Blue 194 LED's

[EliRush]

So, I have changed out the gauges, and I think they really look good in blue. I thought I would share that I used the 194's with 4 small LED's in them. They are cheaper than SMD, and they are brighter than a lot of others.

Let me know what you think. The next, and more difficult task, is changing out those really little bulbs in the warning lights, and the one in the heater controls. Exterior already has full LED spread, and interior domes are SMD panels.

led-blue-4.jpg

gauges-LED.jpg

[dlb]

wow, looks nice!

[ARCHINSTL]

As Arte Johnson's Wehrmacht character used to say in the old Laugh-In TV show (before your time?)...
"Verrryy interestink..."

You replaced the exterior bulbs with LEDs as well? How do the 194s in the parking and corner lights look, compared to the originals? Way down on my "to do" list is installing fogs where the bumper turns are and switching the parking and corners to turns.

I changed my interior domes a while back and made a thread on them, with pix. 12 LED in rear and 20 LED panels in the front; very pleased (white). Is this what you used as well?
Tom M.

[Petros]

Very nice, I like it. I like the stock green as well. I do not think the warning lights are an problem, they seldom fail, but the dash lights are always a nuisance and prone to fail as our cars age.

I did not have much of a problem with the exterior lights either until recently, I guess passing 300k miles means the stock lights just are not up to the task, more and more keep going out. Not sure the cost is worth it on the outside, but I like the dome light conversion that Tom did. Been meaning to get to Autozone to buy some for my car.

[Tercel__jon]

Thats awesome.

[EliRush]

The gauges had never been opened as far as I could tell, and had the original green plastic wrapped bulbs in it. My exteriors look ok, but I have some high power SMDs on the way that should make my parking lights as bright as weak fogs. There are also rectangular panels I have seen, yellow, that would fit in there. I'm not big on the fog light in the turn signal hole conversion...I never saw one I really cared for.

Yes, Arch, I have two 20 SMD panels in there...and I thought I had ordered warm white but they are cool white...which is fine. Way better lighting now!

I'll post a pic when I get the SMDs in the parking lights, and the 1156s and 1157s in the back. I did everything except the turn signals.

[4wdchico]

That does look nice. However the last thing I want when driving at night is any extra blue light in my visual field. Blue light is easily scattered in the eye and this often causes perceptual problems. It is also suspected, when in excess and out of balance, to be actually toxic to the photoreceptor system in the eye.

It is strange that lots of folks think of blue light as cool & relaxing as it's actual properties are quite the opposite.

[EliRush]

I have heard that, too, but only when the blue light is really bright. I chose blue because the car is blue...but I dig it. It is something I have done to vehicles since LEDs got good...leaving my mark on the cars and trucks I own!

[ARCHINSTL]

As to visual probs with blue lighting...do/did any new cars come with blue as OE?
I've only owned cars with white, green, or orange (not that I've owned that many cars over my long life, though).
I would presume car makers have done research and have chosen the colors they have because of visibility - and with the thought of liability ever present as well...
Tom M.

[hberdan]

So, I have changed out the gauges, and I think they really look good in blue. I thought I would share that I used the 194's with 4 small LED's in them. They are cheaper than SMD, and they are brighter than a lot of others.

Let me know what you think. The next, and more difficult task, is changing out those really little bulbs in the warning lights, and the one in the heater controls. Exterior already has full LED spread, and interior domes are SMD panels.

I really like this, and also need to upgrade my dash lighting. Is it possible that you could add some details on how you did this and what exact bulbs, etc., so it could be posted in the repair guide section?
Thanks!

[4doorVIP]

yes I would like to know how many of these 194s are needed. Are you able to convert the rear defroster to LED?

[EliRush]

I only needed three of the 194 LEDs to do the gauges, and discovered that most of the warning lights and cruise/rear squirt switches that light up use very tiny bulbs...smaller than 194s. I believe they are called T5 bulbs? Many of those are in there, more than 10. The climate controls also use these smaller bulbs embedded into a clear plastic light pipe to illuminate the whole panel. The 'low fuel warning' light is a 194.

There are three 'classic' style LED's on the market, and many types of SMD LED's. The three older types are the 'single whole' LED



the 'multiple smaller' LED



and the 'convex single'



The single whole one is just a big single diode, and the light is the weakest of the three. The convex plastic lens is for spreading the light, and they are about as bright as the single round top. The multiples use a few smaller diodes that have more combined light. They are tacked to a small board that sits in the plastic casing, colored to the color of the light most times. I used the cheapest multi I could find, the 4-diode version. I got a pack of 10 blues for about a dollar (ebay china), and all colors are available.

The SMDs are the tiny, high powered squares or circles that are tacked to one or more boards, shaped to be omnidirectional. Some newer SMDs are just one high powered LED in a directional case. SMD is far brighter than older styles, but costs about 5 times more per bulb. The one below is actually a hybrid, with one primary SMD, and four smaller older style LED's around it.

SMD Hybrid



Even with that, they are still way easier to get at and replace in this wagon than a lot of domestic cars and trucks. I found it was a great time to lube the speedo cable and clean the dash seams, too.

A trick I learned is to bend the little contact wire into a curl on one side of the plastic case, sort of like a fishing hook. The contact points in the bulb sockets make a better connection than leaving them flat, like the stock bulbs above.

[toughtercel]

I replace my to "ORANGE " 194 , and "RED " for my wife Tercel , Lordco parts store sell many different colors on "194 " bulbs.

[EliRush]

I just put these into the front parking lights, and I can get a picture if anyone is interested. I had true whites in there, but it looked blue at night.

DSC02757.jpg

[Petros]

Be careful, Federal hwy rules allow only white or amber colored lights facing forward. And yellow and amber lights facing rear ward (except back-up lights).

I know of some guys when I was in high school auto shop that installed blue lights in the dome light (they thought it looked "cool"), but were worried if pulled over they would get cited. Interior lights should not matter, but if visible from outside the car some officer might see it as an opportunity to enhance the revenue to his jurisdiction by issuing you a ticket.