DIY: How to replace your dash bulbs with LEDs

ellusion · Post by **ellusion** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 3:39 am

Thanks heaps!!!

I'm gonna go try this soon. This info is priceless!

TimmyD · Post by **TimmyD** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:27 pm

are there any online shops for these LEDs in australia...
also what the price your expected to pay for these led's??
just that the prices on ultraleds is a bit expensive...

TimmyD · Post by **TimmyD** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:37 pm

acually... i cant even find the led's on the ultraleds site....

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:48 pm

As I said earlier if you want to buy from overseas I suggest you do a group buy to keep costs down.

T5's and T10's, both normal and wide angle you should be able to get from somewhere like Autobarn.

The T10 (4 LED) is the only one I couldn't find in Australia. But you could buy 4 x 3mm highbrightness LEDs from Dick Smith and join them together

You don't have to use the LEDs I did, but to get the best result you should be looking for LEDs which are both superbright and wide-angle.

On the Ultraleds site the various LEDs that I used are in the 12V car section.

TimmyD · Post by **TimmyD** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 2:25 pm

now... all we need to know is... how do u get to the led's

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 8:04 pm

Do you mean how do you remove the plastic housing?

If so, the first step is to unbend the legs that protrude from the bottom, so they are straight. The next step is to bend the head of the LED gently but firmly to break the glue that it keeping the plastic housing stuck to the LED. Then the housing should slip straight off.

Some manufacturers go a bit crazy with their glueing and sometimes you need to get to the plastic housing with some small wire cutters.

TimmyD · Post by **TimmyD** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 2:11 am

hehe, no no, thats not what i ment. Sory bout the misunderstanding
i ment how do we get to the LEDs behind the dash, cig light, climate controll etc.. etc..
But i'll be patiant like everyone else and what for the guide

Cheers
Tim

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 4:42 pm

Read the guide for installing the white face dials, this will show you how to remove both the main dials and the centre console.

ellusion · Post by **ellusion** » Thu May 06, 2004 6:31 pm

Ruchi, when you were at in the stage of experimenting with the leds did you happen to try the T10 WIDE ANGLE leds for the main dials? They look very similar in size and would seem less of a trouble than the T10 (4 LED) type.

How bad are the bright spots if using the cheaper option for rthe dials by using 5 x T5's?

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu May 06, 2004 9:00 pm

I guess the thing to understand is that you don't have to use the LEDs that I show here, and in reality there will probably be better LEDs on the market in the future.

The key however is that your want the LEDs to have as wide an angle as possible and be as bright as possible. If anyone finds wider and brighter alternatives please let us all know.

The wide-angle T10's do produce a wide enough light to minimise bright spots but I found them to be too dull as a white light, they looked a little blueish. If however you were to use a coloured LED, such as blue, you could probably get away with them, they just wouldn't be as bright.

If you use T5's behind the main dash dials the bright spots are quite noticeable, it gives a similar effect to what the right-hand LED does in the picture of the main console of the aircon unit I posted in an earlier message, and looks quite odd.

For behind the main dash dials, you really want LEDs that have around a 40+ degree angle and at least 4,000mcd brightness.

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Thu May 27, 2004 1:49 pm

http://www1.jaycar.com.au/productResult ... &priceMax=

maybe these.... from jaycar??? What does the Tstand for?? these dont have any housing etc... but maybe they are not bright enough etc

thecook · Post by **thecook** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 4:33 am

where bouts in melbourne can i get all the recommended leds u mentioned in your first post? how much would i need to pay?

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 9:45 am

"T" and then the number next to it refers to the size of the LED / globe. T5 means it is 5mm wide, T10 is 10mm wide etc. Make sense?

Jaycar, Dick Smith, etc. do not sell LEDs which have a wide enough angle and are still bright enough. The LEDs they sell will also only be 3v LEDs and you'll need to solder on a resistor. If you use these ones you'll end up with either pin-points of light from narrow angle LEDs or low-light levels from low-output LEDs.

You should be able to buy both the T5 and T10 wide angles LEDs from Autobarn etc. From memory they are around $12 a pair. As for the 4-LED T10's I have not seen these in Australia, just overseas.

Keep in mind that LED technology is evolving quite rapidly and brighter and wider LEDs should be getting better all the time.

Spankmebandit · Post by **Spankmebandit** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 12:45 pm

Just went down to my local Autobarn and they were very useful. Had a nice catalogue of LEDs for dash bulb replacement. Unfortunatly I was in for another reason and didn't bring ruchi's shopping list. They had the T5's in stock but had to order in the others. Lots of different T10 options including LEDs that change colour every two seconds (7 colours). Not for me though.

Narva has this on their site but autobarn had a lot more in the catalogue they showed me.
http://www.narva.co.nz/Homepage_graphic ... Globes.pdf

Anyway I'll head back in with the shopping list and see what they come up with.

T5's were $8 a pair. This could get expensive.

John.

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 5:08 pm

i went to autobahn today and the guy was useless!

he didnt even know what t5's were, and said any led will fit behind the dash. Naturally i ignored him! i bought a couple of t5s for the clock etc,

but......

when i started taking my gear area and the console apart, i realised that when JB HI FI installed my cd head unit, they have made it now impossible to take out that area of the console.....

i think I will have to take out the whole head unit to get that area unclipped! how annoying!

ellusion · Post by **ellusion** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 12:12 pm

Hey ruchi,

You reckon you could make me a set of leds so that will fit into my dash straight in? I don't have the skill...

Make some profit out of your knowledge...

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 10:07 am

as posted in another thread, probably later this year there will be some direct replacements which won't need any modifications.

thecook · Post by **thecook** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 3:42 am

do u guys know what type of led/globe is used for the inside of the boot, and the rear number plate?

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 5:06 pm

rear number plate - autobahn have heaps of these, they are just parkers..... for an ever cheaper way of doing it, just buy some blue sleeves they are like $2 and look just as bright - i think it is illegal. my ex gf was pulled over and threatened with a fine (in vic)

thecook · Post by **thecook** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 6:03 pm

i went to autobarn to look for t10 wide angle leds today, and they were the same as the parkers...

i got blue ones for the number plate...

are u sure blue number plate lights are illegal?