no hint of blue) than the ones I got from a seller in California, and over twice as bright. They also run cooler. Great all around. I'll have to order a bunch more due to the quality of the bulbs. I love how everything looks in the car, OTHER than the check engine light which I had to use a white LED due to the weak output of the orange LEDs. I assume I'll be doing one last set of tests when all my China bulbs arrive, but it's pretty good as is. Everything is brighter and colors are more vibrant. Quote Selected
Stock gauge illumination modifications Reply #7 – October 19, 2012, 11:06:55 PM Great thread seek, let me know when you're ready to take a cluster ship to you and modify it so it'll be in time for my son's Christmas present. Thanks manJust kidding but I thought maybe since you're mastering all this eventually will get a decent parts list, I would enjoy doing the LED swap like you're doing throughout the whole car. Me and Mason were staring at these pictures earlier and in awe Quote Selected
Stock gauge illumination modifications Reply #8 – October 19, 2012, 11:56:22 PM Quote from: jcassity;400801Great thread seek, let me know when you're ready to take a cluster ship to you and modify it so it'll be in time for my son's Christmas present. Thanks manJust kidding but I thought maybe since you're mastering all this eventually will get a decent parts list, I would enjoy doing the LED swap like you're doing throughout the whole car. Me and Mason were staring at these pictures earlier and in awe If I ever get a CNC router done and figured out, I'd love to offer some units with better LED protection and heatsinking. Engine parts are tempting me, but I have to try to put those thoughts on hold until I just go all out with a new longblock. I THINK I can get a small CNC up and running fairly soon, I hope to be able to do 12x12x4" work at the very minimum. I can't splurge for a CNC mill to do plastics well, although it would be awesome to be able to do that also.I will need something soon if I am to try creating heatsinking for LED dome and map lights, and eventually LED powered headlights behind projectors. There are other ways to do headlights with cutoff than a projector though.Yes, I do get a lot of spare parts around here...I need a REAL workshop with space for all these things. Quote Selected
Stock gauge illumination modifications Reply #9 – October 20, 2012, 12:31:15 AM Quote from: Soul;400335Can I ask for a noob graphic? A pic of the bare cluster and the lights circled with which they are for your recommendation. The 8-emitter front facing ones are quite bright with the 4-emitter ones, which are much dimmer, still being brighter than stock bulbs. I think brighter the better for indicators. Note that the 8-emitter yellow/orange/amber bulb for the "check engine" light is still dimmer than the 4-emitter bulbs. Yellow just sucks for LEDs. White makes the check engine look pretty poor, red works quite well as it easily gets through the orange color filter.For white 5-emitter primary illumination bulbs, I recommend the ones from buy100.electronik on eBay. VERY nice color temperature and very bright. Quote Selected
Stock gauge illumination modifications Reply #10 – October 20, 2012, 01:04:33 AM Here is the cluster in the car: Quote Selected
Stock gauge illumination modifications Reply #11 – October 20, 2012, 07:36:47 AM Looks like that High beam indicator would burn a hole straight through you. Too bright for an indicator that stays on, the rest looks tits. Quote Selected
Stock gauge illumination modifications Reply #12 – October 20, 2012, 03:47:37 PM Quote from: TheFoeYouKnow;400811Looks like that High beam indicator would burn a hole straight through you. Too bright for an indicator that stays on, the rest looks tits. I was worried about that, so I'm actually not using my brightest bulbs. It's a lot dimmer than the digital voltmeter I was previous using (now unhooked, but still mounted to dash), and MUCH less annoying than some other cars' interior illumination (screens with low-brightness modes...).I don't use highbeams much where I live, so I don't know if it'll bug me. When I actually get some time behind the wheel with high beams on, then I'll decide what to do. I agree with you on this though - my voltmeter I placed duct tape over and it was still too bright! Quote Selected
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