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Old 12-08-2005, 11:16 AM   #251
fantomas
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did you remove the green tint?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cation
1.) The gels are not the condoms, they are thin sheets of translucent colored plastic. You typically see them on stage lighting.

2.) I used 5mm blue LEDs for the gauge cluster and 3mm blue LEDs for the HVAC, stereo, and gauge pod.

3.) The needles still dim in the cluster because they get their light from the regular stock filament bulbs (I took the green bulb condoms off). The LEDs do not dim like usual though because of the way they are hooked up.
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Old 12-08-2005, 02:36 PM   #252
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Yes I did. I scraped it off with a small screw driver. I tried sanding first but it scuffed up the plastic too much. I would recommend using a small screw driver. It is much easier to do if you have the gauges themselves out of the cluster. I have a new cluster on the way here so that I can steal the gauges out of it so I can repeat this process since I painted my current gauge needles red and don't like the way it turned out... like sh_t! The needles are red, but you can see pitting and sags in the paint. I want it to look clean... gonna try red LEDs right behind the needles on the new gauges and see how that works. I'm also gonna try and see what it looks like without taking off the green film first, I'll keep ya posted.
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Old 12-08-2005, 08:38 PM   #253
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I used blue leds in my cluster but did not remove the green film. The final effect is certainly blue, not turquoise as you might expect, but it's not really bright enough. I like your idea of extra backfill leds, good strategy to avoid hotspots. I'm guessing you used a plain bulb to light the area behind the redline? IIRC that one also lights the needles via a light pipe.
One success I did have was soldering a couple of wires and an extra blue led to point at the odometer. That works really well.
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Old 12-08-2005, 10:24 PM   #254
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any way to just brighten up the stock green glow???
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Old 12-09-2005, 07:58 AM   #255
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redwagon
I used blue leds in my cluster but did not remove the green film. The final effect is certainly blue, not turquoise as you might expect, but it's not really bright enough. I like your idea of extra backfill leds, good strategy to avoid hotspots. I'm guessing you used a plain bulb to light the area behind the redline? IIRC that one also lights the needles via a light pipe.
One success I did have was soldering a couple of wires and an extra blue led to point at the odometer. That works really well.
Yep the regular stock bulbs light up the red areas and needles.
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Old 12-09-2005, 10:50 AM   #256
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Quote:
Originally Posted by disque71
any way to just brighten up the stock green glow???
Stick some ultra bright white LEDs in place of your stock bulbs... that should brighten it up quite a bit.
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Old 12-24-2005, 12:37 AM   #257
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how are the covers sold?
1.7USD per pack or each?
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Old 12-24-2005, 12:48 AM   #258
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LEDs need a different voltage than the lights, and therefore would need a resistor inline, which makes for an akward installation, and difficult replacement.

The covers can be had individually, with price breaks at different quantities. I found mine on mouser.com, search 'T1 filters', and they have most colors.

RD
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Old 12-24-2005, 10:26 AM   #259
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You don't need resistors if you buy 194 LED bulbs and 74 LED bulbs. These either run the bulbs in a series or have a built-in resistor in the casing, so there is no need for a resistor to be installed along with them.
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Old 12-24-2005, 11:51 AM   #260
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You can't replace a T1-3/4, or even a full T1 with a T3-1/4. I am curious as to where in your dash, radio, HVAC controls, or illuminated key ring you have found a 194 or a 168 bulb.

But you are correct, in those applications where you can use a 168, or 194 bulb (Front & Rear Side Markers, License Plate, and Parking lights) you can use those resistored LEDs as drop-in replacements.

RD
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Old 12-24-2005, 12:52 PM   #261
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The only light I've changed thus far is the ignition halo, which used a #74 bulb, which was exactly what I already had from my wife's dash light swap, the bulbs for which were sourced from superbrightleds.com. From what I've heard in all of these threads, all of the bulbs behind the gauges and HVAC controls are either equivalent to a #194 or a #74 bulb, both of which can be found for less than $2/bulb in LED form from various sources, though you should buy afew backups if you go the cheap route, as we've had a few die.

