Andrew

iTrader: (5)

Hell this looks easy. Going to do this soon after I put in the order for the LED's

SeedyROM

Thanks man. It's certainly possible a brighter one exists but I haven't found it in my travels. The problem is you might find one a bit brighter but the beam pattern may not work well. You need to have a high degree (mine are considered "360 degree") for it to look decent. Out of the stuff SuperBrightLEDs sells, I think I've tried everything but maybe some obscure wedge light meant for non-automotive applications. If you do find something else, I'd love to see it!

Yeah same here. I took a look at mine and it really didn't look easy to deal with. I'd have to risk destroying to to try any sort of sanding/chemical method and I'd rather not do that. We need a wrecking yard donor!

Yes, exactly. The "Cool White" will look blue just as you see in my pics because the tint forces the white to come out that way. If you went Warm Blue it'd be even darker and probably dimmer because that's less light (SBLEDs even has a chart saying so). I personally have not seen an '03 GLE cluster but if you try it please report back!

SeedyROM

Awesome dude! You've come a long way in such a short time doing these. Once I get my suspension/motor mounts done I may have to step up to one of your setups.

Oh and post a bigger pic when you can

FlawleZ

iTrader: (1)

I have '03 GXE which likely has the same blue tint. I too am very interested in this as from day 1 I always thought the gauge lighting was a bit dim. I would much rather have bright white lighting for the gauges than the blue so I may not be interested unless that's achievable. Is it possible to try a yellow/orange LED with the blue tint to try for a white appearance as the stocks do?

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Expensive mods, Jeff. I meant, expensive mods. For example, I'm not buying coil-overs or rims. But a handful of little LED bulbs is absolutely fine.

I'm really psyched to do the cluster lights now. Weird, because it was never on my radar until this thread.

jeff5347

Im just busting your b@lls. haha i got ya. yea i think in a little while this may be my next task

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

OK I will let another one of my 'tricks' out of the bag for you guys.

"Warm White" LED's Produce a colour output/spectrum almost identical to Incandecents, they are the only LED I've found that can replicate stock intentions regarding tint/colour.

The truth is, they're actually Better. In my testing, I've found that Warm white brings out more vibrant colour, as well, LED's don't change colour over time, so the effect will last for as long as you own the car.

The one downfall is Warm white is not as bright as Cool White, but if you want to keep the stock colouring, this is one direction to go.
This is one of my jobs for people who just want brighter gauges, or brighter gauges with illuminated needles.

Here's the stock Illumination, with BRAND NEW INCANDECENT BULBS, for proper comparison. The Tach/Temp are stock, the Speedo/Fuel gauge are my blue LED Conversion:



Here's an example of one of my tests, in this picture, the Temp Gauge and Tach are illuminated with Warm White LEDs, in stock locations. It's a subtle difference, but the colours are more vibrant, and slightly brighter. You can imagine what it can look like with more than just one LED in the stock locations, or with needles illuminated:



Here is the Temp Gauge test, Single LED Warm White in stock Location, and Needle illumination with Warm white LED as well:



And for fun, this is the same except I have Blue Needle illumination under the Tach:




I can't wait to do a Warm White conversion on an SE, that's going to look great.

SeedyROM

Interesting stuff! When you say Warm White, are these the SuperBrightLEDs model or another brand? If they aren't #74-xHP3's, I wonder how it turns out with those exact "bulbs". Might be a tad brighter (or not) and still white which I know some would prefer.

Personally, I just wanted brightness and don't mind the blue at all but I love seeing options. I can't wait to see it on an SE when you try. Good work!

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Looks like the link you provided for the #74-xHP3's have a 'Warm White' Colour. Should work fine, as stated, it will be just slightly dimmer. I haven't tried warm white on a GLE yet so I can't say whether it will be white or not, but I'm pretty sure it will be the same colour as stock, and should be brighter than new stock bulbs.

SeedyROM

Awesome, thanks. Next time I order something from SBL I might pick up one of those Warms to try myself. That is unless someone else beats me to it in here.

