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Date:         Fri, 28 Dec 2012 10:06:30 -0800
Reply-To:     Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Subject:      Re: Dash Lights
Comments: To: Jarrett Anthony Kupcinski <kupcinski@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <CADDE784-9818-4B85-B781-C3757272B310@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I second Jarret's warning about the tolerances. I have tried a few different leds in the dash, and they all have had tighter than stock tolerances in the distance between the tabs that have the contacts and the flange of the led mount. SO easy does it (some silicone grease helps) when inserting.

Most of the leds I have tried are not so good in the beam pattern dept. I think Go Westy have a version with side firing diodes that probably do a better job. The stock incandescents do a better job of getting the light onto gauge face. I have lined my housings with reflective mylar film (self adhesive) and that does make a bit of a difference.

I think that sometimes soon there will be an announcement of an electroluminescent gauge overlay kit for sale. I've been test driving a prototype and it looks pretty darn good.

alistair

On 2012-12-28, at 9:29 AM, Jarrett Anthony Kupcinski wrote:

> I got replacement LEDs from the guys at superbrightleds.com, and they do provide a whiter, brighter light to the gauges. The bulbs that I got had very tight tolerances, and scraped away some of the copper on the instrument cluster flat wiring foil. So be careful when you insert them. (I rewired my dash completely and ended up soldering the lights to the wires, so that's not a problem now.) > > That being said, the real issue is that the Vanagon instrument cluster is very poorly lit by today's standards. Today's gauges are more typically back-lit, which makes them brighter and more uniformly lit. So unfortunately, even with brighter LED's illuminating a vanagon cluster, there's only so much you can do. > > My personal take is that changing to a white instrument face doesn't improve the visibility of the guages. I have always preferred the high contrast of white on black. White gauges sure look snazzy though. YMMV. > > -Jarrett > 89 Vanagon powered by Bostig > > On Dec 28, 2012, at 12:03 AM, OlRivrRat wrote: > >> Check out these guys ~ this link is for a 90Vanagon but you can plug >> in your own year if you're concerned about a possible diff' >> >> http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-vehicle-replacement-bulbs/vehicle/1990-volkswagen-vanagon--/64-1112--/ >>> I would like to get more light shinning on my dash. Is there an >>> upgrade to >>> the little stock bulbs?


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