What is the best way to increase brightness in gauges?

[Craig 930 RS]

LEDs, while sounding mod & sexy, offer up quasi pinpoint light and suck in applications designed for incandescent.

[Nine9six]

Originally posted by 84porsche
I am not a fan of the white face but more a fan of the lighting quality. I would be interested to see a better illuminated black face gauge. We already have Porsches, how much more attention seeking would white gauges add. It is a personal preference, some like it, some don't. Speaking of blue, it looks quite cool in a modern day VW so much so that many manufacturers are copying them. - http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?cmd=print&id=2437133

Touche' !

[scarceller]

Has anyone thought of just using BA-7S 6Volt bulbs? I have an idea to try 6v bulbs with a voltage regulator to bring voltage down to say no more than 9 volts. For starters I am thinking of just putting some 6V bulbs in one of my gauges and run them in the garage with Variable DC power supply. Seems easy enough to try, the question is how long will they last at more than 6 volts?

I figure if I like the results it should be easy to get 12V down to 9V and feed that to the reostat. Have not looked at the wiring schematic for the reostat yet.

You can get these 6V lights here:
http://bulbster.com/zcart/index.pp?main_page=product_info&products_id=2980&currency=USD
http://store.aiconsol.com/a-1262-eiko.html
or just google 'ba-7 6v'

Anyone try this? Seems simple to try.

[scarceller]

I decided to try something tonight: I took out my clock in my 84 Carrera and found that once you remove the BA-7S light bulb with it's housing you can actually slide a 194 5Watt bulb down the tube, it's tight but it goes in. So I then soldered 20gauge solid wire to the bulb and wrapped it with shrink tubing. Then on the other side of the wire leads I adapted a base from an old BA-7S bulb (original bulb) so it plugs into the harness unaltered.

I used a 194 blue bulb and here are the results, picture is worth a thousand words:



I only did the clock, I will try the speedo next. Also these bulbs draw 350ma (.35A) I measured the current at 14V. I need to still figure out what the harness can handle but I figure 20g wire is good for at least 8amps. But I need to calculate. I think the dash gauges use 7 bulbs total just for lighting: 2 tach, 2 speedo and 3 more for the other 3 gauges. So I figure 7 194 bulbs draw less than 4 amps. The other issue is the reostat on the master light switch, this I think could be the weak point.

[SCWDP911]

sub

[scottb]

Originally posted by scarceller
I decided to try something tonight: I took out my clock in my 84 Carrera and found that once you remove the BA-7S light bulb with it's housing you can actually slide a 194 5Watt bulb down the tube, it's tight but it goes in. So I then soldered 20gauge solid wire to the bulb and wrapped it with shrink tubing. Then on the other side of the wire leads I adapted a base from an old BA-7S bulb (original bulb) so it plugs into the harness unaltered.

I used a 194 blue bulb and here are the results, picture is worth a thousand words:



I only did the clock, I will try the speedo next. Also these bulbs draw 350ma (.35A) I measured the current at 14V. I need to still figure out what the harness can handle but I figure 20g wire is good for at least 8amps. But I need to calculate. I think the dash gauges use 7 bulbs total just for lighting: 2 tach, 2 speedo and 3 more for the other 3 gauges. So I figure 7 194 bulbs draw less than 4 amps. The other issue is the reostat on the master light switch, this I think could be the weak point.

You get today's McGuyver award, and bonus points for cleverness and creativity.

[quattrorunner]

Glorious! I can't wait to see more photos when done. Aslo, can you do a few pics of the procedure?

[scarceller]

Originally posted by quattrorunner
Glorious! I can't wait to see more photos when done. Aslo, can you do a few pics of the procedure?

You are ahead of me, I will send pics of the procedure. I thought I'd try the clock first to see how it worked out. Soon I'll do the speedo, the hardest part is preparing the 194 bulb with the wiring but I'll take plenty of pics. On other thing I think I'm going to do is epoxy a small steel rod to it's base of the 194 bulb after it's all wired so that you have something to push the bulb in and pull it out, as I said it's a tight fit in the tube near the top but once it gets to the bottom, the tube must get a little wider cause the bulb fits better. Another idea is to freeze the bulb before insterting, of course not sure about getting it out later.

Plan to do 2 more bulbs for the speedo, will keep you posted. By the way I got the 194 bulbs at Walmart, bought the XEON brand blue bulbs but they are just plain 194 bulbs with a light blue tint, I really like the color in the clock, it actually isn't very blue just a hint.

Another idea I have is to try BA-7S 6V bulbs like the ones from the old 356s. This would be worth trying because these bulbs are exactly the same as the originals only they are 6V. Then get a DC voltage regulator for 9Volts and see how they work. I'm surprised no one has thought of the 6Volt bulbs. (See an earlier post in this thread about the web sites to get these 6Volt bulbs).

I read many of the posts on this topic and it seems the LEDs just don't work or not that much better. I figured enough smart folks had tried this with OK results, so it got me thinking why not stay with standard bulbs and try few things that had not yet been tested.

Anyone out there have 356 6volt bulbs they wish to share? say 2 of them for testing?

Thanks.

[Early_S_Man]

The 6-Volt bulbs are available at any VW dealer, but that is going to be a VERY short-lived solution! The nominal Voltage for a 6 Volt electrical system is 6.8 Volts - 7.2 Volts, or just about half of the nominal 13.2 - 14.5 Volts of a 12 Volt car. Even if you use a pulsewidth-modulated controller ... the bulbs will die rapidly [lifetime in minutes, not hours] at close to 8 Volts!!!

