LED gauge light conversion

aelancaster · January 27, 2017

I swapped in white LED's this past weekend, that was that seems to have been the easy part. Now the gauges lite up blue which is not what I was after. I would prefer the white instead. The LED's I used do not appear to have any hint of blue when on. One company I spoke with said I needed to buy a new metal face from them in order to have white backlighting again since to OE gauge face has a blue tint on the back that cannot be removed. Anyone else had this issue? When I look online at all the vendors that sell these LED's dash conversion kit's I always see white as well as the blues, greens, reds, etc. How do they do it? Any help would be great.

Thanks

Coby7 · January 28, 2017

Nope you just installed the wrong colour LED. The GM overlay has a blue filter to filter out the yellow from incandescent bulbs. If you install white LEDs you will get a blue tinge like this.

But if you install warm white LEDs you will get a close to factory colour.

and of course if you install blue LEDs you will get even bluer background.

You could go green....lol or red.

Coby7 · January 28, 2017

Hope this helps a bit. LOL

Coby7 · January 29, 2017

Here's even more help, avoid ebay altogether.

http://www.led-switch.com/12%20volt%20LED.htm

Coby7 · January 29, 2017

More help and info for you do-it-yourself'ers.

In order to minimize hotspots grind down the lens a bit and to make them easier to surface mount on the circuit board islands bend the leads at the notches 90° like this.

End product.

To identify + or - after leads are cut you can do this several ways. If your eyes are good you can see the black carbon resistor on top of the (+) anode.

Or you can see that the cathode which has a triangular shape is quite obvious, but not always the case.

Or you can always feel the straight edge on the bottom of the LED on the (-) cathode side.

This is just extra info, you can actually see the gold wire that goes from the resistor to the LED substrate highlighted in yellow here.

SlickMcVega · January 29, 2017

Interesting, is there a write up link on this?

Coby7 · January 29, 2017

What more do you need to know? Ask away! Maybe polarity on the board...Arrow points to negative, this is good for GM trucks 03-07 classic only.

SlickMcVega · January 29, 2017

Oh I have a 2001 Tahoe. Nvm. Ive just never torn a cluster apart and been inside of it, so I literally know zip about it lol

SG Lou · January 29, 2017

Coby7 is the go to guy for LED Info......He steered me in the right direction

Coby7 · January 29, 2017

Oh I have a 2001 Tahoe. Nvm. Ive just never torn a cluster apart and been inside of it, so I literally know zip about it lol

I repair those also, what's your issue? display gone dead I bet!!!

SG Lou · January 29, 2017

More help and info for you do-it-yourself'ers.

In order to minimize hotspots grind down the lens a bit and to make them easier to surface mount on the circuit board islands bend the leads at the notches 90° like this.

End product.

To identify + or - after leads are cut you can do this several ways. If your eyes are good you can see the black carbon resistor on top of the (+) anode.

Or you can see that the cathode which has a triangular shape is quite obvious, but not always the case.

Or you can always feel the straight edge on the bottom of the LED on the (-) cathode side.

This is just extra info, you can actually see the gold wire that goes from the resistor to the LED substrate highlighted in yellow here.

I'm curious ? Do you attempt to polish the ground down area after or leave it dull and rough to diffuse the light ?

Coby7 · January 29, 2017

Coby7 is the go to guy for LED Info......He steered me in the right direction

I see you have a Corvette as your avatar, drove these all my life and just recently sold my last one. Had a 59, then a 63 then my favourite a 75 then an 84. Will not get an other one since I'm 60 and just don't get the enjoyment out of them any more. I would really like to get a small convertible for summer cruising but could not justify $43,000 for a FIAT spyder 124. Wish GM made an affordable sportster like the MX5. Don't need power for a Sunday summer cruise.

SG Lou · January 29, 2017

Oh come on

I see you have a Corvette as your avatar, drove these all my life and just recently sold my last one. Had a 59, then a 63 then my favourite a 75 then an 84. Will not get an other one since I'm 60 and just don't get the enjoyment out of them any more. I would really like to get a small convertible for summer cruising but could not justify $43,000 for a FIAT spyder 124. Wish GM made an affordable sportster like the MX5. Don't need power for a Sunday summer cruise.

........60 is just a number. I'm 57 and still enjoy the hell out of that car. I have had several as well but never anything older the a 78.