SMD LEDs for the Binnacle/Dash Lights

[1batt4u]

I had blue Led's in my binacle 2 years ago, but I went back to white. It was just... too blue, it felt uncomfortable in my eyes.
But by putting them back to white, I forgot the day-counter. But afterwards, I kind of like it that way. I have blue lights in my doors, and in my console, it all blends in very nicely now. Especially with my new blue digital clock.

John

When you say blue leds, you mean actual blue, or the cool white, that kinda look blue??

[john 05141]

Logo on the wheel?
The one in the picture is my old one. (SS) just glued on the wheel.
I have a new one in leather.... way better. I got it via Welmoed!
When the fresh leather center pad was installed, the steering wheel looked too "old" so I got it recovered, not it is top notch. The first picture shows the new pad before the wheel was recovered.



John

[thirdmanj]

Logo on the wheel?
The one in the picture is my old one. (SS) just glued on the wheel.
I have a new one in leather.... way better. I got it via Welmoed!
When the fresh leather center pad was installed, the steering wheel looked too "old" so I got it recovered, not it is top notch. The first picture shows the new pad before the wheel was recovered.



John

Well, well, that does look good! Great looking job!

[aludden]

When you say blue leds, you mean actual blue, or the cool white, that kinda look blue??

I'm looking to put actual blue, not cool white.

[aludden]

5x WLED-W-120 (binnacle: backlighting)

My thinking is I'll try these WLED-W-120's in the dash lighting and if they suck, it was only 7 bucks and I'll get these flashy SMD bulbs you got. My personal concern is that I don't want the dash to be mega-bright as I have bad night vision as it is, and without the ability to dim it I might get myself into trouble

Hello jawn,
How did the WLED-W-120 work out for you on the backlighting? These are the single-LED, right? I also don't want a super-bright dash (but I do want to try blue, so I would get the WLED-B-120). Was the brightness "just right" for you?

[jawn101]

Hello jawn,
How did the WLED-W-120 work out for you on the backlighting? These are the single-LED, right? I also don't want a super-bright dash (but I do want to try blue, so I would get the WLED-B-120). Was the brightness "just right" for you?

Yes, very pleased overall. Brighter and cleaner/clearer than stock but not so bright as to cause me vision problems at night. I can see the gauges clearly at a glance but ignore them when I want to be watching the road. Exactly what I wanted

[aludden]

Yes, very pleased overall. Brighter and cleaner/clearer than stock but not so bright as to cause me vision problems at night. I can see the gauges clearly at a glance but ignore them when I want to be watching the road. Exactly what I wanted

Cool! I'll give these a try. I usually have my dash dimmed.
This whole project is taking longer than I thought! I am finding some of my external light sockets are corroded, so I need to replace them as well as the lights.

[john 05141]

Darn, I forgot to answer the cool white question.

My first leds were actually blue. On the pictures you see cool-white LED's.
Word of advice dough, put the LED's in, connect the binacle, turn lights on in the dark and see if you like it. I had to take the whole binacle out to replace them again. I do not know about you, but I do not like to lay on my back in the footawells to remove the binacle.

So give yourself the option to change it again. I like the blue light tones in a Delorean, but too blue... is just too much. (my opinion)


John

[jawn101]

Darn, I forgot to answer the cool white question.

My first leds were actually blue. On the pictures you see cool-white LED's.
Word of advice dough, put the LED's in, connect the binacle, turn lights on in the dark and see if you like it. I had to take the whole binacle out to replace them again. I do not know about you, but I do not like to lay on my back in the footawells to remove the binacle.

So give yourself the option to change it again. I like the blue light tones in a Delorean, but too blue... is just too much. (my opinion)


John

+1 on putting the lamps in and testing carefully before reinstalling the binnacle. The LED bulbs for this application (at least the ones I got from SuperBrightLEDs) are polarized and it is completely not indicated by the binnacle which direction you should install them, since the incandescent bulbs are not polarized. You may get lucky or you may need to reverse a few of them. Test all your warning lights as well, you want to be sure you can rely on them. Don't replace the battery lamp with LED, keep it with the correct incandescent bulb.

[john 05141]

+1 again.
I only replaced the lights. All warning lights are still original in my case.

John