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L.E.D. 's for instrumentation .....

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George Zeck

George Zeck

Jedi Warrior
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Hi All -

In process of re-doing the interior and have good memory but poor lookup skills. I remember the webiste:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/led_prods.htm

Would like to know from those of you have attempted -- what bulb do I use (is it a swap out or do I need to re-wire) ??

I saw some that screw in like the orig - just really don't have a clue how to size this (physically & wattage). Been to some of the 'major parts' (AutoZone, etc ...) places and they all are clueless on this little bulb.

Any ideas on:
A) new LED's (including sizing & wattage)
B) sourcing for the 'old style' bulbs ????

Tx-

George Zeck

Sprite 1964 in pieces (it was together a week ago)
 
I think Frank C. indicated that he tried some of these Made In China POC's available from local standard chain auto parts store. They were immediately Clarici'd after failing in a short period of time. Cleaning up insides of instrument lamps seems to be the best way of getting some brightness back to dash instruments. Means taking apart, repai9nting the insides of the cans from rusty to bright white and changing out the yellowed difuser plastic wit hsomething a little more translucent. There are also hi intensity bulbs available from the usual sources that fit instrument lamps. I'd she away from LED's. That web site link says specifically, LED's aren't really as bright as incadesent bulbs just concentrate the light differently. Since we rely on diffused light to back light instruments I don't think that is the way to go.
 
OK, well. I cleaned and painted the inside of my gauges and did everything I could think of to increase visibility. I was not happy with the results. My gauges have e10 bases, so I bought a five white-led cluster and installed them. They were only slightly brighter than the incandescents, but the color of the light made it easier to see. I did have to "tweak" the cluster a little to make it fit.

However, I suggest you do like Jim suggested first. Then try an LED and see if the improvement is to your liking.

Frank was referring to the taillight bulbs and such. I agree that they are junk.
 
Thge thing to remember is that incandescent bulbs radiate more or less uniformly in all directions. The instruments in a Sprite take advantage of this--the bulbs light up the entire interior of the instrument can, creating a glow that provides a nice illumination for the face plate of the instrument. LEDs, on the other hand, have maybe a 90-degree cone of radiation. It's hard to imagine these creating the same kind of effect as incandescents, but I have to admit, I haven't tried them.

When I did my mechanical-to-electronic tach conversion, I did change the incandescent high-beam indicator to an LED. This is probably an improvement, as the old jewels seem to break pretty regularly, and are never very bright. The whole arrangement with the incandescent bulb, for these, is not well thought out. So, here, I think, it makes sense.

In short, it probably depends on which lamp you are replacing. Makes good sense for some, not for others.
 
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