Dash lights on a 75 cj5

LED Dash lights on a 75 cj5 ?

Has anyone done the LED swap on their dash lights for the gauges, I have found you can get the 1895 led replacements for about 4 bucks a piece and I’m doing a complete dash rebuild all new everything so I was thinking why not they would last forever and not get hot.
Does anybody have any input on this good or bad yes or no?
here is a link to the website i would be getting them from

http://www.chromeglow.com/catalog.asp?prodid=654110&showprevnext=1

 

Nobody has any comments nothing at all

 

Sorry man!
I just swapped out good bulbs for burnt out originals.
I'm just not a fan of the weird,magnified light that LEDs throw.
Makes my eyes strain trying to focus on stuff it lights up.

 

So you had LED's and didnt like them or you had burnt bulbs and just went back stock.

 

So nobone else has anything to say about this at all, guess i will go ahead and purchase and right back how i like them

 

We use LED's at work all the time. Use them for push buttons indicator lamps ,etc. One thing is , they will burn out. Good luck.

 

I don't have a lot to say about this - I know a little about LEDs, but that's not relevant to whether you'll like the 1895 replacements or not. For me, it's not worth the extra cost, since the regular bulbs last a long time generally.

Lots of different little bayonet bulbs will work for this application. I recently bought a box of 1816s through Amazon, since I have Prime and the shipping is free. At 65c each, I can replace quite a few of these before using LEDs starts to appeal.

Why not purchase just one and try it out?

 

Thanks guys for the info still waiting on my new dash from logans metal so i have had a little time to think about diff. things i might want to do.

 

If you want to make an LED light, you could using an old lamp base.

The two things you need with LEDs is 1) to observe polarity, and 2) limit current.

1) An LED is a light emitting diode, and a diode will only allow current to flow in one direction. The diode will be marked somehow, typically by the longer lead being the anode.



The current will flow into the anode and out the cathode. (In reality, the convention that says that current flows from positive to negative is wrong - the electrons move from negative to positive... but plus to minus is the convention).

So you have to connect the diode with the right polarity so that current flows from plus to minus.

2) Use a resistor to limit current. A LED needs something like 10 mA for operation. More current, and the LED will be brighter and its life will be shorter, and vice-versa.

Calculate the resistor you need using Ohms law, V=IR. Voltage drop across the LED will only be about a volt, so you can neglect it; voltage/current=resistance, 12/0.01 = 1200 ohms. A 1000 ohm resistor is a common value, so pick that.

You need to calculate the power dissipation of the resistor, so that you can pick the right wattage rating. By Ohms law (again), P=IV. 0.012*12=0.14 watts. Typically you'd pick double or triple the wattage rating that your nominal operation requires, so a 0.25 watts rating is not quite enough, but 0.5 watts will be fine.

So you'll need an old lamp base, an LED, and a 1K ohm / 1/2 watt resistor. wire the resistor and LED in series across the lamp base, observing the proper polarity. Whether the resistor is on the anode or cathode side of the LED does not matter, as long as the polarity of the LED is correct.

 

Ok, so this was an easy thing to make.



I just used what I had on hand. The only tough part is to break out the bulb from the socket without breaking the glass insulation between the base and the center pin. Once the bulb is out, you can unsolder the center pin. A solder sucker or some solder wick makes this easier. I cut a little notch in the side of the base to hold my connection to the base.

So, it works ... has to work if you get the polarity right.



This picture is a little blurry ... I had to turn off the flash to see the LED, so it's a long exposure.

What I learned -

1) Assembling the bulb is easy.
2) Running a LED at the current I would normally use for a panel light may not be bright enough as a bulb replacement.
3) Generic LEDs (typically used for panel lights in electronic equipment) may not be bright enough for this app.

So, if you try this, play around with the resistance value until the LED is as bright as you want it to be. Choose LEDs that are intended for lighting, ie "extra bright" LEDs. Check the Mouser or Digikey catalog for such LEDs.

 

Man thats pretty awesome thanks for the photos and help