Hello Fchatters. Finally I've resumed all the work started by Chairpilot and me about the dash lights upgrade to LED. I hope you will find it useful. I've made one change for my previous version, so this one is the V1.1. If you find any mistake, please let me know and I will resend the new version corrected. I've attached the first version from this file to another open thread, so please, download this one -corrected-, and throw away the first one. Cheers Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm taking a look for you. Will report back. My I suggest you show exactly what lights (LEDS) need to be modified and show how to do it: BEFORE and AFTER pics should work. My 2 Cents. P.S. Darn Good Work.
Super work and professional write up. Question: Several places you note "bulb (or led) too long but can just not shove it in all the way" Is there any danger in a bulb not fully inserted from falling out with vibration?
Paul. Thanks for the comments. On the small gauges -clock, as example-, there is not enough room for a standard LED bulb -length-, so we must insert here a very short one, or a sided LED beam one. I will try to post comparison photos. On your next question, there's no danger because you must insert the LED bulb as you do with a filament bulb -they have the same bayonet type BA9s, or T5-. So no question. If you have a incandescent bulb not inserted, it doesn't light at all and it fall down. No sense -I hope to understand correctly your question-. If the bulb is fully inserted, the sping and the bayonet keep the bulb in place -the bayonet and the LED miniboard are soldered together-. Please, correct me if my answers are not quite correct. Regards
Thanks Mark! As you suggested, I will try to do some shots to post here, to explain the LED "surgery". Regards
A BIG Thank you !!! Members like you and others that take the time to put Info like this for all to use make Ferrari Chat a great site Keep up the Great work ! AL
I just did the switch and the difference is just amazing. I changed out all the indicator lights as well so that I hopefully never need to go into the dash again for a bulb change. I did find that one has to be very careful with the little blade type bulbs. The wire leads can come in two varietys. It is easy to correct the wrong one but look carefully to make sure the cathode and anode leads are on different sides of the blade. One variety is wired wrong for our application.It has both on both sides and will cause a short and blown fuse. Oh, it also causes a little wiff of smoke. I have included a crude diagram to show the different type of blade wire configurations. Image Unavailable, Please Login
You can see the result of my final dash led upgrade on this thread: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=141934666#post141934666
For the BA9s short and T5 wedge bulbs, you identify specific lengths (22mm or 19mm). Are these the max length or simply the length of the bulbs you purchased? Cheers!
There are green coloured LEDs but I have no idea if they would preserve the "green" color. The plastic inside is blue but combined with the yellow incandescent bulbs gave off a greenish tint. If the bulbs had been brighter then the light cast would have been blue-er. Seems the instrument designer put blue in for one reason but specified the bulbs for another otherwise why not use green plastic inside? An idea might be to use a wratten filter over the plastic to alter the color but it would take experimenting to get it correct. These are available from photo supply houses. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hello John. If you want to keep the original green colour you must buy led bulbs with white warm light -yellowish-, about 3.500/4.000 k light temperature. Remember green light=warm white led. If you buy white cool light led bulbs -pure white, about 6.500 k light temperature colour- you will get the blue dash colour. Remember blue light=cool white led. Why? Because on the inside the gauges have a blue transparent plastic ring that filters the light of the bulbs. So: -Yellowish light+blue plastic filter=green light -Pure white light+blue plastic filter=blue light My 2 cents
Hi Greg. These lengths are from the bulbs I've tested. If you check the Chairpilot's depth chart you will find that you have 29/30 mm room for the BA9, depending of the bulb function.
Thank you! What I've found in some cases is the bulbs you/others purchased from Ebay are not available. It would be really nice if there was a chart of "verified" LED bulbs from a store (SuperBrightLEDs or LEDlight.com) to purchase. Maybe there is and I just haven't read far enough yet... Appreciate your help!
Hi Greg. I usually buy the leds from Ebay or from DX.com. Try a search keeping in mind the maximum length and diameter allowed. On further testings and improvements I've done some modding on led bulbs to convert T10 into BA9, in order to find more light power -mainly for the tacho. Now the most powerful led chips are the new Samsung 5630; the standard 5050 are a little bit less brighter.
Hi again guys. I'm resurrecting again this thread. Peakbagger asked me to upload again my "How to dash lights guide" for the 308 Quattrovalvole. The new FChat seems to have eaten my old PDF... So here it is! I recommend to take a look at the market of the new BA9 led bulbs. The new led bulbs are more powerful. This guide is 7 years old and there are a lot of new led chip. If I have time I will try to update the knowledge base about the new led bulbs. Forza!!! Not related but down the road, you can take a look at my 308 Bits Shapeways shop! I've a lot of nice keychains and Ferrari related stuff for our bad guys...
And this image shows my upgraded dash with new cool white led on the tacho, speedo and the three small gauges for gas level, temp and oil pressure. I suppose that it can be improved with the new led. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks for reposting the pdf. I have good intentions (if I ever muster enough courage) to do my dash lights (and oil pressure gauge upgrade) sometime in the future. This LED stuff is probably easy for you, unlike the rest of the confused masses (me). Updating the pdf with new bulb specs would be very helpful. I enjoy driving my car at night. Man! You have a lot of cool stuff on your Shapeways site!
