upstate bob

Been a while since I last visited here. Don't drive it much. 77,000 0n it now (79 5sp). Want to put in instrument bulbs and LEDs seem to be a good choice.
I notice the vendors offer white and amber. Anyone here tried the ambers? I like them bright

Mrmerlin

I suggest you buy a can of Deoxit 100 and spray the potentiometer for the dash lights ,
and the instruments fuse and the instruments lights fuse and the ground bundle above the CE panel.
Leave the light bulbs alone.
IMHO the LEDS cause more issues than they are worth,
and they are way to bright for night driving.

Ideally you want the lights as dim as possible and yet still see the gauges,
this will increase your night vision.

NOTE Making the pod lamps bright will reduce your visual acuity at night.

NOTE since you dont drive much why mess with them in the first place?.
NOTE every cycle on the connector foil will reduce the chances of the gauges all working once you put it back together,
and the chances are hi that your attempt will result in rework.

NOTE my comments are due to me being a pilot that has flown more than half of my career at night,
protecting your night vision is critical to safe operation.

dcbullet

So I haven't tried the amber, but I do have the white, and I feel they are too white as far as the esthetic. I'll probably try the amber or red in the future.

When I say too white, I don't mean they are super bright, although they are way better than the existing bulbs which barely illuminated the cluster. I do not have any issue with them being too bright to address mrmerlin's comment. Plus, they're still dimmable.

Speedtoys

CLEAN the pod and contacts, put in new OE bulbs. My dimmer is actually DOWN from max since properly servicing the pod. You have 44 years of dust and corrosion built up...

No need to scorch your night vision with colors and contrast that don't belong there.

NoVector

Stan and Jeff both make compelling reasons on why you should keep incandescent bulbs in your car. But, if you do decide to switch to LED and you're concerned about brightness, I think Ed still makes his dimmer. You can read more about it and order it here: https://www.protizmo.com/Store/AILD-1/

I converted all interior and exterior bulbs to LEDs about 10 years ago and have one of Ed's dimmers. Excellent product and awesome builder and vendor.
It might not help much for your MY, but this is probably the best 928 LED thread on Rennlist: Interior LED Changeover (uhm...Looooong) - Rennlist Discussion Forums (Looking at the names in this thread... good Lord, we've lost a lot of 928 owners over the years.)

Speedtoys

Yes, I had Ed's dimmer in my white car...but the wavelengths and contrast/diffusion matter just as much as intensity.

https://bimmertips.com/why-bmw-uses-...ents-at-night/

I fly too, and I didnt notice..but until I flew, and understood night vision...driving the car at night was less exhausting on my eyes and I could see "better"...without the peripheral of my vision getting burned out by the cluster and "updated" console systems on LEDs/etc.

dcbullet

FYI my original dimmer worked fine with the LEDs I had installed in my dash.

Michael Benno

Ed's very well documents guide pre-dates dimmable LEDs that are now commonly in many sizes and colors. You can use the standard dimmer with dimmable bulbs. I have done so on both analog and digital dash cars with success. I can dig up some video demonstrations if needed.

I use www.superbrightlebs.com when experimenting with LED's because they have a lot of important specifications like polarity, dimmable, color frequency, and Lumens output. Plus they have a good return policy. I usually buy a bunch of different colors and use the ones that work the best. For stadium lighting of analog dash cars, I prefer a natural white (4500k) because the reflective light gets absorbed on the surface so having a brighter frequency makes sense. This same bulb used in the backlighting of the digital dash is too blue and bright. So using a warm white 3100k works better.

All the warning bulbs on the analog dash use the respective color of the lens. I found the brightness of the high beam to be too bright when driving in the dark so I put a piece of blue masking tape over it and it was just enough to dim it appropriately

NoVector

You kind of peaked my curiosity in aircraft night instrumentation. The Buff's (B-52) really surprised me as it seems surprisingly bright. No doubt retrofitted/updated many times since its launch almost 70 years ago.

Speedtoys

Trust me, that B52 image is a somewhat "long" exposure or dialed WAY up...compared to what it looks like in person in actual flight. The tell is that the image is wildly overexposed in "Auto" mode.

This stuff is barely visible in reality..but amazingly visible out of the edge of vision where your scan actually is.

Think about this..how often to you 'stop to read' your instruments, or is a sideways glance giving you what you need to know?. You see better in low light situations with their peripheral vision rather than looking straight with their central vision. This is largely due to the increase in rod density in the periphery which are more sensitive to light. This is why anything you are not 'looking at" directly should not be alarmingly bright, overly sharp in light/dark contrast. You are LOOKING at headlight reflection, but your periphery can see your pod/console in the OE hues, diffusion, and tones just fine without requiring a direct glance..and in the wrong light, burning out the biochemistry in place.

Be kind to your rhodopsin. <--knowledge thirst trap here

Color matters, but intensity and contrast are the largest factors. (rhodopsin)

Our cars are old, things need maintained, not always requiring an aesthetic change that works against you.

upstate bob

Thanks guys...all good stuff to ponder. I have done the deoxit and spin all the fuses for good measure. the thumbwheel resistor was cruddy and that got cleaned. I do have voltage to that point. other than the warning lights
my instruments don't light anymore. either the bulbs (???don''t know how many there are??) are dead or there is a grounding problem. They did light dimly when I first got the car but way too weak. I don't drive at night at age 82.
Boy that was some contortion fiddling with that thumbwheel. thought I was going to stay there permanently. BTW, have some pilot experience: comm heli, A&P, restored an Aeronca and built a Kolb with a Suzuki engine.

Speedtoys

Have this on hand..you may need it, your core issue is likely the foil:
https://www.lutzauto.com/product-page/LTZ-92864193900

And should you choose not to use LEDs and enjoy the warm fireside glow..
#11 & #12
http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-p...section=906-00

New bulbs glow brighter than old ones at this point too.

Petza914

If taking the POD apart, replace the foil with Lutz Boards which will get you a better overall system and the LED lights you want. I'll never install another foil into a 928 or 944 again after discovering these.

scoper

If you want LEDs in your dash I recommend the Lutz board which would replace that flimsy decrepit old printed circuit film. I just did that on my 78 and I'm very happy with the results. The LEDs are definitely not too bright from that board as they are sized appropriately. Check out my two videos on scopers garage YouTube channel for step by step instructions.

upstate bob

if ordering original bulbs what is the deal with base/no base? and which on this page would be my best bet? https://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog...oard-bulbs.htm