How to.....upgrade center console lamps

That's great, Gary. Can I just add that in series 1 cars, there are 4 gauges, and the end one is an ammeter which is LIVE, so disconnect the battery, or be very, very careful

 

Very cool! Thanks!

Same bulbs for speedo and tach?

 

It is hard to tell exactly how bright they are but would they be too right for driving on back country roads with no ambient light?

 

I assume the dimmer switch will no longer work with LED bulbs? I too wonder if they are now too bright if you can't dim them? I supposed there are various lumens available for the LED replacements.
Thanks for posting.

 

Good day Daren,

Indeed the dimmer may not work as intended, as the dimmer control is more of a voltage adjuster which is fine for incandescent bulbs... but not for LEDs. Why the original dimmer control will not work (well) with LEDs is because LEDs are current based devices and so the mechanism for dimming LEDs is a lot different. That being said the dimmer control may act more as a On/Off switch and/or have little dimming adjustment. To have full dimming capability, one would have to replace the dimming control with something a bit more sophisticated. When I get to my dash (someday) and and swap to LEDs I will be making a suitable LED Dimmer controller that will maintain the original dimmer control and when I am done I will share it with the forum.

Cheers,

Sam

 

Good day Gary,

As you mentioned going brighter may not be needed and what you have used looks suitable for this application. That being said one has to be aware of the limitations and weaknesses of LEDs when used in other applications. LEDs are indeed very efficient, but close attention has to be paid to remove the heat generated by them. LEDs have a relatively high heat density and so the final assembly/product has to be designed to remove this heat efficiently and quickly. If not, then the LED lifetime will be reduced dramatically (from years to months, days, hours). Since this application is relatively low power the LED heat dissipation and removal may not be a big deal and so these inexpensive LED bulbs may work fine for a long time. However, using larger and more powerful LEDs (for other applications, etc) this may not always be the case. As an example, I bought a few of the inexpensive LED replacements for my BMW's halos and they have all failed within a few months of use. From looking at the dead devices it looks to me that the failures were the result of or combination of:

1. a less expensive LED was used and the design operated it beyond what it was designed to do...Many Asian manufacturers do this so as to reduce manufacturing costs.

2. Inadequate heat sinking and/or insufficient or crappy thermal compound was used

3. LED drive circuitry was pretty basic and so there were no protections from over voltage, etc

Anyway, just a heads up...

Cheers,

Sam