After looking around while posting this thread, I couldn't find where I got the info that the bulbs were that size, so I guess I could be wrong.

*edit: Also, though I doubt it makes any difference, I have a Legacy.
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Old 12-24-2005, 03:05 PM   #262
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Are the bulbs in the fog lights and cruise switches T1s, T1 3/4s, T3 1/4s?? What size is the light bulbs in the key ring, because it is bigger than the ones in the switches?
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Old 12-24-2005, 06:16 PM   #263
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IIRC, there are three, maybe five in the gauge cluster that are T1

The bulb for the key halo is a T1

All of the rest, that I can remember are already LEDs (the T1-3/4 package) or T1-3/4 bulbs.

T3 is the size used in your tail lights, and T3-1/4 is the size used in the parking lights in the head & tail.

But I may be wrong.

RD
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Old 12-24-2005, 07:24 PM   #264
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I'm lost man. I've never seen a T3 replacement bulb, but I've seen plenty of other replacement bulbs for my parking lights. Am I missing something?

My key halo took a #74 bulb. Trust me. I don't know if these "T" bulbs are just a different way to refer to the same bulbs or what.
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Old 12-25-2005, 01:13 AM   #265
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They are...

T1 is the 'pagkage' specification. In electrical components, there are hundreds of differetn devices that use the same 'package' for uniformity. The filters ('bulb condoms') are designated by the size of the bulb they cover, (at least on mouser.com) and so that's how I refer to them. The Automotive industry likes to have differetn designations for everything, but the electrical component industry is where all this stuff comes from in the first place.

Ignore T3 It's not used anywhere in the dash, radio, hvac, key ring, or door controls. T3 = #194, T3-1/4 = #68, T1 = #74, T1-3/4 = ? (haven't found a direct replacement in the automotive world yet)

RD
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Old 12-25-2005, 09:34 AM   #266
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Ahhhhhh....I see.
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Old 12-25-2005, 10:19 PM   #267
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rubr_Duky
IIRC, there are three, maybe five in the gauge cluster that are T1

The bulb for the key halo is a T1

All of the rest, that I can remember are already LEDs (the T1-3/4 package) or T1-3/4 bulbs.

T3 is the size used in your tail lights, and T3-1/4 is the size used in the parking lights in the head & tail.

But I may be wrong.

RD

i pulled out my guage cluster today to take a look at it!!!!!

There were 3 bigger bulbs that were in a blue backing and the rest (the ones in the black backing and red backing which there were like 6-8 bulbs) were the smaller ones that are the size of the bulb in the key ring!!!!

I took off the green condom from the key ring to see if it would fit on the smaller bulbs and it did!!!!!! It wouldn't fit ,comfortably at least, over the 3 that were in the blue backing!!!!!

Now... the bulbs that are in the fog light and cruise buttons are considerably smaller.... that is were i am sorta getting a little confused! If the bulb that is in the key ring in fact a T1.......then what is the smaller one in the buttons?????? I am really confused here!

I know that you keep telling me and a few other people this until you are blue in the face... but the bulb in the key ring match most of the ones in the guage cluster.... i figgured that those are probably T1's but what i want to know is the ones for the buttons!!!!
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Old 12-26-2005, 10:32 AM   #268
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 04jaxwrex
i pulled out my guage cluster today to take a look at it!!!!!

There were 3 bigger bulbs that were in a blue backing and the rest (the ones in the black backing and red backing which there were like 6-8 bulbs) were the smaller ones that are the size of the bulb in the key ring!!!!

I took off the green condom from the key ring to see if it would fit on the smaller bulbs and it did!!!!!! It wouldn't fit ,comfortably at least, over the 3 that were in the blue backing!!!!!

