DUH, about LED dash lights

[TrailBeast]

So over the weekend I thought I would install my new LED super white LED's in the dash.
I have all white guages including the speedometer so this seemed to be a good option and would also take some amperage load off the system.
The first thing that I ran across was while putting them in the original blade sockets was that some of them worked and some didn't.
In fooling around with them and checking voltage on the printed board I realized something.
The frikin things are specific about positive and ground
This means they only work one way in the socket and it was an easy fix to just turn the bulb socket 180 degrees and reinsert them. Duh

Now after all that, I HATE em

It's not too big a deal taking the dash bezel out except my guages are mechanical, so I had to disconnect the oil pressure guage line and the temp sender thermocouple tube (capillary) from the engine to get the bezel out far enough to get at the dash lights.


Did I mention that I hate em?
Even though the bulbs seem bright white when tested outside the dash, they have a light blue tint to them in the car.
The instrument cluster used to be blue on the inside, but I repainted it all white when I first put the white guages in.
Still, I am getting blue from somewhere, so I guess it's time to redo the entire cluster differently.

Just a little info about an LED experience.

 

[de69cuda]

Just curious, and maybe I missed it in a previous post, but which LED replacement bulbs are you using and where did you get them? I've looked at these for a while, but havent done anything with them yet: http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/ba9s-ba7s/ba9s-led-bulb-6-led-360-degree/8/
Most of the replacement LED's use the white-blue light LED emitters, but these seem to have a wamr white color available. Been watching the LED industry to see what they come up with as LED's are very directional compared to an incandescent bulb that radiates light 360 degrees. That and I don't have the money to try something that might not work.

 

[67Dart273]

In fooling around with them and checking voltage on the printed board I realized something.
The frikin things are specific about positive and ground
This means they only work one way in the socket.................

Yeh..........heh..........the "D" does stand for "diode," LOL

I don't use 'em either.

 

[69B-Cuda]

I bought some to put in my Barracuda... ended up using them for other non-car products because I didn't like them in my barracuda dash...

 

[BillGrissom]

I got a bunch of real cheap ones (~$1) on ebay about 2 yrs ago, from Hong Kong. Put in my 65 Dart cluster and they all lit, so either real lucky or orientation doesn't matter for mine. I like them. They aren't super bright, just bright enough, and the level adjusts fine with the head-lamp reostat. They give a slight bluish tint, which looks neat in my factory cluster, but that is surely a preference thing.

My speedo background is kind of yellowish, which I thought was degraded, but I now think was factory. Standard bulbs add more yellow, so the blue probably balances it well.

 

[805moparkid]

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=187437

 

[RedFish]

The blue tint comes from blue tinted diffusers in the panel. The OEM incandescent bulbs emit a yellowish light. The blue tint changes that to a greenish blue light.

 

[TrailBeast]

Just curious, and maybe I missed it in a previous post, but which LED replacement bulbs are you using and where did you get them? I've looked at these for a while, but havent done anything with them yet: http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/ba9s-ba7s/ba9s-led-bulb-6-led-360-degree/8/
Most of the replacement LED's use the white-blue light LED emitters, but these seem to have a wamr white color available. Been watching the LED industry to see what they come up with as LED's are very directional compared to an incandescent bulb that radiates light 360 degrees. That and I don't have the money to try something that might not work.

I got the ones that look like the pic below.
It's not that they didn't work well, I just don't like the light blue tint.

Yeh..........heh..........the "D" does stand for "diode," LOL

I don't use 'em either.

Double DUH!

The blue tint comes from blue tinted diffusers in the panel. The OEM incandescent bulbs emit a yellowish light. The blue tint changes that to a greenish blue light.

I did the entire inside of the cluster white when I changed to the white face guages, including the diffusers.
One thing that resulted I really like is my turn signal indicators on the dash used to be green, and the LEDS made them brilliant blue (almost neon looking) I'll keep those in there.