guage bulbs and HVAC bulbs

[jnorion]

I found a temporary solution... Schucks had blue incandescent bulbs for $3 for a pair. It's just the 194's but the 74's were bright enough. I think I'm going to play with it some more later because it still has a turquoise look, but for now it's good, and the needles light up bright enough.

I installed the leds in the HVAC controls too, and I'm not satisfied. It looks like two little spotlights behind there. I think it's the same diffusion problem as in the gauges. I'll just look for blue bulbs for that too and see how they do.

[blue LEDz]

**** berries now i'm worried that the red ones won't light up enough i've got 2 of the wide angle 74's coming, so i'll try them in the hvac and see if that works better i've got 2 of the regular ones in my guages now, so i'll be able to put one in each side for an objective comparison

[jnorion]

Let me know how the wide angles work... I'd much rather use leds if I can.

[blue LEDz]

Let me know how the wide angles work... I'd much rather use leds if I can.

depending on when i get home tomorrow night, and how tired i am, i might have pics up

[Lil Freek]

that'll be good.
so long as i can get a good deal on the ES GT i found, i'll have to change the bulbs in it... i'll probably just try to follow the "how to" on mazdamp3.. but if you have pics and a list of the bulbs you use.. that'd make my life hella easier.

[blue LEDz]

so i finally got around to playing around with my guage cluster tonight

i changed out the wide angle 194's to the 6 LED 194's. one of them didn't fit too well, so i had to force it into the cicuit board. the 6 LED housing was just a little bit too big. but the other fit fine. they did brighten things up, but not dramatically. the 74's still had very noticable hot spots. so i changed them out to the wide angle 74's. still the same hot spots. so after messing around with it for a while, i just decided to leave the 74's out. the outsides are a bit dim, but i'd rather have that than the hot spots. i still haven't gotten around to the HVAC controls, either

[Lil Freek]

any pics as of yet?

[jnorion]

I had the same problem with the 6 led bulbs, both of them were a bit too big but they pushed in just fine. I've had a lot better luck with incandescent bulbs in the gauges, and I suspect they'll work better in the HVAC too. Although for those I'm contemplating taking the whole thing apart and cutting a custom gel for it, because the red part of the temp dial turns purple at night. It just doesn't look right that way.

EDIT: I left the 74 leds in the gauge cluster because they light the needles up really well, and I have the PCP faces so I don't have to worry about hot spots. I would recommend mixing bulbs with leds to get rid of the hot spots on the outside...

[blue LEDz]

any pics as of yet?

i tried, but none would come out


jnorion, the 6 LED bulbs are pretty close to the same brightness as the regular 194 red bulbs i was using. hopefully this week i'll get around to doing my HVAC controls.

[jnorion]

I was going to say that the HVAC controls are really easy and then I remembered you have that weird setup... I'd like to see pictures when you're done.

[Lil Freek]

sorry for the ignorance..
what do you mean "hot spots"?

[jnorion]

If the light is uneven, the parts that are brighter than others are called hot spots.

[blue LEDz]

I was going to say that the HVAC controls are really easy and then I remembered you have that weird setup... I'd like to see pictures when you're done.

lol, i'd just like to finish it

[nai8o5]

anyone done the green key light? does it take a 194 or 74? i have extra blue 194's and would take apart my steering column to replace the green light, but if it's a 74 that'll have to wait....

[blue LEDz]

anyone done the green key light? does it take a 194 or 74? i have extra blue 194's and would take apart my steering column to replace the green light, but if it's a 74 that'll have to wait....

my car didn't come with a key light