Andrew

iTrader: (5)

Thanks! Will place an order in white and will let you know =)

btw, the prices were 2.49/bulb last night. Now its 3.49. LOL

Andrew

SeedyROM

You might have been on the wrong tab briefly. The other two #74 options are $2.49 whereas the correct one is $3.49. Or they could have been messing with their site last night. But yeah, the real price is the higher one, same as I paid

Andrew

iTrader: (5)

Yup, my bad! =)

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

What are the socket size? t1 or ....? It seems like these dont come with new sockets and I would like to get new sockets as my old ones are funky. Great mod btw. Previous owner of my car had it looking good with blue but these look better.

SeedyROM

Unfortunately I'm not really 100% sure on the whole T# thing. I seem to recall TunerMax saying these were T5 bulbs but I don't know if that means all T5 wedge socket holders work or if you need a Nissan specific one.

Perhaps he can shed some light on it. I'll shoot him a PM.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

The Wedge size (bulb type) is T5.

The Socket/Holder is something I'd try to get from Nissan if you're attempting to replace it.
I will have a look a bit later I'm in a rush, perhaps there is a part number on them.

What do you mean that your old ones are 'funky' though? If you mean the wedge portion is a bit worn, fear not, just spread the contacts on the 'bulbs'. OR, better still, you can use a precision screwdriver to gently push the contacts in the socket back to position, this will create a tighter fit overall and better contact.

Personally, I'd never replace one unless the contacts were burnt up, which should never happen.


EDIT: No PN on the socket. Just says 'Toshiba V2'. If you can't get them and you need them, PM me, I can send you them, but I suspect it would be cheaper to get them through the dealer.

Andrew

iTrader: (5)

Tuner and Seedy,

Thanks for the insight on this.

Since its a T5, that will only fit, will these go into a 'led/bulb' holder on the back? Cause I was thinking, I could use these

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-x-T...item51988fdd1b

straighten out the wire, pull it out of the wedge and put it in the ones for the cluster.

Note, I haven't pulled my guage cluster yet. Just wondering if this would work

SOrry for all the questions. Just want to make sure i have everything before I open her up.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

No, that is a T10 bulb, not a T5.

You can get it to fit the socket with some modification, but to get it to fit into its actual location in the gauge cluster you would need to dremel/drill the circuit board hole bigger, and if you do that, then the socket won't lock into place.

In short, it won't fit without modification. As well, it won't give a signifigant increase in light output to be honest. I have tried 5 SMDs exactly like that, likely of higher quality, and not only did they hotspot, but they weren't as bright as you would think (brighter than the OP's method, but not worth the effort, plus they hotspot).

Don't apologize for the questions, that's what this forum is here for. These aren't basic knowledge questions, so it's all good.

EDIT: Happy 2000th Post to me

SeedyROM

More great info, thanks mate! Grats on your 2k too

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Here's the GLE job I did today. Turned out very well. Pictures taken in daylight with something draped over the gauges.
Pics with Point and Shoot (No, I still haven't gotten a good camera, sorry), there are no visible hotspots to the human eye.
Also, The Point and shoot made it look kind of blue in the pics, it's pretty white in real life.

Before (STOCK):



After (Budget-5.5 Brighten Job without Hot-Spots):

UGAd13

By budget do you mean using the LEDs the OP used or is this a custom job?

Just curious b/c I'm getting my LEDs on Sat and can post pics of the drop-in #74-xHP3 when I get a chance to install them for comparison.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Sorry, still a custom job. Eluded to it ealier in the thread.
By Budget I mean it's under $150 (standard LED gauge conversion price).
The OP's method will work great, it just can't get any brighter, and there will be hot spots. Very decent method though, and very cheap!

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Firstly, I realize this may come across as a 'my way is better' jab. I want to assure you that is not the intention. I am thrilled that the OP has found a drop in that works, you guys should all take advantage of it.
Also, I don't really get many Gauge Cluster Customers from here anyways due to shipping expense, so it really doesn't bother me.
This is a really cheap way to upgrade your gauge lighting!

