Instrument cluster with LEDs??

keithwwalker · Samba Member Joined: May 30, 2005 Posts: 886

Well I pulled out a stock VW Osram lamp and dimensionally it seems to be a B8.3D:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/74_t15.htm

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I am going to order a bunch and report back. It seems a straight switchout! Idea

Only concern is beam pattern (100 degrees)

Also of note, the rear sidemarkers of the Vanagon are a T4W 12V 4W BA9S ECE Superbright LED's also sell LED versions of these:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/BA9S6_specs.htm
http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/ba9s.htm

The interior dome light is a 6411 bayonet type, which translates to a FESTOON 12V 10W 41MM 11MM or simply as 42x11 or 42x10 festoon.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/festoonhp.htm
This one must be super bright, and more importantly it is directional, so it will throw all the light in one direction, to the interior:

http://www.donsbulbs.com/cgi-bin/r/t.pl was also helpful in figuring out which bulb is which in the vanagon.

Idea

keithwwalker · Samba Member Joined: May 30, 2005 Posts: 886

Well SUCCESS, the B8.3D instrument LEDs SuperbrightLEDS are a direct fit!

The only snafus were that the electrical leads had to be bent upwards a little with tweezers to ensure good contact. Luckily the leads are malleable.

They are also directional, so if they don't work one way, they have to be rotated 180 degrees to reverse polariztion.

Compared to another blue LED that was done by a chap in England, the superbright's are more of a paler shade (left). See photo

another view:

I also installed the rear side markers, the dome light and the cigarette lighter.

I am not too satisfied with the rear side markers (BA9s), they don't diffuse the light too much. But then again the specs said 32 degree angle. In the future I may consider the 90 or 180 LED's

The dome light is much brighter, but the rocker switch actually moves the bulb back and forth, and enough switching will rotate the led array out of alignment. Another bugger is that my retaining clip bounced off and is now inside the upper rail, and a second one as well.... Evil or Very Mad

larrytrk · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:30 am Post subject:

Any problems with dimming the LEDs?
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keithwwalker · Samba Member Joined: May 30, 2005 Posts: 886

They advertise as fully dimmable, but my headlight dimmer wheel only turns a 1/4 turn. Even the incandescent lamps don't dim fully.

That said, the superbright LEDs do dim, I would reckon 1/3 their intensity. That is enough for me, especially in the blue and red colors.

Jamos · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:57 pm Post subject:

I just ordered 5 blue, and 2 ambers from superbrightleds...
thanks very much for the link and for the assurance that these do indeed work well.

I figure I'll go for an amber in the clock, and blues for the rest.

I remember I was messing with this about 4 years ago before LED's were quite as widespread (esp in auto applications), and I was soldering resistors to fit inside the little black plastic housings and it was a bitch.

Very happy to give these guys $15 and have a drop-in solution.
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2020 Audi Q5

Raynor Shine · Samba Member Joined: November 07, 2005 Posts: 552

Keith- I am getting rady to order these, thanks for the write -up. can you tell me which one is for the cigarette lighter. Also would which one would be for the clock.

Thanks

keithwwalker · Samba Member Joined: May 30, 2005 Posts: 886

I will check on the clock tonight, but I believe it is also a B8.3D

Cigarette lighter is here:
http://superbrightleds.com/specs/spotlight_car.html

BEWARE that like the radio, the socket is always powered up, so if you leave the LED flash light lighter in, it will eventually drain the battery (there is a red charging light)

It doesn't fit too well (that is fault of socket not lighter, check this thread for more info:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=290420&highlight=

ProvoCyclist · Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:34 am Post subject:

I just swapped put all my dash lights, 3 blues, 1 red (in the clock). I found the red to be too dim in there, i may swap it for the blue in the idiot light symbols and see how i like it.

Other than that, im friggin happy with how it turned out! Very Happy

Oh yeah, i ordered 3 new domelights yesterday.
_________________
Clark
Current: 1986 Tintop GL 2wd, stock 2.1L, manual trans, Flash Silver LP7Y.

