Led Instrument Panel Bulb

[smasood]

Hi, I am installing these LED bulbs in instrument panle, in my 93 ES300

Does any one know how to identify negative and positive current on the CIRCUIT BOARD OF INSTRUMENT PANEL as unlike regular filament bulbs, these LED bulbs will work only when placed correctly with negative and positive current.

Thanks in advance

[dcfish]

Hi, I am installing these LED bulbs in instrument panle, in my 93 ES300

Does any one know how to identify negative and positive current on the CIRCUIT BOARD OF INSTRUMENT PANEL as unlike regular filament bulbs, these LED bulbs will work only when placed correctly with negative and positive current.

Thanks in advance

It shouldn't matter.

[jjewell]

Hi, I am installing these LED bulbs in instrument panle, in my 93 ES300

Does any one know how to identify negative and positive current on the CIRCUIT BOARD OF INSTRUMENT PANEL as unlike regular filament bulbs, these LED bulbs will work only when placed correctly with negative and positive current.

Thanks in advance

It shouldn't matter.

If they are polarity sensitive, use a DC digital voltmeter where they hook up (the circuit board connections); the black meter lead being negative & the red lead being positive. Turn on the switch & read the meter with the leads at the bulb connection points. If the meter reads +12VDC, the point the red lead is attached IS the 12V positive & the other negative. If the meter reads -12VDC, then your leads are reversed (red is connected to the negative & black is connected to the +12VDC terminal).

Hope that makes sense to you & it helps! B)

[smasood]

Thanks jjewell,

It does make sense.

First question is when we open the instrument panel, there is more than one circuit board I have to remove in order to reach the bulbs, How can I connect an open circuit board to power supply.

Can we identify polarity on an open circuit board like this one:

[lenore]

A lot of times you can trace the trace (printed copper strip) on the board to the end and sometimes there is a plus or Minus marking. The other way is see if there is a common trace to all bulbs, this can sometimes be the negative. But the voltmeter is the final say.

[Toysrme]

Multi-meter would answer that in a split second.

Either check resistance between terminals & ground, or plug it back up & check the voltage.

Edited January 14, 2006 by Toysrme

[smasood]

Ok, LED bulbs are installed, it was a trial and error as the circuit board does not identify +ve or -ve supply plus for the backlighting bulb there is only one +ve and one -ve going to all the bulbs so you cannot say which one is ground unless use a voltmeter. Anyway happy with the change as if I had bought the bulbs from lexus dealter it would be $10 x 8bulbs whereas, I bought each LED bulb for approx. $2 each for 8 bulbs and I have pure white instead of yellow background.

BEFORE REPLACING LED BULBS :cries:

Only if I was not cheated 3 times on Ebay, the speedometer needle would have been perfect also

AFTER REPLACING BULB

[jjewell]

Looks great! Much brighter! CONGRATS!!

[Toysrme]

Looks good.

I've been wondering what some of those 90,000-110,000mcd 10mm LED's would look like as dash back-lighting.

[norbertk]

Is it just me or are there color differences from blue to white on the backlighting?

[justin97]

Is it just me or are there color differences from blue to white on the backlighting?

in the led world those are called hot spots.

[smasood]

No, it is just white, factory bulbs give yellow light LED give pure white which looks brightter then the filament bulbs.

[slstsang]

I am also replacing the bulbs on my instrument panel, where can i buy them from? and how many Volts are they?

[slstsang]

OK, i went to some autoparts store today and i 'm trying to locate the right bulb. Is it "72" or "73"? what should the right one be? can some one please tell me the right bulb to get. Lextech and the dealership is extrememly over price. also the bulb that SMASOOD bought is from ebay UK, not from the US.

[Martin from Phoenix AZ]

would be $10 x 8bulbs whereas, I bought each LED bulb for approx. $2 each for 8 bulbs and I have pure white instead of yellow background.

Which EBAY dealer did you get them from? And what are the actual part numbers you used? I would also like to do these on my 92 ES 300!

THANKS!

Martin

[Lexucan]

Which EBAY dealer did you get them from? And what are the actual part numbers you used? I would also like to do these on my 92 ES 300!

THANKS!

Martin

I replaced my incandescant cluster backlight bulbs with white/blue LEDs as well - 1993 ES300.

They are ultra bright LEDs, each producing a brilliant white light with a soft blue tint. These are a direct replacement for #286, #284 and #74 filament bulbs used in most car dash boards. They are 5mm wedge-base 12 volt LEDs with a flat top, which reduces the bright spots that are produced by domed LEDs.

The e-bay seller was "lockstocks" in the U.K. and he happily shipped to Canada. I think he usually sells these LEDs in packages of 10. The price I paid was less than $3 each. He has an e-bay store as well selling lots of different types of bulbs.

Here is a picture of the cluster circuit board with the proper polarity (+/-) marked next to each socket.

And here is a picture of the cluster after I replaced the bulbs with LEDs (Daytime)

At Night

At the same time, I also replaced the burnt out gauge needle LEDs with red LEDs that illuminate just the tips of the needles, as you can see in the photos. Maybe not quite as impressive looking as having the needles lit up from base to tip as they did when they were new (and working) but hey, they are a lot better than having needles with no illumination at all. I've received many positive comments from passengers and others about how they look.

If anyone is interested, here is a link to my DIY needle LED replacement write-up.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217411

It cost me next to nothing for parts ($2-3) and took an afternoon to complete the work.

Hope this helps

[dicespice]

Check out www.superbrightleds.com

Check this link out to be exact.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/74_t15.htm

Order the T1.5 they rock. I just bought a few of each one to see what the best way was to do it. No soldering, guessing, direct plug and play fit.

I tried bulbs from the store (# 24 and 73) and the LED bulbs from this website as well. My bulb holders are brittle from being in there so long so the LED replacement bulbs just fall out and the 24 bulbs I got were a little fat, and didn't fit well. I think this is a manufacturer issue, another brand probably would work. But WHY!!! LEDs ROCK.

I tried the B8.3D but they don't fit as nice or are as bright. I will get some pics when I get the rest of the bulbs to put it back together, I just ordered five more to finish it off.

Hopefully I can find how to fix the tachometer and odometer before the bulbs come in. Anyone got a good schematic on what resistors to replace? And my needles, OH boy the needles.