jbs Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Could any of you fine people here on the forum advise me where to get some super bright red led's for my dash clock light's please, I fancy a change to green or even blue of the same as what Simonb is selling on e-bay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=160448067382&Category=31348&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D2#ht_978wt_1137 I've been pulling what little hair I have left out trying to find some, I did look on the site that Simon sent me to but for the life of me I couldn't locate them on there Could anyone help me in what I'd love to get hold of Please? Many thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Have a look round this place. http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/automotive-bulbs-c-101.html?osCsid=cb1347ae0311180775aca25fb42f57fe HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted June 26, 2010 Author Share Posted June 26, 2010 Mike, Thanks for your reply-that's the place he pointed me to go and look at and as yet I still can't find them perhaps I'm not seeing the woods for the trees so to speak John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted June 26, 2010 Author Share Posted June 26, 2010 Ok I think I may have found some but how bright is 50 Lumen Light output? and thanks again Mike I really do appreciate any help with this John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimjim Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Hi John, I have a 50 lumen LED headtorch and it is painful to look directly at it. Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Do you really want super-bright dash lights? It would annoy the hell out of me, and be really unhelpful driving in proper darkness. My new stereo in the freebie has really bright blue lights and that is enough to be irritating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted June 27, 2010 Author Share Posted June 27, 2010 Fridge, It's not that I need super bright dash light's-the one's I found on the site I was directed to-twice by two different people(As I couldn't see the wood for the trees) say they have 50 lumen light output and seeing as I have absolutely zero knowledge of LED's and the brightness of them I was wondering how bright they were, what I'm after is red dash lights instead of either the normal Green one's or even the Blue ones someone else is selling on e-bay, I like the idea of having red ones and have been looking for some for some time now, I bought some supposed red LED's off e-bay the last time I was at home and it turn's out that really they shine pink and they're not bright enough to see the dash lights you can just about make out that there is a round thing in front of you but not what it's supposed to be telling you Hence my "quest" for a better word to find ones that do the job, but like you say one's that are not super bright, I too have really bright stereo light's-luckily I can close the lid on cubby box to hide them at night Many thanks again guy's all help is appreciated John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quagmire Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Fridge- does your head unit have an option to dim? If it's a Sony it probably will as mine is about 3 years old and allows me to dim it. Although I do have a wiring glitch that seems to cut all power to the flipping thing once every 4 weeks or so at random, and I end up having to reset everything Anyway- back to the topic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sparkes Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Red is supposed to be a 'safe' colour to use at night, without harming your night vision, but of course that does depend on the output being a good red, not white shining pink through an inadequate red coating. 'No' customers have the ability to measure Lumens so assessing the validity of a manufacturers claim is always going to be difficult. Cynically, the output may be 50 lumens when the LED casing was clear, but once it goes red the output will be a lot less. For an example, take the red cover off a brake or tail light and look at the lit clear bulb, then replace the cover and see the reduction in perceived light. LEDs can always be dimmed by adding a resistor in series, to run on reduced voltage. By looking at the current draw (if given in the spec)you can calculate a value to half the voltage. As LEDs are low current you don't waste a lot of power, and you don't need high power resistors. You still don't know how bright you need in your application. Are your LEDs directly visible? Instrument bulbs are never very effective lights, because the light path from bulb to clock face is indirect, so a bright red led hidden inside an instrument case may well be OK. You are going to have to buy some and see. Alternative suppliers are electronic stores rather than automotive stores, start with Maplins, but also try RSComponents or CPC / Farnells. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Ok I think I may have found some but how bright is 50 Lumen Light output? and thanks again Mike I really do appreciate any help with this John all about what Lumen is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_(unit) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted June 27, 2010 Author Share Posted June 27, 2010 David, Many thanks for your reply, I will buy some and try them-it was as you pointed out for the night vision thing as any other colour will indeed screw it up, Even though I know that when we drive at night the possibility of losing what night vision we have will be because of other vehicles coming the other way, it will make driving at night a little better as I won't have the glare from the dash clocks, the same way really as I do with my satnav(I dim the display at night to save getting any glare from the screen and it'd maybe distract me from driving)when travelling somewhere that I haven't been before, I agree with what you've said about the LED's not being in direct view and this may dim the brightness which may just work, If anyone