What's up guys, well I finally received my LEDs (ordered 50 blue) but I forgot to add 1 cent per LED to get resistors added onto the package. So I read up on the write up and figured oh okay all I need is 80 ohm resistors. Well I called up Radio Shack.. and they only had 100ohm then I tried an electrician shop and they only had 100k (their lowest) ohm resistors.. then called a Hobby Shop and the guy explained to me that they only have resistors that are in the wattage resistance..

So desperately I called up Radio Shack and explained to them that I have LEDs in which I plan to use with a 12 volt power source and asked them will the resistors you have, the 100ohms dim the LEDs? And the guy looked at me as if I was crazy and said they would easily blow...

Maybe I asked the wrong question or something but now I want to ask some of the members here on this forum... will 100 ohm make a huge difference compared to the 80ohm.. I dont want the LEDs to dim on me after I installed them.

 

what are the ratings on the LEDs? you need to know the V and mA to figure out what resistor you need.

www.digikey.com
check it for resistors

 

I ordered LED on ebay from cwithk, and never used the resistors. I was a bit surprised as in the 4 years of electronics classes I've learned that I'd need resistors in a 12v system if the LEDs weren't made for 12v systems. Oh well, they've been working fine for a year now even though the car is in pieces.

 

are you talking about the window switches?

 

If you swapped LED's for LED's like in the window switches or the buttons on the A/C controls, you don't need resistors but if you changed bulbs for LED's like in the Bose headunit or defroster switch you need resistors. I blew one out doing my headunit without a resistor.

And cwithk includes resistors if you order through the group deal... I don't what penny per resistor thing you're talking about. In any case, I used 330 ohm resistors on both the 3mm and 5mm LED's.

 

didnt u say that 100 ohm are the ones the guy said wher likely to blow? y would u still consider the wrong ones? blah

 

in a 12 volt system... I guess he thought I needed stronger resistors? I dunno
Anyways I tried the 100ohm and it doesn't dim them... my only problem now is... where the heck do I find a power source for the LEDs I put behind the needles?!?! I looked up this write up which the instructions are kinda slacking

I soldered my LEDs to the resistors and then soldered them into the 194 bulb housing, those work without a problem... but my main problem is that it says to just put the ground and positive wires on the twisting housing so that when you twist the housing it'll pin down the wires and will give power to the LEDs behind the needles... I hooked up all positive connections with positives and same with negatives/ground... and only the 194 housings are lit up..

 

hm... guess i'm stuck on this one ><

 

Ack.... well I did the LED mod with the needles and the gauges, and the LEDs in the gauges slowly blew out... now only the needles are lit up. Ah well I'll just get some hyper white 194 bulbs and keep the needles lit up. Ah well I did my alarm, hazards, defroster, keyring, and the auto pilot thing >< looks pretty sweet!

illmortal

 

These are the specs:
Φ5 5mm T1 ¾
Part # Manufacture's Bin Definitions(IF=20mA) Max mcd: 4000mcd Max Voltage: 3.8V Wavelength: 470±5nm

 

there is no soldering on the 194 bulbs for a 97' right??? they shud just screw in the back of the cluster correct??