Now... the bulbs that are in the fog light and cruise buttons are considerably smaller.... that is were i am sorta getting a little confused! If the bulb that is in the key ring in fact a T1.......then what is the smaller one in the buttons?????? I am really confused here!

I know that you keep telling me and a few other people this until you are blue in the face... but the bulb in the key ring match most of the ones in the guage cluster.... i figgured that those are probably T1's but what i want to know is the ones for the buttons!!!!

I'm in the process of trying to figure out the red and blue base bulbs. My '06 has 9 #74 in the cluster; along with 3 blue and 2 red. Im guessing the blue are the 194's, not sure what the red ones are though...I couldn't read the label on the bulb.
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Old 12-26-2005, 11:27 AM   #269
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nuclear
I'm in the process of trying to figure out the red and blue base bulbs. My '06 has 9 #74 in the cluster; along with 3 blue and 2 red. Im guessing the blue are the 194's, not sure what the red ones are though...I couldn't read the label on the bulb.

the two red backed bulbs are the same size as the black backed ones (at leastin my 04)!!!!!!!
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Old 12-26-2005, 12:15 PM   #270
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Here's what mine looks like: (link) determine from that what you will.

RD
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Old 12-26-2005, 12:35 PM   #271
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rubr_Duky
Here's what mine looks like: (link) determine from that what you will.

RD
Judging by that picture it's obvious you were able to take the cluster apart. Were you able to safely access the backs of the gauge faces without screwing up the needles?

I was considering dissassembly in order to remove the green film and then apply a layer of my own for light diffusion.
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Old 12-27-2005, 09:40 PM   #272
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 04jaxwrex
the two red backed bulbs are the same size as the black backed ones (at leastin my 04)!!!!!!!
They look very similar in size on mine (06) but the red base look slightly smaller, and are labeled TSD 76 while the black ones are TSD 74

Blue bases are T14V3W

Does anyone have any recommendations for LED replacements for these bulbs?
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Old 12-27-2005, 10:14 PM   #273
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Read this > 'LCD inversion' for tips on how to get the dials out, which is what I finally did yesterday, to get the green film off.

I did find that if you cut acetone with an equal part of acetone, and use (a LOT of) Q-tips, the acetone is enough to bite the ink they use, but not so much to attack the plastic. I must have used 100 q-tips yesterday, just trying to keep things clean. It was a bit akward in places, like between the tach & speedo, because I don't like the idea of (and wouldn'd suggest) removing the needles, though the little plastic rings that hold the overlay down to the acrylic underneath the needles were popped out for a bit of maneuvering.

I still need to figure out a way to deal with the 'hot spots', and that really bugs me, but I've got some ideas, and the hard part is done.

Patience.

Also, from what I can tell, the only thing printed on the back of the overlay, is the green film, the black diffuser (kind of a half-tone pattern), and a white diffuser, so you dont' have to be too ginger about film removal, which was one of my fears. All of the numbers, letters, the black background, etc. is all printed on the front of the overlay (the transparent plastic part).



A Caution: When dealing with acetone, be careful not to splash it on the face of the dial, or get too much on your fingers, and then handle the front of the dial, as I am afraid that might eat some of the paint from the front. Also, there is a 'hard-coat' on the back (covering like the battery, ABS, icons, etc) which seems to be fairly resistant to the acetone (even straight up), but I wouldn't wager on impervious to, so just be careful.

When I get a resolution to the diffusion issue, I will be sure to post pics, and possibly a bit of a writeup.

RD
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Old 12-29-2005, 11:34 PM   #274
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RD, when you say you cut "acetone with acetone" did you mean to say "acetone with water 50:50"?

Also once you remove all the green do you need to replace the bulb covers? From the looks of the pics it seems as though the covers are already red.
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Old 12-29-2005, 11:41 PM   #275
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Actually.. I meant cut Nail Polish Remover with Acetone.... 50:50... sorry..

Nail polish remover has a bit of acetone in it, but it's not as strong as the stuff you get in the hardware store, and it needs a bit of a kick.

RD
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