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Wanted - Late Instrument Cluster (broken is ok) for LED testing
Hi Sharks.
You may know that I produce LED lighting for the late gauges in the 944/968. I've had several PMs from 928 owners who saw the post on the 944 forum but I can't guarantee my reflectors will fit or that the light aiming and balance is correct. While I've tried to confirm that the 928 uses the same light reflectors, I've not had one in my hands for testing. Anyone have a bad cluster for sale (or trade for a set of LED reflectors)?
Here's the current revision in production:
The upper photo was my 1st revision LED's from 2002 that have 70K miles on them and are about 40% brighter than new OEM reflectors and 194 lamps. There are about 90 sets of these in 944's mostly belonging to forum members. I have redesigned my latest production run and have it very much perfected so there is no shadowing, the light coloring is very close to OEM, and the brightness level is increased.
I'm not familiar with the 944 instrument cluster, but simply replacing the 928 bulbs with off the shelf LED's that are plug and play is a major upgrade:
The VDO package is very similar if not the same. Of course, the silvering in the reflectors has always been the weak point, even going back to the early 2000's when these cars were only a decade old. When my initial repairs to them and adding LED's to the bulb sockets didn't result in that much of an improvement, that's when I started tinkering and came up with the direct lighting design I used.
Mine are plug and play and 100% reversible. I tested a number of color ranges and settled on my current selection as it has just the right yellowing to match the original lighting in the rest of the car. My originals were 5000K and white/blue and while bright, didn't really keep with the OE look.
Anyway, since there is interest (from the PMs I've received), I'd be willing to investigate to see if I can make them work properly for the 928.
Thanks!
LED lit like that, is problematic...IMHO, people are not thinking it though on how much they rely on proper night vision, that this would -never- let you develop, and that the cluster in the dark is a reference, not a "so bright I can focus on it" device for good reasons.
Clean all contacts, clean the dirt off the bulbs, replace em OE if you want, but it's bright enough.
LED lit like that, is problematic...IMHO, people are not thinking it though on how much they rely on proper night vision, that this would -never- let you develop, and that the cluster in the dark is a reference, not a "so bright I can focus on it" device for good reasons.
I've been a Rennlist Member since May 2001 and the PorscheList email group well before that. I didn't come out of nowhere with this and the design, construction, and feedback from users (as well as my 70K miles of experience with them) have been nothing but positive. Again, if there wasn't interest from other 928 owners, I would not have posted.
I started making these 20 years ago and the 90 or so people who've run them have never complained about brightness. Color temperature was a concern with the 5000K lamps (warm white was not available in 2002) but that turned out to be insignificant other than matching to the vehicle. The 3000K that these new lamps match much better with the remaining incandescent bulbs in the climate control and factory radios.
These are dim in comparison to the OLED displays in modern vehicles; heck, they aren't as bright as the analog gauges in my 2010 X3 or my 2009 G8.
I've been a Rennlist Member since May 2001 and the PorscheList email group well before that. I didn't come out of nowhere with this and the design, construction, and feedback from users (as well as my 70K miles of experience with them) have been nothing but positive. Again, if there wasn't interest from other 928 owners, I would not have posted.
I started making these 20 years ago and the 90 or so people who've run them have never complained about brightness. Color temperature was a concern with the 5000K lamps (warm white was not available in 2002) but that turned out to be insignificant other than matching to the vehicle. The 3000K that these new lamps match much better with the remaining incandescent bulbs in the climate control and factory radios.
These are dim in comparison to the OLED displays in modern vehicles; heck, they aren't as bright as the analog gauges in my 2010 X3 or my 2009 G8.
I never questioned your age..or how long you've been doing this. Congratulations??
I questioned the concept of a brighter than needs to be for retaining night vision.
A dull yellow light meets the physiological requirements. Just pointing it out..a dull pod at night is not a broken pod, there was a reason. And nobody cares what someone else did in another car...most cars can barely design headlights that point light correctly.
I never questioned your age..or how long you've been doing this. Congratulations??
I questioned the concept of a brighter than needs to be for retaining night vision.
A dull yellow light meets the physiological requirements. Just pointing it out..a dull pod at night is not a broken pod, there was a reason. And nobody cares what someone else did in another car...most cars can barely design headlights that point light correctly.
Easy there fella. I posted who I am and the background of my offering because as Members, I think we appreciate knowing who is who. If people didn't care about experience levels or what you've done with other cars, then why post a link in your signature to your experience with 928 suspensions?
You made assumptions about what I'm offering without knowing any information about it. There would not be interest in improving light output of 30 year old setups if there weren't countless posts about changing lamps, fixing reflectors, adding LED's, and all the other options available. I simply make a well designed, tested, and proven option. If it isnt't for you, great; but it might be for someone else.
When my initial repairs to them and adding LED's to the bulb sockets didn't result in that much of an improvement
That may explain a design difference between the clusters then. I've put these bulbs in a couple different 928's and the results were far better than original.
That may explain a design difference between the clusters then.
That's entirely possible. I know they look similar but I didn't want to guess. Thanks! I'll move forward with getting a cluster so I can test and design properly.
Just FYSA, one of our 928 gurus (Ed Scherer) developed a dimmer for 928 owners who converted to LED and wanted to tone-down the color/brightness. You can see it here: https://www.protizmo.com/Product-Info/AILD-1/
Not trying to influence your effort at all, just thought you'd want to know it's "a thing" in the 928 community.
(Ed Scherer) developed a dimmer for 928 owners who converted to LED and wanted to tone-down the color/brightness. You can see it here: https://www.protizmo.com/Product-Info/AILD-1/
The rheostat will dim my lights about 25% without flicker, but this is an excellent option. I discussed a PWM controller way back as well as it's the proper way to dim an LED. Very cool. Thank you for posting.
I believe that cluster (with the digital odometer) is backlit. I'm not sure the years they were produced. The version previous to that should be more like the 944 with light reflectors on the bottom.
02-11-2020, 02:26 PM
Wanted - Late Instrument Cluster (broken is ok) for LED testing
