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| question about instrumentation back lights? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sat Feb 8, 2014 10:26 am (365 Views) | |
| seancaine05 | Sat Feb 8, 2014 10:26 am Post #1 |
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Newbie
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Hi guys I was wondering if I could ask some expert opinion about this matter? The back lights of my instrumentations on the dash board have become quite dim even if I ajust the dimmer....people tell me that they convert the back lights to a led bulb which makes it brighter...should I go through with the conversion or should I just stick and look for original bulbs....Thanks your input would be a great help. |
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| barretts02 | Sat Feb 8, 2014 11:32 am Post #2 |
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Part of things
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My instruments were quite dim on the original bulbs and that was partly because the light from the bulbs travels along a light guide/bit of clear plastic to where it needs to be. Unfortunately standard filament bulbs get quite hot and they had melted the ends of the light guides which was making everything seem dimmer. so even brand new replacement filament bulbs wouldn't have helped The only solution for me would have been to go for more powerful bulbs which would melt things even quicker and would only fix the problem for a few weeks before the guides melted even more, then there is the risk of blowing fuses, and a possible chance of fire, not sure how likely that is to be honest, but still - not a risk I wanted to take. Get a new instrument cluster or new light guides (if they're available seperately) or go for more powerful LEDs. I picked the easiest option and went for LEDs Although the dimmer function no longer works because of the current draw being much lower which isn't really an issue for me personally but you might dislike it.
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| kentronix | Sat Feb 8, 2014 8:10 pm Post #3 |
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I'm only really here for the Kitchens
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I removed my cluster,filed the end of the clear plastic light guide flat again and polished it nice and clear, it made a big difference. LED will give your cluster a slightly whiter more modern look which personally I dont think suits it. |
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| barretts02 | Sat Feb 8, 2014 8:33 pm Post #4 |
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Part of things
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Filing and polishing probably would have been a good idea, might do that at some point. You can get warm white LEDs that are almost a perfect match for filament bulbs in terms of colour. The "warm" has nothing to do with heat output, its just a term used to differentiate it from the standard "Cool" white LEDs, which if you want to keep originality wouldn't suit the interior very well. |
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| Jure | Sun Feb 9, 2014 6:34 am Post #5 |
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More than part of things
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Those LED lights. Are they 'plug and play' thing or do you have to adjust anything (wiring maybe) before intalling? |
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| barretts02 | Sun Feb 9, 2014 11:39 am Post #6 |
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Part of things
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You don't have to adjust anything for these. The only thing you have to watch out for is polarity. If they don't work, take them out and turn them around 180 degrees and they'll work. |
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Although the dimmer function no longer works because of the current draw being much lower which isn't really an issue for me personally but you might dislike it.


3:21 PM Jul 11