A PWM controller kit like these is a good idea for 194 or other higher-power incandescent bulbs, though:

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/item/MSC-6/305/MOTOR_SPEED_CONTROL_KIT_W_MOTOR_.html

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/item/MK-804/305/DC_TO_PULSE_WIDTH_MODULATOR_KIT_.html

Here is the illustrated assembly manual for the second kit:

http://www.vellemanusa.com/downloads/0/illustrated/illustrated_assembly_manual_k8004_rev3.pdf

Here is the datasheet for the SG3525 chip in the second kit:

http://www.st.com/stonline/products/literature/ds/4286.pdf

I have been advocating higher-power incandescent bulbs for a few years, now, rather than LEDs.

BTW,

The pulse-width-modulation controllers will work fine to control LED brightness, as well! PWM is the standard DC circuit methodology -- the counterpart to AC dimmers using SCRs or triacs.

[scarceller]

Originally posted by Early_S_Man
The 6-Volt bulbs are available at any VW dealer, but that is going to be a VERY short-lived solution! The nominal Voltage for a 6 Volt electrical system is 6.8 Volts - 7.2 Volts, or just about half of the nominal 13.2 - 14.5 Volts of a 12 Volt car. Even if you use a pulsewidth-modulated controller ... the bulbs will die rapidly [lifetime in minutes, not hours] at close to 8 Volts!!!

A PWM controller kit like this one is a good idea for 194 or other higher-power incandescent bulbs, though:

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/item/MSC-6/305/MOTOR_SPEED_CONTROL_KIT_W_MOTOR_.html

I have been advocating higher-power incandescent bulbs for a few years, now, rather than LEDs.

Please PM me with a phone number would like to chat. Tried to PM you but your mailbox is full.

[safe]

A little off topic but, has someone done a fix for the high-beam blue light?

[SCWDP911]

I would prefer an amber tint, but brighter than stock lighting. I think I will try the 194 bulbs this weekend, if I can find some of the little slip on bulb tint "booties" (whatever they are called). Not sure if they would be available anywhere locally, like Autozone or Advanced? I know you can get them in different colors. Not sure how much brightness would be affected though. One other thought is using some sort of paint or ? as suggested in the recent yellow H4 thread. Can someone clarify what it is that you can actually use for those purposes?

If I get it done this weekend, I will post pics if anyone is interested.

[scarceller]

Originally posted by v8_ranch
I would prefer an amber tint, but brighter than stock lighting. I think I will try the 194 bulbs this weekend, if I can find some of the little slip on bulb tint "booties" (whatever they are called). Not sure if they would be available anywhere locally, like Autozone or Advanced? I know you can get them in different colors. Not sure how much brightness would be affected though. One other thought is using some sort of paint or ? as suggested in the recent yellow H4 thread. Can someone clarify what it is that you can actually use for those purposes?

If I get it done this weekend, I will post pics if anyone is interested.

You can get these in all colors see here:
http://www.lightlens.com/coloredbulbs.htm

Just google '194 bulb amber'

Also local stores may have them in amber as well, I found Blue at Walmart.

[CBRacerX]

Sub me in!

[SCWDP911]

Originally posted by scarceller
You can get these in all colors see here:
http://www.lightlens.com/coloredbulbs.htm

Just google '194 bulb amber'

Also local stores may have them in amber as well, I found Blue at Walmart.

I will have to look around tonight. Thanks. I will try to give you a call later.

Thanks

[scarceller]

Something just hit me: If we can now put 194 bulbs into the gauges we can get much brighter LEDs than the ones available for BA7S base. Like this one:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=CAR&keywords=&cart_id=6910168.31224&next=50
Then scroll down to Part Number 'WLED-WHP Pure White High Power'

They are a little less than 10mm wide, tonight I'll check to see if this will fit in the bulb tube on our gauges. My Guess is it will and it looks slightly smaller in diameter than the standard 194 glass bulb. Also this LED has lots of power/light over the other smaller LEDs. Also, they only draw .045Amps (45ma) way less than even the standard BA7S bulbs which draw about .14Amps (140ma).

The spec on this LED also says it has 120degree viewing angle much wider than the other standard LEDs wich have less than 30degrees in most cases. Even the standard LEDs labled as wide view are less than 100degrees. I think this LED is worth a try. Anyone try anything like this LED before?

If I find this fits, I will order a few for testing.

[rfuerst911sc]

Subscribing to this thread.........................good stuff.

[scarceller]

More testing tonight: I added a LED 194 unit to the Clock tonight, the LEDs where Amber here are the results, only the clock was updated:




Compare the above to this pic that is the same clock with a plain 194 bulb




I like the plain 194 bulb much better, plus you must take the gauge apart to put the LEDs in her are some pics:




Even though the 4 LEDs are in the housing sending the light directly into the housing they just are not that bright! I think I'm going to stick to plain 194 bulbs as in the top picture. Plus I don't need to take the gauge apart to get the results in the second picture.

[benzyne]

scarceller, thanks for all the info and pictures. I was wondering why you chose amber LEDs instead of white. Do you think white LEDs might be more appealing?

[gatotom]

thanks everyone, this has been very helpful, dash lights really don't cut it when your gettin old, darn eyesight.

So, scarseller, you are saying that if I order the BA7s bayonet base bulb, I will actually be able to see my tac at night???

How do you open the instruments up, it there a special tool???