Your experience with LED bulbs? Options

[Hezz]

I've had the superbrightleds.com 5 way white 194 in my gauge cluster for a month now. They are bright but not shocking, and they do dim fine so far.

[2bcelica]

I just replaced my cluster bulbs with White HP5 LEDs from superbrightleds.com

Here is a photo and video of how they look. I think I might get two more that are bighter then these to replace the left and right gauge. The middle is bright enough.

[samir0189]

^^ 2bcelica, Are you sure the right and left gauges are even lighting? I think LEDs can only go in one way (polarity?), and maybe if you installed those two backwards, they are not lighting at all, and the two side gauges are being lit only by the indirect light from the center 194.

Reverse the bulbs in the socket and check! I dont understand how the bulbs can be the same and receiving the same power and light so poorly.

You can switch it around and plug in the harnesses and see if they light before you bolt it back in the dash.

This post has been edited by samir0189: Sep 1, 2009 - 8:41 AM

[95CelicaST]

I purchased mine from http://www.autolumination.com and they've been great. I've had them in for a couple months now without a reduction in light quality, and I've used my dimmer often with no ill effects.

[2bcelica]

^^ 2bcelica, Are you sure the right and left gauges are even lighting? I think LEDs can only go in one way (polarity?), and maybe if you installed those two backwards, they are not lighting at all, and the two side gauges are being lit only by the indirect light from the center 194.

Reverse the bulbs in the socket and check! I dont understand how the bulbs can be the same and receiving the same power and light so poorly.

You can switch it around and plug in the harnesses and see if they light before you bolt it back in the dash.

Yep, Checked and triple checked - before putting things back in - all three bulbs lite up, but doesn't come through very well on the beams gauge I guess, so might need more LED's on those other two bulbs

[samir0189]

mann that sucks.

and 95celicast, $9/bulb is CRAZZZZYYYY! Are they worth that? lol.

[95CelicaST]

Is it worth buying once and not worrying about it for a long time? Yes.

The 5LED matrix bulbs are what I have. They're $7 each. A hefty price? Maybe, but they're non-polar lights and they work well, hands down. I had them in my last gauge cluster (swapped between two Celicas) for way over a year and had zero problems, and if I hadn't sold the car I bet they would still be working fine.

[ChfNix]

Hey, I ordered some of the ones from superbrightleds.com, and they look amazing!! They were $5.95 apiece, but I think $18 is a fair price to pay for as good as they look!! However one of them didn't work, so we'll see how their customer service is...

[ChfNix]

So here is a pic of my gauges with the superbrightleds.com LED's installed on the left and center and a aftermarket "blue" 194 bulb on the right, look at the difference!!!


This post has been edited by ChfNix: Oct 11, 2009 - 11:41 AM

[ChfNix]

So here it is, I think the color I chose for the clock is still to dark, I think I'm gonna go one brighter...


This post has been edited by ChfNix: Oct 11, 2009 - 11:43 AM