Couldn't decide whether to put this in General or 3rd gen but I know we have a lot of talent here so here is my issue........

I have replaced my lights in my speedo with blue T10 LEDs. I have had no issues with lights before this change but over the past week I have had to replace 7 LEDs.

Do you think it is the quality of the LEDs I have chosen or was I supposed to do something else? I have read thread after thread on how "plug and play" this is supposed to be and am quite frustrated. They look great for a day or two and then one after another they go out.

This is a different style than what I have in my doors, instead of a wider contact point on the base (2 on each side), there are thin wires. The package says 12v 5w.

Any ideas?

 

only thing I can think of is to ask if you have the proper resistor(?) installed in series to the LED

 

LEDs have quoted lifespans of around 100 000 hours (I have several in instruments etc that are approaching or have past that figure already), and their lifespan is effectively made zero when their current rating is exceeded by even a small margin. Heat is also a major killing factor and have an equally disastrous influence on durability if they are not kept under about 50C.

Post the resistor sizes you used on each and every LED lamp (Mandatory for each and every LED when run off 12V) - we can take it from there and figure what to do.

If they were complete units that are supposed to be used "as-is" can you post a link to the actual items you used

 

My bad, thought I posted a link - here is what I ordered - what I received had a blue base but looks the same with the exception of the blue base has two wires on each side unlike the one in the auction and the auction shows 12v 1w, and the package says 12v 5w.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

 

From what I have seen in the group sales posts on the org others have just done plug and play with this type of LED. I have had them in my doors for several months with no issues.

 

ITO technical specs alone - those LEDs in the lamps cannot possibly be 5W units - a 5W LED needs a huge heatsinc to make it survive. I would think that they may be rated at around 1W but even then, if they are used for extended periods such as in your dash with no cool air circulating, they will commit harakiri in short order as you discovered.

Do a simple experiment if you have a spare unit avail before you waste any more time and money on replacing bulbs - connect it to a 12V battery while sitting on the bench or table and stick the LED while lit into a small plastic container like an old 35mm film canister - leave it for an hour, and while lit remove it and hold it in your hand - if you cannot then you found your problem.

FWIW - You can determine the exact wattage rating of the lamp by measuring the current drawn and then do some maths - ie - Wattage = 14 x current measured

 

Another issue is that your car battery is 12V, but the alternator can put out as much as 14.4V... That can kill LEDs over time. Use a T0-220 Voltage regulator if you want to limit the voltage to 12V. I have tons of LEDs in my car and the only ones I've used VRs for are the speedo cluster ones (I did a custom cluster)... I have problems with other ones going out every once in a while, but would rather replace them when they do than VR all of them.
Your other option (which would be much easier now that I think of it) would be to use resistors rated for ~14V instead of 12V. I suppose a lot of 'plug-n-play' LED manufacturers don't really know about the increased voltage the alternator produces and just assume all cars are 12V...

 

I guess I will have to do a little reading on how to put a resistor into this type of application

 

Yep - thats one way of tackling the issue, but the net result of the resistor getting added will be to reduce the LED's brightness by a "significant amount" in order to limit heat and current degradation/damage ............. the problem is that the "significant amount" is unknown because the heat-flow characteristics in the dash is a complete unknown and in order to now "tune" the resistor size in order to achieve LED reliability is going to require a lot of experimentation.

Anyway - its possible and I wish you good luck.

 

Thanks, what a bummer after seeing all the posts on how good everyone's dash looks.

 

I did all of the lights inside my car with LEDS, got them from Superbrightleds.com
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...ini-wedge.html
They are the T3-1/4 which replace the 194 bulbs behind the dash and under the shifter(on an Automatic.)
They have a reference link on their site to find which bulbs and such. I have no problems with mine at all.

 

You didn't have to put in resistors or anything? Thinking I got crappy LEDs......

 

No, I believe they are built into the bulbs. My friend has had them in his Scion for 1.5years now. and I have had them in my Maxima for 3ish months.
I just ordered the T3-1/4 bulbs and then i forgot the #'s i got for the cig lighter and above the radio light

 

which model - it shows some with glass on top and some with the high power smd's.

 

WLED-x5
Didn't try the SMD ones. But they might work. I got the x5's
I can take pictures of my Bulbs if you like. I get out of class in like 2hrs.

 

I would appreciate it if you have time, I will put in an order tonight. Pay attention to your teacher!!! hehe

 

Eh, Boring lab we are doing.
PM me your email or cell number and I will get em to you right quick.

 

I actually ordered those same leds from the same seller and had the same problem haha theyve either gone out or flickered a sht tone and its very frustrating lol so i just ended up ordering a some of those indiglo gauges to see how i like them,

 

No wonder they work for you, the ones you sent me a picture of are rated up to 14.5v. Thanks a bunch for the pictures and emails.

 

I have never seen them, how do they look, and more importantly, how do they function?

 

I just installed them the other day and they look sick!! But the needles are a lil scketchy now... the gas and temp gauge are fine but the speedo is kinda slow and jumps a lil at high speeds and the tach is pretty f'd up ): idk if its because the plugs on the back of the cluster havent been moved in 20 years and they didnt make good connection when they plugged back in or what lol but i know its not the new gauges cuz they just go on top of the existing gauges... soo idk whats up with them needles ?