can't see new dashboard lights.. Options

[se99jmk]

So, after 3 attempts at ordering light bulbs (1x ebay, 1x random site, all offering dashboard bulbs), I found out i needed 501s, and 'lo, there are loads on the net.

I plumped for these babies: http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/product_info.ph...95e294389250244

but this is all i got:


-

-


I can;t bloody see the speed I'm going!
The pictures actually don;t do them justice, they are a perfect colour of purple, and marginally brighter, but anything generally beyond 40mph and I'm blind.

I had actually contacted the company in advance asking about dashboard use, which they said would be fine. Since buying and installing them, their response is:

"Jamie you bought uv / purple these are not bright lights to the naked eye
- we also have a 6 led version which is far brighter"

... not bright lights to the naked eye? then why tell me they're ok for the dash?
Also your ad says "Ultra Bright Wedge Base Led". Ultra bright? my ass.
Oh, and thanks for the offer of making me pay more, muchos gratias

The site says they're doing a stock take so won;t be open for calls until the 16th, and in the meantime won;t respond to emails.

DO NOT ORDER FROM ULTRALEDS.CO.UK

/rant

[blu94gt]

Wedge shaped? I think the problem isn't so much the brightness of the bulb, it's the angle that it emits the light. Like the 5 or 6 "matrix" LED's emit light to the sides and front to illuminate the needles and the entire gauge area. These look like they just shine light straight forward which is why the needle and a little bit of the gauge is getting light but not the rest.

[se99jmk]

Wedge shaped? I think the problem isn't so much the brightness of the bulb, it's the angle that it emits the light. Like the 5 or 6 "matrix" LED's emit light to the sides and front to illuminate the needles and the entire gauge area. These look like they just shine light straight forward which is why the needle and a little bit of the gauge is getting light but not the rest.

I think you're right, but so far I haven't been able to find a supplier of matrix bulbs, in 501 size, and in purple. that particular colour is proving a right pain in the proverbial..

[WannabeGT4]

http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/default.php?cPath=73
Red, White, or Blue. I haven't seen UV in the super wide angle style.

[jess_i_74]

All you need is about 25 of them, and you'll be set.

[Zimluura]

i've read (http://ledmuseum.org/ somewhere on there) that trying to focus on the light you *can* see from a UV led for too long can lead to minor but permanent eye damage.

i put a num74 uv led in for my highbeam light (not on very often, and regular blue doesn't stand out agaisnt blue everywhere like i have for back lighting).

but yeah, those are very very dim compared to everything else.

if you're dead set on purple (i don't blame you, it's a good color to go for)

what i'd do is this:

try getting several of these blue + red leds
http://www.ledsupply.com/l3-0-v5th15-1.html
only 15 degrees, but that just might be enough. haven't used them myself, but blue + red in a combined led can product good purple light.

then try to wire & solder 3 of them in a series with a resistor to a 194 bulb base.
then play around with the gauge cluster to see what angles the 3 lights need to be at ideally. then maybe use some kind of non-conductive glue (is glue normally conductive? anyone?) to bond them to the base permanently.

that should be brighter purple and not strain your eyes at all. but with only 15 degrees on each, and only 3 of them there's no telling. if you have steady enough hands you might be able to fit in more of them, but that makes a parallel circuit and those are more difficult to wire.

could also try matrix leds, going blue -> red -> blue to get a gradient with purple in it.

good luck

[se99jmk]

501 purple bulbs

I'm assuming that standard bulbs like these just wouldn;t cut it?

those uv bulbs i got did have a health warning on them, which is a concern, though it seems odd that the company recommended them bearing in mind they knew it was for a dash...

may have to go with zimluura's suggestion and make my own, though not liking the prospect of breaking out my fisher price soldering tools..

[Zimluura]

link didn't work.

i'm guessing it's a normal incandescent bulb with a purple coating on the glass, which would work ok. but it's yellow light being passed through a purple filter. usually when you do that it gives a much duller color (like a white-ish purple, or a purple-ish white).

going with leds will give you a really vibrant color.

on the topic of soldering, a normal pc power supply has a 5v and a 12v rail on each molex connector, so you should be able to use the 12v for testing purposes.

[se99jmk]

yup, standard bulb, just purple tinted.

From what I hear LED's are the way to go, and the ones I had bought gave the PERFECT colour, just didn;t actually light up the dash!

Company opening their phone lines monday, see if I can get some news from them..
They had also suggested these as being brighter, but they may give the same spot effect as before:
6 LED UltraBright UV Leds

Or would wide angled ones be better?
Wide angled UV led

at this point, I'm guessing another good option would be to go with purple bulb covers. Green ones came as stock, so it should be possible to obtain other colours.
I did a search on google, but only came up with red/yellow/blue/green.

Would they be called anything besides 'bulb cover', or would a bulb cover even make it too dark?

Messed around with some purple glass paint from a hobby store, but it just came out pink (and started smoking... tried it on a table lamp first rather than messing up my car)

[Zimluura]

i've had some luck with wide angle & inverted lens leds in blue, they both gave fairly even distribution, just dim. i'm guessing the uv ones would just be dimmer than that. also remember to watch out for eye-strain with them.

for bulb covers you might want to try lighting gells. which are plastic light filters they use in stage lighting. (this will also help you get your clock purple) it would be pretty tedious to make covers out of them but probably possible. or perhaps you could disassemble more of the gauge cluster and cover the actual back of the gauges with purple lighting gels.

overall i think custom blue+red leds would be the best (but probably most difficult) option.

[se99jmk]

Can anyone confirm if 501s and 194s are the same?

I found these:

194 bulbs
and they have various types of red/blue bulbs.

Can anyone recommend any of thier types? options include:
Translucent Focused Lenses 1LED
Clear Focused Lenses 1LED
Inverted Lenses 1LED
Clear Focused Lenses 4LED
Incandescent Bulbs (Purple)

I notice they also do Matrix bulbs in UV, which would be perfect though I'm worried about damaging my eyes with UV light. Even autolumination warned off using them in a dash.

What do you think guys?

[Zimluura]

i'd try getting
3x clear focused 4 led
and
3x inverted lens

i'd wager inverted lens leds will be ok (maybe a little dim, but you'll probably see everything ok). but i haven't used the clear-focused-4 leds and they might be better. also on that site they sell led headband lights, which are good for taking apart your dashboard while it's dark outside.

[se99jmk]

Just had a response back from autolumination, they're having some red/blue Matrix ones made!
60 day delay in recieving them, but it'll be worth it!

Although their website doesn't look like much, I really can;t fault their customer service, it's been friendly, efficient, and VERY fast!

May try and get my mits on a few of the others as you suggest for testing... mmm, comparison pics...