Improve those dash lights
When I restored the dash in my 68 Cuda about 10 yrs. ago I upgraded the light bulbs to the best I could find at that time. Unfortunately even they were a pitiful excuse for dash lighting. The factory bulbs were part # 168 and the only upgrade I could find at that time was bulb #194. These barely put out enough light for me to see the speedometer at night if I squinted and looked close. Last year a buddy of mine bought a Jaguar and I noticed it had bulbs that looked just like the 168/194 bulb but seemed brighter. I did some research and found the part # was 2825. When I went to buy some I also found the new LED bulbs by the same part number so I grabbed some 2825 incandescent bulbs as well as some LED bulbs and set up my dash on a bench hooked up to a regulated 13.8v power supply and tried each bulb taking pics to show the difference.
The first picture is with the 194 bulbs. The second picture is with the 2825 incandescent bulbs and the last picture is with the 2825 LED bulbs.
I also did a current draw test to see how each faired. The 194's pulled 240 milliamps each. The 2825's pulled 340 milliamps each. The LED's require very little power to light them only pulling 45 milliamps per bulb. Since there's 4 bulbs that light the dash cluster that means the required amps just dropped from about an amp with the 194 bulbs to less than 1/4 amp with the LED's. You will see in the pics I left my oil pressure gauge lit to help comparing the dash bulb brightness to
Let's look at the pro's and cons of each bulb
Stock bulbs-
Pro's-Cheap
Con's-Did a terrible job lighting up the speedo and gauges for night driving.
2825 bulbs
Pro's- They are brighter, but it's not a huge difference. I think with these I'd be able to see the speedo and gauges at night but with no brightness to spare.
Con's-Not real cheap at $5 a bulb and they drew nearly 1/2 amp more current to light them.
LED bulbs
Pro's-They put out significantly more light while using less than 1/4 of the energy and LED"s are known to last a real long time. The ones I bought had a lifetime warrantee.
Con's-At $10 each (from O'Reilly's) their pretty pricey. But they do have a lifetime warranty.
In the end I think it was well worth the $40 for LED's. Last night we went to a cruise out of town and it was the first time driving it at night with the LED's. All I can say is WOW!. Tremendous difference. I have absolutely no problem seeing the speedo and gauges good now and the cool blue look is easy on the eyes.
If your lighting isn't real dim an upgrade to the 2825's might suit you but if their like mine the LED's are the way to go
BTW: my car has all new wiring and switches so there was no voltage drop causing the dim dash lights. They were receiving a full supply of voltage. The bulbs were just inadequate IMO.
You'll also notice the LED's seem to throw off blue light. They don't really throw off blue light but I guess what is happening is the incandescent lights throw off a yellowish light and where they snap into is a blue lens so just like mixing yellow paint with blue paint you get green. The LED"s throw off a pure white light so it doesn't change color when going through the blue lens
One last thing. LED's are polarized so they have to be installed correctly to work. If you install them backward you won't hurt them, they just won't light up
When I restored the dash in my 68 Cuda about 10 yrs. ago I upgraded the light bulbs to the best I could find at that time. Unfortunately even they were a pitiful excuse for dash lighting. The factory bulbs were part # 168 and the only upgrade I could find at that time was bulb #194. These barely put out enough light for me to see the speedometer at night if I squinted and looked close. Last year a buddy of mine bought a Jaguar and I noticed it had bulbs that looked just like the 168/194 bulb but seemed brighter. I did some research and found the part # was 2825. When I went to buy some I also found the new LED bulbs by the same part number so I grabbed some 2825 incandescent bulbs as well as some LED bulbs and set up my dash on a bench hooked up to a regulated 13.8v power supply and tried each bulb taking pics to show the difference.
The first picture is with the 194 bulbs. The second picture is with the 2825 incandescent bulbs and the last picture is with the 2825 LED bulbs.
I also did a current draw test to see how each faired. The 194's pulled 240 milliamps each. The 2825's pulled 340 milliamps each. The LED's require very little power to light them only pulling 45 milliamps per bulb. Since there's 4 bulbs that light the dash cluster that means the required amps just dropped from about an amp with the 194 bulbs to less than 1/4 amp with the LED's. You will see in the pics I left my oil pressure gauge lit to help comparing the dash bulb brightness to
Let's look at the pro's and cons of each bulb
Stock bulbs-
Pro's-Cheap
Con's-Did a terrible job lighting up the speedo and gauges for night driving.
2825 bulbs
Pro's- They are brighter, but it's not a huge difference. I think with these I'd be able to see the speedo and gauges at night but with no brightness to spare.
Con's-Not real cheap at $5 a bulb and they drew nearly 1/2 amp more current to light them.
LED bulbs
Pro's-They put out significantly more light while using less than 1/4 of the energy and LED"s are known to last a real long time. The ones I bought had a lifetime warrantee.
Con's-At $10 each (from O'Reilly's) their pretty pricey. But they do have a lifetime warranty.
In the end I think it was well worth the $40 for LED's. Last night we went to a cruise out of town and it was the first time driving it at night with the LED's. All I can say is WOW!. Tremendous difference. I have absolutely no problem seeing the speedo and gauges good now and the cool blue look is easy on the eyes.
If your lighting isn't real dim an upgrade to the 2825's might suit you but if their like mine the LED's are the way to go
BTW: my car has all new wiring and switches so there was no voltage drop causing the dim dash lights. They were receiving a full supply of voltage. The bulbs were just inadequate IMO.
You'll also notice the LED's seem to throw off blue light. They don't really throw off blue light but I guess what is happening is the incandescent lights throw off a yellowish light and where they snap into is a blue lens so just like mixing yellow paint with blue paint you get green. The LED"s throw off a pure white light so it doesn't change color when going through the blue lens
One last thing. LED's are polarized so they have to be installed correctly to work. If you install them backward you won't hurt them, they just won't light up
