Whats everyone using for LEDs in the gauge cluster these days?
02-27-2016, 04:39 PM
#1
Whats everyone using for LEDs in the gauge cluster these days? All the old threads I bookmarked linked LED bulbs that are all discontinued. Has anyone bought LEDs recently that can steer me in the right direction? Planning on changing up the dash shortly and this is the missing piece.
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03-01-2016, 07:05 PM
#8
TECH Enthusiast
03-01-2016, 07:11 PM
#9
OP, any color you go with I'd recommend 5630 type of LEDs. They should be the best all around bulb.
03-01-2016, 10:12 PM
#10
True, but you can scrape off the red tint as well as the blue-ish tint on the Camaro. It's a lot of work and I didn't take any pictures during the process when I did mine. I've seen a few pics floating around during some searches though. It's relatively straight forward as scary as it seems. Everything is printed on the front except for the colored tint. As for the HVAC and headlight overlay, you're screwed. Everything is printed on the back and impossible to remove just the color.
03-02-2016, 10:14 AM
#11
Ya plan on getting 6LE gauges shortly so I wanted to do the bulbs as well. Only problem was all the old threads I saved, all the bulbs listed were discontinued on superbrightleds. Hotwhip helped me out and I'm looking on fleabay for what I want as we speak.
03-02-2016, 09:00 PM
#13
I wonder if 6LE is making the gauges any different than way back then. I have them on my nice car along with their blue gauge needles. While it looks good in the daylight sitting still, I hated everything else. I've tried fixing as much problems as I could.
Where should I start?
5630 LEDs are pretty recent so that might make a good difference. I tried using the LEDs that were recommended back then and no matter what I'd have hot spots that bugged the hell out of me. As for white LEDs, they always appeared yellowish even though they were cool white. I'm now thinking that may have to do with the yellowish colored plastic the light is reflecting off of.
Good luck trying to see any of the warning lights. I ended up cutting up the 6LE gauges and using the stock pieces for that. The cuts are hidden behind the TA cluster. Before that, I went and replaced the yellow and red LED's for much brighter cool white LEDs. That only made the 6LE overlay for the warning stuff look purple and still barely visible.
How about them needles? Since they aren't weighted like the OEM ones, they bounce around like crazy even on slight bumps. Oh and since they aren't made from right plastic, nor have the right cuts for light refraction, they barely light up no matter the LED color. I installed a SMD LED underneath both big needles and it did help, but wasn't good enough for me. I ended up modifying a set of blue needles made for a GM truck. They are shorter, but at least they are designed properly not to bounce and made of the right plastic so they actually light up.
Where should I start?
5630 LEDs are pretty recent so that might make a good difference. I tried using the LEDs that were recommended back then and no matter what I'd have hot spots that bugged the hell out of me. As for white LEDs, they always appeared yellowish even though they were cool white. I'm now thinking that may have to do with the yellowish colored plastic the light is reflecting off of.
Good luck trying to see any of the warning lights. I ended up cutting up the 6LE gauges and using the stock pieces for that. The cuts are hidden behind the TA cluster. Before that, I went and replaced the yellow and red LED's for much brighter cool white LEDs. That only made the 6LE overlay for the warning stuff look purple and still barely visible.
How about them needles? Since they aren't weighted like the OEM ones, they bounce around like crazy even on slight bumps. Oh and since they aren't made from right plastic, nor have the right cuts for light refraction, they barely light up no matter the LED color. I installed a SMD LED underneath both big needles and it did help, but wasn't good enough for me. I ended up modifying a set of blue needles made for a GM truck. They are shorter, but at least they are designed properly not to bounce and made of the right plastic so they actually light up.
03-02-2016, 10:38 PM
#15
This is how I ended up fixing my hot spot issue and needles. I plan on making a better write up one day
PVC rope light LEDs. Don't mind the LEDs in the stock location. I took them out in place of 5630 chip LEDs, not pictured.
SMD LED behind the needles, although these new needles probably don't need it.
New modified needles...
You'll have to take my word that it looks much better in person. It's too bright to take a proper picture.
03-03-2016, 01:54 AM
#16
I wonder if 6LE is making the gauges any different than way back then. I have them on my nice car along with their blue gauge needles. While it looks good in the daylight sitting still, I hated everything else. I've tried fixing as much problems as I could.
Where should I start?
5630 LEDs are pretty recent so that might make a good difference. I tried using the LEDs that were recommended back then and no matter what I'd have hot spots that bugged the hell out of me. As for white LEDs, they always appeared yellowish even though they were cool white. I'm now thinking that may have to do with the yellowish colored plastic the light is reflecting off of.
Good luck trying to see any of the warning lights. I ended up cutting up the 6LE gauges and using the stock pieces for that. The cuts are hidden behind the TA cluster. Before that, I went and replaced the yellow and red LED's for much brighter cool white LEDs. That only made the 6LE overlay for the warning stuff look purple and still barely visible.
How about them needles? Since they aren't weighted like the OEM ones, they bounce around like crazy even on slight bumps. Oh and since they aren't made from right plastic, nor have the right cuts for light refraction, they barely light up no matter the LED color. I installed a SMD LED underneath both big needles and it did help, but wasn't good enough for me. I ended up modifying a set of blue needles made for a GM truck. They are shorter, but at least they are designed properly not to bounce and made of the right plastic so they actually light up.
Where should I start?
5630 LEDs are pretty recent so that might make a good difference. I tried using the LEDs that were recommended back then and no matter what I'd have hot spots that bugged the hell out of me. As for white LEDs, they always appeared yellowish even though they were cool white. I'm now thinking that may have to do with the yellowish colored plastic the light is reflecting off of.
Good luck trying to see any of the warning lights. I ended up cutting up the 6LE gauges and using the stock pieces for that. The cuts are hidden behind the TA cluster. Before that, I went and replaced the yellow and red LED's for much brighter cool white LEDs. That only made the 6LE overlay for the warning stuff look purple and still barely visible.
How about them needles? Since they aren't weighted like the OEM ones, they bounce around like crazy even on slight bumps. Oh and since they aren't made from right plastic, nor have the right cuts for light refraction, they barely light up no matter the LED color. I installed a SMD LED underneath both big needles and it did help, but wasn't good enough for me. I ended up modifying a set of blue needles made for a GM truck. They are shorter, but at least they are designed properly not to bounce and made of the right plastic so they actually light up.
Fortunately those issues we got rid of 2 revisions ago...