Past: 1985 Sunroof GL, 2wd, Subaru 3.3L, manual trans, resprayed to Diamond Silver L97A

keithwwalker · Samba Member Joined: May 30, 2005 Posts: 886

I just made the connection that the blue superbrightleds.com are the same shade as the blue high beam light. They are not as dark as the usual blue leds...

Steelhead · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:41 am Post subject:

Has anyone found a direct LED swap (or close) for the light socket behind the environmental controls (heater panel)? Or is it the same base as those in the instrument cluster? What about the fan switches...are they the same base as the heater panel? thanks
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keithwwalker · Samba Member Joined: May 30, 2005 Posts: 886

The environmental & lighter bezel lights are special OSRAM light/housings. To fit an LED, you would have to use the OSRAM housing and leads & solder an LED bulb to it. I started this project, but not finished it.

Robw_z · Samba Member Joined: April 28, 2007 Posts: 983

a914622 · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:09 am Post subject:

syncrodoka · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:44 pm Post subject:

I installed the 3 high power led's in my dome lights (added one to the passenger side- hole is already there) and they are much brighter than the stock bulbs. I could not imagine how bright two of the 6 led lights would be. I checked that it worked and then soldered the fixed side of the bulb(not the side that goes to the switch) to the holder. This little mod keeps the led arrangement from turning in the holder. Thanks keithwwalker for doing the homework and posting the links.

joetiger · Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:12 am Post subject:

Yes, the freak blizzard this morning made the drive to work terrible, but I kept looking down at my cluster thinking, 'that looks SO COOL."

Thanks for all of the posts on this. I ordered the bulbs from superbrightleds.com on Tuesday, they got to me Friday, installed yesterday. Outstanding!
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'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

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syncrodoka · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 1:08 am Post subject:

I was able to find a holder for a led bulb from volkscafe that will fit behind the heater controls. The holder takes the same size replaceble bayonette bulb as the cig. lighter and emergency switch. The holder fit a little too tight into the heater control bezel so I sanded it a little to fit better.

The LED that I bought from superbrightleds.com is a #74 bulb and it the same dimensions as the original bulb for the bolder. There are different lumen rated bulbs and I would buy a brighter one next time because this is a little dim for my taste.

The holder for the bulb is white and not black like the original holder so light transfers through the body and it is a little annoying so I will paint it with some black plasti dip paint that i have around. I am happy with the results but i have noticed that the dimmer does not work as well with all of the dash bulbs converted to LEDS. I never dim my cluster so it isn't a issue for me. I didn't go for any fancy colors, I stayed with white which I really like. I bought red, blue, green and white and I could see the cluster and clock the easiest with white. It is nice to get rid of the yellow tint of the old bulbs and the LEDS throw a pretty good white. All of my bulbs have been converted to leds including the locker controls

ProvoCyclist · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:44 am Post subject:

Where on the site are those bulb holders, and how many did you get? Your setup looks really sharp now!
_________________
Clark
Current: 1986 Tintop GL 2wd, stock 2.1L, manual trans, Flash Silver LP7Y.

Past: 1985 Sunroof GL, 2wd, Subaru 3.3L, manual trans, resprayed to Diamond Silver L97A

syncrodoka · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:42 pm Post subject:

I actually walked in and asked for the part and that is what they gave me. They don't have the part in the online store as far as I can tell. GoWesty has the part for about $5
http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=3587&search_phrase=bulb&start=
They are found in the rabbit/golf convertibles '79-'93, early jettas through '84 and all sciroccos as well if someone wanted to get the part through the auto wreckers. $5 for a new part is a lot easier than digging through a junk yard though.

danfromsyr · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:50 pm Post subject:

syncrodoka, nice illuminated headlight switch, Wink

and I thought I was the only one modding them with translucent watercooled switches.

I wired mine to a constant + with a green LED, so i can find it easiest when I get in the van. there's a always hot on the light switch itself.

nice LED work
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Jamos · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 9:27 pm Post subject:


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Instrument cluster with LEDs??
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