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I have found threads discussing LED gauge cluster options for 1983 and older, and 1989 and newer - nothing for the middle years cars and early S4 cars. Would appreciate it if someone can point me to a informative thread or provide specifics on LED bulbs that are plug-n-play (no major modifications). Will LED bulbs be dimmable with the Porsche potentiometer (I just got a new one)?
A lot can be said for cleaning the dirt off the existing bulbs, and cleaning contacts.
The LEDs are cool..but they mess with your night vision having a bright contrast from the cluster. At night the peripheral of your vision is more critical than the center of it in many ways. You may need a PWM controller to dim those right.
Just saying, a lot can be "solved" by maintenance.
I looked at those Super Brights LEDs but there is no holder. Do you just pull the existing bulb out of the holder and replace with the LED? I tried to pull a bulb out without any movement and picked up a pair of pliers but stopped myself before I actually damaged anything.
Speedtoys - you make a good point. Some of the examples of early cars with front lit LEDs looked too bright..flooding the cluster with light. It would be hard to believe Porsche designed the lighting to be so dim, even on full brightness. Another thought...if contacts are bad the sockets are probably heating up, resisting current...making them even dimmer. The filaments of the old bulbs last a long time but I'm sure much of the tungsten has vaporized and condensed on the inside of the bulbs...more dimming....so Deoxit and new OEM bulbs it is.
Thanks!
Originally Posted by Speedtoys
A lot can be said for cleaning the dirt off the existing bulbs, and cleaning contacts.
The LEDs are cool..but they mess with your night vision having a bright contrast from the cluster. At night the peripheral of your vision is more critical than the center of it in many ways. You may need a PWM controller to dim those right.
Just saying, a lot can be "solved" by maintenance.
Old bulbs, extra resistance in the dimmer wheel, old 'silver' in the light channels (less reflectivity), all those contribute to dimmer cluster lights.
When I addressed all of those, my cluster lighting was actually pretty decent.
I looked at those Super Brights LEDs but there is no holder. Do you just pull the existing bulb out of the holder and replace with the LED? I tried to pull a bulb out without any movement and picked up a pair of pliers but stopped myself before I actually damaged anything.
The holders on the main illumination are removable these three just plug into them, not so for the smaller lamps, they all come w/ holders
They are polarity specific but getting that lined up wasn't a big deal. With the pod out I used Deoxit to clean up every connection and the dimmer wheel.
A lot can be said for cleaning the dirt off the existing bulbs, and cleaning contacts.
The LEDs are cool..but they mess with your night vision having a bright contrast from the cluster. At night the peripheral of your vision is more critical than the center of it in many ways. You may need a PWM controller to dim those right.
Just saying, a lot can be "solved" by maintenance.
There are hundreds of LED's on the market that could be used in this application, unless you've tested every single one, that's a bold statement to slap on every single LED option out there.
The person who owns the 86.5 I installed these for is retired air-force, when I showed him the lights in my pod he said they were perfect, wanted the same lights in his. Not over powering at all, actually perfect. Every other vehicle I own (non-928) is brighter from the factory.
There are a lot of sh*tty LED products out there, which is why I try to only buy "name brand" stuff like Philips or Sylvania.
It works very well and the price is right. You are only controlling 3 bulbs why complicate things. This is a PWM touch switch.
I suspect most folks want the existing control **** to still be controlling things (even if a PWM dimmer is sitting in between). That what Ed's design is all about. Keep the existing controls but provide a very linear dimming control from bright to dim.
On a late model car many other things are dimmed by the rheostat, not just the 3->4 pod lights
^^^ Hard to believe it's been 5 years since I installed Ed's dimmer, but it works like a champ and I don't give it a second thought.
I've converted every bulb in the car to LED (except 3rd brake light) and my only regret are the 8 for the computer display. I have a really hard time seeing the display in daylight with polarized sunglasses. Next time the pod comes out I'm switching those back to incandescent.
07-03-2018, 07:07 PM
LED gauge cluster bulbs for early S4? Dimmable?