Personally, it wouldn't be bright enough for me, but it's a HUGE improvement over stock, and I am willing to bet that's good enough for a lot of you, especially factoring the cost differences. For those who are curious, my LED conversion on the 5.5 (shown) is about $125 right now.
I need to grab a few of the HPx3's for the LCD portion. I'm also hoping to get a few Coloured SMD's to try this method with (not the HPx3's)

Anyways I just curious to see a couple comparison pics, so I figured I'd post them.

~~~~~~Stock~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OP's Drop in HPx3 LEDs~~~~~~~~~~~Tuner's 'Budget Friendly' 5.5 LED Conversion

datsunzcar84

iTrader: (1)

For me if I had the extra money I would definitely ship it out to get the led conversion done! I just can't justify spending that much green right now .

SeedyROM

No worries at all. If anything it'll show people who end up searching more of the options that exist.

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Where is the redline over 6.5K on the tach in the the drop-in photo?

MyMommaBiscuits

.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Non-existant due to lack of overall light and a LED colour that is too 'blue'. Those drop in LEDs are likely around 8000k based on the pictures (guessing).

Explaination:
LED's do not generally output the same Colour Spectrum as Incandecents, White LED's especially are difficult to get in a 'true white', which is somewhere between to 4500-5500k. Incandecents normally have a colour closer to 3000k.


What does this all mean in this application? The gauge tinting is designed for Incandecents that are in the 3000k range.
The redline is tinted, it illuminates a different colour by light refracting off of it, with the general lack of uniform lighting and almost total lack of the proper colour, it just doesn't illuminate hardly at all.

If the light were brighter it would illuminate simply because it's forced to (enough light behind it).
If the light were the proper colour, it would illuminate because it's pulling the proper colours out of the light that is there.

My gauges use both of these characteristics to illuminate the red-zone. That's why I made my own custom 'bulbs'.

I also let one of my 'tricks' out of the bag earlier in this thread, (see post #47)that's using a 'warm' white LED instead of 'cool' white. Warm white is more of a 2000-3500k, as such it will work almost the same as the incandecent. The downfall is 'warm' white LED's are quite a bit dimmer than 'cool' white LEDs, as such, they won't illuminate the gauges as bright. I would actually suspect 'warm' white to be similar to stock, possibly just a bit brighter.
Hope someone can test that soon and post for us.

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Uh-oh!

If the redline goes away in the gauge at night with this drop-in, then count me out. This mod is no longer for me.

I can't believe I didn't notice that until now. I usually notice these things.

Damn it. I was really looking forward to this, too.

nelledge

iTrader: (6)

I'm a little perplexed at this statement. Would you mind explaining the reason?

SeedyROM

I can somewhat understand wanting the redline to be visible but considering how terrible it looks stock and how drastic the overall improvement is for $15, I don't mind it. Hell, even I didn't notice until now.

I mean just look at it.


That said, this is another bonus to going the full custom route with TunerMax. Redline all up in your face

nelledge

iTrader: (6)

Update:
First, thank you for doing the research Seedyrom. This was a fairly straightforward mod, and I love the results. The only issue I had was that the polarity was not marked on the leds which caused some guess and test moments. Didn't take too long.

Second, I want to address the redline. I have an 02 SE and my redline is bright after the change. I was going to live with it being gone, but it's there and brighter than stock. I'm not sure why the difference, but it's clearly there. Rochester, you can now resume your desire to do this cheap mod.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Pics?

What colour did you go with? the 'cool white' or the 'warm white'? Warm white would likely illuminate the Red Zone as I mentioned a couple posts ago.

nelledge

iTrader: (6)

I took a couple pics. They're kinda blurry, but I'll post one. Cool White. I was going to do the Warm White, but I always go low-key. I thought I would switch it up and do something a little more "obvious" this time.

nelledge

iTrader: (6)

Here's the before/after pics. A little blurry, but the mod has already been documented well by others who pioneered it. I took the photos to show a friend how they turned out.

I need to open it back up and reverse the polarity for the lower bulbs. Didn't have time to mess with it anymore tonight.

OnOiShNo0dl3Z

iTrader: (2)

What pics?

nelledge

iTrader: (6)

The pics requested here:Keep up!

OnOiShNo0dl3Z

iTrader: (2)

I mean I don't see them or a link

Tyutyunnik

iTrader: (1)

SeedyROM

Glad to hear you've had success nelledge! I hope more of you report back, that way we can get an idea of the quality of these LEDs. They do warn on their site about the polarity which as you said just takes flipping it before reinstalling the cluster.

Funny you should mention this. I was out driving tonight and noticed that I can see mine as well. I wouldn't say it's "bright" really but it's definitely visibly glowing. I guess my pics really don't show it too well. Can't wait to see your pics, blurry or otherwise.