Instrument panel lights 1150

[hughguzzi]

Just wondering if anyone else with the need for 'reading glasses' is struggling to clearly see the instrument panel (speedo/revs) at night ? thinking of blue bulbs as the dash in my golf is blue and easy to see for me !! anyone found a good solution ie, brighter bulbs ? blue bulbs ? LED's ? what wattage ? what blinkin bulb is there in the first place ? Any good suggestions ??

 

[Fanum]

They are those silly little capless bulbs, 3w each (i think )

Yes they can be replaced by LEDs and there are (or certainly WERE) suppliers on Ebay who did the full kit.

If not, I'm sure REAL OEM will tell you exactly which bulbs there are, then a quick check in on Ebay will find you the right LED replacement......because LEDs draw a fraction of the current of a filament bulb, you could probably up the effective wattage by 50% or more as well, with no issues for wiring or the PCB connections......don't blame me if that goes wrong, but it's what I'd do

You also need to consider colour.....I think I'd go for 6000Kelvin LEds, which will be the closest to daylight colour, but that's largely down to preference.....You could go for 8000K which have a bluer tint.

I can't remember if it was here or over on Advrider, but there has definitely been a full thread, complete with piccies, of an LED 'upgrade' on am 1150

 

[Tsiklonaut]

Yep, get proper LEDs.

This is how I sorted out my dash - with red leds:

Versus regular bulbs. See the illumination difference.

The end result.


With the red LED mod the bike's now easily 5mph faster on top speed

 

[hughguzzi]

Cheers guys, Siklonaut - which / how many LED's did you use, ive bought from 'ultraleds' before are they there ? Just curious about the red colour - I noticed that in the Golf the blue lit dials are really clear but the red lit odometer is blurry !! trying to find out before I take it apart !
Cheers

 

[Tsiklonaut]

All 4 LEDs replaced, 2 per each dash.

Those are just my crappy handheld photos in a dim light - those red LEDs make the dash clear and contrasty like any other. Didn't like natural white, had regular green bulbs before which I liked but thought I should change and I really like the red LEDs the most - it gives modern "minimal" looks (colors dissapear, i.e. rev-limiter is just a marking, not annoying separate color) and the least vision-disturbing during the night riding.

 

[kennyc]

dont buy the cheapest T10 led's, I did and found they were such a loose fit that within 2K they had all stopped working because they moved out of the sockets! I ended up paying about £3 for 4 led's rather than £3 for 10 ,having said that, there are a helluva lot more choices out there now than a couple of years ago.

 

[Green Boy]

dont buy the cheapest T10 led's, I did and found they were such a loose fit that within 2K they had all stopped working because they moved out of the sockets! I ended up paying about £3 for 4 led's rather than £3 for 10 ,having said that, there are a helluva lot more choices out there now than a couple of years ago.

Did exactly the same thing and had the same experience. If it's any help I've fitted these and they seem to be ok for the last few thou':

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360689151810

 

[Baggers1]

Did exactly the same thing and had the same experience. If it's any help I've fitted these and they seem to be ok for the last few thou':

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360689151810

Thanks for the steer Green Boy I have just ordered some. . There are zillions to pick from on fleabay

Thanks also to Tsiklonaut for the photos and recommended solution, I will now have a chance of interpreting the instruments without reading glasses.

 

[Dusty]

ohh Shiney!!!

Great Idea this as mine are phish..... how many haynes spanners would you rate this as a DIY replacement?????

Great thread
Dusty

 

[warmshed]

Did exactly the same thing and had the same experience. If it's any help I've fitted these and they seem to be ok for the last few thou':

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360689151810

Same ones here at better price http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10x-T5-28...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4172e76d5d
even lists the same picture and specification

 

[hughguzzi]

Green boy - did you pay £51 for 2 LED's !!!!!! seems the most expensive ive ever seen ! they look the same as some for £3.79 for 10 LED's from the same ebay seller ??????
Sorry to be a pain but is it T5's or T10's we need for the 1150 dash ? cause both are mentioned in this thread !

 

[Baggers1]

The bulbs you need are T5. Incidentally, when I went to swop mine over I found the reason for my apparently fading night vision. Although the old bulbs were still working the glass had become blackened with age and only allowed a dim glow. New bulbs produce a vast improvement.

 

[The Grey One]

The bulbs you need are T5. Incidentally, when I went to swop mine over I found the reason for my apparently fading night vision. Although the old bulbs were still working the glass had become blackened with age and only allowed a dim glow. New bulbs produce a vast improvement.

The going black is a sign of bulbs about to fail. I have replaced hundreds of these little dash bulbs in cars. Often it involved a fair bit of work to strip down/re assemble. I soon learned to replace any that were going black-much better than the customer coming back a few weeks later because other bulbs have now failed.

I do like the look of the red leds, or rather, the look they give but since I never ride at night here I don't think I will bother.

John

 

[warmshed]

I changed mine for blue LEDs they looked realy good but when riding at night it was difficult to focus on the dials and difficult to read. I went back to white but would be interested to hear if the red ones are easy to read whilst riding.

 

[Fanum]

I think the colouring of the bulbs (beyond being a tarty choice stylee decision) could be important, if not critical

They use red lights in submarines and in military applications for a very good reason.......I have a feeling it's something about not spoiling night vision, or that ans that it's useable from close up but doesn't travel as clearly as the blue end of the spectrum?

I have no idea, but if your purpose is to make the dash lights as clear as possible, I'm sure one end of the colour temperature spectrum will be FAR better than the other

Sounds like one of those things that needs to be researched before committing.......but my gut feeling is that blue will be 'better' for visibility, because a) it's the contrary of low light military light usage and b) because VW/Audi group uses blue, and they know their schit

Then again (EDIT) many people have colour blindness in certain spectra, so perhaps the only way is to try out in some way various temps of light, and see which YOU find most visible