LED help

[johnpro]

Ok, this is beyond my knowledge of electrical. I think I want to use LED's for the turn signal and probably high-beam indicator in my new dash for Scary ('69 sportsroof).

Do I just get the LED's at Radio Shack, or go somewhere else? Which ones do I get?

Once I have them, how do I hook them up? DO I need resistors or anything? I think I'm planning to just run 12v LED's (they exist, right?).

As you can see, I need help with this part.

 

[66gt350]

John,
Going with LED's for turn signals and highbeams is pretty easy. I initally went down to the Rat Shack and got some green and blue LED's and some resistors. Most of the LED's that they have are about 2 volt. And without resistors, you will see a flash and they're burnt out. Here's a couple of website that I used to figure out the correct resistor value and a small tutorial:

http://ledcalc.com/
http://www.theledlight.com/ledcircuits.html

LED's do have a positive and a negative side, and don't work if wired opposite. They do make 12 volt LED's in a holder, that's what I'm using now. But no blue. So, I took one apart and put in a blue LED. I'll get some pics of what they look like, I bought a couple of spares, when we get back from taking the animals to the vet.

For the blue LED, you will want to resistor the crap out of it. They are VERY bright. I need to redo my high beam one. I can't drive with it on, it blinds me!!! A bigger resistor to bring down the voltage to basically nothing will work.

Thinking about it...I'd skip the Rat Shack. IIRC, there's an electronic place down on Del Paso...Marvac Electronics, I think. It's down near El Camino Rd, next to a Kragen and McDonalds...it's been 9 years since I've been there, so hopefully the area hasn't changed.

 

[65coupei6]

The easyest way is just type in 1895 LED in ebay. Our dash bulbs are 1895's right? This is basically what Mustang Project sells but they cost you more $$.

 

[AtlantaSteve]

The easyest way is just type in 1895 LED in ebay. Our dash bulbs are 1895's right? This is basically what Mustang Project sells but they cost you more $$.

Sweet! Awesome tip! :vic

 

[apollard]

One thing to keep in mind - I put LEDs in the tail lights and front turn indicators. To do this, I had to run a electronic flasher designed for the LEDs. The flasher I used is a plug & play replacement for the stock flasher, ie, it has just the two prongs to plug in, no other connections required.

The plug & play flashers will not work without some load from a regular bulb (or a dummy resistor). So, I left the standard 1895 bulb in the dash indicator, which provides enough load.

If you want to get rid of all standard bulbs, you'll need to switch to a three wire flasher, which provides a ground and will work even with no load on it.

 

[sigtauenus]

I'm switching out all my light bulbs too.

So a single 1895 in the instrument cluster works to initiate the flasher? Presumably the turn signal indicator bulb for either side, right?

 

[apollard]

I'm switching out all my light bulbs too.

So a single 1895 in the instrument cluster works to initiate the flasher? Presumably the turn signal indicator bulb for either side, right?

Worked for me, it needs a low resistance path to ground to work. A regular bulb provides that path. The flasher I'm using is the generic replacement electronic version for our cars. Autozone sourced, IIRC.

 

[daveSanborn]

Other than bragging rights, I'm not sure what the benefit of using LED's in the instrument cluster is..... (?)

I built a PhantomII six gauge cluster for my '66 and retained the 1895 bulbed TS/High Beam indicators. There are no "brightness issues" with the indicator bulbs in their stock configuration.

Tail/Brake-lights? Heck yeah, big diffrence when switching to LED's.

TS/High Beam indicators? It's additional work/headache to get the exact same effect IMO.

 

[sigtauenus]

Dave, I'm still in the process of building mine with stock gauges. Stock lights with stock gauges suck. Since I'm in there anyhow, and the LEDs are advertised at 4-5x brighter, and won't burn out, it makes sense to do it and the cost isn't outrageous.

 

[daveSanborn]

Dave, I'm still in the process of building mine with stock gauges. Stock lights with stock gauges suck. Since I'm in there anyhow, and the LEDs are advertised at 4-5x brighter, and won't burn out, it makes sense to do it and the cost isn't outrageous.

Agreed that stock instrument lighting is horrible, but the TS/High Beam indicator lamps are not.

So to get the TS/High Beam indicator LED lights to function properly..... and not be too bright.... you'll need to wire in resistors to reduce the voltage..... so that the LED bulbs will be same brightness as the original bulbs.

The logic escapes me.

 

[sigtauenus]

Oh, ok, gotcha. Stock 1895s for me for the turn signal and high beam. It also means I don't need the flasher with the grounding wire.

 

[66gt350]

The reason I went with led's for the turn signal and highbeams is there is no place for the bulbs anymore. I totally redid my instruments and removed the metal backing piece that the bulbs attached to. And the highbeams location is part of the stock speedo, and now I'm running all autometer gauges. So, it was impossible for me to use bulbs for the turn signals and high beams.

 

[PJ Moran]

Other than bragging rights, I'm not sure what the benefit of using LED's in the instrument cluster is..... (?)

I built a PhantomII six gauge cluster for my '66 and retained the 1895 bulbed TS/High Beam indicators. There are no "brightness issues" with the indicator bulbs in their stock configuration.

Tail/Brake-lights? Heck yeah, big diffrence when switching to LED's.

TS/High Beam indicators? It's additional work/headache to get the exact same effect IMO.

Incandescents gradually reach their brigtness, then gradually go out. LED's are instant-on and instant-off. There's a cool sharpness to their action that most don't notice until they compare them directly to incandescents. You can see it toward the end of this video:

LED Action

That may be an insignificant benefit to some, but it's why I switched.

Have you ever found yourself driving down the road with your blinker on? Brighter/crisper indicators would lessen the chance of that happening, too.

Today's LED's are plug-n play (unless you go the Radio Shack route, in which case some are and some aren't). You don't have to worry about resistors.

 

[Shrinkdude]

Have you tried www.superbrightleds.com?

 

[buening]

The reason John is needing LEDs are because the 69/70 cars had the turn signal and high beam indicators built into the stock gauges and not the cluster housing. When you replace the stock gauges with aftermarket units, you loose your turn signal and high beam indicators. This means you have to install little LEDs somewhere on the instrument cluster housing, which is likely what John is attempting to do.

While it may be a little ballsy, one could try to open up the aftermarket gauges and install an LED or do something similar to the stock gauges. You could even reuse the running horse high beam indicator and the stock gauge housing wouldn't have to be modified. You'd have to uncrimp the bezel in order to disassemble them. Autometer will re-crimp the bezels for about $15 each.