Anyone running LED's in their IP/cluster?

[Atrus]

I'm really considering converting over to cool white LED's in my interior, but one concern I do have is how well they dim. I've seen some pics and a video or two online, but it's really tough to see how well they dim.

I'm hoping someone on here could provide a little more info, or even better, let me take a peek at the actual car to see how well they dim. While the "crisp" LED light looks good to me, I don't like retina-burning intensity in my face all the time. I used to when I was younger, but I typically dim the lights at night now.

[meissen]

I have LEDs in my 4th gen. Can't remember how well they dim, though I'll have to check when I get home.

[Atrus]

Sweet - if you could, I'd really appreciate it. Seems like some dim (superbrightled's say theirs do), some don't. As for how much they dim, I am reading it can really very from car to car depending on the number of lights and the dimmer switch itself - some dim nicely, some have basically 2 settings, some just flicker at anything less than full power.

[thisisthewayilive]

I run led's with my stock gauges. My only suggestion is to not run led's for the turn signals or the bright indicator. The blue led makes it harder to see at night. The greens are pretty blinding too.

[Atrus]

I run led's with my stock gauges. My only suggestion is to not run led's for the turn signals or the bright indicator. The blue led makes it harder to see at night. The greens are pretty blinding too.

Cool, thanks - isn't the gauge face blue and green for those? I was thinking of running white LED's (the superbrightleds HP6 ones) in there as opposed to color. The high beams I couldn't care less, but I would really like the turn signals to be brighter - since I have a vert, it's tough to see if they are on sometimes.

Also, do yours dim well? What kind of LED's are you running in yours?

[thisisthewayilive]

I put the white ones for all but the green turns and blue bright indicator. I got mine from superbrightleds and mine sim. I'll try to take some pics

[Atrus]

I put the white ones for all but the green turns and blue bright indicator. I got mine from superbrightleds and mine sim. I'll try to take some pics

Sweet, I'd appreciate it - that's where I'd be buying mine from too. I'm not overly thrilled with the blue tint - I'd really like them a crisp bright white. I don't really want to spend $375 on McNord faces though, so the blue or dingy stock white may have to suffice.

[MP81]

Not in the cluster, but my two Autometer gauges are LED backlit. I have the lighting control connected to my dimmer, and I'd say they dim quite well.

[Atrus]

Kyle - you added them to the gauges, or they were built that way?

[MP81]

No, they were built that way.

I've never heard of people having issues after swapping to LEDs in their cluster, though. I plan to do it at some point.

I mean, there should be no reason an LED shouldn't dim - you're just supplying less current to it, making it less bright.

[Atrus]

No, they were built that way.

I've never heard of people having issues after swapping to LEDs in their cluster, though. I plan to do it at some point.

I mean, there should be no reason an LED shouldn't dim - you're just supplying less current to it, making it less bright.

My understanding is that LED's don't work the same way - they are on or off. With incandescent, you can do exactly as you described - vary the current to vary the intensity. With LED's, you have to use a pulse width modulator to vary the voltage going through them - they actually pulse very rapidly, and that is what the eye sees as "dimming".

[MP81]

You can dim an LED either through PWM controls - turning them on and off very fast to maintain a constant color temperature or forward-current dimming (analog), which merely reduces the current flowing through an LED. This results in more heat expelled through the system since the LED isn't using that power, as well as the LED's color temperature shifting (when dimmed). I notice a slight change in color, but nothing that is an issue - they still stay blue. I rarely dim my interior lights, though, but I've done it a few times for a hour or so at a time and had no problems.

A good quick read I found on this subject: http://www.digikey.com/us/en/techzon...im-an-led.html

[Atrus]

Hmmm, good info, didn't know that.

I think part of the problem might be that the "range" of the dimmer in some cars is just too high to make an effect on the LED's because they draw such little current. I really don't know - I've just read that some people have problems, even with the superbrightleds ones - and some complain even if they do dim, it's hardly noticeable and still much brighter than the stock bulbs on high, which I don't want.

[MP81]

If I remember, I'll try and take a video of the range of mine between dimmed and full-on. When they're dimmed, it's definitely noticeable - just not as much as the rest of the lights in the car.

[Atrus]

So, I ordered two of the small bulbs used in the door panels and HVAC control unit - one Cool White, one Warm White.

As expected, the Cool White looks like a crisp light blue. It's really not bad looking, but it's not what I want. The surprising thing is, the Warm White actually does look bright white. My stock bulbs are 12 years old, so they are basically orange (not even yellow).

I want to take some pics to document the difference - nobody seems to consider the warm white LED's - and to check it out again, but I think that's the route I am going to go in the car - warm white LED's.

Oh, and also - the single LED seemed to dim really well in the car. Keep in mind, there are still bulbs in the other sockets (well, at least most sockets - I know at least 4-5 are burned out). I am assuming it'll act the same with with all LED's on the circuit - we'll find out!