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I've got the dash out and I decided to put in LED pod lights (the three along the bottom). I ordered a set from Superbright LED Bulbs that listed as a replacement for the bulbs that came out. I put them in and turned the lights on and the dimmer coil lit up like the inside of a toaster!
The only thing I can think of is that the resistance on the LED bulbs is so low that it's putting too much power through the dimmer, but I'm not sure that makes sense. I've poked through the LED bulbs threads and searched, but I'm not finding anything. Did I miss or forget something simple or obvious?
Last edited by Shawn Stanford; 07-21-2016 at 11:25 AM.
I have them installed w/o any Dimmer issues, they draw less current, something else is shorted, recheck the installation.
You should be able to light up all three LED's in the POD w/ a 9v battery from the edge connector as a test before you reinstall the Pod
Hey Shawn,
I just took my pod apart last night. Replacing all of the bulbs but would like to use LED's on the bottoms as you did.
Can you send me the information for those 3 bulbs?
The LED bulbs have both leads on both sides of the base. The incandescent bulbs have leads on the each side of the base. The bulb sockets have contacts that cover the entire base of the bulb. So, the LED bulbs were introducing a short into the system by their very nature. I masked the 'extra' lead on each side with a tiny bit of duct tape. I probably could have used something like nail polish remover, but I wasn't sure it wasn't conductive. It seems to be working just fine: white LED pod lights and no overheating dimmer coil.
The LED's should have the leads bent over - so you have two wires on the correct side. Instead of masking and risking a short, just bend the wire back the other way so you only have one connection per side (with two wires). Does that make sense? Someone assembled the LED wrong at the base.
The LED's should have the leads bent over - so you have two wires on the correct side. Instead of masking and risking a short, just bend the wire back the other way so you only have one connection per side (with two wires). Does that make sense? Someone assembled the LED wrong at the base.
Oh! Yeah, I see. Since the socket covers the entire 'side' of the base, curving it back will put it in touch with one contact, even if it's on the opposite left/right side of the base of the bulb.
Duh me...
I was focused on making them work like the originals, with the contact on the 'left' side of the base. Good think I'm not an electrician!
Think I might have figured out my dimmer shorting issue. When I changed out a bad lamp in the fall I had the bright idea of going to LED.
Looks like I may have had the same issue as Shawn did here. OMG! I have to pull the MF'ing pod again.. see my pics. I have contacts on all surfaces as well, with continuity all over the damn place. I know LED technology changes very fast. Is there a RL- wide recommendation out there right now for the three main pod lamps in LED that has been working well for others?
The existing lamps I had in there were Osram Sylvania 10/3.
I would suggest taking a careful look at the lamp sockets and testing the bulb connections with a meter.
when I installed LEDs in my cluster, it promptly burned traces due to how newer lamps are designed for sockets that have contacts paired on the ends of the lamp base, but (at least on my 78) the Porsche has them paired along the width of the sides.
Plugging in a newer bulb that has contacts on both sides of each end caused short circuits in all the sockets they were plugged into.
Loosened things enough to at least rotate the pod forward and replace the LED lamps back to Incandescent. Crossed my fingers and started things up and cycled the different lights/headlight- no gauge lights. Only the three large lamps are off, everything else I check works (Warnings, signal lights, HVAC, clock. I unplugged my male/female spade connection in place of the dimmer and all went off/on as I did, with no difference, which shows me the issue is just contained to three gauge lamps. Need to try to figure out where it splits off, but I have to think the LED two sided lamps did something. I should have known better and checked the LED lamps beforehand-dumb.
Checked fuses and all 34 good with none blown. Front of CE looks good. Haven't looked at rear yet. I really to pull the freakin pod again but it looks like I'll have to. Happy Easter everyone.
07-19-2016, 07:50 AM
Dimmer overheating with LED pod lights! (SOLVED)