else has any input please feel free to add to this all advice is greatly appreciated John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 I have cold white superbright LED's in my instruments.....I'm thinking of changing to red after the comments on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted June 27, 2010 Author Share Posted June 27, 2010 Mike, these are the ones I'm thinking of buying http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/501194t10-mini-light-tower-leds-p-1547.html Hence my questions of how bright 50 lumen's were, I'm sure if you or anyone else get's to buy these before I do please let me know if they do illuminate sufficiently and not too bright either, All I want is to be able to see the clock's and be able to see them and what they say and not be blinded by the glare so to speak by the brightness of them Thanks all John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 John As you know I have Weetabix for breakfast. Trouble is I can't remember what I had this morning.........I know the whites I have are good. They illuminate the speedo well. I'm talking, I hope, to Robert tomorrow. I'll let you know what he says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted August 11, 2010 Author Share Posted August 11, 2010 Here is the end result all as I got these from e-bay and had them sent to a friends house whilst I've been away working This is exactly what I was after- A tad bright but all the same they're red John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 That looks good, and not too bad for the LEDs 'focusing' the beam and giving patches of bright and dark. It does look quite bright overall though. Have you got the spec of the LEDs you bought? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted August 12, 2010 Author Share Posted August 12, 2010 Here is the link from the people I got them from off of e-bay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220642847627&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_2995wt_911 It gives you the spec's etc on there One thing to note is that I had to remove the green bulb bowls in the clock housing completely, then attach the bulbs into the housing via tape-it was the only way I could get them to stay in there, I ordered 6 of them and to be honest I should've ordered two more as I had one blow on me and one break where the wire come's from out of the back of the led unit itself-the speedo clock only has one of the led's in it they all sit inside the housing's All in all I think they're pretty good for what they are-and they did what I wanted them too and I'll see how long they last, The other thing is when I went to order the led's from the "ultraled" place I could'nt get the website to let me pay for them so I had to look elsewhere e-bay was the other option as it was one of the link's that came up on google John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crclifford Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 One thing to note is that I had to remove the green bulb bowls in the clock housing completely, then attach the bulbs into the housing via tape-it was the only way I could get them to stay in there, I ordered 6 of them and to be honest I should've ordered two more as I had one blow on me and one break where the wire come's from out of the back of the led unit itself-the speedo clock only has one of the led's in it they all sit inside the housing's John John, Have you got any images of how you wired them up? Did you have to remove the bulb holder or do the ones you brought fit in to the existing bulb holders? Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted August 12, 2010 Author Share Posted August 12, 2010 Chris, the led's just plug into the existing electrical socketed ends as per the original bulbs, I did indeed remove the bulb holder as they would only go into the housing so far but not far enough, And I also removed the green plastic shield from the inside too as it was rattling about inside the housing, And even though they're held in by duck tape they still are bright enough as seen in the photo's HTH John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Do these LEDs have an internal resistor then, or are you planning on replacing them often? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickwilliams Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 One thing to note is that I had to remove the green bulb bowls in the clock housing completely On mine, the green domes have disintegrated entirely so I'm left with the bulb holders (loosely) held in place by being cable tied to the gauge wiring. Does any one have any sources of replacement bulb holders which will fit snugly in the ~14mm holes in the back of the instruments? Nick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted August 12, 2010 Author Share Posted August 12, 2010 Nick, I think if you look for deflan on e-bay(simonb on here) he sells the bits to use to get around missing bulb holders etc drop him a line and see if can help and as regards to the resistors on the led's I have no idea mate all I know at £1.00 for two of them If I need to replace them It won't be too expensive from what I can see-lets hope not though!! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickdulas Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Could you fit a dimmer switch into the circuit, as I'm sure I remember having a car (jag??) which had one ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted August 12, 2010 Author Share Posted August 12, 2010 If you can-does anyone know how? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtyninety Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 If you can-does anyone know how? John If memory serves me correctly the bulbs all run off the same 12volt supply? (correct me if im wrong!) Thus if you cut the main feed wire that takes power to the LEDs then solder in a standard 12volt variable resister you will have a dimming function. You will see most variable resisters have 3 pin, you will only use 2 of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.